Hurricane IKE, Sept. 13, 1008

We have had an eventful two weeks. We knew Hurricane IKE was on it's way and we had time for some last minute preparations. I went to Sam's and stocked up on granola bars, chips, cookies and such. Also filled our 5 gallon water bottles that I usually store empty. I have our water barrels filled always. Filled the freezer with ice bags and gallons of water to freeze. We cleared out one side of the gargae that usually has bikes and such so we could get both cars in gargae. Moved all my plants undercover, not an easy feat as I must have 20 or so in containers. Took the umbrella's down around pool and stored furniture. Craig took the satellite dish down. Filled the cars and gas containers with gas. We checked the generator and made sure it would start. We moved Tyler's mattress into our room at his request. Then he also wanted me to sleep right by him. Then the waiting started. The first thing before any rain was the power went out. That surprised us. The storm really didn't get started until the middle of the night. Craig was up a few times to check on things. I finally thought Tyler was asleep so got back into my bed and then next thing I knew a little body was at my feet. So finally I told him to get in my place by Craig and I slept on his mattress. In the morning it was still so dark and we had a hard time seeing exactly what had happened. It began to rain again and Craig needed to unclog the drain in the back porch area.
As soon as it was light, he went out to the street and cleared the debris from our storm drain and it didn't take long for our street to drain of flooded water. Many neighbors came out and all pitched in the clear debris and cut limbs as needed.
Saturday to Wednesday, Craig, Tyler and Shad were out everyday helping as neighbors and church crews to clear debris and cut down limbs and such.
We had a couple of inches of rain on Saturday morning and then no more rain. But it was hot and humid. We slept in the backroom and ran the window AC for two nights. Then the humidity dropped and we had some pleasant days to work on clean-up. We moved back into the house for sleeping at night and just kept fans blowing on us at night. With our generator we were able to run the refrigerator, freezer, lamp, two or three fans and the TV. This was so nice to be able to get the news each day.
On Tuesday, I was asked to provide 15 lunches to send with Craig for the day. Our neighbor Helen Viola was cooking up a storm as she had to cook most of her freezer food or lose it. She had just brought over a 2nd beef brisket so I chopped it up and made sandwiches and added chips and cookies for lunch. (Good thing I bought those extra cookies and chips before the storm) The next day the whole crew came over and Helen just kept on cooking, we served chicken, beef and barley soup, meatloaf, beef chunks and gravy, mashed potatoes ( potato pearls are the best),
delicious rolls ( homemade by Lynn Hunter)and served 30-40 people that day.
Craig was back to his regular job on Thursday and Friday. Tyler started school this past Tuesday. Our church building still does not have power, the first Sunday was a work Sunday and any that could helped with clean-up. The 2nd Sunday we were provided a generator that ran two big fans, a portable microphone and a light and we had a wonderful sacrament meeting.
Power work crews were in our neighborhood all day Wednesday and by 8:30 pm we had our power back on. Hurray! We slept comfortably cool for the first time in 12 days. The next morning I was so anxious to get everything back to Normal, started a load of wash. Began putting camp stove away and extension cords and such. AT 8:15 am the power went out. I found the power crew guy and asked him how long , he said probably most of the day as they were still working on the lines in our neighborhood. Off to Amber's for the afternoon to finish up my laundry.
The power came back on by 6:30 pm and they said it should be for good. I'm still not putting the generator away just yet.
Having the generator was the best preparation we did as we didn't have to lose the food in the refrigerator or freezer. I was also able to give ice to neighbors and I just kept making it to share. This time around we did not lose water. There were a few days where we had to boil our water but we always had water for clean up and showers. The pool was also great as when it was hot we could work hard and then jump in the pool to clean up. Craig got all the leaves out and I shocked it every 3 days or so and water stayed pretty clear and clean.
I used our propane camp stove , just put it right in the kitchen and we used it everyday. A few years ago we replaced our windows and had screens on every window which was really a life saver with no AC as we could open up all windows and not let mosquitos in.
Jamie and I were talking and realizing that no matter where you live you need to prepare for the type of disaters that might come your way. What we did right:
Generator, non-perishable food, water, gas cans filled, plenty of extension cords,
propane for barbecue and camp stove, put coolers and generator in back room and house. Cleaned the gutters of leaf debris. Froze 2 gallons of milk, these lasted until stores once again were open. Cooked up chicken and roast the day before this got us through several meals before I had to cook again.

What we will do for next time:
1) Make sure we have access to third garage, after power went out we only had access through the attic and this is where we stored all gas, extension cords, etc.
2) I bought a better fan as this was needed with no AC, after the storm
3) Buy a few more propane gas containers, had to borrow from a neighbor for cook stove. Walmart by us was all sold out.
4)Buy a few new toys, play dough for kids.
5) Buy more bread to put in freezer.
Overall, if we had not had time to get anything last minute at the store we still would have had what we needed as we had been preparing for a long time and following our leaders counsels to prepare as a family.
We were without power for 12 days, there are still many in our area who do not have power. We feel so blessed as we did not have any major destruction and our home is in tact. Because of our preparation we did not have to seek out ice, water or food as so many had to, with all the long lines and heat. We were also able to help each other and our neighbors and they in turn helped us when we needed it.
Several of our close friends got power after a few days and had us over for dinner. That was a real treat. Blakes had us over on Friday, And Talbots had us over on Sunday. Then the Maxwells had us over on Monday. That was so nice not to have to worry about a meal on those days and enjoy eating in a cool place.
We did laundry at a few places and then Amber's power came on and we were able then to go there and keep up with this.
Kroger's grocery is still running on generators, they have restocked most everything now and I was able to get milk and bluebell icecream today. ( the essentials, ha!)
It was so nice to have Shad and Amy, Hailey, Zach, and Chloe so close so we could help each other out. I'm sure they are glad to be back at home and get back to a schedule. If the pictures for slide show are too small just double click on picture and it will bring up a large view that you scroll through on your own.

