Water, water, everywhere

In previous posts, I talked about the flood the occurred in our basement while we were in Maui in December. Maybe you know the details already, but since this blog is our own, family scrapbook/journal/book of remembrance, I have to include some of them here as well.

I was having some Christmas packages delivered while we were going to be out of town and I asked our friends, the Abbotts, if I could have them delivered to their house. Not sure why, but when I saw Pam and Stacey the night before we left, I gave them a key to our house... just in case. I was thinking that they may want our packages out of their way and would want to take them to our house or that one of our family members may need to get in, etc. We have never done that before - weird! Well, Elliot just "felt" like he needed to check on our house, so, he went over (the day after his Dad's funeral no less) Saturday morning and before he could get inside the house, he heard water running. Thus started the frantic set of phone calls that took place from Sandy to Maui and back. Elliot called Pam and Stacey and they literally ran through our house, trying to rescue whatever they could. Elliot shut off the water and the heat and disabled all of the smoke alarms, which were also going off. Apparently there was a waterfall coming down from the ceiling in the hallway and another one between the office and the bathroom.

I had to laugh (if that is possible during a time like this) that as Steve was on the phone with Elliot, he was reporting that he grabbed the laptop, the fax, the desktop, and the files just as I was on the phone with Pam and she was reporting that she grabbed my wedding dress, Reagan's scrapbooks, and the photo albums. Mars and Venus baby! Thank goodness we had male AND female rescuers in our house. Cute Elliot probably would have walked past that wedding dress and those scrapbooks a hundred times and never had a second thought. Nope - he was all about the electronics. Meanwhile, Stacey had grabbed the photos that were literally piled into the drawers of the desk in the hallway and she was trying to dry them out, separate them and lay them flat on towels.

Pam walked outside to her car and noticed that our next door neighbors had a Utah Disaster Kleenup truck in their driveway. She went over and rang the bell. Turns out our neighbors had a pipe break at the same time we did. They already had cleanup people on site and had a plumber on the way. We were fortunate enough to be able to take advantage of that and they sent each crew over to our house after they were done there.

The water was only a few inches deep in our house, but it was enough to do some serious damage. By the time we returned home (almost four days later), we found all of our downstairs furniture in one-half of our downstairs family room, pictures and items laying (drying) all over the house, items piled into the garage and 4 huge de-humidifiers and 23 or so fans drying throughout the basement. Stacey even hung some Christmas balls on our dining room chandelier to spread some Christmas cheer when we first returned home. She took some pics, but that was only after she and her parents had rescued our house, so, it doesn't really show the extent of the water that was coming out of the ceiling. Here's a slideshow of what we found when we returned home.

Presently, we are a month and a half later and almost back to normal. We have all new carpet downstairs, the holes in the ceilings and in the walls have been repaired, we have new paint in the hallway and some of the rooms, the cabinets and countertops have been repaired and re-installed, and we have put all of the furniture and most of the contents back into the rooms where they belong. This week we have some final repairs being done and a clean-up crew coming. Last week was the first time Reagan and Cole have slept in their own beds since we left for Disneyland December 3rd. It may take some time to get back into the swing of things, but they were both so excited to get downstairs and to be able to play or find things they had been asking for during the past month that I couldn't see in the pile of furniture and toys. We still have a few issues to work out with our insurance company, but overall, we are so pleased that there wasn't more damage, that no one was hurt and that we have been able to recover. Like we have said for the past 2 months, "it's just stuff".

So many people I have spoken to have had similar experiences. Some with not so much damage, others with much, much more damage. It was definitely an inconvenience, but it was ok (it is ok) and we have survived - we didn't lose anything precious or irreplaceable (there are actually a few things that we were glad were destroyed as we can now throw them away without any guilt). Thank goodness for the Abbotts finding the water four days before we would have and for rescuing our stuff and thank goodness for other neighbors and family who helped coordinate professionals to help fix our house. We are very lucky and very blessed!

Cartin' Around

Our son-in-law Matt's Dad is an expert at finding treasures at garage sales, discount places, KSL.com, etc. He is the one who outfitted Reagan with most of her jewelry that she hauls around (if you are familiar with her mo). Anyway, he found a little golf cart and sold it to us for cheap, cheap. Reagan and Cole love it! It has a place for golf clubs which Reagan thinks was custom made for her Hello Kitty purse (containing the jewelry that Paul gave her).

For the first few days, I didn't want to let them drive it in the house, so it just sat in our kitchen. That didn't do much because even though it wouldn't run, Reagan and Cole would push each other around the kitchen, honk the horn and play the music - great. Then, we took them to the church parking lot, figuring there was not much they could crash into there. They had so much fun! Each of them drove while Steve stayed close behind them. It didn't seem to matter that the temps were freezing; they just wanted to drive until that thing ran out of juice. Later, we let them drive in our circle and Steve stayed even closer behind them. They had a few close calls, heading for the back of our driveway or toward the main street, but for the most part, they did really well.

