Nightmares coming to life

This is a story that I found while we were cleaning out one of the storage bays last Saturday the 16th. Bethany wrote this in 1996. I am writing it down verbatim using her grammar and spelling.

"  "Sugar plum," I could here my dad saying to me in the background. "What," I said back, "come back here and help me get some stuff out." "Why?""So I can get it ready for Clay, for when he comes out." "Oh!" So I went back and helped my dad get some stuff out so he could sell it to his costomer, Clay. When we were finished getting the stuff out, we went into the pet shop and waited and waited and waited and then finally he could come out and look at our stuff. Well we finally got done and went to get gas because we were almost out and hot some lunch, pops, and chips. We were getting ready to leave St.Goerge so I got my blanket and pillow out just incase I wanted to go to sleep on the way to the next city. Well I ended up going to sleep and I woke up at the next stop. After the next stop we went on driving and we saw three forest fires right in a row. Well we went and got a hotel room then got dinner and after dinner we went back to the hotel room. When I woke up in the morning I didn't feel good at all so I slept, after awhile, we went to Mcdonalds and my dad bought two orange juices and two sausages and biscuites. I drank some of my orange juice, but I didn't eat any of my sausage and buscuite. I went back to sleep. I slept the whole way home and when I got home I was laying on my family couch and my brother and sisters were being too loud and I asked them to please be quiet and my oldest sister Amanda told me that I would sleep better if I was up in her bedroom, so I went up there and fell asleep, after seeming like hours My second to oldest sister Tyne came up and she said that they were going to have Mexican Food and if I wanted to come. I said "no" and I wanted to say I want mom to stay with me but I just couldn't say anything. After what seemed like years I got up and went to lay on my couch crying for my mom and then the lights started flickering, but I didn't think anything of it because our AC always makes it do that when it was on so I was looking up at the lights and I saw smoke so I got up thinking that something was burning in the kitchen but when I got to the kitchen it wasn't there so I followed it from there...Oh my gosh flames were jumping out of my mother and fathers bedroom door I ran back in to the living room and dialed 9-1-1 and the dispatcher said "9-1-1 emergency what can I help you with!" I said, "My house is on fire." She said "Is this Thomas Edwards house" I said "Yes" she said "What is your name" I said "Bethany Edwards." She said "How old are you." I said "eleven" she said "get out as fast as you can and then when the police come show them were the fire is okay" and then I said "okay." By the time I was done talking, the smoke was so thick I had to drop to my knees and crawl out. I was walking fast out the door looking at my house burn. I was walking out in the snow without any shoes. Some people stopped and let me get in thier car until the police came and when the police came I didn't have to tell them were the fire was. The police man carried me over to his car and while I was in his car was one of the most scarriest moments that was about this fire because on the radio thing a man said "I don't think we'll ever be able to get this fire out." After about one minute the police man came and took me over to Mr. Bigler and Mr. Bigler took me to his house and him and Mrs. Bigler took good care of my family and me. I stayed at the Biglers house for a long time and most of all of my friends came and visited me. After that we went to my grandparents house and that is when I busted my bubble and I took a pill and I threw up. while I was staying at my grandparents house I felt diffrent, I felt homeless, I felt like crying, I felt like a nothing. I enjoyed staying with my grandparents I got to know them a lot more and I learned a lot, too. Some nights I felt like crying but I always new that I could talk to God and he understood me and he listened to me. While my family and I were going throw this crises my friends and my family's friends and my other family relitives were really comforting, they would pray for us, they would give us sutff, if I told my friends that I was having a bad day, they would do or tell me something to cheer me up, if my mom or and dad were having a bad day their friends would cheer them up. When I went to my Granny's house she would always tell me something funny or do something to make me laugh and when I just couldn't stand it any more she let me come to her house and let me do something to get my mind off of what ever it was. While I was staying at my grandparents house I felt kind of scrunched because nine people were living in this house, four inclueding me in my bedroom two in a diffrent bedroom, then my grandpa and grandma in their bedroom, and T.J. my brother in his own bedroom. We stayed at my grandparents house for a long time, for four months. While we were at my grandparents house these were the people that had their birthday, T.J., grandma, Kevin, Amanda, Tyne, and my mom. The only three people that didn't was my dad, me, and Grandpa. We worked at our house and a lot of others did too including, neibors, church family, and people I didn't even know. You know how I said that Kevin's birthday was with my familys well he really isn't part of my family he is my sister Amanda's boyfriend. We stayed at grandma's and grandpa's for Febuary, March, April, and the first part of May. We are know in a parsonige at 652 S. 300 E. When my mom told me that we were moving in I was exited not because we were leaving my grandparents house but because we would actually be in a house that we could call ours and not grandparents but ours and ours alone, and we could have friends over without worrying that they'll brake something extremely expensive, because we don't have much of those at our house, but grandpa and grandma does. I was exited also because we don't have to drive up and down the canyon every morning every night and every other time. At the parsonige ther is a living room, a kitchen, two bedrooms upstairs, two bedrooms downstairs, two bathrooms, one upstairs one down, and a family room downstairs, and a loundry room downstairs. Today is May the eleventh and we are just know starting to rebuild because we just barely got our loan. The reason it took so long to get our loan is because we didn't have fire insurance and they couldn't give us a loan untill we had insurance and we couldn't get insurance because the fire already happened. So they finally gave us insurance for some odd reason and so then we could get our loan and we jumped on it. We need to first get someone to start on our house so we can hurry and started and hurry and get finished so we can get moved back to our old house and stay there. At the parsonige I share a room with my sister tyne then across the hall is Amanda and a bathroom. Kevin sleeps upstairs on a fold out bed or down stairs on the built in couch my brother T.J. sleeps upstairs across the hall from my mom and dad and the bathroom is inbetween them. the kitchen is on the west part of the house and the living room is in the east part of the house. Life will go on and I hope that our house goes faster than it has been going. I try really hard to keep my grades up, but it is very hard because a lot of other things is on my mind and it is very hard to consontrate on one thing at one time. But I am a success so far, and I am keeping my grades up and doing good in school. I try to help were I am needed and help my mom and dad at home and wherever they need me, and I try to help everybody else as well. I think that helping people is very important because if you help people first then they will be more willing to help you! Another reason that I think helping people is important is because God tells you to help people. I am thankful for the  firefighters and all of the people that helped me at that time. I am thankful for the police officers and how they responded so quickly. During this situation I have learned that you can't just assume that stuff is never going to happen and that you always have to be ready for what might happen next. I think that God has a plan for us and that is why this fire happened, not for baddness, but to comlete his plan. I think that my family has delt with this crisis very well. I feel like God has been with my family through the whole way and not put us down once and if something bad has happed it happened for a purpose. I think know that we have our loan things will go a lot faster than they have been going and I hope so, too. My dad says that it will be a seven or eight month ordeal but I hope that it doesn't take that long because I want to get moved back to my old house before I go to the middle school so that I don't have to walk that far. I know that God has been helping my family and will continue on helping my family. I just thank God for, keeping me safe, not leaving me with nothing, for guiding me and for leading me, because I could not make it through this ordeal without him and without what he has done for me. This is really difficult for my farmily and me because we have changed our life style more than once and it isn't easy to change your lifestyle. I am thankful for my grandparents and my granny, my friends, my church family, and people that I don't even know. I am also thankful for the Lord, I am thankful."

