Catching up a bit

So, here's the latest.

Many of you saw on my Facebook profile that we were thinking we'd have to find a new house to live in. The reason for that is this:and this:

and this!Indiana definitely got its fair share of rain two weekends ago. The first picture I took is a field that leads up to a beautiful Catholic church. As Jake and I drove home from our church on Sunday, we found the field to be completely covered in water, looking like a lake. The second picture is one that shows how high the water was up on our van - to the doors to be exact. And this last picture shows how the lake we live on rose so much, many docks were covered in water. I have never seen so much water in my life. It took Jake and I an hour to get home from church and, finally, after attempting three different routes that were blocked by police officers, we found a road that led home - - - - to a home with no power, that is! We quickly packed overnight necessities and headed to our friends', the Evers', who gave us great shelter from the storm for the night. We were warm and cozy and it was wonderful! Cole made cookies with MacKenzie, and Shelley and I stayed up way too late watching a ridiculous movie that was supposed to be scary, but in the end was pretty hysterical. Our power was on and we were able to return home the next morning, but were so glad to have the time spent with friends.

In the town of Munster, where we lived just last year, a family in our church is still recovering from the flood where their entire basement was filled with water and it was coming up onto the main floor of their home. Just down the street from them, a house exploded. Roads were closed, schools closed, we saw a semi split in half from a tree falling on it - - - it was crazy.

SO! From all of this, we got a bit of flooding in our basement and discovered spores of mold that came through our drywall. We knew we couldn't stay in an environment that invited mold, especially with the kids and were planning to have to move out. But Landlord Ron (the most wonderful landlord ever!) saved the day. He and another guy (I forget his name so we'll call him Gut-out guy because he gutted out our house!) came and took our drywall out where mold had collected. They will come back at the end of the week to put up a charrail and some white paneling at the bottom so that we can pull it out easily if it begins to collect water. I am so glad that mold didn't grow in our wood because we would be done for then! I can't tell you what a relief it is to not have to move!!

In all of this, please keep in mind people who were not as fortunate as we have been. Many people's homes have been destroyed. With the economy in the state that it is, it's not an easy task for families to restore their homes to a livable status. We often think of flood victims on coasts - I know I was shocked to see Indiana get the weather it did. But we definitely have flood victims all around us right now and people are still recovering. Prayers are greatly appreciated!!