Weekend Rewind~FIRE

Well...this weekend was expected to be just like the last few that involved weather forecasts of 98+ high temps. But the focus of the entire weekend changed about noon on Friday as we were just sitting down for lunch at a local cafe'.  A call came in, firetrucks were dispatched, 5 departments responded, and 2 1/2 hours later we were left with this...

The view South to my parents' home...that's their house in the middle of the photo. 

& the view to the North of my parents' home....my Grandparents' home is out of this picture but up and to the right. 

The most important thing in all of this is that my parent's house & my grandparents' house were completely untouched by the flames. My dad is estimating that somewhere between 60-80 acres were burned, it's hard to know for sure since some of it is wooded area.  I've got lots more pictures of the aftermath that I'll share later this week but the images of the flames burning the fields, trees, and everything it touched will be literally burned into my mind forever.  It was one of the scariest moments I've ever experienced. 

While Grass Fire 2012 certainly overshadowed most of the rest of the weekend's events, we had plenty of other events worth documenting! 

Friday evening Hubby & I grabbed a quick shower and then headed up to his parents' house for taco night. I was starving after having my lunch interrupted before it had hardly began & I think my adrenaline kept me going even with the lack of food. Mamaw gave Elyse her first "real bathtub" bath and Elyse loved it! This girl just LOVES the water!

*Sidenote:  Elyse spent her first full day at Mamaw & Pappy's on Friday...later this week I'll share a hilarious story that deserves a post of it's own! 

Saturday morning Hubby had to work and I rode with him so I could go on out to my parents' house
for the morning.   We had planned our 4th Annual Small Group Pool Party for Saturday afternoon...nothing like a pool party with a nice smokey aroma in the air! 

While people came & went we ended up with a total of 14 adults & 12 kiddos jumping in the pool at some point. They also got to experience a little bit more fire drama as we had to call 911 again for a flare-up that occurred in the back part of a wooded area.  The firemen came to the rescue again and the relaxation was able to resume! 


Definitely a full pool!

Who are all these kids in MY pool?...and who decided to let them in?  ha! 

After everyone headed home, Nick & I jumped on the four-wheelers and followed my dad around our property as he gave us a tour of the extent of the fire damage.  As I said, more photos to come later this week. 

This morning Hubby headed to the golf course & Elyse & I went to church by ourselves.  I'm almost positive we've got another tooth coming in so we've had an irritable baby on our hands.  It's an early bedtime for her tonight...hopefully the pain won't bother her too much!  

Sucking on an ice cube to numb her gums

Another bath in the big tub...happy girl! 

And let me just tell you...we were not torturing our baby girl in this next photo, but it's too funny not to share!   Hubby always tries to get water in Elyse's face so she won't be scared of the water...I'm not sure how well that's working!  ha! 

She looks panicked but we never have any tears! 

 After all the excitement of the weekend...I'm just so thankful for God's protection.  All I knew to do on Friday was to pray, and that's what I did.  Thank you God for watching over our family, our homes, & all the firemen doing such an incredible job fighting those fires.