"Contra-...what?" "ContraFLOW"

Exciting times in Louisiana.

There are blessings to be found (really there are) in the midst of preparing for a potential hurricane. No, it's not the salamander (or maybe it’s a gecko?) that greeted Rebecca while doing laundry this morning (true story, see photo of his/her release below).

It's a new word I learned today: "contraflow" (when lanes of traffic are converted into the opposite direction--in our case to northbound traffic only--to aid in evacuation). Now, if one lane of traffic is still left open to continue traveling southbound, then it’s not *true* contraflow…*all* lanes of traffic have to be heading the same direction. Whew, I’m glad I was able to share this vital information.

The last 2 days have felt a little like the few days leading up to Christmas--people are excited/stressed, doing lot's of shopping, and there's lot's of traffic on the roads. Except in our current situation, instead of rushing to buy iPods, DVD's, and flat screen TV’s, folks are rushing Wal-Mart to buy bottled water and food, Lowe’s to buy generators and window unit A/C, and gas stations to top off the tank (most gas stations here are pretty much sold out).

It's a little surreal at times, for instance while driving home with the kids last night from Wal-Mart, as we drove south, the northbound lanes of our local highway were jammed with campers/trucks/cars heading north (evacuees from the south).

It reminds me of fond memories of the ice storm that Rebecca and I drove *through and to* when we were newlyweds shortly after moving to the D.C. area. Even though there were news reports of "a terrible ice storm...don't travel if you don't have to...", I was naive and thought, "Come on, what's a little ice storm to a guy that grew up in Utah snow storms." Well, we soon found out the answer to that question. It took us hours and hours to drive to Williamsburg--bumper to bumper traffic, moving at 0-5 mph at times, and weaving around multiple downed trees in the pitch-dark highway. It was surreal. We eventually arrived at Williamsburg Christmas Eve night to find that *all* electricity in the town was out. So we kept driving to neighboring cities until we found room in the inn. There’s nothing quite as memorable as spending Christmas Eve in a small hotel, the two of us watching Adam Sandler on the TV sing his Chanukah song. It was actually a fun adventure, one that I will always have fond memories of. I hope this hurricane will also prove to be “an adventure” that we can some day look back on and smile.

Rebecca's Laundry Helper Set Free

Stay Tuned . . .

Stay tuned for birthday pictures. The bottom line: Hyrum had a great two-day celebration. Thanks to everyone for your generosity. He loved every single gesture and gift.

Now that the party is over, we're very focused on getting hurricane ready. Click here to see a picture of Gustav heading straight for our house. When Rita plowed through here three years ago, she knocked out power for 5 to 10 days depending on where in Leesville/Fort Polk folks were located. Water was out for several days. Took a week to get food back on WalMart shelves.

We do feel prepared. We bought a generator (read: blessed air conditioning for one room); have water, will fill more bottles; have food, pretty sure it's enough. We still need to secure everything outside, scour the bathroom we'll be sheltering in (you know, the one I clean once a year whether it needs it or not . . .), and think of lots of creative ways to create joyful memories of this storm so that the kids look back with fond memories. (Mark found three dozen glow sticks at WalMart today. Won't they be fun to wear at night in the dark? "Kids, isn't cooking rice on the camp stove fun? Let's try blue food coloring and see what happens?" Anyone know of any pills I can take to keep me from yelling for a week?)

Our prayers go out to all those in the path of this storm, and, especially, those in it's wake. Surely there are multiple disasters in the world every day, natural and man made. We are grateful for precious time and resources to prepare to meet this potential tempest in relative comfort. As much I would prefer that Gustav cancels his reservations, I don't want him to go bother someone else. I hope he just fizzles out and dies. We promise to wear glow sticks to Gustav's funeral.

Birthday Eve

Hyrum turns 7, tomorrow. Happy Birthday, big boy!

First Day

Hyrum had a great first day of second grade. He likes his teacher and says she is fun. He was happy to see some great friends end up in his class. He loved playing with them at recess--said it was fun. He rode the bus for the first time, and said it was fun. Looking for some fun? Try second grade!

Many thanks to our friend Tori for taking this picture. Last night, Hyrum specifically said he wanted a picture of himself in front of this bulletin board. This morning, our camera battery kept dying. We limped through some shots, but Tori walked up at just the right time and was gracious enough to take this for us. Her picture turned out to be the best bulletin board shot. Thanks, again, Tori.

Here's this morning's shot of the whole family. I'm so thankful to Mark for taking the day off, which he tries to do every year. Hyrum chose to have all five of us drive together to his school and walk together to his class. Ruthie and Lily chose to wear (read: insisted on wearing) backpacks, too.


After saying goodbye to Hyrum, the girls wanted to play on the playground equipment. They said it was fun.



We stopped for donuts on the way home, so that Lily and Ruthie could also have a special event. This afternoon, Mark, Lily, Ruthie and I all met Hyrum at the bus stop. The smile on his face as he bounded off the bus said it all: fun, fun, fun!

School, Already?

School starts in two days. Before we post back-to-school pics, I thought we should post some pics of what we did all summer. The shot above is Hyrum on the last day of first grade. His school award ceremony kicked off our 11-week vacation.

The next day, we took off for a Memorial Day weekend road trip to Houston. Itinerary: a temple session, the Church's cannery and something fun to celebrate the end of school. Hyrum chose the Houston Children's Museum for the "fun" venue. Here are Hyrum, Ruthie & Lily exploring the museum.

We spent the rest of the summer
doing every lesson and camp we could squeeze in.

Ruthie had her very first swimming lesson May 28th,
a private one to get her ready for group lessons.
She did great!


Then came four weeks of group swim lessons . . .


soccer camp . . .


and lots of watching soccer camp. :)



Next was baseball camp . . .


and watching baseball camp.


Then gymnastics, tot tumbling,


and basketball camp.


We organized the playroom,
and invited lots of friends for air-conditioned play dates.

Before . . .


and After . . .




There was even a little time to just play in the dirt.

If summer is a microcosm of childhood, then I don't look forward to letting my kids leave the nest. I am so sad that Hyrum has to go back to school and that Ruthie will be gone to pre-school two days a week. I get a sick feeling when I think about them leaving. I *do* look forward to more one-on-one with Lily.

What shall we read first, Lil'?

Congratulations!

My wonderful sister, Kelly, has been accepted to receive a service dog. She's now on a waiting list. Once two dogs who are a good match complete their training, Kelly will be contacted to go meet them and see which of the two is the best match for her.
We hope that will happen, soon!