So we've been staying with my sister Yeagi and her husband Jonathan for a couple weeks until my aunt's apartment in Provo is available. We are planning to stay at the apartment until we find a house for us to move in. It's been really fun staying with them, and the kids just love it. We have fun planning dinners together, and the kids love running around (another) big house and watching Yeagi give piano/violin lessons.
On Thursday, we noticed that there was some smoke coming from the mountains beyond Saratoga Springs and Eagle Mountain. We didn't think of it as too much of a big deal since they were saying the fire was no where close to where the houses were and that they were going to contain it soon.
Well, the next morning, Yeagi and I were just relaxing at the house with the kids while the husbands were away at work. Yeagi was expecting a student at 11 am, and we heard the doorbell at 10 minutes to 10. I went to get the door, and before I could even get half way up the stairs, I heard a loud knock. I was thinking, "who is this rude, impatient person knocking on the door?" I was surprised to find the sheriff at the door and also to smell thick smoke outside the house. He said, "We are evacuating this area. You have to pack up and leave."
Yeagi and I started packing right away, and I called Joe. He decided to come back home to get us, and while we were waiting, I packed up most of our stuff (we were living out of suitcases and totes anyway so it wasn't too difficult). Another knock, and it was the fireman telling us that we had to get out soon. I told him my husband was 10 minutes out and he left. Then 10 minutes later, another guy came back and said we had to leave immediately and couldn't wait for Joe. I grabbed what I could and put the kids in Yeagi's car, and Joe arrived just in time.
We put most of our stuff in the back of our car, and Yeagi took the kids and some of her stuff (clothes for two days, toothbrushes, and Jonathan's textbooks). We drove to my aunt's apartment in Provo, and stayed there for the night. It was where we were going to move to anyway, so we decided to just move early and stay there. We kept watch on the fire and had to eat out all the meals since my cousins had no food (Not even milk. Yeagi and I had stocked her fridge just the day before!).
Turns out, they have a really abnoxious neighbor downstairs that yells at them for walking too loudly or doing the loundry after 8pm, so I had to keep the kids very quiet and let them just watch tv all day since I didn't think toys were important enough to bring (what was I thinking. I should've grabbed at least one of the 10+ boxes of toys we had packed away). The kids were getting really, really antsy and frustrated.
The night was very unrestful since we couldn't fit the kids beds in the car, and I didn't think to get Ellie's playpen. She had a hard time going to bed since she tried to get out of the room and was knocking on the door forever. Later in the night, we went to check on her to see if she went back to her makeshift bed we made on the floor with blankets, and we found her sleeping in Al's place on his pillow, with Al kicked off to the side of the mattress.
The next day, the evacuation order was lifted in the late afternoon, and we decided to go back to Yeagi's for a night (for food and the kids beds). The kids were soooooo happy that we were back, and were running around screaming for hours. Well, we decided to stay for another week (at least until the baby comes). Joe has to go back to the apartment after work today and bring back everything we took there... :S
Anyway, our living situation is horrible and exciting (!?) at the same time, and I'm just glad that the kids are handling it as well as they are. I'm already going crazy with all the moving we've had to do and still have to do, and also waiting for the baby hasn't really been easy since it's been five days since the doctor told me the baby was gonna come in the next day or two. We're trying to make the best out of our situation and hopefully we'll be able to find a place soon!
"Studying" with Uncle Jonathan's precious DVD collection
Playing on Yeagi's fake violin
Everything burned.. in their "backyard."
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