Strong Childhood Flashback...

Simon up the tree before the wake
 of the storm. 

When I was a kid I remember the scream of the siren when there was a tornado...no wait, we didn't have sirens when I was little...it was the scream of my mother shrieking..."Tornado, Tornado, Get to the basement..." and we would be jerked from our bed and hurried downstairs with mom.  Dad?  Well, like all good men from Kansas, he was outside looking at the sky with my mom screaming..."Russell! Russell! You get down here!"

When Steve and I got married, tornadoes were terrifying to me.  Once after about 2 weeks of marriage, Steve was working and a police car came through our trailer court announcing: "Evacuate!  Evacuate! You must seek shelter!" By this time we had sirens and so with the sirens going in the background and this announcement, fear rose quickly.

Then, fast forward to having children of our own.  I didn't want them to have the same irrational fear of tornadoes so when there was a HINT of a possible storm, We would go to our basement and sleep down there.  Then if there was a tornado, we would be in place.  I think that my kids do not have the same irrational fear of tornadoes that I do...I will have to ask them.

Mazie at the park with her
favorite dog that she
petted in the park that day.

So, last night when the sirens went off in Omaha, I was ripped from sleep and I became my mother.  I am not the most coherent person when awakened at any time in the night...add a siren and it was comical in retrospect.  Shrieking at Steve, "Tornado!", I proceeded to stumble out of bed and hit the bed at the same time.  I grabbed the dog's collar because, face it, Lacy wouldn't get up unless pulled.  Pulling the 50 lb. dog and continuing to shriek, I ran into Simon's room.  "Get to the tornado shelter.  We need to go downstairs."

I was thinking that Steve had gotten Mazie and realized her door was still shut.  She wakes up like Nana in the middle of the night.  So, picture me dragging the dog by the collar, room by room, shrieking and I burst into Mazie's room. 

Gather the troops.  Down we went.  Into the "ROOM" and we dragged in a feather bed.  There we were. We ALL SAFE!  Wait! Roll call!  Mazie...physically present!  Simon...yep, he is here!  Lacy...oh yes we all know she is here because she has taken up a huge spot on the feather bed and is growling if anyone moves... Who is missing?  STEVE?  STEVE? Oh, he is out watching the TV.  He has moved Jon's car into the garage.  So, to keep the children calm...I continue to shriek!!!  My mom would have been proud of me.  Betsy on the other hand might fire me as a babysitter.

Now I know that Boys Town has rules!  So how do we get out of here?  Who tells us we can leave?  Oh, Steve did because he came in and said, "oh, the TV said it was over."  So, we all traipse back up stairs and off to bed.  Mazie wants me to sleep with her and be near the window.

Another friend that she found at the park before the fated
night.

As I was lying in bed and praising God for His protection once more.  I also realized that I am really only a couple of steps away from my mother.

As a PS to this evening: There were 2 highlights of the night. One was when Mazie began to cry...a natural response given the above description...and said, "but Nana, I haven't had breakfast yet."  (Miss Mazie has an internal food schedule!  And in all situations...that is the first thing on her mind.)  Once upstairs, she began to cry again, she couldn't see her bird feeder and what were the birds going to eat.  So in the midst of the chaos and the blaring sirens, normalcy comes from a little child.

Christmas filled with Gingerbread men and fun

No stop at the market would be complete without
posing on the Pike's Market Pig!

Seems like only days ago we were anticipating this family coming to spend Christmas with us.  At that time, I didn't sleep because I had "visions of sugar plums" and activities that we would do.  Then, the day came and they flew into to Seattle, late on Friday night (for them) and off to a motel to sleep for the night and explore Seattle on Saturday.

Gingerbread houses in Seattle

Riding the Christmas Merry-go-round

Pikes Market was on our plan and the kids saw flying fish, an amazing magician who put a sparkle into both Simon and Mazie's eyes (okay we were all pretty amazed!).  We explored the market; rode the Christmas Merry-go-round; looked at some amazing gingerbread creations; headed to Alderwood where Kelley, Mazie's new American Girl doll, had an appointment to get her hearing aids in just like her mom; we watched a drum parade in Bellevue and headed back to our house.

Simon has been posing for pictures and knows how
happy it makes his mom!  We were in the alpaca
store and Simon was buried in fur!!!

Throughout the week there were so many activities that were fun.  We loved having them here.  Here are some of the special times for me:

Our gingerbread creations:
Teams: Betsy & Mazie; Poppa & Simon; Nana & Jon

• I cried during the Christmas eve service when Mazie sang the last word to every line of the song on one side of me and Simon sang his heart out on the other side.  What an amazing gift to have them with us.
• I smiled when I was able to snuggle with each of them every night in bed.
• I loved sleeping with Mazie because you can never predict what the night will bring...she told me one night at 2:30 that she could not sleep, not one little bit and then fell back to sleep immediately.
• I loved sleeping with Simon because he cuddled and twirled my hair and then told me that I needed to grow it longer for him.  He has done this since he was a baby and it always brings flashes of his life flooding my soul.
• Nothing is better than sitting on a couch and reading books to them.  Even though both of them are very good readers, they still love to have books read to them.
• I loved our Christmas eve meal...crab, shrimp, and bacon wrapped scallops for 5 and a hot dog for one!  Miss Mazie did not want anything to do with seafood!
• We went to Whatcom Falls (which always brings memories of past visits from so many) and made new memories with our family and another family.  Watching 4 boys and 2 girls love and splash in the puddles and the surprise on their faces seeing the waterfalls.  Stopping at a store to get Mazie dry pants to continue the day because she was coated with mud and wet from the knees down. 
• I loved that our kids loved our friends and they enjoyed them.
• I have always been a fan of make believe.  Simon and Mazie had a wonderful time at Seattle Children's museum...Mazie spent a couple of hours in one room giving fake flowers to every one she could.  Simon cooked for many with a new friend.  Watching Jon and Betsy jump right into the make believe was so wonderful.

This is the 'dry' outfit that we got for Mazie.  Dry didn't stay
that way for long!  Love her as she searches for that one
perfect shell...and then cried because "Shelly" fell off of the dock.

Now 2 days away, the memories are clear but the house is quiet again, and there is an order to the house too...but it is also empty of laughter and chatter and the "quiet" patter of feet!  God gives us special times to capture in our heads and fills us with His joy. I am so thrilled that we were able to have this time with this very special family whom we love so much.

Yep, Nana and Poppa were in heaven with our little
wonders! 

Father, thank you for this family that you have given to us.  Jesus, they are back in Omaha and keep them in your hands of protection.  Let the respite that they had here follow them.  Lead them in the paths that you want them to go and give them joy.  In your precious name.  Amen