REST?

As much as I would like to be doing this-

even if it included a little drooling, it is just not happening!

This fire is bigger and more relentless than I ever anticipated.

It has now grown to 45,000 acres and they are expecting it to grow to 100,000 acres by morning.

For the past three nights we have stayed up watching the fire, waiting for a knock at the door, telling us to evacuate. We have been in a constant state of being ready to go at a moments notice. I appear very calm on the outside. It is just my personality. But I have noticed that there is a thread of stress that no amount of calmness can eradicate when you are watching the hills behind your home burn. Three days straight of it has taken its toll.

Three days of-

breathing smoke and ash filled air.

watching people I know interviewed on TV.

the sound of helicopters flying over the house.

wondering, watching, researching, talking.

packing, searching, trying to remember everything that Iwould hate to lose.

being thankful for these men and women serving us.

praying and taking a lot of pictures.

letting little boys play inside all day due to smoke.

It seems that every afternoon we think everything looks like it is going to be okay. Then night falls, the smoke rolls in and the flames make decisions of their own. As I speak, there are flames marching their way down the mountain directly behind us. The street above us has been evacuated.

You are probably thinking,"I would have left by now." Yes, that is what I would have said before too. Please know that we are not being stupid and we have great repect for the power of this fire. We trust these amazing fire fighters. If there were any wind in the forecast, we would be out of here. Because there is no wind, the fire marches slowly.

My sister's house was saved today. This morning it made its way to her street and they stopped it at her neighbor's yard. The fireman on scene called in the helicopters and they dumped water on it. My brother-in -law (he now needs a blog name) stayed for the whole thing. He said it was one of the most amazing things he has ever seen.

She lives across a canyon from us and I believe this is a picture of the chopper dropping water on her fire.

These guys ROCK!

I wish I could meet these pilots and thank them and tell them that-

they ROCK!

The firefighters can't really get up into the steep terrain to fight the fire, so the helicopters have done drop after drop all day long- NONSTOP. They ground crews wait for the fire to reach the edges of the homes and then they put it out. It is amazing! But nervewracking for homeowners.

We drove around today and there are Fire Fighters from the forest service here from Montana and South Dakota and I'm sure other states. Those are the ones that I happened to see. There are also police and fire departments from cities all over the state of California. I want to stop them all and thank them for coming to help us.

Our community feels loved and cared for by the whole country. I know it is their job, but still...

These men put their lives on the line and are so courageous. This evening we had some very bad news. Two firefighters were killed. From the reporting, I believe they were trying to drive out of a canyon and the fire came up quickly. The smoke was so thick that they could not see. They drove off the side of the road and the car went down the cliff. Just horrible.

This fire is humbling. Again, I'm reminded that as much as I like to feel that I have some control, it is really so minimal. I have lived on these mountains my entire life. These are my friends being interviewed. This is my sister being evacuated. This is my community!

And do you know what? Even if every single structure in this community burned to the ground, if the people all survived, this community would still be here.

It's almost Monday now so I better post it now.

Fire Pictures!

This one was taken earlier from my sister's house as we evacuated.

We were delighted to know that the United States Post Office does not let you down.

These were taken at 7:40pm Pacific Time behind our neighbor's house.

The house is 4 houses down from ours.

Hubby is here with me. They won't let anyone up the hill.

My brother-in-law is still at his house.

Thank you for your prayers.

The FIRE is really close- Please Pray!

I don't have time to post pictures right now, but we evacuated my sister's house and the flames coming toward it. The fireman just told my brother-in-law that they are out of resources so he, a friend and Hottie Husband and going to stay, pump water out of the pool and try to protect the house as much as they can.

This sounds like a scary plan to me.

We can see flames coming down toward our house as well, but have not had an order of evacuation.

Believe me- we are getting our stuff together.

Many of our friends have left their homes.

I'll post more when I can.

The Fire is Moving Away!

As we returned toward our home after buying a backpack for

Mister Luke, we saw this. The scary thing was how low the fire looked.

You can see how it is edging its way down toward the homes, but the firefighters and all the air support are doing an amazing job kicking this fire's rear end.

And front and side ends for that matter.

It is moving away from our house, not toward it, which I am grateful for.

I'm continuing to pray protection over all the homes and families.

And believing in His sovereignty,

His Glory,

and His might!

And just in case you are getting sick of all of my fire reporting and coverage, here is something else to nibble on.

Isn't he just scrumptious?

In A Cloud Of Smoke

When Little Bear woke me for his five o'clock feeding,

I breathed in the smell of smoke.

It was in our house and with as many fires that we have had in the past in Southern California,

I have never smelled smoke in my home from before.

Hottie Husband turned on the news.

We listened until we knew we were still safe and then turned it off again.

"The moon is red!" Toots and Jackie Boy came in exclaiming at 7:30am.

Hottie Husband explained that it was actually the sun and it was the smoke that was causing it to look red.

We are in a cloud of smoke and ash is falling like snow from the sky.

It's hard to breathe.

It is completely still outside. No wind. No breeze.

And although this is causing it to be a bit eerie out and although it means we are sitting in a cloud of smoke, it also means that it is making it easier for those wonderful fire fighters to fight this fire.

Still Burning

It is 11pm and the fire is still trying to make its way over the ridge.

I took these in our side yard earlier tonight.
We could see some flames and then the helicopters and planes dropping water.

