Here Is The Story...

In life good and bad things happen. They both become apart of your story. And only you can choose how you handle them and what you make of them. Everyday I pray that I can handle this trial with grace.

When we moved to Sandy from Logan last fall we had put all of our camping gear in the trailer. It made it easy to move it all together and to store it through the winter. When it became apparent that James was not going to be able to leave with us to go to Redfish Lake I started gutting the trailer. I decided that I didn't want to take a lot of things because I wanted to keep it simple for me. 

Last Friday James was in the garage and noticed that I had left the lantern. Since he was leaving that day to meet us he decided that he would bring it so we could use it for the weekend. He started it in the garage and let it burn for a few minutes. We have used it dozens of times and have never had any problems with it. He stepped into the house for a few minutes to switch some laundry out when he heard a loud crash. He ran to the garage and opened the door to black smoke. He tried to run in & couldn't even get in a couple feet. The lantern had somehow exploded. He ran out the front door & around to the back yard. There is a window above the bench in the garage & he thought he could break it & spray the hose in to stop the fire. As he ran past the window it exploded. He realized that the fire was much more than he could handle & ran to our neighbors to have them call 911. As they were making that call for him James ran back into the house... He grabbed our family video's, my computer that holds all of our pictures, a blanket that his great grandma made him & a emergency stash of cash we had in the closet. He quickly tried to find the blankets that my grandmother's had made for me - but, couldn't find them & needed to get out of the house.

Friday morning I had an anxious feeling. I always get a little nervous when my family travels & I had a lot of loved ones that were going to be traveling that day for McKay's baptism. I had tried to call James a couple of times & it would just go straight to his voicemail. Then sometime in the late morning I received a text from a friend in my neighborhood telling me how sorry she was & to let her know if there was anything she could help me with.... I really started to get anxious. I tried to call her... But, she didn't answer. So, I called Brett (James's youngest brother). I asked if he had talked to or seen James that day. He said that he hadn't - but, that he was supposed to be there in 5 minutes to leave with them for Redfish. I could hear Wayne (James's dad) in the background & asked Brett to ask him if he had talked to James. Wayne said that he had at about 7:00 that morning. I told Brett about the text I received & told him to call me when James got there. I immediately hung up & called James's office. His secretary answered & I asked her what time James had left the office... She told me that he had never came in & told me that Wayne was calling in on the other line... I'm sure he was! We were all worried now.

I walked out of my trailer & told Megan and Greg what was going on. I was so anxious I was sick to my stomach. James still was not answering his phone... all calls were going directly to voicemail. It took about 30-45 minutes before my phone rang again. It was my friend from our ward calling... I was afraid to answer the phone. But, I made myself & was so relieved when it was James. I walked out by the cars as he told me about the fire... I think I asked him almost a hundred times if he was ok! Travis came up and sat in his car & listened as I talked to James. He was getting bits & pieces of the story. After I got off of the phone with James I went & sat with Travis & just cried. I remember Greg coming up at some point. I had just lived 45 minutes of hell & was in complete shock. Travis let me cry & then he talked me through it in only a way that he could. The things that he said are to special & personal to share. Shortly after Carson arrived with the kid's... they were coming to spend the weekend with us for McKay's baptism. The Lord truly put the people that I would need most there with me at that time.

Our Bishop was at the house with James & told him that he had more important things to do. They would take care of everything for him... But, that he needed to get to his family. It seemed like forever until he arrived. He gave me a huge hug & told me how sorry he was that he couldn't find my grandma's blankets! I laughed & told him that I had put them in the trailer! I remember when I was putting them in there I was wondering why I was taking them camping!

We are truly blessed. Blessed that the lantern did not explode while James was standing there. Blessed that he was not burned. I have sat and thought so many times what would have happened if I would have taken it with me. If I would have used it in the trailer & it would have exploded in there with the kids... It makes me shudder.

I have come to Idaho Falls to stay with the kids for a few days. James went back to Sandy to get everything figured out. Being married to a insurance man does have it's benefits! We did have renters insurance and everything is covered.

We had just in the couple weeks before moved all of our stuff that was in storage in Logan to our garage. We were in the process of sorting through it all. The garage is completely burned. I had hopes for much of the things inside the house. But, it appears that a majority of it has been damaged due to smoke damage. Right now they are telling us that pretty much the only things they can salvage are our hard wood furniture items & our glass dishes. All couches, TV's, bedding, mattresses, toys, books, washer & dryer, pictures, food...etc. is damaged. My car was in the garage and as you can see it is gone. All skiing equipment, tools, camping stuff, baseball stuff, baby stuff, holiday decorations, lawn mower, snow blower, golf clubs, cedar chest, freezers, kids clothes... it's all gone. Burned. My list goes on and on.

I do have my family video's, I have my hard drive with all of my family pictures, I have my quilts from my grandmother's & most importantly I have my husband.  I lost a lot of important things... But, nothing is more important than he is.

I am taking it one day at a time. It's all I can really do. The out pouring of love, support & help has truly touched us more than we can ever express. Thank you!