ok i did NOT like last week!!!

So from Casper, Wyoming I was able to stress about not ONE but TWO sides of my family,being held hostage by not ONE but TWO Arizona forest fires!!!

The Wallow Fire has been going on for sometime now and some friends and family had evacuated weeks ago but were settled back in their homes, sooo I thought the drama was done.

ENTER HIGH WINDS and JUMPING FIRE.

 Before we knew it Luna, NM was evacuated. Kelley grew up in Luna and his family has BIGTIME  ROOTS in that place! His mother was baptized in the little pond leading up to the rodeo grounds, Kelley hunts that area, camps that area, we have fabulous family reunions in that area and we were on the verge of losing all those Nicolds family memories. Ma and my sister in laws and their kiddos headed to friends houses while Pa, Sam, and Daniel stayed to do what they could to save what needed saving. Flames got as close as 300 yards from Daniel's home, and in one evening the winds died down and shifted northwest. It seemed like the fire was saying"ok, i'm done here" and decided to go find someone else to torment. While Kelley's friends and family were experiencing all this first hand( traumatic and horrible horrible thing to have to endure!!) We were trying to piece things together via internet,cell phone and news feeds from NM TV stations. UGH!! Talk about some sleepless nights and, in Kelleys case(shiftworker), days.  The evacuation order was lifted about 4 days ago and everyone was able to return home. Apparently there are a lot of charred memories, geographically speaking, but no one lost homes, animals or other THINGS. Thank goodness for Wildland Firefighters!! They are owed a tremendous debt of gratitude from this family!!

MEANWHILE, ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FAMILY

So all this mayhem is going on in New Mexico, and AT THE SAME TIME in Sierra Vista a brushfire starts, most likely started  by illegals!!(don't EVEN get me started!!).. This thing took OFF!! Well, I grew up in Sierra Vista for a great majority of my childhood. My brother,Billy, is a firefighter there and I have lots of friends and family there. In less than a week this fire took 75 homes, charred several BEAUTIFUL canyons and sent my Sister In Law packing(THE SAME TIME MY MOTHER IN LAW WAS EVAC'D)! It jumped fire lines,highways and just was uncontrollable!! According to Billy, who was not only evacuated but also FIGHTING this thing, they were screwed!! The winds were too high to get a handle on it, the brush was the perfect food, and there was no chance of getting a plane in the air to help out. This went on for days, i think 5 maybe 6, before the winds finally died down. Most of southern SV was evacuated and it was headed for Ft. Huachuca... just totally heartbreaking for me to watch via internet,news feeds and get second hand accounts from my brother(CAN I JUST TELL YOU THAT MY BROTHERS ARE MY FREAKIN HEROES!!!ONE FF AND ONE SOLDIER!! HOW LUCKY CAN ONE SISTER GET!!!)
 I really do LOVE where I live but when this kinda garbage is going on what seems like a world away I just wanna load up a UHAUL!!! Especially when they start saying the firefighters are needing things!! I hated not being able to run down to the firehouse with Monkey Butt powder and energy drinks by the gross to help those guys out!! Those guys finally managed to contain that fire to over 50 percent woohoo!! Some people are still evacuated, but the order in Billy's area has been lifted and they are back settled in pre evac mode,ready to run at a moments notice.

What a rough time!! We(along with most everyone we are related to) have lived FIRE for over 2 weeks now. Kelley and I are so thankful that,tonight, our families and friends are out of harms way. We are so thankful for prayers,fasting, internet,phones,TV, Firefighters.... I think my list can go on and on for days!!!!

My parents came to visit!! but,*sniff,sniff* didn't stay long enough!!

My sister Annabeth went to BYU this week for a music type EFY thingy so while she was there my mom and dad came to partake of the fantabulous place I live! We had a blast! I really wish I could teleport my family up here! I know they would enjoy living here as much as we do!  There is so much to see and take advantage of up here so we tried to squoze everything into a little under a week.
 We fished,caught some trout and cooked them too!!

 we checked out the swollen river,

we walked around the neighborhood to see the flowers and grass and gardens,

all foreign to my mother



and we just hung out and visited.

 and squoze in a tball game and a softball game

 took some naps in the backyard..i really need a hammock 

My mother has been trying for a good 2 years to get some family pictures taken and I have been trying for a good 2 years to avoid them because of my love for everything fried and sweet. But we found a cool red door on the old Coca Cola bottling plant so we did that!(nothing like a family pic to entice me to work out and stop putting everything in my mouth!)But 2 great things came from these pics!! 1-my kids pictures look great!!! and 2-my mom was able to hang them in a way cool grouping over my mantle!! Which means my living room is complete with paint AND pictures!!

                                                                     Connor 7

                                                                 Madalyn 15

                                                                        Megan 13

                                                                    Tyler 17

                                                                    Nerdlets

                                                                   

                                                          my mother made me!...and i started "no sugar"today!

                                                           LOVE MY KIDLETS!
SOO YEA THAT WAS THEIR TRIP IN A NUTSHELL!! I AM BUMMED THAT THEY WERE ONLY HERE FOR A FEW DAYS!




WE HAD SUCH A GREAT TIME TOGETHER!!  I HATE TO SEE THEM GO!!