Mink Creek fire

When my parents lived in Mink Creek in the 90's, I thought that it was an absolutely ideal place to live.  Although you could be in town in just a few minutes, you could also stand on the deck and smell that you were in the forest.  I loved that smell.  Now the smell is charred and the beautiful landscape is interrupted by burnt-out skeletons of homes and vehicles. 

 

A fire, started from an accidental spark from a vehicle, began in the dry conditions on Charlotte Street and burned 66 homes before it could be contained.  Firemen from neighboring counties and states came to help battle the blaze, since many of our own firemen were in Colorado fighting the devastating fires there.  It was amazing that more homes weren't destroyed, since the dry conditions and high winds drove the fire directly to the Indian Hills neighborhood, with hundreds of homes in its path.  Gratitude for these brave firefighters was evident in signs all throughout the Mink Creek area.

Del and I drove the kids to the area a week later to see if my parents' old home was still standing.  We had heard that it might have burned down and we were anxious to see. I couldn't take a picture of the home without going onto the front lawn, so I just took a picture of the back driveway, which serves as a dividing line for two properties.  My parents' house to the right was untouched, but the house to the left was completely destroyed, as well as the houses across the street.

We drove up into the hills and saw that many, many homes were now just burnt rubble.  We were surprised at how little there was left on each property.  The fire consumed most things, leaving very little evidence of all of the stuff we prize so much and fill our houses with.  It was interesting to see how one house would be spared and the neighboring one would be completely gone.  The wind had been so strong that it had blown sparks everywhere and constantly changed the direction of the fire.

At one property, the house was gone and the trees were blackened, but a deer had found some refuge there.

  Down the road, we saw a mother nursing two fawns on the front lawn of an untouched house.  It must have seemed like a safe place for her and her babies.

  It has been quite a shock for our community, but it is always amazing how tragedies can bring out the best in people.  Donations began pouring in so fast that officials had to ask people to wait until they could determine what the needs were.  Then the community began having fundraisers to help those who hadn't been insured.  Fortunately, it was determined later that all homes were insured (even though two families had defaulted on payments and thought they were uninsured, their banks had maintained payments). The LDS church organized a huge clean-up a week later and had over 2,000 men available to help clear the properties.  They came armed with chainsaws, trucks, shovels, and some willing hearts.  Del and Devin were happy to be helping, although they were pretty dirty and tired by the time the day was over.  Each homeowner, some with houses that were saved and some with houses that weren't, had been assigned a group of men and a truck.  The men cut trees and garbage and hauled them to the dump, as well as doing anything else the homeowner needed. There will be more clean-ups over the next few months, but none as big as this one.  We have also been collecting needed supplies for a family who is staying with relatives in our ward, the Lambsons.  They had a list of immediate needs and it was nice to be able to help. I had found a beautiful, new set of scriptures in a case at a yard sale the previous week and had bought it, although no one in our family needs another one, so I took it to her with some other things our ward had collected.  It had the previous owner's name on the cover, Agnes something, but other than that it had never been used.  Sis. Lambson told me that she marked her first scripture in it the next day and it made her cry.  She said it was her favorite donation.  It's been a sad thing for our community but a great opportunity to pull together and help each other out.

Emma's exciting month

Proud Emma and her cheesy father

 June was a big month for Emma.  First, she reached a major goal she has been working on all year.  Each year all of the 6th graders have an opportunity to win a $300 mountain bike and helmet from a local car dealership.  Emma has been so excited for the chance to win that bike for the past few years, since she knows it's her only shot at riding a non-hand-me-down beautiful bike!  All the kids have to do is have perfect attendance, including being on time each day.  That's all.  That's all?!  This was the hardest school year of my life!  Every time Emma was around someone who coughed or blew their nose she got a panicked look on her face, afraid she'd catch whatever foul germs they had and miss a day of school.  I was worried that she would become a germaphobe after this year, but so far she is a normal 12 year old.  Every night in her prayers, she remembered to ask Heavenly Father to bless her that she wouldn't get sick so she could earn a bike.  And He did bless her!  When the rest of our family caught colds and flu, she always managed to wait for a weekend or holiday.  Lucky girl! Then there was the worry about tardies.  We carpooled with a the Hibberts and whenever it was their week to drive we would have at least one day of Emma in tears and panic as they pulled up late to pick her up.  Their daughter wasn't a 6th grader and had no reason to hurry in the morning, often driving her parents crazy with her snail's pace.  She's a sweet, stubborn, slow child and we love her, but I wasn't sure if her friendship with Emma would survive if she made her lose that beautiful bike, so for the last few months of school we had Emma go with my friend, Maggie, the secretary at the school.  She was 45 minutes early for school every day and loved it!  No more stress and plenty of time to help and chat with her teacher each morning.  And the result?  She was one of seven 6th graders at our school who got a bike!

