Freaking Out!

Everyone knows that I am a big worrier, but when I first posted about the earthquake in Chile, I was optimistic and wasn't worried at all. I was thinking things like: what a great opportunity for Chance to serve and help the Chilean people, maybe this tragedy will bring people closer to Christ and allow Chance to teach our beliefs to so many people who in other circumstances would not have listened, etc.

Now, I am freaking out with thoughts like: what if he can't get food or water, what if the looting and violence becomes so bad that he is hurt or even killed, what if he seriously hurts his back while trying to help someone and he can't get the medical care he needs (he had back surgery a few months before leaving for the MTC), what if the next after shock is bigger than the last and he is not as lucky this time, what if all of the tragic things he is seeing will change him so profoundly that we won't even know him when he comes home, etc.

Nobody wins when we play the 'what if' game!

I just read this online (I really would be better off if I would turn off the t.v. and internet):

"Of the 708 reported dead as of Sunday afternoon, 541 had died in Chile's Maule region, and 64 in the Bio Bio region, both in south-central Chile."

Curico is in the Maule region. Chance is in Curico.

Mondays are the days he usually e-mails us. Tomorrow will be a very sad Monday because I am sure we won't be hearing from him. How many more sad Mondays will we have? How long will we have to wait before we hear again that he is okay? I hate the feeling of helplessness that I feel. He is down there, so far away from us, and there is NOTHING we can do to protect him. I want to fly down there and pick him up and bring him home where I know he will be safe. Big sisters are supposed to look out for their little brothers and all I can do right now is cry and hope and pray that God will look out for my little brother who is not just a brother-he is truly one of my best friends.

Prayers for Chile Please!

We are very concerned about Chile today. For those of you who haven't heard, there was a 8.8 magnitude earthquake in Chile today where my brother is serving a 2 year mission for our church (lds.org). We are concerned for Chance but we have heard that he is okay. It is a pretty cool story about how we received that news. Chance's companion is Elder May (whom we LOVE). Elder May's parents are Mission Presidents in one of the missions in Santiago. All communications are down in Concepcion where the mission home is so they couldn't get a hold of their Mission President. So, Elder May decided to call his mom. Then, Sister May called my family to let them know that they were okay. Chance definitely has the right companion right now!!! We are SO thankful. My mom heard from another Chile Missionary mom that all the Missionaries in the Concepcion Mission have been accounted for.

The only information that I heard specifically about Chance is that he was sleeping in the top bunk and it almost shook him completely out of bed. I have heard on some news reports that the initial quake shook for at least 90 seconds.

Chance is currently serving in Curico, which is just north of Talca. I found the following in a news article which tells just how big this quake was:

"Saturday's temblor comes about six weeks after an 7.0-magnitude earthquake devastated parts of Haiti and killed more than 220,000 people. The Chilean quake, at magnitude 8.8, was 700 to 800 times stronger."

"The quake tore apart houses, bridges and highways, and Chileans near the epicenter were thrown from their beds by the force of the mega-quake, which was felt as far away as Sao Paulo in Brazil — 1,800 miles (2,900 kilometers) to the east.

The full extent of damage remained unclear. Ninety aftershocks of magnitude 5 or greater shuddered across the disaster prone Andean nation within 24 hours of the initial quake. One was nearly as powerful as Haiti's devastating Jan. 12 earthquake."

I will post more once we hear from him but it could be months. Thank you all for your concern. Please keep the Chilean People in your prayers.

Floor Update

So...after much scrubbing with straight acetone (the only thing that worked) it all came out except what was in the grout. Luckily it is in a spot that we can hide it. Thanks for all of your tips. Hope this doesn't happen to any of you!

HELP!

Do any of you know how to get fingernail polish out off of tile, walls, and cabinets, and out of grout?

Seriously...it's not coming off with polish remover. This picture was taken after 2 hours of working on it.

If you have any suggestions, PLEASE leave a comment!

Flooded

It seems like lately our lives are flooded. Flooded with work, flooded with e-mails, flooded with phone calls from telemarketers, flooded with piles of clutter all over my house-despite my best efforts to get rid of them, flooded with bad news on the TV, flooded with guilt over not keeping up with blogs, etc. Well, now our yard is literally flooded too! We have had an insane amount of rain. We have had more rain this past week then in the previous 3 years combined that we have lived here. We needed it badly but I am not sure that we needed it all at once. Here is a picture of our garden. The good news is that I won't have to worry about watering it for awhile!

We put the girls bunk beds together the other day and if I had known how much it would entertain them I would have done it long ago! They spend hours playing up on the top bunk. I will let you know if it was worth it after our first trip to the E.R.

We went to Disneyland last week and had such a great time. We were able to meet up with some of our best friends from Vet School (lifelong friends) the Raymonds and we had a GREAT time. It rained (huge understatement) for about 2 hours and when it stopped, everyone but us had gone back to the hotels. It was the best time I have ever had at a theme park. Some of the rides were closed but it was worth it because we got to ride everything else as much as we wanted. We rode Splash Mountain 4 times without ever getting out of the log. The guy just kept asking us, "wanna go again?". It was the best. The bad thing was that the rain and snow on the Grapevine (they closed the road) kept us from going down Thursday night to watch the WSU Basketball team beat USC. We were really looking forward to going.

Practice Makes Perfect!

I am trying to clear off the memory card on my camera for Christmas and I found this video. It is from back in Sept. when the girls were preparing for their October violin recital. My favorite part is when Madi says, "Get ready Saige!" That is so typical of her.
They have been taking lessons for almost 8 months now and I can't believe how fast they are learning. Even from this video until now I can't believe how much they have improved. It won't be long before they pass me.

Merry Christmas

Well, we are almost ready to load up the minivan and make the trek to Utah for Christmas so I just wanted to wish everyone a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS. We are so excited that we are able to go home this year. Christmas just isn't Christmas without snow and being around family. Here are a few random pictures.

I decided to wash the pads on the girls' carseats before we go. They found them hanging to dry and decided to try them on! The are so GOOFY sometimes!

These pictures are from our Ward party. Seeing Santa here is SO MUCH better than waiting in line at the mall.

This year Saige wants (with the help of her sister telling her what she wants!) a Jewelery Maker.

Madi wants a crayon maker.

This is what happens when you store your Christmas candles in the garage in Bakersfield.
Lesson learned.
(My favorite scent: Christmas Trimmings)