Last Tuesday

We had something of an adventure at our house on Tuesday. I can't decide yet whether it was a good adventure or a bad one- probably a bad one that brought about good things. That's how most things tend to be in my life. Anyway, enough philosophising. . . for now, at least.

On Tuesday, our basement flooded. One of our sprinkler pipes blew and flooded our yard which flooded into our window well which flooded into our basement Fun times. :( Since it was a cloudy day which kept me out of the backyard and I rarely go into our basement, it probably had a good couple of hours to get all nice and floody before we were alerted to the problem.

My visiting teacher had seen the swamp in our backyard and tried calling me to no avail. I don't usually know where my phone is. I hate talking on the phone, so I don't think about it.

Then she tried knocking on the door. That wasn't any good as I was out walking Emma home from school, and of course- that was the perfect day for me to choose to take the long way home.

Then she somehow found Ross's number and called him. That worked. Ross is not socially awkward like I am and has no phone allergies.

Then Ross tried to call my cell phone, and it sure wasn't anywhere near me and it sure was set to silent. When I found it later that day it had 28 missed calls. Oops.

Then Ross, already in his car and on the way home, called our land line. That was different. We got a land line with our internet. We never use it. We haven't even given the number to anyone. It is there for emergencies. Yay for that because the ringing of our always silent land line startled me as I was ON THE WAY OUT THE DOOR TO THE STORE STILL HAVING NOT NOTICED OUR STRANGE AND WET PREDICAMENT!

That got me into action. I quickly turned off the outdoor water main, walked through the muck of our yard, located the burst pipe, and saw 2 1/2 feet of water in the window well with more pouring in. Not good.

I then ran to the basement to see 2 inches of standing water with more pouring in. Not good.

I gave myself a minute or so to panic and fret, and then I had to get to work. The first order of business was to find a way to keep more water from coming in. Since I am not strong enough to bail buckets out of the well by myself, I settled on setting up a little device to catch the water coming from the window into a 15 gallon tupperware bin. I used the lid to make a little slide, and I would say that from then on out, a good 70% of the water coming in never made it to the floor. I had to empty it every 10 minutes for three hours, but I think that saved us a lot of time and kept many of our possessions dry.

Then came the hardest part of my day. I had to get all of the stuff we have stored down in my basement and move it. Most of it ended up in our living room. I wouldn't have been so bad except that the girls were trying to help, and I had Jack on my hip so he would stop trying to play in the water. (I later gave up on that and just let him have fun in it.)

I then rolled up all the wet carpet and padding that we have laid down there. Carpet is heavy. Water is really heavy. Carpet soaked in water is ridiculously heavy for my little arms.

When I got this done, I got the girls, who had been asking to get in their swimsuits ever since they saw their new indoor swimming pool, to play a game with me. While I was directing the standing water away from the remaining dry areas (especially our food storage!) and into the drain, I had them take plastic cups and scoop up water into another tupperware bin. I don't think this really helped too much, but it kept them busy and made them feel like they were helping.

Just as I was beginning to panic again at all the work ahead of me while trying to keep my kids happy at the same time (Ross was still 40 minutes away) a neighbor came by and took my kids. She was wonderful. Jack was soaked to the bone, but she told me to get him some dry clothes and she would change him at her house. It was wonderful of her, and it was just the first of many acts of service we would receive that day. Oh, I lied- it was the second act of service. The first was sweet Carol, pregnant and alone with her girls going WELL out of her way to get our attention on our swamp. Anyway, it was exactly what I needed, and I am so grateful for her willingness and insistence.

When I was alone, I had time to really think about what needed to be done and the best way to do it. I changed into some clothes more suitable for this situation and kept emptying out the bin I set up at the window and directed the water there to the drain. It seemed like the best thing I could do by myself.

