Happenings

I am a lame blogger lately, but even so I figure I need to get some of these pictures posted on the family blog because we have had some interesting happenings around here.

Baylie was nominated by Coach Stan to be the Awesome Athlete of the Month for the Harbison Tennis Club through the USTA. She was mentioned in a newsletter, received a certificate and best of all - got a $10 gift certificate to Chick-fil-a. It burned a hole in her pocket until we finally used it to take the family to dinner earlier this week.

The school had a Read-a-Thon fund raiser, which is actually a fund raiser I was happy to support. Any child that raised over $100 got entered into a drawing for a mini iPad. I mentioned it on facebook and the kids both raised way more than I had imagined. They prayed that they would win the iPad and I tried to prepare them for the fact that they probably wouldn't. But then, Jalen won! I couldn't believe it. It was presented to him by my friend Esther - the PTA president.

He was really great about sharing it with Baylie. Plus she made sure he realized that he only read a lot of minutes because she read to him.

Jalen's luck kept on going as he was selected as the kindergarten goal setter for the week. Basically that meant he was selected as the special student. We made a little poster to tell some things about him and David went to the school and read to his class. He loved being the center of attention and tried to use it as an excuse to order the rest of us around.

We decided to take Elder Durrant's advice and start "ponderizing" a scripture each week. We are focusing on scriptures about Christ in an effort to help the kids feel closer to Him as we approach Christmas. 

Thursday was early release day so we went to the zoo with some of our friends. We hadn't been to the zoo in quite a while and it was a perfect zoo day. Jalen was even brave enough to feed the birds.

Last night David and I chaperoned a youth dance. We went as Bellatrix Lestrange and Voldemort.

Jalen has started t-ball. It is such a riot. There is no rhyme or reason to it, but it is so much fun. He looks adorable in his uniform.     

Life is pretty good at the Batchelor Pad.

Headed Home

We're heading home today and I have mixed feelings. I miss David. I want to sleep in my own bed. I want to get back to some kind of normal. I want to help with relief work. But my fridge still doesn't work and we still don't have safe drinking water.

October 7

October 11

I can't really complain because our house is standing and is in good condition while there are so many others that are ripping out carpet and tearing down sheet rock. But I would be lying if I didn't say I still feel like crying.

UPDATE:

It took us 25 hours to get home. It was a difficult trip, but the kids were amazing. We got bumped several hours in Las Vegas and the kids slept on the floor over night.

Then we got bumped a little in Newark. We ended up flying to Charleston. David had to drive from Charlotte to Charleston, poor guy. We got home after midnight on Tuesday. The kids missed school on Monday and we let them sleep in on Tuesday. It took us about a week to get back to normal.

That was almost two weeks ago and we still don't have a working refrigerator. We've paid over $400 and it still has the same error message. It's very disheartening. Even so, it's great to be home.

When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Go to Vegas

What some people don't know is that before the monster storm hit Columbia, it had already been raining for a week. Kids hadn't been able to go outside to play or for school recess for over a week. After the storm, we were even more home bound. 

My house looked like this.

And then we had to start boiling water before drinking, cooking or washing. The water situation combined with being shut in and having a broken refrigerator was making me stir crazy. 

But then I remembered that I had flight benefits and could jump on a plane and go anywhere. Why was I staying in Columbia? School was cancelled, which meant seminary was also cancelled so there was no reason not to go. David drove us up to Charlotte to the airport and he made arrangements to stay with colleagues in Rock Hill.

We only got bumped once and within a few hours found ourselves in sunny Las Vegas with safe running water and cousins to play with. And while I felt guilty for not being around to help with relief work, I also felt like a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders.

The kids played in the pool while their cousins were at school. (The pool was freezing.)

Then we joined the girls on a field trip to Whole Foods.

Jalen and Lauryn on the city bus.

Baylie was pretty impressed with the chocolate display.

But she was significantly less enthusiastic with the veggies.

And the chicken feet about did her in.

The displays at Whole Foods are incredibly beautiful and make you hungry just to look at them. (Okay, maybe not the chicken feet.)

Clara and Baylie by the shish-kebabs.

Clara and fresh spices.

Lauryn and Jalen.

Afterwards, the girls went back to school while the kids and I had lunch. Jalen's pizza was bigger than his face.

The pool may be cold, but the hot tub is toasty warm.

