First Mark had to kill the weeds. He sprayed every square inch of the yard which took him a few nights.
Sometimes Claire and I stayed up late to help.
These photos were taken last Friday. Mark took the day off and headed to Home Depot at 6:00am to rent the trencher. He worked on the front yard all day. The kids and I kept him hydrated and covered in sunscreen. He worked really hard.
At 8:15 that night Mark was finishing up the front yard and hit a gas line. He ran in the house and urged me to quickly find his phone so he could call 911. I needed to get myself and the kids out of the house. I ran into Claire and Sean's room to shut their window and collect shoes. I looked out the window and saw the cloud of gas. It was shooting out like Old Faithful. Mark and I grabbed three kids and three pairs of shoes and ran out into the park. I looked down and saw that my sweet Sean had found time to gather up his three piece train in our hurry to get out the door.
What I wish I had a picture of is the fire truck, ambulance, police cars and multiple qweststar vehicles that showed up. The kids and I found shelter in our next door neighbor's house. We played with their toys until 9:15pm when they told us that we could go back home. A qweststar employee stopped us and said that the gas has gone underground up against the house. We were unable to enter the house, start our cars or sleep there that night. I may have started panicking a bit at this point with my three kids out on the neighbor's lawn without even a diaper in my possession. I called my big brother John to come save the day. He headed to us from Eagle Mountain while my sister-in-law Rachel set up beds for us to spend the night in her home. By the time John showed up they had done a walk through of the house and allowed me to go in to get supplies for the night. I felt much better knowing that I had Claire's ducky, Sean's blankies and Luke's bottles. They even let me start my car.
We arrived in Eagle Mountain at 10:30pm. Rachel had set us up in her beautiful master bedroom. The children slept well. We ate breakfast together in our jammies and headed back to Lehi for a final walk through of the house at 10:00am. Qweststar brought in a tractor to dig up the dirt next to house to release the gas. They were at our home until around 1:00am. The walk through was successful and we were back in our home by noon on Saturday.
Wow, what an adventure! We know that Heavenly Father protected us and our home that night. Things could have been a lot worse. This was a very serious accident. I am grateful for our beautiful home. I am grateful for my kids. They were troopers through the whole experience. I am grateful for my neighbors. They fed us dinner on Saturday night and checked in with us during the weekend. I am grateful to my brother and his wife for bending over backwards to accommodate our family with no notice. I love my husband and even though he almost blew up the house I think we will keep him!
Mark had already rented the trencher for Saturday. After the dust settled he headed back out to finish the backyard. He admitted to being very nervous. The backyard was much easier and smoother and he was finished by dinner. Here is a picture of him washing down the trencher before turning it back in. We were both quite pleased to get rid of that darn machine!
The sprinklers are going in on Saturday. Wish us luck!
Claire started preschool a couple of weeks ago. We talked about it and prepared for it all summer. She was beyond excited for her first day. She told me how she wanted to do her hair and wore her new preschool shirt. She got to wear her new princess light-up shoes that we bought especially for school.
Big day for this mommy. Up until this week I had three stay at home full time kids. It's weird to drop her off somewhere else. It helps knowing that she is confident and happy and excited. I don't have to worry about her at all.
Claire requested a picture with her brother. Last week Sean cried when we dropped Claire off for school. I set him up in his chair for lunch and he kept looking and pointing at Claire's chair and crying. Those two kids are best buds. We aren't quite sure what to do without our Princess. She is a natural peacemaker and everyone's best friend. Sean and Luke may have to figure out how to like eachother Tues/Thurs from 12:30-2:30.
Daddy came home for lunch to walk with us on her first day. He pushed the boys in the stroller so I could walk with Claire. She held my hand the whole way. It was a very tender moment for me.
The boys helped me pick her up after school and both fell asleep on the way home. We put them in bed to finish their naps and spent almost an hour taking about her experience. Claire told me that one of the little girls was sad and nervous. She said, "Not me Mommy. I was brave and happy and excited!" It makes me so happy to hear her recognize and understand her emotions. Mark and I are grateful everyday that Heavenly Father sent us Claire. The boys are both going through some rough patches right now and it's so nice to have a sweet, easy, kind, helpful big sister around to love everyone. She adds so much beauty and joy to our family.
