November 2010 - A lot happened this month ....

I know it's been awhile since I've blogged (end of October to be exact) but I've needed some time to get my thoughts together in order to catch up. Needless to say, November was one of those months where events that happened could have filled a year and I still would have said "What a crazy year!" So, here goes...

November started out pretty normal. We were looking forward to our friends, the Allens, coming to stay a few days with us, looking forward to Thanksgiving, and also a super fun cruise that we've been waiting for since last December! My birthday also fell in there. Not 40 yet, but getting ever closer! Aaron surprised me with a night out to see The Tran-Siberian Orchestra down in Seattle. LOVED it! It was an amazing show - we then ate at our favorite restaurant Buca de Beppo!

The kids and the cake they made!

A little after my birthday, we were watching the news and saw that there was a fire on the Carnival Cruise ship the"Splendor". Well, we were supposed to have sailed on that same ship the a few days after Thanksgiving! We watched the news for the rest of the week hoping the damage wouldn't be too bad and that our vacation would still happen! The fire was worse than they thought - all cruises through February ended up being cancelled! We were so sad! This was our big trip for the year! Fortunately, Aaron has a client who books cruises and other things and was able to get us on another ship with a completely different itinerary! Yeah! The only sad part was that my parents were not able to go on the second ship with us! (They had been booked on the Splendor as well). I'll talk more about our trip later...

The Allens came into town the Saturday before Thanksgiving and we had such a good time with them! They brought Oscar, their dog, and we all fit in the house quite comfortably! We've missed them so much since they moved to Idaho - it felt like they were just stopping by our house like old times! While they were here, we hosted an FHE with close friends so that everyone could enjoy them. We lost count of people (around 60) but had a great time. We moved the cars out of the garage and put lots of tables and toys out there - it was a large space that really helped out with all the kids. We had a great night -

Catching up with the girls!

JoLynn and Tracie

Oh, did I mention we had a blizzard that night?

All the girls!

The snow doesn't keep the kids indoors!

The weather was crazy that week! Tons of snow and REALLY cold temps. My friend, Coleen, had planned a fun birthday breakfast for me Tuesday morning while Tracie was here. Even though our husbands didn't want us on the roads, we all piled into Coleen's suburban and headed down to Auburn to our favorite haunt, The Sunrise Bakery! Yummo! Such good food. I was so glad that we were able to get down there! Towards the end of breakfast, Coleen left the table to take a phone call (she looked worried). While she was gone, another friend at the table got a text that said Coleen's house was on fire! We immediately stood (must have been quite a sight with all 8 of us standing up at once), grabbed our leftover food, scrambled to pay our bills and rushed outside to join Coleen. She saw that we knew what was happening and was glad she didn't have to explain anything. Becky drove quickly (but safely) home. That ride was so emotional. We were all crying with all the emotions that can come with such a tragedy. All we knew was that it was started by a space heater in the garage and that Todd and her six kids were out of the house and okay. I did receive a text from Aaron in the car to hurry - "it is bad" was all he said. We took Coleen to my house first - the kids were on the way there to meet her. It was so emotional at that reunion! Again, we were all crying! We took everyone inside (it was SO cold!) Coleen sat with her kids and talked with them for awhile. Becky then took Coleen over to the house so she could see it. Tracie and I stayed with the kids and made them lunch and tried to keep things "normal". Looking back now, things were so crazy and yet we all just jumped in and did what we could. The main part of the fire was in the garage - but it did go upstairs through the walls. Smoke poured through the home and there was water damage everywhere. Todd had minor burns on his face from pulling things out of the garage and from pulling his work trailer away from the fire. Our ward was amazing. From the minute the smoke was seen, we had members over there helping out. Our home kind of turned into a "base" of sorts for calls and donations. We ended up having things brought over to the Puzeys who had offered to have the Gustins stay with them (we still had the Allens with us). The outpouring of love and support was simply amazing. I still get emotional thinking about it! I love that our ward was able to come together, put aside petty differences, and just love and support this family!

While the fire was being put out

The boat! SO many memories and hours spent on it!

The Gustins in front of their home

The next day, Tracie and I were able to go over to the house with Todd and Coleen and help them a bit. They needed to find housing right away so every time the insurance agent would call with a rental home to check out, Tracie and I would mapquest it and organize the list. It was heartbreaking to walk through the house - it was eery and boy did it smell! We would have to change clothes after every visit! The settled in for a few days in the Puzey's home - they were all pretty traumatized. Our family was set to leave on our trip on Friday after Thanksgiving - I had the hardest time leaving! Our close friends were homeless and we were going cruising? The brightsight of it was we could leave them a place to stay for the week were were gone! They moved in on Saturday and I'm so glad that we could give them at least that - they have since found a really nice rental home and have begun the process of rebuilding their home.

Although this was a tragedy, there were also so many blessings to come from it. No one was hurt, and all of their friends, family, and ward members were able to serve them. When they moved into their rental, some friends and community members were able to completely stock their pantry. Friendships were strengthened, faith was built in the members of the church, differences were put aside, and everyone has taken the time to become closer as families and as friends. As much as I want to forget the fire part, I will never forget this month! We love all of our family, friends, and ward members!