Preparing Grandma and Grandpa's home to sale

Mav and Max--the waters have receded and
things are moving towards normal.  

We closely followed Hurricane Harvey, and were especially concerned because Elise was there experiencing it.  Now we are following Hurricane Irma, which is hitting Florida with even greater strength than Harvey hit Texas.  We are told in D&C 88: 90 And also cometh the testimony of the voice of thunderings, and the voice of lightnings, and the voice of tempests, and the voice of the waves of the sea heaving themselves beyond their bounds."  I'm not sure what it all means, except that we have been told these are signs of the last days. It' may be tempting to worry (and we should be mindful of those who are suffering), but we also need to remember that the Lord is in charge.  I love 2 Nephi 4,where Nephi is praising the Lord, and he says, "19 And when I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth because of my sins; nevertheless, I know in whom I have trusted.

20 My God hath been my support; he hath led me through mine afflictions in the wilderness; and he hath preserved me upon the waters of the great deep.

 I, too, know in whom I trust, and that helps me to look forward with faith.  It is difficult to see these destructive hurricanes as blessings, but they truly can be if the people will turn to God in their afflictions.  As Elise has told us, she has seen so much love and so many miracles as the people of Texas have come together to help each other.  

Other than natural disasters (the hurricanes and the fires), there hasn't been much going on of note this week except that yesterday we went to Provo as a family to clean out Grandpa and Grandma's garage, storage room, and shed.  Grandpa has finally realized it is too much for him to take care of his home and he has agreed to go to an assisted living facility.  We will move grandma over to the new facility as well. She'll be happier with Verl nearby.  

Nick and his family stopped to see grandma on his way to help at Grandpa's

It was an emotional day, especially for Nan.  I think it was hard for her to go through all her parent's things.   My grandchildren had a great time.  The weather was perfect for them to stay outdoors, and they were entertained by their cousins and a few toy cars, plus some pastels and colored pencils.  It was also fun for them to pick out a few of their grandparents things to take home with them.  Adrienne didn't want her kids to take anything (she detests stuff and clutter), but she had to acquiesce.  

Grandpa actually handled the day fairly well,
though he had a nervous stomach.  I think he was
glad to have a lot of things taken care of for him.

who knew that pastels were such a dirty art medium

We ended our Sabbath watching the CES Fireside with President Bednar.  He spoke about being a strong link in the chain of our ancestors and our posterity.

Finn and Greta

Hyeji, Finn, Yuna, Ollie...

Gunnar and Ori

Uncle Evan (Roy in background)

Gunnar, Hyeji, Ori and Finn

Adrienne was in charge of the pantry

Matt

Update on Hurricane Harvey (by Elise), and a couple of other things.

Orianthi (pre-school started this past week)

Ollie

We had a Monday night family night activity.  The adults played volley ball, but the kids found the dress-ups.  I remember my mom letting the grand kids play with her dress-ups until finally, after many years, she got rid of them because she got tired of picking them up.

Gunnar and Hyeji

Ollie

Hyeji, Gunnar, Finn, Ollie

Ori at home--she grew this cantelope.

Ollie

This past couple of weeks we've spoken with Elise nearly every day to get updates on Hurricane Harvey and how the people of Texas are coping.  I asked her to write down some of her thoughts.
She began by quoting this Facebook post:

If you are in Houston or an area affected by Harvey, even if you are "ok", you are likely not ok. Your nervous system is likely shot from anticipating your house would flood- even if you ended up being lucky and it didn't. Your sleep has likely been spotty, fitful and interrupted by hypervigilance. You likely have spent days and nights worried sick not just about your safety, but the safety of your friends and family. You likely have encountered days of eating things you are not accustomed to, trapped between four walls that could be invaded by water at any time. You may have been in more constant conflict with loved ones due to heightened anxiety. Substance use and reactivity has likely escalated, and if you have a history of trauma you have likely been triggered various times. If your home is intact, you may feel forced to say "great, I am lucky" when asked how things are with you, because you are, in many respects, but please remember that we have survived a collective traumatic experience. Your body, nervous system, spirit, and heart are likely a kind of tired and overwhelmed that is bone deep- and that is to be expected. You are not alone. You are okay, and you are not okay. Both things are true. Its okay to take a break. It's okay to seek help. We are in this together. -Elizabeth Haberer