So, that is how my littlest sister experienced and dealt with our little family disaster.

Ashes to ashes

They all fall down. On a Saturday night in January of 1996, the house that I grew up in, the house that my dad grew up in caught on fire. My family was homeless and although it is just "stuff", it's hard when you don't have your comfort items. Sunday morning, a ward from the closest LDS church building came out to help us haul everything out of the house to keep away vandals. Everything was boxed up and shipped to two storage bays. This last weekend, my family and I went through and started to clean out one of the storage bays. We went through all of the burnt, ruined, blackened, stinking things to try to find something worth keeping of a past life. Many of the things were my Grandparents' things that they had or brought back from Nigeria, Africa. Others were heirlooms from even further back than my Great Grandma. Others were things like my mother's wedding china and her good silver. Letters, diaries, notes, cards, books, clothes, toys, pictures; these things that are just that. Things. We got by without them for so many years, so why go back and keep anything. I know they were on our minds for all of those years. Many of these things were not forgotten. Zora, Puff, Garfield clocks, burgandy dress, various books, the Vibrason, pianos, bookcases, and many other things we looked for as the bay was slowly cleaned out. There were tears that we tried to hide, short words due to pain we were trying to hide, and so much laughter. It really was like opening a time capsule and going through it. We did throw away an enormous amount of "stuff" that was either too damaged to keep or really was just part of the "stuff" category. It still makes me tear up and even cry now, in my own house I am living in with a family of my own, to smell the few pieces of furniture that we are trying to salvage. The antique dresser with carved claw feet still smells like that retched, awful night. It brings back memories and feelings I haven't had in a long time. Even back then, I was more stoic about the whole situation, knowing that my parents were going through a very awful, difficult, and traumatic time. Even back then, in my selfish adolescence, that I did not nor would I ever want to be in their situation of trying to deal with the loss of many of their precious items, the loss of their home, trying to find a roof to put over their children's  heads, put food in the mouths of the family, and clothing on their backs. We literally had nothing but the clothes on our backs and had to rely on the kindness of strangers to help get us back on our feet. As a mother now, I cannot even imagine the stress that must be for a family. And to make things even harder for my parents, my mom was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis while we were living in a dinky little apartment. I am impressed that my parents were able to keep it together and keep us all together during that difficult time. Unfortunately, we still have half of a storage bay and another to go through. Hopefully, we will get this done and over with. Thanks Mom and Dad for being so great!!

