flood

On Sunday, September 22nd, I found myself in the mother's lounge feeding the baby and wrote the following.  After Relief Society I asked what I had missed in the announcements, and Jana told me she and encouraged everyone to write a journal entry about the flood.  Check!  Even though I wasn't in the room, at least I was on the same wave length.

I feel like I have to mention something about the flood. Kaelah got an

entire week off of school and it went by so fast. Basic story: it
rained and it rained and it rained and then rained some more. Soon
even major streets were closed and we realized both our old ward and
our current ward were getting hit HARD by either the St. Vrain River
or Left Hand Creek. Facebook was our portal for information as friends
and organizations updated statuses and posted pictures and videos.
Incredible. When I saw our old sub development got the evac notice, I
called Donna and the Whipple family prepared to stay with us. At
bedtime we decided it was safe for them to return. She later told me
the sump pump ran all night long but gratefully, did its job and the
basement was spared. Their storage shed wasn't and on Tuesday I
watched Caroline, William, and Serena from 10am to 6pm so they could
go clean 3 ft of muddy water out of the shed. Donna said they had
about half their possessions in storage and about 2/3 of it was
destroyed. Although it was quite tiring to have seven children ages
six and under at my home, I am glad I got to help a little.

Dan couldn't work in Boulder on Thursday or Friday, but they were able
to get machines back online Friday afternoon even though buildings
flooded. (The community garden and volleyball courts were wiped out).
So Dan worked from home Friday afternoon and Saturday and was back at
work on Monday. He did take Tuesday afternoon off as vacation to help
clean up at a family's home from the Longs Peak Ward.

As for our home, looks like the builders didn't install the weather
proofing correctly on the back door so our wood floor is now warped
from where rain entered. Hopefully it is an easy fix and is covered by
Meritage's warranty. We shall see.

My own parents had two inches of water in their basement, where the
missionaries live. Last Sunday 20 members of the church cleaned it up
before their meetings started at 1pm. I am grateful because they
received help since I need to take care of my little ones.

We now have church at 1pm in the 11th Ave. building because we can't
get to the Lyons building anymore. The town was almost washed away and
officials say it will be about four months before families are allowed
to return to their homes.  We assume the same goes for the church
building we attended for only 5 weeks. The children are happy to be
back. For me, it hurts my heart a little to be in the same place but
not attended the ward we were members of for so many years.   But
there are some great people here, so I'm sure I just need to give it
some time.

I feel grateful not only for our brand new home but that it is ok. And
that no one we know got seriously hurt or died in the flood.

Here we are running the RC boat where the path to the elementary school usually is.

Zachary still managed to have his 5th birthday party and it was a huge neighborhood hit.

Future babysitter!  I'm so glad to have a neighbor who enjoys holding the baby.  It's good to have an extra set of hands when my older 3 need or want something.

When the roads were clear enough to go, I took the children to the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.  The I-25 was closed at 119 so we took 36 and it worked out just fine.  Gave us an outing during an entire week off of school.  Had I know this was going to happen, I probably would have convinced Dan to fly us to CA!

Here's a picture of Dan helping to clean up from the flood.  He did so a couple times while I stayed home with children.  One day I had 7 children ages 6 & under here so that the W. family could clean out their storage shed that had been flooded.  What a day that was!  They were good but exhausting.  And at one point Danny decided to chase everyone with a bottle of mustard.  What a mess!  My mom and Dan and I all worked on that clean up.  Silly boy!

Here's a pic from our backyard during the rain.  The landscapers had finally arrived the day it began raining.  All things considered, having to wait for the back yard was not a big deal.  It's just that my parents were watching Meigo for us until we had grass back there and we missed our dog.  But it's done now and the dog is back.  In fact, she's the reason I'm catching up on our blog this morning!  At 4am she wanted let out in the back yard.  Her stomach is a mess because she refused to eat the "senior" dog food Dan bought her and keeps getting into the trash I thought she wouldn't be able to reach.  It's built into a cabinet in the island, for crying out loud.  Well, I got out of bed after finally getting Natalie back to sleep, let Meigo out, go to the bathroom, and go to let her in.  But she's gone.  So I'm outside in bare feel and pjs in the pitch black walking on very wet snow to go out and find her.  She was taking her sweet time out in the pocket park.  Arggg.  And to make me really mad, I realized the brand new carpets for under the dinning room table were still out on the fence getting this wet snow on them.  Why were they hanging out to dry?  Because on Sunday the dog ate the haunted gingerbread house we made and then pooped on the rug while we were at church.  I was so mad and hungry I didn't even try to go back to sleep.  I ate a bowl of cereal, wrote someone I visit teach a Halloween card, and here I am.  I must admit, I do like having first world problems.  Oh, I hear one of my kids.  Time to go upstairs.
P.S.  I went upstairs and got N back to sleep. I was almost asleep too when the dog began to whine & jumped on the bed.  I told her to go get Dad.  Luckily, she went downstairs so at least she could poop on the wood floor instead of the carpet.  Arg!  So, now the diarrhea is all cleaned up and life can go on.  Turns out it's a good thing the rugs weren't back in the dinning room yet.