The day our life changed from the house fire Dec 21, 2011

It has been forever since I have updated our blog where to begin..... Things were going great at the beginning of the school year Scott has been taking all honors classes and online classes at the same time. Tim is doing pretty good he is still more willing to help other people then he is to do his homework :) I am very proud of how he helps everyone. Brandon is LOVING the 4th grade!!!!! He has an AWESOME teacher Mr Gowans plus all his best friends are in his class. Jake is LOVING 1st grade he has a brand new teacher little worried but she is AWESOME. Paul was getting busy with fixing or building computers again not sure exactly what he does (way over my head) LeeAnn was spending more time with us. Can't wait for Jason to come home!!!! He is doing great out there getting a couple baptism. Our lives changed the day of Christmas break was to start for the kids. Dec 21, 2011 I just had surgery done on both of my toes (NEVER AGAIN) so we had the boys go to friends house after school. Scott came home first and was helping Paul in the backyard and I was supposed to be making room for my cousin who was supposed to come and stay with us over the Christmas Holiday, my feet were killing me so I decided to take a bath when all the smoke alarms went off. Somehow I managed to get dressed and figured out how to call 911. My neighbor Jamie and Nina were there helping me I had inhaled so much smoke and whatever that I was in the ambulance forever because I refused to go to the hospital. Our house had caught on fire, anytime a house catches on fire it is tragic but having it happen 4 days before Christmas :( I just don't even know how to describe the feelings and emotions that were going through me at the time. Angry at the Fire Chief for saving his computer and no one else but then laughing at the same time because the fireman could not figure out why our computers and tv were still on after they turned off the power. They ripped the power meter from the house running around trying to figure out why we still had power they were getting ready to cut the power lines in the neighborhood. I finally stopped laughing not sure why I was went to the fire chief and showed him our solar panels and also reminded him that Paul is a believer of power back ups. The light just clicked on it their head as (DUH) I was so angry and scared for Paul and Scott for going into the house to try and put the fire out and Paul grabbing a propane tank that was downstairs. Even though it has been almost 4 months it seems like yesterday. The Red Cross was AWESOME!!!!!! They put us up in a hotel for 3 days and then the insurance took over the rest. The Red Cross also gave us little blankets and hygiene kits. I don't recommend having 7 people in a hotel room, luckily the insurance got us another room. We spent 15 days in the hotel. The hotel staff were great and they even found swimsuits for the boys. Spending that much time in very tiny space actually brought all of us closer. Tim was great trying to make everyone feel better by saying how many people get to stay in a hotel over the Christmas break. LeeAnn was a great comfort to have around and to help with the boys. People were so generous!!! It really brought back my faith in people. The bad thing is we just didn't have room for the things people were dropping off. We only had a microwave and small fridge, fast food got old real fast. One of my many break downs was on Christmas Eve went to go get dinner for the kids and everywhere was closed early, I went to Smith's and they were locking the doors I was just standing there crying and trying to to figure out how I am going to feed my kids dinner. They were so nice and opened the door for me so we ended up having Hot Pockets for dinner. LeeAnn was great and wrapped all the presents which wasn't an easy task to do without the younger ones seeing what it was. Some of the stuff came wrapped so it really was a surprise on what the kids got for Christmas. Veronica and Kala were so wonderful they organized alot of the help we had gotten. Don't know what we would do without them. They took the boys for a couple of hours so we can do clean up and inventory. Which sucked big time!!! If we had enough money I would have definitely paid someone to do it for us. I remember the first night in the hotel I called Veronica to ask her if she had an extra pair of pajamas for me to wear and she took me to Walmart and got me a pair, I just cried and cried over something as simple as jammies and underware. Afterwards we went to the burned house to check it out and the cops came asking if we were allowed to be here, me and my big mouth told them that its my house that I could be there if I wanted to. The smell was just horrible and it hit me hard seeing everything that has been lost. My grandparents build that house and it was gone in a matter of minutes. There are so many people to thank that I don't even know where to begin. During all this it had made me and my family realize who are true friends and family are. New Year's Eve we spent it with the Heimuli's it was really nice to be with good friends and not be stuck in a hotel room for another holiday. The thing is none of us wanted to "Party" we just wanted to go back to the hotel room. We finally got a call from someone who is supposed to find us temporary housing. I don't care where it was and what it looked like I said YES before we even had a chance to look at it. Come to find out we do love the house and the neighborhood. Its funny because the house we looked at a house in the same neighborhood 13 yrs ago but decided that the lots are too small especially coming from Lindon. Dennis, Julie, Kris, Drew and Peggy have been a huge help on working on the burned house. Our new neighborhood is full of all girls where we were used to all boys. There is so much I could write but its time to go to the burned house