It's been great to have this little get away, especially since we didn't expect to see family until next summer.

UPDATE:

One of the highlights of our trip was making sno cones. There was more syrup than ice involved, but the kids were in heaven.

If Ye Are Prepared, Ye Shall Not Fear

Weather here in Columbia is usually pretty moderate. It started to rain about a week ago and the sun hid itself for days. Last Wednesday we had enough of a break that Baylie was able to have her tennis lesson, but that was the last time we were rain free. The ground was already saturated and the rivers were full before this final storm hit.

We knew that Hurricane Joaquin was scheduled to hit north of us near the Outer Banks. What we didn't realize was that another storm was coming from the west. And while it pushed the hurricane further offshore, it resulted in rain pouring down and being stuck over Columbia and Charleston. We have had about 11 inches so far. The results have been catastrophic, including to some of our friends. 

Jalen's best friend's backyard.

The worst of it was last night. David and I looked out the windows last night at about midnight and wondered if we should all sleep downstairs in case one of our pine trees came down, but we decided it would be okay. Our home stayed dry and we never lost power, so we didn't know until later when we got on Facebook how bad it actually was. Recently we were notified that the water treatment plants have become contaminated because of high water and water is not safe for drinking or washing without being boiled first. Schools have been cancelled and we are on a 6 p.m. through 6 a.m. curfew.

The backyard of some of our ward members. He is a landscaper and their yard was amazingly beautiful with a huge garden. They were able to save their dogs, but their chickens were swept away before anything could be done.

Before and after photos of the backyard of one of my fellow seminary teachers.

The street where one of our ward members live. They had to evacuate quickly.

Another shot of the same street.

Road from the neighborhood across the street from us.

We have been so blessed. Our home is built on a crawl space, so even when our yard filled with water - and it wasn't anything at all like the above pictures - our home stayed dry.

During a break in the rain, we decided to go and jump in some puddles. The kids have been so cooped up lately both at home and at school that they are going stir crazy.

The little creek behind our house is in a deep ravine, so while the water has risen, it isn't close to reaching the top of the banks.

While we were out walking, we ran into a neighbor and the look on his face was quite stricken. He had just witnessed a big tree falling down and had seen another that was already down. He cautioned us to get back home.

Splashing with the neighbors.

I always seem to find myself living in areas that are impacted by heavy storms. My first experience was in Los Cabos, Mexico, when Hurricane Flossie came through. I had torn my Achilles tendon and was on crutches. I remember hobbling around trying to mop up the water that came pouring through the edges of the windows and sliding glass door.  I had never seen wind or rain like that. The clouds stretched as far as you could see and I despaired that it would never end.

The next time was in Houston, Texas. Houston floods all the time. Anytime there's a strong rainstorm, somewhere will flood in Houston. It's just part of living there. But after Hurricane Katrina, we were all a little on edge and when Hurricane Rita headed toward Houston, we were advised to evacuate. We got a call at midnight and within 30 minutes were in our car headed to Austin. It took us 14 hours to make the 3 1/2 hour drive.

Cars stretching as far as we could see trying to evacuate in front of Rita.

Waiting 1 1/2 hours for gasoline.

It was so hot and traffic was so slow that when cars finally moved, the asphalt peeled up all the way down to the dirt.

In all of the above cases, I had peace despite the circumstances. In our church we have long been counseled to have a supply of food and water on hand for emergencies. We are also counseled to have 72-hour emergency kits for each member of the family.

In the case of Houston, we were able to leave so quickly because we just had to throw our 72-hour kits in the car and go. While many people were scrambling to find supplies in grocery stores where the shelves had been completely cleared, we were ready to go.

One of several cases of water.

We have SEVERAL of these bottles of water. They probably taste like plastic since we've stored the for a couple of years, but they'll work for washing.

In our current situation, we are well set with food and water. Despite the fact that our fridge is not working (our repair man failed to show up on Friday, which couldn't have been worse timing), we are not hungry or thirsty. We have everything that we need and some to spare. Despite all that is going on outside the walls of our home, we are prepared and consequently, we have no need to fear.

At least I got to scrub it out!

I am grateful for modern day prophets that teach us to be prepared not just with physical necessities, but more importantly with spiritual ones. Life gets complicated, but peace is always available - no matter what storms may come - when we follow the teachings of Jesus Christ.