After the Fires, Week 2

Okay, so I guess that puts us around Halloween...but first I wanted to share these photos:

At the end of this driveway used to stand the over 100-year-old home in which my mom was raised.

The fireplace is now all that remains. Isn't that so sad? Look around the remains at the landscape...doesn't much look like a fire pillaged the entire hillside or ignited all the vegitation, does it? That is one of the weirdest things about this fire. You can look at where the fire rushed through, but it must have been moving so fast that many of the bushes, trees, and even homes were just blown over. An ember must have flown over and landed here to catch this house cause this is really the only thing burnt...nothing around it. So so weird.

The final numbers now put this fire as the county's largest fire. It has destroyed about 1,040 homes and scorched about 197,990 acres (still ranks as only #3 in California's history...).

Halloween! My two princesses...Snow White and Cinderella. Rae really got the hang of saying "Trick or Treat" to everyone we encountered...even to customers coming in and out of the grocery store! Kams, on the other hand thought it was much more effective to hold out her little hand while demanding "Nandy!" And of course everyone reinforced her behavior by placing a delicious piece of candy in the palm of her hand. She'd then examine it to make sure it was acceptable before placing it in her princess bucket.

By the way, Kammie is a flippin genius. Okay, I may be a little biased...but just in comparison to Raegann, whos language didn't explode till around two. I just can't believe that she is already speaking in 4-5 word sentences and more. Here are some fun ones:
"I un hideen!"
"I see you, mommy!"
"I wove you, sissy."
"I unt more nandy!"
"I unt juice too."

And here we have my little brother with his beautiful fiancee, Jessica!

This is a pic of the actual proposal on November 4th. Our church does a Thanksgiving potluck every year at the beginning of November (just to make sure it doesn't interfere with people going out of town and stuff). I LOVE it and it was, and always is, sooo yummy! I made my famous cranberry sauce - which I'll be sure to post pics of next time. Anyways, at one point in the evening, the microphone is passed, and if you feel so obligated, then you can share, breifly, just what you are thankful for. As you can imagine, many people were thankful for things such as the wonderful God we serve, their family, the firefighters, that their home was saved, etc. When it came near us, Ryan snatched the mic, stood up and said how he was so thankful for his family and his wonderful girlfriend, Jessica. Then he said something like, "Jessica, I love you so much and I want to spend the rest of my life with you..." and as he got down on one knee, he said, "will you marry me?!?" Everyone went wild of course and then she said yes through her tears. Everyone at our table got a little teary eyed. He asked her in front of all of his closest friends and family...I always knew he loved to be the center of attention!!!

Now, here's the kicker...they set the date (on the very next day) for January 5th! Do you all realize that this is only 6 weeks from now?!? It is going so fast! But they are on top of it all. Since the day of the proposal till now, they've already booked the church, she's got her dress and we have our bridesmaid dresses ordered, we have shoes, they booked the DJ, invitations are purchased, printed and ready to be mailed, I got the girls their flower girl dresses and shoes, and they have a romantic weekend booked. I am doing the cake of course and I am making her veil. We scheduled the bridal shower and the bachelorette parties. A lot has been done, but there is still lots to do!