FLOOD!!!

Today started like any normal day...then ended in disaster! At least we didn't experience the height of the disaster as some of our neighbors did. We got up and Jeff started working on the roof for our deck. I ran Dallin to his football practice/game where Jeff joined me later. My brother Scott, his wife, Mel, and Kaia joined us as well. They then came over to the house so Scott could give Jeff some pointers on the deck while I chatted with Mel. After they left, we had an hour or so to enjoy some downtime before Jeff had to leave for the priesthood session of our stake conference. During that hour, it started to rain. This wasn't a light kind of rain. The rain came down in sheets. At one point, you could barely see the mountain or even our neighbor's house. Jeff still left the house as I prepared dinner for the kids. About a half hour had gone by before Danny alerted me to some water on the floor in the basement. I had seen a slight drip in our cold storage room but hadn't been too concerned about it. Still, I decided I better investigate. This time I found a waterfall cascading down the wall from the window well. Our window well was half full of water! The water was pooling in from a broken downspout and it wasn't stopping. I quickly yelled for the kids to come down as I heard the glass creak! I was certain that the window was going to break - releasing more than just a waterfall! I frantically tried to call Jeff but the cell towers must have been down because it took forever to get through. In the meantime, the kids ran to get buckets to try to bail out the water. When that didn't work, they pulled out the shopvacs with only minimal success. I finally contacted Jeff and he raced home in enough time to pull out his industrial pump and pump out the water...then we were off to work! Several of our neighbors weren't as lucky as we were. Windows did shatter and basements were under 6-12" of water. Streets were flooded when the canals crested and broke the embankment. I was proud of my kids as I watched them quickly take action without complaint. While there is still a lot to be done to clean up, I am grateful that there was only minimal damage to our sheetrock and a small leak in our living room ceiling. I am grateful for the opportunity to serve. I was brought to tears as I saw groups of people gathered at the houses that were hardest hit. I am grateful to have a ward family that takes care of each other. I am grateful to live by so many friends. My heart goes out to all those most effected. My heart breaks as I think about all those lives who have been effected by much larger natural disasters. It makes me all the more grateful for bright, sunny days. I know we all pass through the proverbial storms in our lives, but the disasters are lessened by those friends and families who help us through them.

Once I knew the window wasn't going to shatter, the kids decided to pose for a quick photo op. 

Jeff to the rescue! 

Our neighbors house...this was just the water we pumped from outside. The damage to the interior was more extensive.