Halloween

Today is Halloween and we are still down the hill at Chalon's. It has been fun but very crazy with all of the kids and their different needs. We get to go home tomorrow and I am very excited for my own house. I have to admit that it is pretty easy to get used to not having a lot of furniture but the one thing I really miss is a washer and dryer. I would not like living in a time without those luxeries.

Yesterday Cameron and I went miniture golfing for a break from the routine. It was fun to get out. I saw one of my old students from colton. I was weird because I haven't been a teacher in so long that I don't think of myself that way anymore. I didn't recognize her but I guess that is what happens when you have 200 kids coming through a day. I think it would be nice to teach only 30 kids for a whole year instead.

Sunday Church

We went to church today and met with our ward and the Lake Arrowhead Ward. It was a very nice meeting. Our Stake President said that in the Southern California fires 57 families have lost their home within the church. We are still not 100% sure of everything in Running Springs as they have not assessed the property damage there yet. He said that one family got a reverse 911 call and just had time to get in the car and down the street before their house was engulfed and destroyed. So we are very lucky right now. Everyone seemed to be in good spirits and our branch president gave a talk about accepting whatever help we need and giving whatever help we can give in the coming weeks.

I know that I will make some changes to the way I do things and I have one big reccommendation. In the event of an evacuation grab your dirty clothes laundry basket. There will be somewhere to do laundry where you go and it will have what you need since it is the clothes that you wear.

We are thinking we will still be here for most of the rest of the week. But Lake Arrowhead gets to go home today. Lucky them!

Still Evacuated

Well Cameron did not have work yesterday due to the power going out. We are not sure why the power was out there. WE spent the day trying to figure out what to do. One thing is that being evacuated can be boring. We got an incredible package in the mail with lots of stuff for the kids to do and even some clothes for us. Thanks to my wonderful sister and her husband for that!

Mike (Cameron's dad) also visited the mountains yesterday. He got the inportant stuff from our house for us. Butterfly wings and a princess costume and then a bucket of dirty laundry. Hopefully we will have enough stuff for our evacuation now. It will probably be at least another week but we are very lucky because our neighborhood is still standing. Mike said that if you look from our house you can't even tell that there was a fire. What a blessing. I guess we were indeed led to the right house when we were picking houses to live in last month.

We went to an apple orchard yesterday in Oak Glen and enjoyed the cool air and the atmosphere that they created. We are ready to go back in the mountains just as soon as the fire is all out.

We are still in Highland

We had a calm day today. I cleaned the house a little and the girls worked on some "homework". Then we went to Norton air force base to collect the mail. After that we went over to orange show to the evacuation center. The red cross is amazing! Go red cross. It seems that everyone is doing fine there. They checked us in and took our information. Then they gave the kids some coloring books and stuffed animals and fed us. They even had a razor for Cameron so he can stop being the hairy monster :) Our last stop was the church where we worked on some humanitarian projects.

As of now our house is fine. Mike is going to be going up the mountains to check out the damage and hopefully get our halloween costumes. I think the fire may decide to leave most of the town standing. Although there are plenty of houses that were completely destroyed.

It is still smoky and it will probably be awhile before we can go home.

smoke in the air

We woke up to smoke in the air that was thick enough to cause the smoke alarm to go off. Not a good thing for scared little kids. We got the alarm to turn off and now have the house fan constantly on. Hopefully it will keep the smoke down a little. We are going to apple tree to play with toys because all the schools in Redlands are closed!

The good news is that for now Cameron's parents house was spared. It was confirmed! But at least two if not three people lost their homes from our ward over night. I am sad for them. We don't know the condition of our house. It may be okay and it may not. There are some reports of houses being lost on keller peak and we are not sure where they are refering to.....

Fire Progress

Today we collected food for the fire fighters in the mountains. It was Erin's project and Cameron helped quite a bit as well as Chalon. I think it was nice to let the kids have something to do. There was a lot of food collected and then someone in charge came to collect the food. He gave us a report that as far as he knows Cameron's parents house is okay. That is great news. Hopefully the fire will stay away from it from now on. We will see. He is going to drive by the house and see it tonight if it is possible. we will post a confirmed report.

I am also hearing from friends in San Diego. The Abreu's house was saved but the ranch did not fare as well. Dan stayed and fought the fire with Sean which is probably why it is okay.

The fire is headed towards our house tonight. We would appreciate all prayers that the fire will stay away from structures.

Thanks and please post if you visit our site so I know it was worth it to post.
thanks
Melissa

Evacuation

We woke up Monday morning to sirens and high wind. Not a good combination. We kept hearing sirens as it got light and then found out there was a fire in Lake Arrowhead. We figured that this fire was far away from us so we decided we were okay and Cameron got to work. At 8:00 he called me after barely sitting down to his desk and asked the status. I realized that there was now another fire in Green Valley Lake-the town right above where we live in Arrowbear. I told him to come home and that I was going to go pack. Then I made a mad dash through the house running as fast as I could to collect our important belongings. I got the pictures, my wedding dress, and computer. We also packed some clothes (although they do not match very well,) and a few toys for the kids. I did not really have time to think much about the fact that we would have to live where ever we went. I was just trying to get the important stuff. I got a phone call from the sherriff's ordering a mandatory evacuation around 9:30. Cameron arrived home on fumes because he forgot his wallet and couldn't buy gas down the hill. After he got home we sent the kids down the hill with Chalon and continued to pack. We soon realized we would not be taking everything and just decided that we should go and help others.

At that point Erin (Cameron's sister) called and said they couldn't make it up the mountain due to the road closures. So the 'people' we helped were his parents. I drove down the hill in my escape with no gas (the car Cameron had driven to work.) The gas stations were not working due to the power being off. I made it just fine to the gas station and found out that we would be staying in Chalon's empty house with her and her girls. (She just closed escrow on Friday and was not planning to move in for awhile.) Cameron helped his mom until around 1:00 and then they drove down together. Right now we are there and safe but there is a chance we might be evacuated from our place of safety later tonight as the fire is coming down. Not to worry anyone but please pray.

We will have a website on the favorite websites that you can go and check.

It is also here www.rimoftheworld.net

We will post if there are any changes.