Roller coaster!

This past week has been such a crazy roller coaster ride. The whole town is in disarray. Just to update things. After Thursday on Friday when we didn't think it could get worse, it had gotten worse. That morning Jordan and I were playing with Chase, my family's dog, and having a stress free day. We went to our neighbor's house to make Corey's fathers day card. We were hand painting and using her criquet, awesome machine! Then we went to my other friend's house for lunch that she made us. So yummy! I have great friends. We left her place a little after 1p.m. The fire had picked up on the mountain just like any afternoon, so it wasn't something new. After we got home and I put Jordan down I looked outside at the mountain one last time and I laid down myself because I was so exhausted. Right when I laid down Corey sent me a text saying there is a fire on buffalo and 7th and we live up the street from there. So I called him and asked him if I should worry about anything or if it would affect us, he said no. So I fell asleep. I was probably asleep for about twenty minutes when my neighbor was pounding on my front door and window screaming get up, get out of the house, the fire is here. I woke up startled in a daze. I ran to open the door and the first thing I saw from my driveway was a wall of fire and my neighbors running back and forth from the inside of their cars and homes. It was total chaos. Ten minutes later a border patrol agent drove down my road and announced on his intercom this is a mandatory evacuation you need to leave now. My neighbors pretty much packed my car while I was throwing things together. I still don't know what happened barely. But I drove myself, Jordan and Chase to my friend's house balling my eyes out. I knew the firefighters would take care of the neighborhood and not let it burn but I was just furious of the situation and exhausted from the horrible emotions of the whole week. So yeah I was balling. Jordan was saying it's ok mommy, mommy it's alright, you're ok! P.S. this is a very short version, but we were able to come back home in a short period of time, I don't remember the time frame, but it was short. My house was way too smokey for Jordan to sleep in though so we stayed at a friend's house that night and returned home Saturday morning. To look at this at a positive perspective I now know what to do when something like this were to ever show it's ugly face again. They are telling us to stay packed or be very prepared because we might be evacuated again just for population control. I'll update some organizing, grab to go tips later. Everyone is probably more prepared than me but I still want to document it. Anyway what caused fire number 2 was a tiny spark from a machine that was getting rid of grass so that fire wouldn't catch it when it came closer from the mountain. It went up very fast and someone caught it then started backburning it so it became a controlled fire. Then I can't remember what happened Saturday. But Sunday the winds were insane and it hit hard again. Church for everyone was only an hour and we had to be out before the afternoon hit. It jumped the highway again and this time burned down restuarants near my parent's neighborhood and more homes. Can we say wow! I think everyone has hit their breaking point by now.
In good news my parent's house and their neighborhood is still standing and they should have the fires out soon, hopefully. They declared this fire the number one fire to put out in the country. That was good news because it brought in tons more help.
Thanks again to all the firefighters and law enforcement doing an awesome job!

Monument Fire 6/15-6/16

WEDNESDAY (about 3 p.m.)


This picture was taken at my parent's home while I was standing in their driveway. I was grabbing last minute items while talking to my sister on the phone when the evacuation sirens went off. It was a very chilling sound when the police cars were going through the neighborhood telling everyone to leave. My mom and dad are in Las Vegas for my dad's work conference he has every year. They left this morning around 6 a.m. Luckily they had been on pre-evacuation ahead of time on Tuesday to pack some valuables and store them in my house. But when my mom remembered a few more things I drove up to get them on Wednesday. Then I called my sister and my brother to see if they wanted anything else out that we didn't get on Tuesday. That's why I was up there when the evacuation took place. The fire was on its way to the top of Miller Peak by the end of Wednesday. Which is that point you see.
Wednesday update from the incident management team:
The fire had spread over 9,300 acres and it was 17% contained. We have 536 people assigned to the fire, including 13 crews, 40 engines and 5 helicopters.
Activity; Crews constructed lines behind homes on the eastern side of the fire north to Miller Canyon. Crews mopped up hotspots where the fire crossed Highway 92. Helicopters and air tankers dropped water and retardant to help slow the fire. Crews constructed line and completed burnout operations in the vicinity of Coronado National Memorial. Cochise County Sheriff's Office assessed damage to homes and outbuildings in Ash Canyon.
My heart goes out to a lot of my friends who had lost their homes on Tuesday. Thoughts and prayers are with all of you.