I was not raised to have a "victim" mentality, so though I do feel like this has worn me out, I do not feel like I am in anyway the one who was a victim in this situation, however, today at church, we had a few families give their testimonies who lost their home from the storm. Their different perspectives were very interesting. One family worked on their own home the first day it was safe and has been helping every neighbor they come in contact with since. In his testimony on Sunday, he stated, "Those who have not been affected by the storm have a responsibility to help those that have." I agree, though I am wary of his, and all of their uses of the words, "Affected by the storm." We were extremely blessed. We did not lose our home or our cars and all of us were safe. Andy was able to remain home because he is "non- essential personnel" so to the boys, it has been a bit of a daddy stay-cation. They've got to spend every day with him. He's studied a little, but mostly he's been spending time with us. They got to play in the rain and were almost sad when it stopped, because their little river of rain down our street was no longer strong enough to whisk their little "leaf boats" down the storm drain. That being said, we were "affected by the storm." It has affected me for good as well as brought an unexplicable tiredness (I'd like to blame it on the pregnancy, but I'm not the only one who is more tired than normal). The church has sent out emails and posts on Facebook telling members to slow down and take time to process. They have described the cleanup process to be a marathon, not a sprint.  I worry about the families who aren't slowing down to process, but I understand we all have ways to handle grief. 

It has been quite an emotional roller coaster for me. I have been trying to keep my family in the loop by sending them pictures of things we have been able to do to help those who were flooded and are now homeless and their reactions have been interesting to me as well. Some of them responded with, "Good job Elise!" or something to that effect. And I realized that it may have seemed like I was trying to show off how awesome and amazing we are. But that is as far from the truth as possible. I sent those pictures because they are so basic. Practically nothing. And that is what they need. It is beyond humbling. It's one of my young woman's birthdays today. She is my only Mia Maid that lost her home. Four feet of drywall was removed from her home this weekend. That's four feet of destruction. While they were able to wash and save some clothes, she no longer has a bed. She is an artist and a writer in her free time so I bought her a journal for her birthday. I am sure most of her paper type stuff is ruined. I called around to the other Mia Maids and asked them to write her a note for her birthday. From what I saw at church this morning, most of them had written notes and delivered them to her personally.  While I was calling the Mia Maids last night I struggled to keep my voice steady, because after each call I broke down and cried. This girl is celebrating her birthday without a home. She was deeply touched when the Mia Maids reached out to  her today. Some just wrote cards, drew pictures, or whatnot, and a few of them bought her gifts. I don't know all of the gifts she got, but among them was a sketchpad, colored pencils, clothing gift card, and a comfy plush blanket. These aren't necessarily essentials, but for a 15 year old girl who just lost her home, they are. There were many tears shed between her, her mother, and the girls serving her.