Bluebell Icecream

I have a sweet memory of eating vanilla icecream inside of a scooped out cantalope. It was always so yummy to slice a little cantalope with each spoon of vanilla icecream. Last year blue bell came out with this Cantalope and Vanilla icecream and it is soooo good. Taste just like eating it out of a cantalope. Now they only make this icecream once a year and you can only find it for a few weeks. Although I think vanilla icecream with hot fudge and nuts is still my favorite this ranks up there pretty high.

1 Day of School 2008 - 6th Grade

August 25, 2008, First day of Middle School for Tyler and first day of Kindergarten for Hailey.
Tyler was pretty excited and had gotten his supplies all organized and ready to take. Highlights of first day, Wow, we get 5 minutes between classes and since most of his classes are on the same Hall he feels like he has all this free time to himself. And then Lunch is so much more flexible than elementary school. No homework yet. Hailey also had a great day, she didn't have much to say but things would come out as the day went on. It was so hot 97 degrees this day and when Carrie got home from work she took Hailey and Zach swimming along with Tyler.

Summer Vacation 2008

On July 28, we (Craig, Candy and Tyler) flew to Seattle. Peggy picked us up along with Mom Hanis. All the family that live close came over to Mom's house that night to see us. What fun to see all the little ones a year older. Since we were here last summer, Kevin and Kelli moved to a new home and Sarah and Pat also moved to a bigger home.
Tuesday morning we packed up and headed to Kalaloch for a 4 day camping trip.
It was a little drizzley when we arrived at our camp but got all set up. The next day it was beautiful along the ocean. We headed to beach 4 to check out the smelt situation, they were no where to be found.
On Wednesday morning we drove to the Sol Duc Hot Springs. They have a big pool for swimming, and 3 other big hot tubs kept at different temperatures. It was heavenly since this was a very rainy day.
We did all the usual things, tide pool walk, ranger talks at night, cooking by the fire, and hiking through the trails. We saw a bald eagle, a dead seal on beach, little chipmunks, racoons, pelicans,and seagulls.
We came back to Mom's house on Saturday and got cleaned up and clothes washed.
The next week we went camping at Lake Wenatchee with most of the family.
There were 7 families that came. They have a lake we could walk to and swim in. It got quite warm during the day so the lake felt great but cool at night and in the mornings. We had a big camp potluck on Thursday night and that was very yummy. Pat set up his big screen outside and we watched Enchanted until all the little ones were too tired to stay awake. We biked and played games and enjoyed the big outdoors. We headed back to Moms's on Friday , Tyler stayed an extra day with Pat's family. On Monday the 11th, we headed to Hood Canal to Mark and Marci's home. What a treat was instore for us. Mark had 14 dungeness crabs for us to eat. He also made crab cakes, crab louis salad, a crab pasta salad, along with corn on the cob and french bread. What a feast! He sent us home with some salmon to cook and smoked salmon also. We had a great time, but always the highlight is renewing our relationships with family and seeing all the cousins and their families.
It was so great to be with Baba ( Craig's Mom) She is now on a Family History Mission that she can do from home and spends many hours each day helping others from the computer.

Random Summer Pics -2008

Offshore Fishing-Finally!!!

Craig, Tyler and Craig's friend, Taylor Maxwell took the boat off shore this past Friday. Shad and Dan were dying to go but both had to work. They tried to go over the long 4th week-end but the weather didn't co-operate and the waves were too high.
On Friday the waves were .7 feet, perfect weather for fishing offshore. They went out 16 miles off the south jetty. It was a hot day but that didn't slow them down. They caught lots of big fish, mosty King fish,Spanish maceral and Trigger Fish.

Swimming in July

Summer is always busy because of swim team and water polo. Tyler starts swim team in the middle of May. There are meets every Monday in June and then the championship meet is held before July 4th. Water polo starts in June and we ended with the tournament this week. It was an all day event. The 14 and under boys don't have enough boys so the 12 and under boys join in with this team and also play in their age division. We played the older division in the morning on Thursday and came back for the 12 year old division at 5:00. The games are about 45 minutes long and they play hard swimming with their heads out of the water, no goggles and moving that ball around to score goals much like soccer in the water. Tyler is a pretty good ball handler and scored many goals throughout the season.
For swim team, he swims freestyle, butterfly, breastroke and is usually on the Medley relay team. He improved as season continued and swam in the breastroke and the Medley relay for the Championship. Their relay placed first. It's been another fun swim season.