 

The dealership sponsored a free picnic for all of the winners and their families and presented them with their new bike.  There were hundreds of people there, and I think they gave away over 300 bikes.  It's pretty generous and the kids love it, although it really stresses parents out.  Emma has been having a great time riding around the neighborhood, so I guess it was all worth it!

Emma's other big event in June was her play, The Music Man.  She loves performing and she gets to do it twice a year with CMT.  She was a Pick-A-Little Lady, along with her friends, Priscilla and Britlyn, and they did a terrific job!

The girls with their teacher, Dana Atkins, who announced that it was her last play.  The girls were so sad that she has moved

Emma did her own hair every day in a Gibson Girl style.  She's pretty talented!

Emma's 6th grade teacher, Jessica Baker, came to support her and brought Emma her favorite flowers.  She's so sweet.  We love her!

Catching up: May events

May was full of some pretty big events for our family, so I'm going to hit the highlights.
First, we had Chris' graduation from high school.  He is officially learned and wise now, or so he tells me.

He was rotten about posing for a picture, so these are the best I have.  Sorry, son, but it's your own fault!

 

Emma had a very exciting graduation from elementary school, as well.  She was chosen by her teacher to receive the Hope of America award!  We were so excited for her.

 

There were 6 winners from Emma's school: Sidney Olcott, Luke Yost, Rachel Brown, Emma, and two who couldn't attend the district awards ceremony: Avery Hall and Jared Olsen.

Here she is with her teacher, Jessica Baker, and her friends who also won the award: Sidney Olcott, Avery Hall, and Rachel Brown.  Emma loved this year in school and thinks the world of Miss Baker.  She came to Emma's plays and brought her flowers.  She also came to an Activity Days fashion show for our ward.  She was very supportive, as well as being an excellent teacher.

Maren's big event of the season was her symphony concert.  It's always hard to get a decent picture at a symphony, but I did my best.

 They played several terrific pieces, including the Spiderman theme, and 'Morning' and  'Hall of the Mountain King' from Peer Gynt.  It's really fun to go to her symphony concerts and hear how talented these high school students are.

 

Chris voted in his first 'real' election!  Last time he voted in our first caucus.

 The 6th grade class always (except for Maren's year) gets to host a medieval fair for the rest of the school.  They build castles, dress in costume, and serve food to the visitors.  Emma made her castle out of rock hard marshmallows that were at least a decade old.  She had a Lego Rapunzel and prince at one tower.

 

On the last day of school, Emma got the Citizenship Award and a reading award.  Then the 6th graders went outside to play water balloon volleyball.  She has had a terrific time at Washington, and she's really excited about middle school next year.

I don't have a picture of Devin's big last days of school, but he created electrical circuits and got one of the highest grades in his program!  He's really enjoying his mechatronics courses and he does really well in them.

Emma's big day....12!

Emma is 12!  She looks like a young woman, now, instead of a little girl, and she's quite grown-up! She is now in the Young Women program and already working on the Personal Progress goals.  She's a very good student and will start middle school in the fall.  She loves to babysit and is so good with kids, especially her nephew, Liam, who loves her. 

 Emma loves to watch old movie movies and 60's TV shows, so I got her the Brady Bunch.  She has been watching them nonstop and wants to find clothes so she can dress like Marsha, Marsha, Marsha!

 Emma picked out some of her presents, and these shoes were her favorites. She is always very fashionable!

 Emma got to have a party with some of her favorite people: Emily Park, Sidney Olcott, Priscilla Hibbert, Britlyn Vincent, Rachel Brown, and Laura Riley.  They have all been her friends for years and they are terrific girls.

 They had lots of fun being silly and playing Just Dance.  They really have some great moves now!

Prom 2012

 I think Prom is almost more fun for moms than for teenagers!  Michelle and I had a great time laughing at our attempts to make corsages and boutonnieres.  They turned out pretty, though, and we spent hours catching up.  Chris and Megan Oborn doubled with Tyler Winder and Esther Deakin.

 Of course, the moms got a little crazy with the cameras, but that's what we're supposed to do, right?

Toukine Deakin, Sally, Michelle Winder

Blocking the sun

 

 They had a great time at the Prom and the moms had fun, too!

Senior Prom: The Ask and the Answer

 

When Chris decided to ask his friend, Megan, to the Prom he immediately started thinking about how he would ask her. He tried to bake her a cake, but it was his first attempt and it didn't turn out very well.  This tulip and honey bee bouquet is what we eventually came up with, and he had it delivered to her at school.  The card said, "Honey, it would sure bee sweet if you would go to the Prom with me!"

Megan answered Chris in the same honey bee theme.  She gave him a big bumble bee and a bag of Bit O'Honey candy.  The card said, "I'd bee delighted to go to the Prom with you.  We'll hive a great time!"

Very cute!