Elephant Ears

This plant is so fun to grow! I took this picture because I was worried it would not survive the hurricane - but it actually only sustained minor damage. Isn't it cool?

First Day of School (Finally)

After our hurricane delay, we finally started school. Taylor and Dallin didn't actually have to go the first day (they are not new to their building), but Dallin is on Student Council and went to help the new 10th graders. I can't believe I have an 11th grader, a 9th grader, and a 5th grader! They are such wonderful kids and we are so blessed to have such wonderful schools.

An Earthquake, A Hurricane, and A Murderer

We had quite a week before school started. We've been gone a good part of the summer and have spent the last few weeks trying to fit in all our doctor, dentist, and other various appointments. Tuesday the 23rd Taylor and I were on our way to CHOP to see the celiac specialist. We were stopped on an overpass after exiting the freeway and we could clearly feel the car shaking. I asked Taylor if she felt it and commented that the bridge must have those flexible earthquake joints and was shaking from all the cars. Ten minutes later (and after parking in an underground garage) we found out that it was indeed an earthquake. Older buildings all over Philly were being evacuated, but thank heavens CHOP didn't panic. We actually were in and out of our appointment in record time and Taylor is doing great. She is a whopping 90 lbs and is a little over 5 ft. Other than a chronic vitamin D deficiency, she is very healthy and we are so happy. Ed and the other kids were at home and also felt it. Ed was on the phone with people in North Carolina and they both realized what was happening at the same time. No damage where we were, but the temple in DC did sustain some minor damage. Thank heavens we don't have those here very often.

Three days later we were sure we were going to be hit by hurricane Irene. We have plenty of water and food storage. We have all our camping gear and lights. We have extra propane tanks for the grill and have a new generator in case our sump pump needs to keep running. We felt as ready as possible, but were not sure what it would be like in constant 60 to 90 mph winds. We were also not sure if 10 inches of rain would flood our basement regardless of our pumps efforts. In the end, it rained about 7 inches and we had some pretty heavy winds all night on Saturday. There were also a few tornadoes in our town which scared me more than anything else. We had a late sacrament meeting with the other ward on Sunday afternoon. We had to try four different routes to get to church due to downed trees. We have had the wettest month on history this August and the ground is like soup. Big trees can't take the wind and are falling over everywhere. So many people were without power that they had to cancel the first day of school on Monday. Dallin and Taylor cheered and Cami burst into tears. I think it was the last straw for her. She gets stressed about weather stuff and was pretty nervous about the earthquake and hurricane. Poor girl just wanted to get back to a normal routine. Luckily they started the next day and all was well.

DURING the hurricane we also had a murderer on the loose about 5 minutes from our house. Very sad story. A man killed his family in Virginia, took one daughter, brought her here, abandoned her at a hospital, then went and killed his ex-mother-in-law. She lived just a few miles from us. While being pursued (in a hurricane no less) he also managed to shoot and injure one police officer and shot at another. We had police officers roaming our neighborhood telling everyone to lock all doors and windows as he had just tried to break into a house in another neighborhood. Eventually the road in front of our house was barricaded with armored personnel carriers and state police with automatic rifles. When he realized he was trapped he killed himself. The whole thing was pretty stressful and very sad.

As you can see, we have had plenty of excitement around here. We are ready for some good old boring school days and evenings of homework and activities. It really is a crazy time to be alive.

Back To School Shopping

We got everyone ready for school in one busy day. I love getting everything for the backpacks and giving everyone a crisp, new pair of jeans. We have a Junior, a Freshman, and a 5th grader this year and are anxious to get back to school... well some of us are. Happy School!

Hayley Goes to College

We have been excited for and dreading this day for a while now. Hayley has gone to BYU! We are so happy for her and all the adventures that await her, but we miss her terribly already. Her parents threw her a going away party and we enjoyed celebrating with her and eating really yummy food! Enjoy every minute of this experience Hayley - you only get to be a Freshman in college once:)

We miss you and love you!

Firefighter

Dallin has begun a new adventure. He is taking the Firefighter 1 course at our county public training facility. When he finishes (16 hours a week for 12 weeks) he will be a Volunteer Jr. Firefighter at the Lingohocken Station. This was not something I was expecting at all, but he is enjoying it so much I can't believe it. He has two friends who have recently completed the course and they all enjoy meetings at the firehouse several times a month. These meetings often include washing the truck, rolling the hose, and continuing training. The course itself is really intense. He has to wear full gear every class (an extra 65 pounds) and do all kinds of training scenarios. He's not allowed to be in a burning building at age 16 (thank heavens!), but still has to learn to rescue people in the dark and smoke as well as CPR and First Aid.

I totally crack up almost every night when I pick him up. He'll get in the car totally sweaty and tired and say something like, "Tonight they taught us FORCIBLE ENTRY!" His eyes light up as he describes the lesson in which they hand him an ax and a crow bar and teach him how to break into any door. He also loved the close quarters confinement drills where they had to crawl through dark tunnels in their gear breathing their tank air. Getting used to breathing with the mask and tank is not as easy as you would think. They make them practice the first few days by gearing up and then playing a game of wiffle ball followed by a round of chopping wood.

He's also learning some great life lessons. He's one of the only teens in the class and is with a bunch of older and somewhat less refined guys. (Cami is surprised that so many firefighters smoke - shouldn't they know better?) When someone screws up - they get yelled at. Dallin doesn't particularly like being berated in front of others, especially when he actually didn't mess up. We just smile and tell him life is not fair and he should get used to it. It's been a great experience so far and we're very proud of his desire to do something so far out of his comfort zone and offer a great service to our community.

September 9th is our school's remembrance of September 11th. Dallin will be in his dress uniform alongside the other firefighters to be honored at the assembly. I wish I was allowed to attend and take pictures. They will arrive on the firetruck and march two by two into the school. There is just something wonderful about a uniform to a boy. I'm sure he will be very proud to wear it tomorrow. I know I will be very proud of him.

I wanted to take some pictures of him in his gear, but somehow it was more fun to dress Cami. I will post some pictures of him in his dress uniform after Sept. 11th.

Girls Camp

This is my fourth year at Girls Camp and my second year as the Stake Level 1 Leader. I am in charge of the 12-year-olds and really enjoy this age group. They are so excited to finally be at camp and are still young enough to follow directions and go to bed when you tell them to:) We had horrible weather the first day - pouring rain! But after the storms went through, we had beautiful and fairly cool weather the rest of the week.

The theme was about following the path to the Temple (Using the Wizard of Oz) and our T-shirts said, "There's no Place Like Camp!" Taylor was already a 3rd year and other than getting soaked the first day had a great time. Only one more year without Cami and we will be able to all go together! I'm just going to post a bunch of pictures that will give a general idea of the fun we had.