I have been trying to help in anyway possible. We housed a family from Sienna Plantation because they were under mandatory evacuation. They remained in good spirits while they were here, but with every flash flood warning (and there were a lot), they would hunker down to their phones, check on the levee levels, calculate their home's elevation and say silent prayers that their home would be okay. They came Monday. I called them Monday morning when I saw their area was evacuated and told them they could stay with us.  They replied graciously that they would love to, but had no idea if they could make it all the way up here (about a 30 min drive). I told them I understood, would pray for them and if they found they could, they were more than welcome to come. About noon they called Andy and told him they were on their way up. They said that they didn't have too much trouble on their way up (they had trucks), except for one part, they prayed their cars wouldn't flood. As soon as they arrived, the rains began to get heavy again and the way they came flooded back up. They wouldn't have made it had they left any later. We had a good time playing cards, laughing, catching up. They moved out of our ward two years ago, but we have remained friends and even went to their daughter's wedding the week prior, which was another miracle that it was before all this, because now the temple is under water. They brought plenty of food with them and it was actually quite enjoyable to have them. I prepared meals one day, she did the next. They ended up going home Wednesday evening, gratefully to a  dry home. But you could see the constant worry on their faces every time it rained, or they heard news that the levee had a leak, etc. Andy and Robert Jones (the brother staying with us) went down to their neighborhood Wednesday morning to check things out and help repair the levee. It ended up that the firemen didn't need help, so instead they waded in waist to chest deep water to check on members homes. There were many flooded homes, but not one of those homes was a member's. Our ward wasn't so lucky, but you can't discount these little miracles.

Speaking of miracles, I have seen so many. First of which comes from the preparation from the Lord. First of all, we had more than enough food to survive the six days of being stuck at home. We have food storage. In fact, we have two five gallon buckets of wheat I bought from a garage sale. I was able to grind wheat with my wheat grinder that my mother in law got for my last birthday and make bread for families that did not have enough food. There were many on my neighborhood  that had already run out of food and were frantically searching in stores for bread. Even a few members had not sufficiently prepared. Anyway, the Lord must have inspired my grocery shopping last Tuesday, because I had NO idea there was a storm but I had bought lots of food and then the next day found out about the pending hurricane. We have had hurricane watches or tropical storm warnings before, and I have never felt the urge to fill water bottles, buckets, recycling bins, or prepare in other ways, but this time I did. Luckily we didn't lose power or water, but "If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear" and we were as prepared as we could be. We were prepared spiritually. Andy and I had not been able to attend the temple in months (not since we visited Utah in December). But when Andy told me he took a day off just to celebrate my birthday, I felt the spirit pushing me to attend the temple with him, even though I probably would've rather celebrated watching a movie or going shooting or something. But I followed the spirit and Andy and I had the most wonderful experience at the temple. We decided to do sealings. The sealing room was packed. As soon as we walked in the room, you could feel the intensity of the spirit.  The sister kneeling at the altar had just been sealed to her deceased parents. She replied that she knew they had accepted the gospel and that sealing. The spirit was so strong, that I knew they had too. Not long after her, another sister sealed her deceased parents to her grandparents, again, the spirit was quite tangible. Throughout the time we were there we had 2-3 sealers. All of them shared snippets of their testimony or insights to scriptures relating to the sealing or the words of the sealing itself. I have never felt so educated from attending the temple (maybe my fault, but it was pretty awesome). Another middle aged man came in with his mother. After doing a few sealings of children to parents (again family names), he stopped the sealer and said, that the words of the sealing were so powerful to him, since he was an adopted son. These children will be sealed as if they were BORN under the covenant. He said that it made him feel even more a part of his family and that the power of the sealing superseded blood. The last experience that stuck with me was when I got to sit in with 6 other sisters to be sealed to their parents. 7 girls! It was so neat. I have never had multiples and definitely never 7! Anyway, how does this relate to the hurricane? We were able to go to the temple the next weekend as well for my friend's wedding and then the next weekend, Harvey hit. It is unknown when the temple will be able to reopen again. In fact, I do not know if the water in that area has receded yet.

A few weeks ago I felt the prompting to compile boxes of hotel toiletries into packets. I was planning on handing them out to homeless people that are always standing on the corners around here. Instead they went to families who were staying at a high school for shelter when they had to evacuate their homes. My mother-in-law left a couple of bags of clothes for me to donate to goodwill. Well, I never got around to it until Harvey hit and I know those clothes went to people who needed them. Andy had a box of MRE's that were about to expire. Once again, they have found a place to be useful. There are many little things that I have seen where the Lord prepared me for this. And others.-- One of the sisters who lost her home had just decided to stop selling Lularoe. She had about $15,000 of inventory left when she stopped. She said she was very slow about sending them back because she had been busy, but then she felt a push by the spirit to get it done. She would have lost thousands of dollars had she not listened to the spirit.

