What a journey!

We are simply having too much fun!


Butter seems to be having a growth spurt. She fell and got a nice goose-egg at the grocery store, and then she fell of the bench at the pool and bruised her chin. Next she tripped over a pillow and really got her chin on the fire safe. Then she walked into the firing zone of rocks being launched into the lake, and later she slipped of the chair and banged her lip on the desk. My mom always said I was growing when I was tripping up stairs and being real clumsy, so I conclude, Butter must be growing!

Monday night we got sent home early from VBS on base because there weren't enough bathrooms for the children to take cover in during a tornado and weather conditions were ripe for one. What?! We drove home checking the sky and weather channel on my phone while running through a makeshift emergency plan. I doubt being in a travel trailer is where we should be in a tornado... We decided the middle shower of the bath house would be the best place, and also thought it wise to pray for no tornados. Crisis averted.


Yesterday while we were eating lunch I heard a curious splashing noise and looked for the dog water since Pops loves to play in it. The dog water was already up on the counter. Pops was sitting in a huge puddle on the floor, water was everywhere. I yelled for Boy to run outside and shut off the water and for Guys to get towels while I investigated the cause. The nice lady at the front desk asked for our emergency number when we moved in here, just in case something happened and we were away. She mentioned that flooding was the number one problem with travel trailers. Well, we might as well get an early start!
Sure enough, the hose to the drinking water spigot had blown. Boy ran to get one of the neighbors while I started pulling out all of our stuff from the cupboards hit by the damage. Books, books, and more books, of course! And no, I wasn't storing books under the sink. There are double sided cupboards that happen to be near the sink, and there are books in about every empty spot in the trailer. We love books.
We spread the wet books out all over the trailer and set the fan blowing into the cupboards to dry it out. I wish I had taken a picture.
Our kind neighbor fixed the leak and the problem that cause it. We used every towel we had to sop up the carpet and everything else that was wet. Thank God we were home when this happened, this amount of flooding happened in a matter of minutes. Can't even imagine a day out.

I was trying to decide if we cared to go to VBS after that fiasco. Since the children weren't impressed with the watered down stories, the house was a mess with stuff drying out, and it looked like rain, I didn't really feel like going. I decided to check the weather, I figured I could use it as an excuse to not go.
Well, there was a warning for a thunderstorm, ground lighting and a high wind advisory. I looked outside and saw nothing. I sent a text to dad saying there was going to be another storm. I called Boy to come help me outside; I wanted to put some of our stuff in to the van so I could bring in the awning if it got too windy.
In the amount of time it took us to grab some items and walk 10 feet to the van it started pouring on us and a huge wind gust came out of nowhere. I threw the stroller in the van and slammed the door shut as I heard Guys scream. I ran to find her and saw the awning was being pulled straight up into the air in a way it was definately not supposed to go.
It was so windy and raining so hard that I could hardly see. Large items from the neighbors’ houses were blowing towards us and it was crazy.
We made our way to the door of the trailer and it wouldn't open. Now my mind is really racing, one of the three youngest has somehow locked us out! I banged on the door and after what seemed like forever it finally opened. Peanut was standing there with wide eyes and she said "I thought a tornado was taking you away."
Safe inside we all looked at each other and hugged. We were completely drenched. I got the children calmed down while I tried to decide what to do. It was pouring buckets on our stuff that was no longer protected by the awning.
I had the children lay out the already wet towels from the earlier flood and empty the laundry from the bath tub while and I ran back out and brought in what I could. We worked on getting stuff dry until the rain let up. It didn’t take long to slow enough that I went out to assess the damage.
I climbed up on the roof, skirt and all, to get the awning off the air conditioning unit. It looked like such a mangled mess, I was sure there was going to be a big dent in the paying off of our debt.



I finally found and sorted through all of the pieces and set forward in attempt to salvage it. Some of the screws were ripped out of the side of the trailer, and parts were stuck up on the roof. I didn’t know what was what or what went where, but I couldn't just leave it like that.
Back up on the roof I went (this was the hardest for me, I have become not so fond of heights in my old age) and I positioned the awning so I could reach it from the ground so it wouldn't slam everything. I almost snuck the use of a not-home-neighbors ladder, but decided against it. I had to stack up the cooler and a cinder block to reach it the part I dropped over the side. I had no idea how heavy that awning was!
Whew. I finally got it all put back together to discover, thankfully, only one small piece is broken.

Nothing a tie-down couldn't cure, I fixed it! At least, it will work until my Knight comes home. I just know dad is jealous about all this fun he is missing out on! We are sure ready for him to be home, lol.

I decided this would be a good night to go out to dinner; I felt I finally had an acceptable excuse. On the way out, we saw that our awning was not the only one to be mangled. I must admit, I was a little relieved. But I feel sorry for the people who are out of town.

We are simply staying positive. This will be a memorable year!

Do not be dismayed says the Lord, for I know the plans I have for you. They are plans for peace and not disaster, plans for a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11

We have to remember when we read this verse, His ways are not our ways. Peace doesn’t mean the wind won’t blow and the storm won’t come. It means that my heart won’t be troubled in the midst of it. It doesn't mean I will always be spared from pain, sickness, or heartache and it doesn't say my every prayer will be answered with a "yes" and I'll have everything I want. It does mean, however, through whatever happens, God will bring me to the wonderful end.