The View of the Fire From Our Street

Last Thursday was a little crazy for us.  It started out normal.  I woke up, got the girls ready for Swimming Lessons and headed out.  After swim lessons, we headed over to my mom's house because Grandma and Grandpa Jones were driving through and we wanted to meet up with them when they stopped by.  While chatting with them, Heather mentioned to me that the news said there was a fire in Eagle Mountain and asked if it was close to me.  I told her I hadn't heard anything about it, so probably not.  I was wrong.  When we went inside about an hour later, I got on facebook and saw panic ridden posts from all of my neighbors because the fire was indeed very close to my home, and they were talking about evacuating our division because of the smoke and bad air quality.  Since I was already at my mom's house I didn't like the idea of taking my allergy crazed and asthmatic self out to a giant smoke cloud especially if I might get out there and be told I couldn't go home at all.  I called Ross and had him stop by home after work to grab some clothes and the dog, and we stayed at my mom's house to keep out of danger.  The kids loved this. 

 The fire was less than half a mile from our house.  Some  friends in our ward who live up on the mountain had some of their trees and pasture land burn, but thankfully there were no structures harmed.  these are pictures my neighbors took from our street.

 Look at all that smoke in the air!  We went back home the next morning to check on things.  The smoke and ash was so thick I could hardly breathe even in the house, and I got really dizzy.  We went back to my mom's for another night.

 My friend on the mountain took this.  They were trying to protect more of their land.  It worked, and you can still see the flame retardant mark on the hillside.

 My neighbor said she could hear the fire crackling at night.

 It burned our whole mountain.  It is all black now.  We are worried about the loss of vegetation because it might make the floods this year worse.  It has also led to lots of little critters coming down and invading our space.

However, nobody was harmed and our houses were safe, and that is not something that can be said of every neighborhood in our state that has faced such close proximity to these fires.  We are also grateful to my wonderful family for taking us in without any notice.  We are blessed. 

Baby Feet: One of God's Greatest Inventions!

 If I were one of those moms, I would have inserted some original poem here about how sweet and neat little baby feet are.  I refrained.  You're welcome.

Jack's Cousin Party

I never get great pictures when Ross's family is around and I feel bad about that. :(  I just get caught up with visiting and all the kids and I don't have one of my sisters to take over camera duty.  Next time I will do better!  I am determined! Anyway, here is what I have.

 The day before Jack's birthday we had a little party for him with his cousins.  We had the big water slide set up in the back yard, but nobody from the family wanted to use it.  It was taken over by the neighbor kids.  I found that kind of funny.

So, a little while back we had this problem with Jack getting into our food storage.  The one thing he really liked to crack open was my cans of coconut caramel frosting.  In his honor, we used one of the 4 cans sitting in the fridge to make some German chocolate cupcakes since he obviously loves that frosting.  Stinker. :)

We got him this fun Elmo tool bench from some friends down the street who just moved.  He loves it.

 Uncle Rex got him a soccer ball.  He loves it.

 Jim and Melissa gave him a giant thing of bubbles.  He loves them.  Are you seeing a trend here?  We had a very happy boy!

 OK, the reason we have couches taking over our living room in these pictures is that we got a new set for our basement at a Memorial Day Sale, but we still hadn't moved the old one sitting in our basement since I was not much help since Ross didn't want my incision to open up or some nonsense like that.  We took advantage of all the manpower who came to the party and had Ross's brothers help move the old couch out and the new couch in.  Thanks guys! :)

 The kids played with that thing for an hour after everyone left.  Best online yard sale find ever!

Jack Enters the Terrible Twos

 We had a little get together with my family for Jack on his birthday.  It was simple and fun.  Ross grilled up some kabobs for everyone, and then we chatted and watched Jack play with all his new toys. 

 This was his second soccer ball for his birthday.  He got one from Unlce Rex the day before (pictures of that get together to come.  They are still on the camera.)

 This girl has to be bribed and threatened to give a normal face for pictures any more.  Stinker.

 This girl really loves any excuse to consume orange styrofoam bits.

 This girl is way too pretty for her own good these days...

 See what I'm sayin'?!

 Oh dear -- it's contagious.

Miss Molly enjoying all the presents

 Here is a picture of Luke.  This is for Brittany.

He kept telling me the fire was hot, but wouldn't blow it out.

Magna Doodle

Optimus Prime Mask!

More trucks.  Best day ever!

Some Things To Know About The Boy

• He loves his little brother.  It is very sweet.  He gets very upset when we don't attend to Luke the moment he starts crying.
• He loves trucks and balls.  That is pretty much all he needs in life to be happy.
• He loves his mama.  :)
• He is an early riser. I usually end up snuggling with him in my bed shortly after Ross leaves for work and he will chat and kick and wiggle and pay with toys and do whatever he can think of to get me to wake up with him.
• He loves yogurt.  A lot.
• He is sneaky.  My worst moments are when I realize he has been quiet for far too long. 
• He is behind in his speech, but he communicates just fine in his own way.  We were worried for a while, but now he is catching up and his hearing and comprehension are clearly just fine.
• He goes to bed really well.  Amazingly well.  I just put him in bed, sing a couple of songs and walk away.  It is amazing.  The girls are much more needy at bed time.
• He gives the best hugs ever.  Seriously.  So tight and sincere.
• He picks out his own clothes.  Yes, already.  Please don't judge if you see him in moon boots and way too small for him shorts.  We just roll with it.  Pick your battles, right?
• He eats. He eats all the good stuff too.  We don't have to nag at him to eat his veggies because he loves them.
• He is a bit of a bully, especially with Sara.  He has figured out that he is a bit more physical than them, and uses this to his advantage.   
• He loves music.  Singing, dancing, whatever.  He gets upset in the car if I listen to an audio book instead of the radio.
• He is the most destructive child I have ever met.  He is fast about it, too.  I very rarely shower during the day anymore because even the fastest shower leaves far to wide a window of untended time.
• He loves being in pictures.  He has the cutest posed smile.  I love it.
• He makes me happy.  So very happy.  I am so blessed.