I'm thinking about getting stickers or vinyl lettering that say "Reagan & Cole's Ride" or "Look Out, It's Reagan & Cole!" Jennifer's sister does the lettering; she's going to check out what would be involved. Then I met one of Annie's friends who also does vinyl stuff and she suggested flames on one side for Cole and roses on the other side for Reagan ..... LOVE THAT! So, I'll post updated pics when we figure out what to put on this thing. Until then, we'll just be "Cartin' Around" the neighborhood. Stop and say hi if you see us around :)

Prince(ss) Cole

I know I have blogged about this before, but some days I think "Poor Cole". He is really subject to Reagan's whims and moods. If she wants to play with him, lucky him; if she doesn't want him around, he is banished from the playroom.

When they do play together, she dictates the activity and it is usually princess related. He loves when they play together and is willing to be a prince, princess, monster or whatever role she wants him to play. Some days, I think that I should intervene and "make" her play with him and his trucks or his blocks, but then other days, I think I should just let them work it out and develop their own relationship. After all, he isn't usually sad - he is thrilled to be with her.

On this day, they were both princesses... yeah, I know. I had to laugh that she even dressed him in princess slippers. I asked them to lift their skirts and show me their slippers. Here is Reagan with her slender, little, feminine leg and then next to her is Cole with his tree-trunk, almost cankle, big, strong leg. Oh well, at least she put him in blue (granted it is with gold and pink ribbons, but....). Some of you have told me that you or your sibs dressed up your brothers in full makeup, heels and jewelry. At least we're not to that point..... yet (gulp).

Maybe I need to try harder to find a Prince Costume to avoid him developing "issues". He really is all boy...most of the time. On the other hand, how cute is he in that headband? Ah, my Prince(ss) Cole - love that boy!!!

Sledding with Brett and Annie

Anytime we get together with Steve's brother, Brett, and Annie (and Meg and Drew), we have a great time. Today was no exception. We headed down to their house for some sledding. Some of us were braver than others (way to sacrifice those pants Annie) and some of us were hurt more than others (poor Meg), still others of us decided using sleds for going down the hill was just unnecessary (go Drew). We had fun on the hill and then went inside for some hot cocoa. Thanks for the invite guys.... we'll join you anytime!

Happy New Year!!!

Our New Year's celebrations were simple and fun. In my last post, I told you we spent New Year's Eve Eve at Temple Square. Well, after Temple Square, we went to Gateway and Steve bought a new Mac for his office. So, on New Year's Eve, we had to go back to get the computer and have the info on his old computer transferred over. First, we decided to have lunch at The Garden at the Joseph Smith Building. We go there once in a while when we have lunch with my Mom. Reagan and Cole always remember that they can see the temple from there. After a nice lunch, we went to the Apple Store where Reagan and Cole were both hypnotized by the children's games at the demo computers. After fighting the craziness in the store for a bit, I took them outside while Steve finished up with the computer guys (one of whom Reagan and Cole correctly labeled a pirate - he really did look like a pirate in Cole Haan shoes). We sat by the fire to get warm, marveled at the huge Christmas tree and came dangerously close to getting soaked by the leaping water fountains, running like crazy. By the time we got home, it must have been 5 pm and the kids both crashed, waking up at 7 to be wide awake and ready to party. After watching Shrek, we headed outside to light some sparklers - it might not be 12, but they don't know that. We declared it "New Year's" and got them into bed by 10:30 - nice! On New Year's Day, we headed out to my parents' house for a turkey dinner with all of my sibs and their families. 2009 was pretty great, but I have a feeling 2010 will be even better.

We've seen lots of news stories of things that have happened in this past decade and it is a bit overwhelming. When I think of all that has happened in the past 10 years, I can hardly believe it - 10 years ago, we were still dating (and I mean STILL); Steve had just bought the house and was thinking of what to do in a backyard that consisted of scrub oak; obviously we didn't have Reagan or Cole; in fact, Shannon and April were living at home 10 years ago; and Rachel and Kevin were childless. I was practicing law and Steve's business was in full swing while his back pain kept him from doing many things he wanted to. Finally, we were just meeting people in our new ward and hoping that we would like this ward, neighborhood and area.

My how times have changed. We love the ward and the area (in fact, we think we may never move again); we closed down my business and moved Steve's into an office that we own; we had health scares for both of our fathers and some minor ones of our own, but we are both remarkably healthy with Steve having no more back pain at all. I am serving in the Primary for the first time and Steve is serving in the Bishopric for the first time. We have been delighted by our extended family, have loved our 2 grandchildren and the highlight of our decade has been having Reagan and Cole join our family. This past ten years has not been without trials, but overall, we have learned and grown so much. We are so very blessed. I know I've said it before, but who knew life could be so good? Here's to 2010 - may it be the best year yet!

Lights at Temple Square

On New Year's Eve Eve, we decided to take Reagan and Cole to Temple Square to see the Nativity and the Christmas lights. By the time we got in the car and headed downtown, it was really cold and it was really snowing. We considered taking a rain (snow?) check, but decided just to stick to our plan - good thing we did; it was great! The snow just added to the ambiance of Temple Square and Reagan and Cole loved it. We took little breaks, going inside to warm up and it couldn't have been better. There were lots of people, lots of sister missionaries and lots of Christmas spirit. Steve said there were fewer lights this year than other years (several other people commented on that as well), but I think it was great. I know that they start putting up the lights in early fall. It really added to my enjoyment of the holidays even if the little twinkle lights weren't working (little nod to Christmas Vacation fans). Seriously - everything was working ... perfectly. Thanks Temple Square crew - you did a great job! Here's some pics of our time at Temple Square.