Though the water has started to go down (but still lingers in some areas), there are still issues from the hurricane. Looting stores, inventories, and gas. I have to say, however that looting has NOT been as big of an issue as it was in NY or Louisiana during hurricane Sandy and Katrina. In fact, Texas has a law that if you rob a home or business during a time of crisis then you will be prosecuted and sentenced to LIFE in prison. I think this definitely deters looters, along with the law that prevents looters' families from prosecuting a civilian who shoots said looter during the robbery. Aside from these heavy preventative laws, most Houstonians are too busy helping others.  They had to turn away volunteers from shelters because they had too many. They've had to redirect donated goods to other areas that could use them. Two of Texas's biggest companies (HEB, a grocery chain, and Gallery furniture) have donated food and more. Mattress Mac (the furniture store's founder) opened up his warehouses to allow people to sleep on their mattresses. First responders coming from out of Houston were allowed to sleep in their showroom. These are just everyday people trying to make a difference.  We have the "Cajun Navy" which consists of people from the South East of us who came with their personal trucks and boats to save people from flooded areas. Everyone is pooling together to rebuild from this disaster. Even Max was (and currently is) helping at a member's home. Andy told me he was a harder worker than any of the other kids (ages 12+) and even asked Andy why the other kids stopped working when they were getting tired.  I said, "Well he probably just enjoys spending time with his dad, but probably doesn't understand the gravity of what he's doing." Andy said, "Actually, he told me, "Daddy, their home is broke? We're gonna fix it." So he probably understands more than I gave him credit for. I hate not being there and doing the manual labor. There is a bit of survivor's guilt that comes with being protected, but I am striving to find other ways to serve. I have been making dinners for those who have been laboring in these homes all day and I have been organizing willing hands to help get the work done. It doesn't feel like enough or much, but I know that Mav and my belly would just get in the way if we were there.

Another weird thing from all this is seeing "normal" posts on facebook.  People not here in Houston are probably thinking, "Great, here's another Harvey post from Elise." But I post things to inform locals as well as educate those who are not here. It's something I never care to experience again, but it has strengthened my testimony, softened my heart, and made me improve my perspective on things in life. When I see normal posts on facebook it feels almost wrong to me. Especially when I see people complain. When they're complaining about their kids, or work being tiring, or mundane, run of the mill things, I can't help but think, you have a home to sleep in, your family is safe, do those things really matter?? Even some people here in Houston were complaining about their AC not working (oh which by the way, ours went out too, and my poor in-laws had to fork out 12,000 to pay for an entire new system), [they own the home] but I was thinking, "Really? you have power in your home, you have a home, you have a bed, really?" One even complained about their AC during the hurricane after several homes had been evacuated which is absolutely ridiculous because the hurricane brought beautiful 70 degree weather. Anyway, perspective. 

One last thing. I have felt your prayers. I truly have. I don't know if it was the prayers of my loved ones that kept our home from flooding (I mean, I have a LOT of family, so there were a LOT of prayers lol), but I do know those prayers have lifted us up and carried us through this emotionally. I know that I see the many miracles God has blessed us with because of those prayers. I know that I am more compassionate and understanding to those who lost so much, because of those prayers. But the fact that so many of you (immediate and extended) and friends I haven't talked to in a while have either texted, called or messaged me has made me feel so loved. I have been on my phone a lot lately checking on those in this area and it means a lot that others are checking in on me too. I love you all and hope you all can remain safe and well and get prepared for any craziness that could head your way.  Love you

Max, working as hard as a 4-year-old can.  