When Ross got home, he found that there was only about half an inch of water left in the basement, but still a good 1 1/2 feet in the window well. He had stopped at my grandpa's house on the way home and borrowed a sump pump, so he got to work trying to set that up when some more help arrived. A sweet older couple from the ward came over with a wet vac, and some buckets.

Soon after that Sam, the Elder's Quorum President came over with some fans from the stake. He and Ross got to work bailing buckets out of the window well. It was just faster than the sump pump at that point. Did I mention Sam was in his shirt and tie from work? I love this church!

At 5:00, everything was as under control as it was going to get. No more water was getting into the window well, and no more water was getting into the house, and all the standing water had been drained out or sucked up. It was at that point I had to make the decision of whether or not I still wanted to host my Book Club that night.

Yes, that's right. The ONE time of the year I am supposed to host Book Club, my basement floods. Awesome, right? I knew that I could ask one of the other ladies to host it in light of my extenuating circumstances, but I would have felt terrible springing something like that on someone so last minute. I had to weigh the work it would take if I hosted it over the guilt I would feel if I passed it on.

I decided that I had 2 hours, and since things were now past the panic mode, I could probably get everything set up. While Ross started the task of getting the ruined carpet padding to the garbage (the only thing we lost in the flood!) and laying out the wet carpet to be dried by the heavy duty fans, I got to work trying to make my house not look like the site of a disaster.

I moved everything in my living room that had been transported from the basement to our garage. Goodness, my arm muscles were mad at me for that! Then I got some dinner ready. I would have sent Ross to get something so I wouldn't have to bother, but fortunately, I already had most of it ready in the crock pot. I love that thing! Emma helped me get the BBQ chicken and rice dinner on the table, and we all scarfed it down so I could clean the dishes and get ready for Book Club while Ross played some more in the basement. :)

I made cookies (thank heavens for frozen dough), scotheroos (thank heavens for quick and easy family recipes) and salsa (thank heavens for my magic bullet and Bountiful Basket) and was cleaning up the very last dinner dish when the first Book Club lady came over. I had done it!

Notice, however, that a shower and a change out of those wet working clothes was not listed. . . Sorry ladies. . . Even with that, though, it was a fun evening. We discussed a great book and laughed and chatted and ate and oogled over Gina's sweet new baby. Book Club is one of the highlights of my month, and this was the first time I had hosted it, so I was ever so relieved when things turned out so well after such a stressful ordeal.

My shower and I had some quality time when the last ladies filed out, and I had no trouble at all getting to sleep that night.

I know this is already long, but I wanted to record it since it was such a big event for us, and I also wanted to say how grateful I am for our church organization. Ross made one phone call to a member of our bishop-ric, and we had help at our door step almost immediately. Things would have been much more serious had we not had their lended equipment and muscle and vigilence. The way our church is set up is truly inspired as it allows us to bless each others lives with much more ease, convenience and organization. The hierarchy is there for a reason, and it works! My now dry and recovered basement is proof of that.

Thank you to those of you that helped in such an immediate fashion, and thank you to those who dropped by throughout the night to offer help that was no longer needed. My ward is amazing, and I am so blessed to be surrounded by so many people who I consider friends. That is not a term I throw around lightly. I am a very blessed woman!

Emma's First Piano Recital

The day before Easter was super busy for us because before all the easter egg craziness went down, Emma had her very first piano recital. She pretty much rocked it as you can see. I am so proud of her! Her teacher is one of my good friends out here, and Emma just adores her. Thanks for giving her such a fun and positive experience Miss Heidi!

*At the end of this you can hear people kind of giggling about her sweet little curtsy. When Emma sat down she was all frustrated because she thought people we laughing at her because they didn't think she did well. She had a big scowl and tightly folded arms like angry children get, and she was almost in tears as she said, "They are all laughing at me. I tried to do good." I assured her that they were laughing because she was so cute and she did so well and they liked her. That seemed to cheer her up a bit.*

Thanks for looking at my camera, Haleigh! :)

These are the special glasses Emma had to wear after her eye appointment last week. She needed them because they dilated her eyes, but she took to wearing them every time she went outside until someone discarded them. . .