The older boys had some excitement about watching it,

but Toots was a little scared and nervous.

These were taken when we went to pick up some dinner at El Pollo Loco.

Look at this awesome chopper that was flying over our house and dropping water on the fire.

No, they have not used our pool water yet, much to Mister Luke and Jackie Boy's disappointment.






There are about five fires now burning in Southern California. One in Rancho Palos Verdes started a few hours ago and some homes have already burned. It is just so heartbreaking.

They have moved all the aircraft that were working on our fire to that fire.

A little disconcerting as I head to bed.

Five hundred acres have now burned and they are doing some voluntary evacuations.

We are still safe here, but the list of things to take is running in my mind.

Thanks for your prayers for our community!

California Fires in My Backyard

Today there is a fire raging in the hills behind our home.

The fire department just called and said it has burned 250 acres, but no structures are currently threatened.
We should remain alert and calm.

And I thought to myself- yes, alert and calm AND ready to rush out of the house with my children, dog and all of my important documents.

This would include grabbing my computer and therefore the over 12,000 picures that are on it.

These were taken on my way back from a doctor's appointment.

We live at the foothills of the mountain from behind which the smoke is coming from.

This one was taken earlier in the day, but very near our home and even closer to my sister and Hottie Husband's grandmother's house.

And this one was taken from my mom's driveway, a few blocks below us.

As you can see, they are using aircraft to fight the fire and they are trying to keep it from coming over the ridge. We have seen large flames come over at times and then the planes fly over and put it out.

It is amazing what these firefighters do, especially in this 100 degree heat!

We now have giant helicopters with hoses hanging down circling our house.

The boys are waiting for them to swoop down

and suck the water from our pool!

Crusty Baby Ears

Little Bear has recently developed this rash behind his ears. Rashes are not new to this family as Mister Luke had eczema as a baby and I feel like we have had every skin ointment, cream and treatment in this home at some point. In fact, I consider myself an expert on skin issues because of the amount of time I have spent treating them and researching. But, this one has me a little stumped although in the vague recesses of my mind, I think one of the other boys may have had this too.

It is a red, wet rash that crusts up . I showed it to the pediatrician at his 4 month check up and he said it looked like it could be cradle cap, but he wasn't sure. Hmmm, that didn't help much.

It does not seem painful to him when I wash behind his ears. I thought it might be yeast, so I put some Monistat cream on it. That hasn't helped much.

So I am calling on all the mommy advice out there. Any thoughts or suggestions? Here is a photo to help you in your expert diagnosis.

Words of Encouragement

A few weeks ago, my girlfriends took me to lunch for my birthday at this great little place with an outdoor patio. The patio has a fountain and an outdoor fireplace and oil cloth tablecloths. We have been going there for years to celebrate our birthdays. We always order the Caprese sandwich on Kalamata Olive bread with Rasberry Vinagarette. So delicious. We finish off the meal by "surprising" each other with a piece of very rich chocolate cake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a glowing candle. It is always lovely.

My birthday is actually this week so I will share with you the two gifts I received that day from my friends. The first was very tangible and practical and something I had really been wanting. My friend Heather pays attention that way. It was a nursing cover I had seen some of the other moms using. It is a Lait De Taule by Milky Juggs. Heather said NOT to google Milky Juggs. It was not a good experience for her. Rather, you can go direct to http://www.milky-juggs.com/.

I obviously think something is hilarious here. I could have been the joy of recieving this gift or the fact that the small band playing on the patio thought my name was Brianna and was singing Bri-annnnnn-aaaaa to the song Rhianna for my birthday. Crazy stufff- I don't know!

Anyway, I loved the colors- they are so me- and it is lightweight with boning around the top so you can see the baby. Most fabulous to use I must say.


I just discovered that one of the lovely ladies who follows my blog also makes nursing covers. Hers are called The Feeding Frock and they cover you all the way around the back.

The second gift I recieved that day was not tangible, but will last much longer than my milky juggs cover. When the meal was finished, each of my friends took turns speaking words of encouragement over me. They spoke to me of who they know me to be, things I had done for them in the past that I had forgotten, what they see me doing. There were some tears and laughs, but the words were from their hearts and spoken with such love that I was overwhelmed.

It is so encouraging to be seen...



to be known



and to be loved.

I bring this up not to brag about what great friends I have, although I do, and not to float my own boat because there are certainly negative things that could have been said, but rather to bring to mind the idea of speaking words of encouragement over others.

Words are so powerful and people need to hear them.

When we see something in someone, let us affirm them in it. Whether it be our children, our husbands or wives, our parents or siblings, our friends, acquaintances or even the clerk at the supermarket.

Everyone could use some enCOURAGEment.

Freedom!

We just returned from my boys' favorite place on Earth!

And it isn't Disneyland.

It is a place where...

sand castle building and contest winning

tug-o-war trying

and fishing with family

bicycle riding and tree root jumping

and talent show winning

super tree climbing

and flag football flying

fish catch and releasing

and capture the flag playing

ping pong tourneys

sea breeze riding

and karaoke singing

abounds.

There is also dock jumping, pool swimming, DJ Dance party rocking, scavenger hunting, dodgeball and baseball playing and store shopping.

Beyond all of this fun, I think that more than anything it is their favorite place because they feel

FREE!

They ride and roam and climb and play at will.

And I get a bit of freedom too!

REST

This is my friend Krista's little guy!