Spring is coming

I love my house. One of the biggest reasons we came back here after the fire was because we loved our lot. When you see pictures of our back yard you might think we live in the country, but really we're w/in walking distance to town. The only thing I didn't love about our yard was that we had no shade trees. So 2 years ago for mother's day Big C & my guys bought me 5 trees (4maples &1 pear) Right after we planted them we went through a very hot dry summer. My guys worked so hard that summer to keep mommy's tress alive. It was so precious to watch them carry buckets of water out there everyday. Most days w/out complaining. On the Day of the fire, after everyone was gone. Big C & I stood in the yard by on of those trees. It had small fragile bud on the branches. He looked at me & said it's OK momma, spring is coming. Later we dug up 3 of the 4 maples & moved them to the backyard in hopes to save them from being knocked down during the house demo. We left that tree in the front yard. It's my tree that reminds me to hold on. No matter how dark the day, Spring is coming. Last week I spent sometime in the yard & I'm happy t report that all 5 trees are blooming.(which is really good considering my record w/ plants) Today was a really rough day. But when I got home God gave me this song for the first time.

One Year Ago Today

Actually the offical date is tomorrow, but today we're doing all the things we would have been doing the day of the fire. Last Night we went to cousin Logan's B-day party. (Which is where we sent the boys while we dealt with the fire.) We got up this morning and ate breakfastat home. (That's what we were fixing when the fire started.) We've spent the rest of the day hanging out at the house. (Which is what we planned on doing that day.) I thought today would be a lot harder. That I would feel the loss more. I worried that the boys would struggle with their memories of that day. But I'm glad to report that it has been a pretty uneventful day. Big Guy wasn't sure he wanted to go to Logan's party because he was afraid that he might "freak out over the candles on the cake like he did last year." Jon & I both tensed up at the sound of the sasuage sizzling in the pan this morning. But all in all the day has been filled with just the normal routines of life. I'm so thankful for that. God has been so faithful to us from the second the fire started to the second that I typed the previous word. I have learned so much in the last year. So many things that I thought I knew about God are so much more real to me. I hope to share more thoughts in the next few posts. I have a few posts that have been rattling around in my head & there is no way to fit all those things in one post. So for now I will leave you with a song that has really ministered to my family over the last year.

Since I mentioned the beach.

God in his wonderful providence had us make plans in February to take our first vacation since our children were born. (yes that means we had not taken a vacation in over 8 years.) There were plenty of times after the fire that we talked about not going. I'm so glad we went. It was a chance to just be a normal family for a week.

This was my Sunday morning santuary. It was the only morning I got to sneak off by myself.


Our cute little beach house. You can see in the other post that we were just steps away from the beach. Thank you so much Mr. &Mrs. V for making it affordable. We've already reserved our spot for this year, see you in about 190 days (not that I'm counting)

My mom will want to kill me for putting this one in. But I wanted to get the word out about these chairs. This was so nice. She could not have enjoyed the beach w/ out it. If you're in the area, you can find out more about them here.

Mi & The Kiddos @ the home of the "throwed rolls".

This was our fun night out. One thing we learned is go early. We waited over an hour that night. Fortunately there was lots for the kids to do while we waited.

My history buffs couldn't be kept away from the civil war fort. But next time I'll wear more sun screen. Unlike our local historical sites there was no shade.

Like every good family we did have a beach photo shoot but, I'll have to do them in a different post because it only lets me do 5 pics at a time.

To this....

Here's a little tour of our new home.

Comming in the frnt door.

Our Kitchen.

School room

Play room

Boys room.

The Boys are so proud of their fishing bathroom.

I've still got to get some outside shots of the house. But as you can see God has been so Good!!

We are so thankful & I can't wait to see how God will use the home he has provided.

From this

March 7th started like any other typical Saturday morning. Boys watching cartoons in the den and Big C & I fixing breakfast in the kitchen. We were really excited because this was the 1st breakfast on our new stove. Big C loves fried "taters" & has always fixed them on the stove top. I remember looking at the pan & thinking something doesn't look right. I said something to Big C & he reached across the stove to turn off the eye. He was reaching back to move the pot when a fire ball shot up lighting the cabinets. In a flash we were out of the house & Big C called 911. He was at himself enough to to back & grab a few things before the living room filled w/ smoke. (Because of this I've promised never tease him about his OCD again) My family came to get the boys. From there all I couild do for the next several hours is watch my house burn. Thankfully our fire fighters were really on the ball. They realized they couldn't save our house because it had spread to the attic. So while one group cut holes in the roof another group began to pull things from the house. I'll never forget the sight of a firefighter coming out my front door w/ a laundry basket full of pictures that had been removed from the walls. Another group started passing clothes from the boys colset out the front window. I'm so thankful for all they did. When the holes were done they soaked the house to contain the fire. The structure was gone but we had the most import things (all of us unharmed) & many things that couldn't be replaced(pictures).