Holidays Part 1

I didn't want to throw out a GIANT and looooooooooooong post, so I decided to break this up into 2 or maybe more posts.... depending on how much I remember and how much I type.

The holidays started off with the arrival of my brother TJ. My unruly bearded brother drove many, many miles in his minivan from Tennessee to Utah.

He and Matt had a great time working on one of our many projects that we have going on in the house. He helped Matt string wire from the wall in the kitchen to the ceiling above the bar to hang a lighted pot holder.

Matt had been wanting one forever and he found one at Home Depot or Lowe's for a very great price. So, he grabbed it and I am so glad he did. I didn't realize how much we needed the light.

TJ and Linus had a chance to bond a little bit. While I was busy with something one day, they sat and ate Fire Cheetos. If you look close you can see that Linus looks like he's wearing lipstick and suprisingly enough, he loved those things.

The one on the right is how Linus hugs. He hugs with his head and if you aren't lucky, he'll head-butt you right in the nose. It sure is cute though. I just like how I got them both tilting their head like that.



We were still in the process of tearing down the wall in the hallway to create a larger room to use as a family room. Matt was hoping to bust it out and get the thing finished and ready to occupy by New Year's Eve, but it didn't happen, but I did get some cute pics of Linus trying to be just like Daddy.

He would do his very best to use the hammer end to break up the wood into splinters and to pull the nails out. He would try to lift up the sledgehammer but that just wasn't going to happen. I'm glad he didn't drop it on himself. And speaking of the sledgehammer, Matt was knocking the wall down and managed to wedge a piece of something into his thumb. We couldn't see it, but could see the indentation that it caused. It was there for weeks and his thumb was killing him and started to ooze pus. I tried to talk him into going to the doctor to remove it but he wouldn't hear any of that. During the holidays, he worked it out and that sucker was not only the diameter of a toothpick, it was an inch long!! It even made me queasy when he started to pull it out and it kept coming and coming and coming and coming and well, you get the picture.

We actually decorated a little this year... As I wrote above, we were still working on the living room, so we didn't have enough room for a tree and I really didn't want to deal with a tiny one, so at my request, Matt put up some garland and lights. He even went so far as to buy a wreath with a Santa on it to put on the front door and he put up icicle lights and garland lights outside. AND he bought a poinsettia. How's that for getting into the freaking spirit huh? Next year though, we will have a tree and will only have ornaments on the top half because I won't want to fight with the two little ones with taking them off.

I wanted to end this post with a few pics of the babies and the puppies. Just because I like them.

Bea loves to look at Moxie and this giant dog is so gentle with her. She is so careful to not put her paws on her or her head. (She will lick, but what dog can resist the milk flavored baby?) And Bea sleeps like she is Superman flying. That is a standard pose for her. One arm up and one arm down... although the downside of that is that she loves to play with her hair and tends to pull it and get it tangled around her fingers.

Linus loves to play with Grandpa and Grandpa lets Linus play with his phone. It's a match made in heaven. I also really liked the picture of Linus on the right. I just think he's cute.

I had to post TJ's goofy face. That's how most of his pictures turn out for some reason LOL. This pic of Matt and Bea killed me!! Matt came home from work and took Bea for a minute and they both fell asleep like that. I just had to capture it.



Two more pictures of our Great Disaster.