After the Flood… September 15th, 2013

The Sunday after the flood, we went to church. After church, the boys wanted to take a look at Expo park. So in the photo, you can see that metal guardrail, right? That guardrail is normally about 20 yards HIGHER than the water on an average day. So as you can see, the pond was pretty flooded. Believe it or not, during the flood, it was overflowing into Alameda and the gully between the church parking lot and the park. It was insane.

While the boys were checking out the aftermath of the flood, they noticed a few of its victims on the ground, teeny tiny minnows. Poor little guys were just running out of water. Enoch, Patrick, Travis, and Adriana were on a rescue mission! They picked up as many minnows at they could and returned them to the pond and safety. They made quite a few trips too. I know they didn’t save them all but they saved a lot. They were just so concerned! We had to end the rescue mission when it started to rain heavily again. 

Enoch was more heartbroken than the rest of the kids about those baby fish. He just couldn’t stand the fact that most of them would probably meet their fate in a few short days. Poor kiddo, he has such a big heart and most of that heart is occupied by his love for God’s creatures. I love him so much.

The Flood - September 12, 2013

One day, in September, it started to rain in Colorado. It rained, and it rained, and it rained. And it RAINED. It just poured. It wouldn’t stop. It continued all day long and just got heavier and worse. Enoch went to school, and as I was dropping him off, I thought, “This is madness. Why am I leaving Enoch at school? Why is school not cancelled? This really isn’t safe.” Against my better judgment,  I left him at school. The rain just kept falling, and the water kept rising. One of our friends from church sent out a mass text offering to pick up Enoch early since they were getting their kids as well. I said YES! Enoch was home by noon and thank goodness because the streets were starting to flood and they were closing streets down and most of the streets that were closing were around Enoch’s school.

This lake appeared over by Enoch’s school, its normally just a grassy area. No longer! Mother Nature decided a lake would look better here.

Didn’t drive too close to this curb!

Now onto our basement photos. The wall started leaking where the pipes for the sprinkler system was. All because that area was flooded. I spent an hour outside with a wet/dry vac sucking the water out of the sprinkler system to no avail. It would fill up as quickly as I could get it out. Once Joe came home, he dug a trench from the sprinkler system to the back yard, that actually really helped!

The basement continued to flood even though we had diverted the water from the sprinkler system. Later, we realized the water wasn’t coming from that wall in the basement, it was actually coming up through the floors. INSANE! So the water kept coming up.

And coming…

And coming..

And coming..

And coming…

It just never stopped. It did however make its way to the drain finally and never got above an inch of standing water. I spent most of my day moving boxes from the basement to the garage. Luckily, the kids entertained themselves while I stayed so busy with this awesome project. We actually were very lucky in the flooding department. Bonnie & Lawry had about 6 inches of standing water in their basement which ruined the carpet and a lot of furniture. Some friends in our ward had nonstop flooding for weeks, even after the flood. I felt so bad for them! And they had just remodeled their entire basement! Our neighbor Richard and his wife had FOUR FEET of standing water in their basement and lost everything. It was so sad. They were cleaning out for weeks.  

Needless to say, it was a rough week for a lot of people. The street just west of ours had really bad flooding and all the sewage flooded their basements. The ENTIRE street! Just awful.

We had FEMA come out and check our damage. I think we got about $400. Not much but it helped with the clean up and we really didn’t have too much damage. And honestly, it was a great excuse to clean some junk out so I really couldn’t complain too much. It also helped us organize the basement and a few of the kids toys. I still have a lot of stuff to go through and get rid of but this got the ball rolling. We also rented a dumpster a few weeks later and tossed a lot of trash and junk and yard trash from the flood, etc.

You can kind of see the trench Joe duh in this photo. Everything was just a mess!

Water coming through the windowsill!!! AAH!!

It was madness but an experience. It made me grateful for a lot of things. Friends. Family, a good home, mother nature, we really needed the water!!! It really brought out the love and support of our neighbors, city, state, etc.

September 2013 will be a month to remember for us!

Last Lazy Warm Days - August 2013

The three of them, checking out a book before school one morning. Travis is a little emotional when he first wakes up in the mornings so that’s why he looks a little sad. And mostly because Enoch is trying to take the book from him.

While Enoch was at school, Travis, Gwen, & I went to see my mom. She wanted to take Travis to the splash park by her house and have us meet Snickers, my Uncle Shawn’s new dog.

Travis & his Auntie Alana checking out their favorite stuff, CANDY! Too bad it wasn’t real candy!

Travis, just chilling by himself at the splash park. It was a neat little park. We’ll have to go back when the weather warms up again.

Relaxing. The life of a 4 year old is rough.

Travis ended up staying at my Mom’s house because he wasn’t ready to leave so Gwen & I headed home to pick Enoch up and take a trip to Costco. They look so fun in their shades!

Then we visited Papa at work and rode on his golf cart for a minute. Enoch was thrilled.

It’s a good thing I bought this suit on clearance because this was the one and only time she wore it, to try it on. Haha.

Waiting in the car to pick Enoch up at school. I love sweet moments like these. So sweet!

Cleaning out the garage with Joe & Christian! Trying to make sense of the madness in there…

Those are all tools.. and there’s actually MORE of them, haha.

This cleaning out was a success though and we can actually park the car in the garage now. Love it!

Sweet, napping Gwen.

Isn’t the sky gorgeous? I took this while waiting for my clients to show up for their maternity session. It was a pretty special session to me and I’m glad I got to meet this amazing couple. The sky had been threatening rain all day and this gorgeous patch of blue sky opened up just before they arrived, and hung out until we left. It was just SO perfect. The Lord is watching out for us.

The first few weeks of school are great. The boys end up being a little more exhausted than usual so they get along better. And I’m sure it doesn’t hurt that they actually miss each other too.

A day at the zoo with the Nardones. I was lazy this trip and these were the only two photos I took. I know, I’m awful! Haha. It was a really fun day though.

A friend of ours was moving out of state and didn’t need these two book shelves or the dining set anymore so he gave them to us. SO awesome. It feels so nice to have a real dining set that fits more than four people and the shelves were just an added bonus. They fit perfectly in our dining room and make it feel even more like home. Love them! We plan to refinish the surface of the table one day. Maybe once the kids are  a little older and start learning how to treat furniture nicely. ; )

Yeah, THIS was a HUGE day for me and maybe for Gwen too. ; ) Her hair is finally long enough to just stick a bow in it instead of wearing a headband. SO CUTE! I was a little excited.  

Enoch’s self portrait he did at school of him playing lacrosse. LOVE IT! He’s so good at drawing!

Her favorite toy, the remote!!

Travis has become a Broncos fan! Love, love, loves them! When he wears his jersey (that is sadly two sizes too small for him), he will ask random strangers at the store if they are Bronco fans and if they will be cheering for them. He also tells them that they are going to win. He’s awesome. Just loves them!