Mav.  while Max is working, Mav is dancing to the TV.

Elise mentioned that it felt almost wrong to read "normal" posts on Facebook.  I know what she means.  Anytime you have a tragedy, you feel that the whole world should stop.  In this case, all of Houston did stop, but most of the rest of the nation went on "normally."  We do feel a desire to help, and we have been counselled on how we can do so.  We have also been told NOT to travel to Houston to help.  Elise reiterated this--she said there is not room to house "guests."  They need to keep their home open for someone who may really need a bed.  

Life has gone on here in Utah.  Normal things have happened.  Normal and even fun things.  Roy and I spent this past weekend at the Gorge.  We went up with Caitlyn and had a super relaxing vacation.  Even though the bed is not as comfortable up there, I slept like a rock!  It's amazing what it does when you take away all the stress of everyday life.

Cold but refreshing

Roy's Teepee fire.  He accidentally
 knocked it down immediately after I took the picture.
He was able to rebuild and get the fire going.

Caitlyn with Grandpa Clyde's bridge behind her.

How to catch a fish:  Bait the lines.  Drop them halfway down
into the water (35 feet), secure the poles so they don't get knocked
out of the boat.  Hop in the water and play around.  Make
sure no one is in the boat: Voila, a trout!

 We are grateful for all the blessings we enjoy as a family.  We're so grateful Elise and her family are safe!  We're also glad she can be in a position to help! 

Back to school--and A Hurricane Hits Texas!

Max and Mav.  Max' first day of pre-K

Getting ready

Mav's unhappy that he doesn't get to go to school with Max

 School's in session again.  It's fun to see the grandchildren growing up.  Hyeji started 2nd grade, and Doyeon was super excited for Kindergarten.  Gunnar will have his first year of all-day school.  Unfortunately, his school has had early out all the first week.  Ollie, Yuna and Ori will all be in pre-school this year.

Hyeji and Doyeon, 1st day of school

Doyeon in Kindergarten 

Gunnar

I taught Relief Society today.  The lesson was on the Conference talk, The Language of the Gospel, by Valerie V. Cordon of the Seventy.  He talked about how easy it is for immigrants to lose their native language after only two or three generations, and then he compared that to the "language of the gospel" and how it takes consistent effort to teach our families so that they remain constant in their testimonies.  I had Dan, Jieun and Hyeji come the last few minutes to sing "I am a Child of God" in Korean.  Of course, Doyeon and Yuna didn't want to be left out, even though they didn't learn it, so they went up, too.  Jieun played the piano.  I thought she was going to sing, but I guess it stressed her out, so they traded.  I think my Relief Society ladies really liked it.

Thursday evening a lot of the employee's from Roy's work came with their families for a BBQ.  In preparation for that, Roy got a nice volley ball set.  The little kids found the toys in the basement fairly quickly and the big kids had a good time outside.  Roy is such a good cook, he made delicious chicken and ribs.

Yesterday was a very busy day.  Roy, Caitlyn, and Nick and Sara got up super early to drive to Logan.  Caitlyn tended Ruby and Greta, while Matt and Crista and the above mentioned family members, rode their bike in the Gran Fondo.  It was about 65 miles, on a very hot day.  They all made it, but Sara promised it was something she would never do again.

Crista

Roy, Matt, Crista, Sara and Nick

Matt

Roy

Nick and Sara

While they were thus entertained, I got up shortly after they did and went to an early morning staff meeting at the Rec Center.  It was my turn to teach the Saturday morning class, so after the meeting, I stayed and taught water aerobics.  When I got home I went to work fertilizing all the plants in my yard.  The Tru Green guy told me that all my plants were stressed because they don't have enough iron.  After nearly 2 hours in the heat, I quit for the day and headed inside to work on my dirty house.