THURSDAY (afternoon)

The fire reached Miller Peak around the afternoon. It had gotten surprisingly bigger...

not too long after it jumped across the highway from Stump Canyon. Amazingly no homes were damaged on that side today. In this picture you can see the green sign that says Miller Canyon Road which is where my parent's (where I grew up) home is to the right and across from that house you see there.

According to incident management team:

Thursday's plan: Due to extreme dry fuel conditions, high winds, and single digit relative humidity, a Red Flag Warning is in effect. Firefighters and fire engines are prepared for extreme fire activity. Additional firefighting resources will join the night shift. Crews will finish the mop up east of Highway 92, and reposition to the Miller Canyon area. A structure protection group will continue to look for potential fire danger north towards Ramsey Canyon, developing protection plans for homes. Crews will work to hold the fire along Forest Road 61 on the southern edge of the fire.

This is what the mountain looked like as the sun was going down Thursday night.

Another night shot of Hunter-Miller canyons on fire.

Total acres Thursday: 11,600 and 17% contained
Thursday we had 800 people assigned to the fire. (no one hurt :0)

Monsoon season officially started Wednesday June 15. The forecast is saying they are not seeing any signs of rain until end of July. Pray for the rain to come early this season. Officials are saying this fire will not completely go out unless it rains. There are at least 4 other wildfires burning in the state of Arizona. My heart goes out to everyone. I have pictures from Sunday-Tuesday from our fire as well, but for some reason they aren't loading on to blogger. So I'll just write the details. Sunday; the fire was started in the Coronado National Park. The forest was closed due to extreme fire danger and there was a fine if you trespassed. Jail time and money. Miller Canyon was also closed due to extreme weather conditions as well as many other canyons. We were on our way to my parent's house after church on Sunday and we always call my mom telling her we are on our way. The first thing she said was just tell them you live here and they will let you up. I was very confused until we turned towards the mountain and saw smoke rising fast. At that point it was a lot smaller. Then on Monday the fire had spread farther, not too much, and more people started evacuating. The fire was at 0% contained Sunday and Monday. Then Tuesday it took a suprising turn and spread all the way through Ash Canyon and jumped the highway causing more damage. I had just put Jordan down for a nap when I looked outside and it looked like a warzone. It was a huge explosion because it had hit structures. It had shocked even the firefighters that it had done that. Then after that I went to my parents place to help them pre-evacuate and store things in my home. They stayed with us Tuesday night and that's when they left early Wednesday morning for my dad's conference. We also have the dog with us. Poor Chase he is very stressed out that he isn't in his beautiful yard. Hopefully he will be able to go back to it. I'll keep posting updates once I find out more.

Prayers go out to all who have lost homes, pets and also to the firefighters and officials who are working day and night. Thank you for all you do!

HOBBIES?

I used to have time for them, I used to love making time for them. Where does all the time go....where did my interest in making the time go....does anyone else feel like this with their time or am I the only one?

A lot of people don't know this but my favorite hobby is drawing. I am not clean at it though, meaning I have everything left out on a specific drawing table and never put it away. Kind of like scrapbooking. So it's hard to do while having a 2-year old, scratch that, while having Jordan around. Plus I can't finish a drawing in one day, it takes me a few days to finish one thing. Probably because you get other ideas each day.

Anyway I miss my hobby. Hopefully I will get back to it eventually. Another one of my favorite hobbies are collecting pictures, not so much taking them because I am horrible at it......

So on a happier note I finally got my two temple pictures I have been waiting on for awhile. The 4th ward Young Women (who I miss tremendously by the way) sold Gila Valley Temple pictures for their girls camp fundraiser this year and the order came in on Thursday. I love my picture and then Corey surprised me with a beautiful Salt Lake City Temple picture for Mother's Day that I received last week as well. I wanted both because the Gila Valley is where we attend and the Salt Lake City one is where we got married, plus it's my favorite. I'm not done decorating around them but here they are on my wall.....(not same wall).

Jordan's room

We finally got some blinds for Jordan's window in her room and my mom made these curtains for my sister's room when she was a little girl. My mom still had them so she just asked if I wanted to put them up. I love them! Then the bed comforter was mine when I was younger. It has bunnies riding unicycles all over it. I love that as well. The blinds are the faux wood, white.

Jordan helped me take her crib apart on Monday morning and we put her toddler bed up. It was really sad to put the pieces of the crib in the garage. (ready for another little one ;0) She absolutely loves her new bed. As do I. She was getting way too heavy to lift into a crib. She is doing great with it too. Of course she plays and has a lot of books on her while she is sleeping, but hey she is sleeping. ;) Can't complain. I love our new home!