Life Goes On

   Today was a very hard day.  Everyone keeps saying that they're so impressed with how well Mike and I are handling our house fire and how we are staying so positive which we are and appreciate people realizing that.   But we are both experiencing a lot of pain as well.  Today was our last chance to walk through the house and dig out and locate items that we want to save.  These items may not be able to be cleaned but we are still allowed to keep them.  For me, this process made the fire finally real.  I had been avoiding our attic.  Even though I had been told by Mike and by some people working in the house that it was bad, I hadn't really believed it.  In my mind, things were still ok up there.  Mike and I went up there today to see if there was anything else we could save.  We were able to find some things -- a handful of Christmas ornaments, Christmas stockings that Mike's Grammy had knitted for us, several of my mother's Christmas decorations.  Finding all of that was great - brought a lot of tears of joy.  But today as I realized what was lost the pain became searing.  Seeing your childhood Christmas ornaments and decorations melted together or singed beyond recognition is very hard.  All of those memories of those items now seem tarnished in my mind.  Especially hard for me was finding our Elf on a Shelf that my mother had bought for us -- she was destroyed.  That elf was a source of laughter for my mother and me during her last month of life and something I really enjoyed doing with the children.  I know it can be replaced but it won't be THE elf that she bought for us or laughed about together.

 Gah - things are very tough right now but there are many things to be thankful for.  Since the demolition part starts tomorrow that means the reconstruction process is that much closer.  We are starting to think about the design of our house and Pinterest is super fun!  We are in our new home and slowly getting moved in...thank goodness for President's Day on Monday -- maybe we can get the house a bit more organized while the twins are at school!

 So..just a few pictures to share.  Thank you to everyone again for all of the thoughts, money, resources, toys, clothes....much love to all of you.  I look forward to the day where I am no longer the person people are feeling sorry for but rather the person to bring comfort and solace to people in their time of need.

This was taken in our hotel - we were all so glad to be back together as Mike's parents had kept the children over the weekend.  We are so thankful that they had a place of happiness and comfort to go to during the first few chaotic days.

My dad drove down the day after the fire to offer some comfort and be another set of ears.  He was just two weeks out from having a hip replacement surgery and probably shouldn't have driven.  However, we now know that you'll do anything you can to help your kids feel better and having him here made me feel better.

Eating Cheetos with a spoon...yup - anything was allowed during the first few days!

Even though we needed exactly 2 items, we let the twins ride around CVS in these carts.

We were in a hotel from Friday to Tuesday.  We were able to move into our new home Tuesday evening.  We are very thankful to City Line Construction for making this process move so quickly.

The kittens (and Raz!) are very happy in our new home.

We have a great yard to ride the gator around in!

Crafts are back in full swing!

We are living in a really beautiful spot...

...with lots of deer sightings all ready!

We are enjoying ALL of the donations from our friends and family.  THANK YOU!

I am so thankful for my college roommate, Liz, ,and her husband and family.  They traveled to our new home over the weekend and brought lots of great things for the twins but most importantly gave us love and company.

 Super Bowl Sunday was fun -- new nail polish courtesy of Aunt Jill was a big hit!

We returned to church this weekend.  It's amazing how your life experiences can completely change your perception of what you are told in church.  It was a beautiful day!

 Yes....the kittens are sleeping in little beds in a tent in the basement.  And yes, it is completely adorable.

 My colleague and friend, Michelle, brought her daughter's doll house and son's train table to our home Friday night.  Such perfect hand-me-downs!!

Oh yes -- and this fun bike, too!

LOTS of stuff needs to be put together - this is right up Cameron's alley!

And in closing, this is a letter I received from a student with $5 enclosed.  I think the letter speaks for itself.