We have been noticing her left eye wandering, so I wanted to get that checked out. It turns out both her eyes wander quite a bit, so we were referred to a child specialist in Salt Lake and have an appointment for next week. I get a little nervous about eye stuff because blind eyes run in Ross's family, but the doctor said her vision is perfect. That was a relief to me. We will let you know what happens at her next appointment.

Easter Sunday

The Easter Bunny came to our house, and he left lots of fun things. The girls got new dresses, flip flops, cups, sunglasses, and Disney Princess Barbies. Jack got a new game, a big red ball, and some Apple Jacks.

He loves it.

I got a kindle. I love it. I have over 100 free books on there now so it has already paid for itself. Thanks, Easter Bunny!

Ross got some new cologne (that ended up being a woman's variety so it has to be returned. . .), some cinnamon mouth wash (by his request), a new battery powered razor, and a Jimmer shirt.

Jack showed us what good quality the flip flops were.

When we got home from church, we found that the Easter Bunny had come AGAIN and hid some candy eggs for us. He also left little bunny ears for the kids. Emma was so excited by this extra visit. It was really cute.

OK bunnies, go get some eggs!

Thanks Easter Bunny. I love you!

Emma made that basket in Pre-School. I think she did a great job.

The following is our terrible attempt to get a family picture with all our Easter Duds via the self timer on my camera.

I didn't make it back in time for this one.

Sara got bumped just before this one flashed, so she is miserable.

I hit the wrong button on this one. I just think Emma looks so serene and pretty. Gosh, I make cute kids!

We are all in this shot and looking in the right direction, but nobody looks very happy about it. . .

This was as close as we got. Happy Easter family!

Mischief got in on the fun as well, although we had no dye at our house...

Maybe next year. How cute would he look with little blue socks? :)

At church, we enjoyed some wonderful talks about Christ and the Resurrection from our Bishopric. I sang in the choir for a beautiful number. I really love our ward choir. We have such a fun bond and I don't think I have ever been part of a more talented ward choir. It is really one of the highlights of my week. I also led the Young Women in a pretty rendition of He Sent His Son. It was my first time leading a choir in church, so that was interesting, but they did great.

At home, after all the pagan rituals were complete, we enjoyed a pork roast with all the fixin's and had a nice relaxing day eating candy and talking about what we had learned and heard at church that day. It was a lovely day and I was sad to see it end.

The Annual Wallace Orchard Easter Egg Hunt

Easter Saturday was mostly spent at Grandma Wallace's house where we held the annual egg hunt. It was a little more low-key this year since 6 (read HALF) of the regular participants are in one of the stupid Dakotas. Boo :( We miss you Jay and Lara!

Anyway.... here are some pictures of the inevitable cuteness.

Emma drew a portrait of Caulene. Can you see the resemblance? Heading out the door. That girl was soooo excited for this!

That girl, like in everything else, was a little more relaxed about it all, but not any less pleased with the day's activities.

It's funny to see their different personalities emerging.

Emma got bored with the easy part on the lawn for the little kids so she ran to check out the Orchard hunt.

Jack got in on the action too. He will be a rock star at this next year!

Heather is always ready to help a niece in need- - - for a minimal fee of course- - - (note the egg shaped bulge in her pocket. . .) He got one open!

Yay for jelly beans!

Sorting the loot.

Oh my. I love this boy!

So much, I love this boy!

Great Grandpa Wallace was great at spinning the eggs like tops. Jack LOVED that trick.

This isn't even that great of a shot with the strange light spot and the busy back ground and the off-center composition, but it makes me a bit teary to look at. I don't know why. Obviously it has something to do with the deep love I have for the two people featured here.

My Grandma and my baby sharing a moment. Beautiful.

I love my family and I love our traditions.