Coming Home is Awesome

We had an epic weekend.

It all started on Thursday, Valentine's Day. Anthony was working, so the kids and I went to the coast with my parents. It was as beautiful a day on the Oregon coast as you can expect to get in February [sunny, a bit windy, cold]. It was just enough to get our toes wet and to build a big sand castle before eating at our favorite Newport restaurant. We came home, I put the kids to bed and then took Bella outside.

And that's when I noticed the sparks and flames coming out of the top of our chimney.

No big deal. I called my dad to come look at it, we let the fire in the stove go out, and the flames and sparks in the chimney disappeared. So I went to bed.

1. At 12:40 I wake up to the fire alarm upstairs [thank sweet fate that Anthony had told me to put one up there, and that I had listened]. I go up, see smoke and a glowing chimney, and notice that there's a small fire burning in the floor. I run for some water and put it out.

2. I call my dad. He comes over, and we quickly realize pouring a glass of water down the chimney ain't gonna cut it. We get the hose.

3. My dad is barefoot and clinging to the steep roof. The hose is down the chimney, and smoke is bellowing out. We decide to call the fire department. Naturally, my firefighting husband is at work and not at home to fight his own fire. I leave my dad to our volunteer firefighters as I wake the kids and take them and the puppy to my parents' house.

4. My mom escapes upstairs to try to sleep as the kids and I take over her bed. We watch movies and eat pretzels until about 3:30 am, when we finally fall asleep.

5. In the morning, I go over to check out the damage in the house. Anthony had come home in the middle of the night, just as the firefighters were finishing up. He stayed up until 5:30 cleaning, so he was still sleeping when I got there.

6. We were incredibly blessed to have the most minimal damage possible happen to our house. The fire had stayed contained in the chimney [except for the small spot in the floor I had found], and the water that put it out had only seeped into the kitchen. My dad and then Anthony both did heroic work in cleaning it up.

7. I then left our cold [because we can't use the stove anymore], damp, dirty, and messy house in care of Anthony. The kids, my mom and I packed up the puppy and some clothes and headed up to Portland. We were on a very important mission.

8. After spending a warm and sunny afternoon at a Portland park, we spent the night at my grandparents' house. This was not the main focus of our mission.

9. The next morning, we packed ourselves up again and headed into the Columbia River Gorge, to the little town of Carson, WA. In the parking lot of Carson's General Store and Post Office, we met up with my brother, Tio Capo, who lives 20 minutes away in White Salmon. We drove for a few more minutes before turning up a long driveway, leading to a large, covered arena.

10. We met Leanne. She brought out Harold and Avalon. Mina immediately wanted to ride Harold. Jai immediately did not want to ride anybody. Avalon eventually won him over.

11. We were all won over. We are all in love.

12. [There is more on this to come.]

13. We spent the rest of the lovely weekend checking out White Salmon with my lovely brother.

    

14. On our way home from the Gorge, we stopped in Portland to play at the park one more time. We also visited Anthony at the fire station.

15. We got home late. The house was completely clean. My dad had put a heater in every room, and it was warm. He had homemade macaroni and cheese waiting for us. I was filled with immense gratitude.

16. The kids went to bed. I went to bed a little later. We all dreamt of horses: a small brown mare with a white blaze on her face [Jai] and a tall white [Spirit] king of a horse [Mina] [and mama mama mama....]