And the fires raged on!

It has been a CRAZY ride this month for our family. We are currently living in Southern California, which meant we are not exempt form crazy wild fires, as we all to closely experienced just a few short weeks ago. It was an average week day, the girls had been dropped off at school and my twins were dropped off for daycare. Hubby had just left from his time home for lunch to return to work.Books were read, diapers changed, and bottles were fed. All sweet babies were just laid down to nap when no sooner, the loud speaker in place to make announcements on base came on. Now , understand that these go off every Friday in a , "this is just a test" manner, but a Wednesday morning is quite an odd time to hear them sound. Of course, with sleeping babies, my front door had been shut, and no sooner had I reached the front door to better hear the announcement, had it completed. Seeing nothing of concern, I continued with naptime, but kept my door open, as a precaution of course.
Not but two minutes later, on came the sirens once again, prompting that this was not a test, and all must evacuate immediately, and it just went down hill from there. My first call was to hubby, and to no surprise, he didn't answer on my first try, so I tried again and informed him to turn around with our only vehicle, and retrieve the girls at the school on the way. Calling the daycare parent, which gratefully she was closer to my home than expected, she was on her way. In the mean time, it was my job to keep my youngest daughter occupied, the babies calm, and the dog, who seemed to sense the chaos from going crazy upstairs, all while packing what I could think of in order of importance. Here is where as a crafter, I shamefully admit that  nearly ALL of my layouts are loose and scattered, yet to be in albums, so those didn't make the cut. In a timely manor, the mother of the twins arrived, hubby and daughters came home safely, and the loading of the car began. Here is where having an emergency bin for the daycare put together came in amazing handiness! We, along with my neighbors and friends, drove away, with little understanding of what would happen from here and how to deal with the emotions yet to come. Safely from the other side  of the base, we watched, waiting as flames continued near our home, and all around us, far into the night.

The next morning we awoke and continued the wait until the evening with news that we could return home. Reluctantly we made the drive home, and no sooner were we in the front door, when suddenly we saw flames out our back yard once again. With the possibility of evacuating once again, we watched as the fires blazed on around us, the skies were orange, and the sound of helicopters overheard soon became background noise, until, as the hours passed, and the skies slowly began to clear up, we felt slightly at peace again. the fires on Camp Pendleton and surrounding areas blazed on for nearly 5 days. I am beyond blessed to share that our home and the homes in our neighborhood were saved from the danger that could have been, but looking out my bedroom window every night, I am reminded of what occurred just 50 feet from our backdoor, and the looming thoughts of what could have been.

 My heart still aches for those that lost so much around us, and I will forever be grateful for the prayers and outreach I received during our time of chaos. I left my belongings in the hand of god that day, as I held my babies close, thanking god for our safety, it is indeed a day which I will not soon forget.

Hey there Mr.Goat

It is gorgeous here today, looking to get up in the very high 90's, but for now it is a nice breeze. I had the day off yesterday and took the time to create this layout based on the new sketch over at October Afternoon.It made such a fun layout. We had taken a day at the zoo recently, and upon seeing the petting zoo, little K knew just where to go. Unlike her sisters at this age, she had no fear of the free roaming goats. She chased this one down to love on, and was difficult to pull away from her new friends.

I hope everyone his having a great week so far and thanks so much for taking the time to peek at my new work!
Brianna

Happy Mothers Day to all of my pretty mama's out there!I was told early this morning that the day was mine,so I chose to spend it at the beach with my babies.We had a unique day,we dug in the sand, touched the waves, and than, the most bizzare accident occurred, poor little A got hit in the face by a bird,of all the things.It flew right by smashing its wings on Hercules,just below her eye.Mama was there to save the day, and daddy helped dug a hole to China to distract her mind.As you can see in the photo below, little A is always so happy,so nothing could ruin her day. I hope everyone else had a wonderful day.

Today also marks the first reveal for the new design team over at LCOM.We were asked to use a great sketch.

         
I love seeing everyone's take on the same sketch.If you have the time,stop by and see all the takes on this great sketch,and play along HERE .
Brianna

i just want to learn and grow

Happy Thursday friends.The past month has been quite busy.We were so blessed to have a dear old friend fly all the way across country to visit us during the girls spring break.After a 12 hour set due to plane delays,Uncle Kenny was here! We showed him all we could in his short 5 days here,including touching the Pacific ocean,a wonderful local place called old town,and a kid free day to Orlando.It was wonderful,rejuvenating, and great fun. On the downside it left no time for playing with paper.I completed my first layout for LCOM which will reveal Sunday.Until then I truly wanted to sit down and share a bit about me.

As most of you know,I was blessed to meet my now husband in High school, soon after which we made the choice for our someday family,to have him join the marine Corps.During this time we have traveled to many states, experiencing America and enriching our lives and challenging us all along the way.The greatest enrichment has come from our current move.Maine born and raised, California was a big, scary idea, but we embraced the possibility of a cross country move and were quite excited with the news of this move in June 2012. Since the move,I have grown so much spiritually, and learned so much about myself in the spaces in between.My friends joked before the move that I better not turn into a "hippie", but low and behold, listening to my heart I learned,that I am in fact a bit of a "hippie".I have always loved being barefoot,so that was a good start,but I have since learned soon much about nutrition and holistic medicine.My brain felt excited to be learning so much at once.After a year of tweaking our diets,we have all settled on a way of eating called Paleo.We are a week in and LOVING it.From questioning the doctor about Chronic fatigue just a year ago to having great energy this week,it feels great, and I would be lying if I didn't say that already losing 7 pounds this week didn't help my encouragement.This feels right in my heart,and I am excited for this change.Here is to the beginning of something amazing, learning about live, and sharing it with so many wonderful people!
Brianna