Today's post is being written with a lot of different emotions.  I don't even know where to begin. I guess I should start by saying we are still okay, our house is still standing and after an approximately 27 hour evacuation, we are finally back home.  What a crazy weekend this has been for us.

It feels like the fire has burned everything around us for miles.  There are still hot spots all over the hill and the river bed but the fire has come and gone for the most part.  I would never have imagined the damage that it has done.  It is one of those times when you see it on the TV and you're just grateful that it isn't your neighborhood; but then when it is your neighborhood,  you realize the TV doesn't come close to capturing the magnitude of the situation and the devastation that it has caused.  I have so much more sympathy now for fire victims.  Approximately 160 homes have burned in our surrounding area.  Two of those happen to be homes of close friends of ours.  One lives about a half mile east of us and the other less than a mile north west of us. They lost everything. 

Every time there is some sort of natural disaster you always hear about the importance of being prepared.  For the most part I feel like Ricky and I were prepared.  We were able to grab everything we needed in about 30 minutes.  I think we could have done it fast if we had to.  We were good about having things strategically placed around the house.   I will tell you though that it's a pretty surreal feeling, waking up on a Saturday morning, thinking you are going to the beach and end up having to decide in 30 minutes what's most important to you.  We only took things that couldn't be replaced (scrapbooks, pictures, heirlooms) and important electronics like our hard drive and Rick's court reporting machine.  We took sweatshirts and a few things for Lincoln but that was it.  There were a lot of things that we left that we thought would be really sad if they burned but if we had to start over without them, it would be okay.  Luckily, we don't have to worry about that now. 

We went to church this morning and it was the most humble church meeting I think I've ever been to.  There were about 100 people there, which is really small compared to normal.  Some were dressed in Sunday best and others were there in jeans, shorts or dirty t-shirts that they were wearing all night fighting the fires in.  Our Bishop's house is one of 3 in our ward that burnt to the ground.  I couldn't believe how positive he tried to be but we were just reduced to tears at the thought of how many people were impacted.  We were reminded that when it rains, it rains on everyone.  The good and the bad.  We just have to dry ourselves and each other off and keep going.  I have witnessed such sweet acts of kindness from strangers, neighbors and friends over the last 48 hours.  

I'm sure I could go on and on about the last couple of days but I'm at this point the weekend is gone and we are exhausted.  Ricky is trying to sleep but tells me he just keeps seeing fire and trees burning when he closes his eyes.   I hope that this is one of those "once in a lifetime" experiences because I would never want to have to go through this again.  It was an adrenaline pumping, scary, emotional,  and all together unforgettable experience.  Tonight, we are just counting our blessings. 

This is just outside of our house.  That is the Santa Ana River bed burning.

More fire. More smoke.

This is when I was trying to get down La Palma to leave the area.  You can normally see for miles but yesterday that was my view.

There were a number of helicopters and planes that were dropping water.

This was taken this morning on our way back home.  There are still hot spots along the roads.

Yorba Linda is on Fire!!

I just wanted to write a quick blurb to let you know that we are okay. If you have seen the news you've probably seen that Southern California is on fire, specifically our town of Yorba Linda. The fire was burning across the street from our house in the river bed. We evacuated earlier today and will need to stay in Whittier as we can't get back to our home tonight. I have amazing pictures that I will post once I am able to get back home and download them. Hopefully we will have a home to go home to!! I will keep you posted!

Disneyland Birthday

We spent Lincoln's actual birthday at Disneyland.  He and I went down early in the day and then Ricky joined us later.  We spent a couple hours with Grammy before work and also with Aunt Talicee.  We had a blast!!!  We got Mickey ears, Mardi Gras beads and a birthday button from City Hall. I can't believe how much Lincoln has grown in the last year. His smile is infectious, his personality is adorable, he has a great sense of humor and I am amazed at how much fun we can have.  Plus...he is just dang cute!!  Sorry, I may be a bit biased but I can't help it!

Here are a couple of pictures of his Disneyland birthday trip!

Lincoln's First Birthday Party

WOW, can you believe Lincoln is already 1?!?!?!  We threw Lincoln a Wow Wow Wubbzy birthday party on Saturday.  Wubbzy is a cartoon character...and Lincoln's favorite character at that!  When Wubbzy is on, nothing else matters.  

We had a nice little family party at a local park.  The party was complete with a Wubbzy pinata, pin the tie on Wubbzy game, Wubbzy cake (I got to design!) and really, everything Wubbzy.  We kept telling Lincoln all week that he was going to have a birthday party.  I think the first time that he realized that all the attention was for him, is when we were singing happy birthday to him.  He just looked around and watched everyone until we said his name in the song and then his eyes got big and he just smiled.  It was precious! The other cute thing that happened is when he opened a Wow Wow Wubbzy toy that talked, he got really excited and gave him a big kiss right on his nose. We couldn't capture it quickly enough on film but it is something I will remember forever! 

Wow Wow Wubbzy Cake

We let Lincoln put his hand in his cake but once he grabbed it, he wasn't quite sure what to do with a hand full of frosting.

Lincoln is trying to figure out how his Wacky Wubbzy toy works.

All of the cousins at the park after the stick the tie on Wubbzy game.

Uncle Micah holding Lincoln while Daddy shows him the Wubbzy pull string pinata.

May the Force Be With You

Jedi Master, I am.

By the end of the night the boys were beat.

Trunk-or-Treat - Do you see how tight he is holding his Vader bucket!?!?

Lincoln and cousin Ashlee.

Daddy and Lincoln at the start of the night.

Happy Halloween!

Lincoln just got to celebrate his first Halloween.  He was, of course, Yoda! 

 We actually got to dress up twice because we went to "Trunk or Treat" in Temecula on the 25th with Barratt's family.  Lincoln wasn't quite sure about this dressing up stuff.  He just starred at the other kids, not quite sure what to make of it.  He had a Darth Vader bucket to store all of his goodies in.  Rick took him around to a few cars and tried to explain what trick-or-treating was all about.  He did really well holding on to his candy bucket.  By the end of the night he had little white knuckles from holding so tight.  The next day we dumped out his bucket and he got to pick a 

candy.   Many of the candies he couldn't have so he would just squeeze them and play with them.  He got to eat a sucker (very messy) but he loved it!!

By the time Halloween actually came around, he was a pro candy collector.  We went to "Trunk or Treat" in Whittier with my family.  Lincoln finally learned that they aren't trying to take your bucket from you but rather they are putting something in it.  Once he was able to collect a piece of candy, he would stick his free hand in the bucket and pull it right out!  He was not interested in going to the next trunk, he just wanted to eat what he already had gotten.  

After trunk or treat we went to Marc and Karen's house so Lincoln could play with his buddy Vincent, who dressed up like a cowboy.  It was fun to see the two of them learn to play together. They don't quite know how to interact and be soft but they sure like to watch what the other is doing.  They had a great time and it was a successful night!