Nearly as soon as Roy and Caitlyn got home at 5:00 pm, Roy and I got in the car and headed to Salt Lake to pick up Christine and Steve on our way to a couple of wedding receptions in Utah County.  First was Emma Anderson's open house.  Emma is Sally Salisbury Anderson's (my first cousin) daughter.  There we saw my Uncle David Salisbury with his wife Lois; and Sally and her family.  We didn't stay very long there, because we also wanted to get to the reception for Austin and Kailee Nelson.  They are having an open house in Springville on Sept. 5, but as that is Christine's anniversary, we decided to go to the reception in Eagle Mountain.  It was a lot of fun to visit with all of Dave's family.  I talked a lot to Tiffany and Kylie.  We also had fun visiting with Kim, Liz and Heather.  Becky and Dave got back from dinner just before we left.  Tiffany is moving to Centerville and will live just down the street from us a mile or so.  They will be renting for a year and then they'll find a house.  Over all, a fun evening with the Christensen's and the Cook's.

Probably the most interesting happenings of this past week happened in Texas.  There was a category 5 hurricane.  Hurricane Harvey.  Elise has sent us texts, pictures, and updates.  Luckily, she is still in her home and they still have water and power, though they have friends who have evacuated their homes.  One area shut off the water because of contamination.  Elise and Andy filled the bathtub, a garbage can and water bottles in case they find themselves in that situation.  They also have not experienced flooding--YET.  Elise says it's probably because the sewer drains in their area had been worked on recently.  I had her write a couple of paragraphs of what she's experiencing:


Elise: "I never watch the news. First I heard about the storm was when a friend dropped off a belated birthday present  Wednesday afternoon. "Steve and I have been running around preparing for the hurricane." Wait, what?? I look up the weather. It looks far enough away. It was supposed to hit land over Corpus Christi. Only a cat 1, we should be good.  Thursday, I feel the spirit telling me to get prepared. I was at the dentist all morning with Max, but my close friend was running errands and picked us up water and food. When Andy and I went to the store later that day there was no milk, eggs, bread, or water. Friday, Andy got work off. He helped me bag water and get things ready. That night the hurricane hit. My phone alarm for tornado warnings seemed to go off every hour. When we woke up Saturday it was wet, we had a large branch fall out of our tree but we weren't flooded. I felt untouched by the gravity of the storm until Sunday evening. We began getting more flash floods and members of our ward were having to evacuate. That's when it hit home. Our street flooded, but then when the rains stopped it drained just fine. We are lucky. Most of our ward doesn't have great drainage in their streets. We are hoping to not get much rain tonight, And really hoping that no one else needs to evacuate their homes.  Pray for us.

We talked to Elise this morning and things are still okay, but there's a lot more rain to come.  She said the water came about 8 feet up her driveway, and then receded again.  They are also keeping tabs on Jenny Cook Norton and their family, and so far they are all right also.

In this picture, you can see that Max and Mav are a little stir
crazy, trying to find ways to entertain themselves.

A Bayou near the Jackson home

The Jackson's street

Andy and Elise's home

Andy and Max

We are grateful for their safety, and also grateful that we belong to a church that is already preparing to help in any way needed during this natural disaster, as well as many others that have occurred.
We invited all the family over for dinner, but only Nick, Sara, and Effie and Ori came (of course Caitlyn and Jennie were also here).  Everyone else had other stuff going on.  Oh, and Elise and Andy couldn't come because their city is on lockdown.

Mav, all tucked in

Mav, Andy and Max

Andy, Mav

This is an example of the many texts that have been going around with my kids.  I had to take off my apple watch when I taught my lesson yesterday, because it was buzzing very actively (not loudly) with texts such as this.

Playing in the storm

Life continues as normal at home.  I received lots of fun pictures from the family to share.

Our very own Princess Sofia look alike.  

Ruby and Greta

Dojin, first haircut

I'm not sure if this is before or after the haircut.

Nick with Effie and Ori

Stake Conference I believe.  Looks like they're
getting a lot out of it. :)