Tsunami Saturday...

It all started when I got the phone call at 330am from our sweet neighbors (Thanks David!) that a Tsunami was on the way. At first I thought it couldn't be that big of a deal but then about 5 mintues later there was a knock on my door and Bro. Tafiti was there to make sure I knew about eh watch and if we needed anything.  Thats when I knew it was serious.  I slowly got things prepared and ready for the 6am Tsunami alarm to sound.  I let Lee sleep because I really didn't know if we would for sure have to evacuate and no need for us both to be awake and worrying.  But when I heard that all coastal cities HAD to evacuate I woke him up as clamly as I could. He panicked for a mintue but when he saw that I had gotten most things ready he relaxed and started laoding up the truck.  As I came outside to help I saw this beautiful scene and thought there's no way it could be THIS beautiful today if we were going to die! ROFL...as if tragedy could only strike on ugly weather days.  Im mental I know but thats seriosly what I thought! But I really did feel a sense of peace at this very moment and thats why I took the picture.

We went to Foodland and I was expecting to find a mad house...but what I found was a calm and friendly environment where the things I needed were there and on SALE. You usually hear about looting, price gauging and riots in times like this but not in Laie. I was so impressed by that!  We then headed up to Gunstock Ranch as our evacuation spot. I ahd grown up thinking that the Temple was our evacutaion spot but as Laie has grown so has the need for more room.  That and we had Kayla and I didnt want her running around temple grounds and I didnt want to confine her to the truck.  Gunstock was BEAUTIFUL and really high up...way higher than the hill behind the temple.  We were directed to a large meadow where about 20 trucks and vans were already there.  The sun was rising over the trees and once again I was in awe of the peace and awe I felt at this gorgeous site. My cell phone camera does not do it justice!

You cant tell from the picture but both cars were PACKED with stuff.  I literally bought everything we could possibly need including a 8 person tent, bbq grill, junk food, a laptop with movies and most importantly my scriptures!!!  I didn't have to use anythign we had brought other than some food and water but I felt so calm to know that we had it if we needed it.  Im also so grateful to the church and their teachings on being prepared.  Things went so smoothly because I already knew what we needed and ad our 72 hour kits ready and a list of things to bring.  Not to mention the fact that the Church had every member contacted by 4am so we could have a heaad start to be ready and not have to panic.

We parked next to the Tovey family which were in my homeward with me growing up.  Their oldest son, David, came right over to us as we parked and invited us to join them under their easy corner tent.  We realized they didnt have any tables so we jumped into the truck and ran home to grab our two long tables and chairs (and went to the bathroom wich was such a SMART thing for me to do).  They were the nicest "hosts" and on top of that they provided entertainment! 

We brought up the laptop so we could watch movies and really just passed the time as if we were camping with our buddies!  It really was so calm and light hearted considering the circumstances.  The only stressful time came when I anticipated having to go into the bushes to pee BUT luckily since I had went at home and refrained from drinking or eating too much I held it until we went home:-P

Kayla thought we were on a special trip JUST for her.  She had a blast! There were a ton of dogs up at Gunstock but she had no interest in any of them. She just ran free smelling EVERYTHING and stealing food out of innocent bystanders hands.  LITERALLY she ran up on David's wife who had her sandwich kind of dangling  close tot he ground and Kayla swooped in and bit her sandwich right out of her hand.  I was MORTIFIED!!!!!!! And the poor girl was kind of scred but we all ended up laughing and Kayla got tied to my chair for the rest of the day. Naught Dog!!!!!!

You know...this was a very interesting experience for me.  I was unusally stressed and afraid in the early morning hours.  BUt as soon as I got up to Gunstock and saw several friends and preisthood leaders...I felt protected and peaceful.  Thankfully the Tsunami never hita nd we got to go home, shower, eat and SLEEP the rest of the Saturday away.  Thank you to ALL of you who texted or called to see if we were ok.  I had over 200 text messages that day and I could feel your love and prayers watching over us.  Oh and by the way..Im looking in to moving to higher ground:-D