Peace and destruction

This is one of my longest posts....ever. Sorry to jam it so full but I think you will see why.

The Atlanta temple has been closed for 22 months for renovations. It was just reopened and was open to the public for an open house. Jason was able to be an usher. The kids and I were able to go up the day he volunteered and take a tour. They LOVED it. They loved seeing where mommy and daddy got married (although b/c of the remodel the room really isn't there any more). They loved the beautiful artwork and chandeliers and the PEACE they felt.

How handsome are Link and Quincy in this three piece matching suit? Love it. This is our family almost 8 years after we got married in this very spot. Who would've thought we would be standing here 8 years later with 3 1/2 children. Crazy. Multiply and replenish the earth....we take it very seriously. :) I am kidding.

Jason is SOOOO good at working with his hands. One reason why I KNOW he will be an excellent dentist. He has an eye for detail and has the patience to see things through. He is in the process of building this ottoman. Amazing, right??? He built it from scratch and then painted and antiqued it. It even has a drawer and in-lays (which he carved by hand). He's going to put tufted leather on top. Can't wait for the finished product. Promise I will post a pic.

Ok.....now on to the destruction part of my post. I am sure you have all read/heard or even witnessed the destruction that took over the south last week. On Wed. (technically Thurs. morning) night around midnight Brooks was hit by a tornado traveling 140 miles per hour, with a path of twenty miles and was a half mile wide. I was oblivious to what was going on and just thought it was a bad storm. None of us slept b/c of the storm. All the kids were in bed with us trembling b/c of the thunder and lightning. Around midnight I do remember there being a really intense part of the storm where there seemed to be constant lightning for about ten min. straight. Other than that- nothing. We lost power, but we always lose power. It was pitch black after the storm passed and it was hard to sleep that night with all the kids smothering us in the queen bed and the heat. The next day I even got Ella ready for school. I sent her off with Jason and then picked up my phone and noticed the school called at 5:01 am leaving a msg that school was cancelled for the day. Hmmmm. So I called Jason and told him to turn around and bring her back. He immediately came home and told me to get in the car. He drove us all just half a mile away to HWY 16 where everything around had been devastated by the storm. There were power lines and trees all over this main road. But what I noticed mainly was the destruction all around. Houses flattened, trees uprooted or just ripped. Yet, half a mile away (less really) we didn't even have a branch out of place. All of the following pictures were no more than 2 miles away and as close as half a mile. The smell of fresh cut wood was rampant. It soaked the air. The storm was so concentrated. Ella and Lincoln were consumed the entire day with all of their friends and family and were wondering if they were ok. Lincoln said, "Mom, I am so sad. Jesus' world is broken". They were so eager to help and so sympathetic.

There are clothes in this tree. Can you see them?? And other household items...part of a couch? Not sure.

Mattress and monopoly.

This (and the following several pictures) was once a beautiful colonial home and equestrian farm. The people that were inside were miraculously unharmed but two of their horses were found miles away. They had to be put them down due to their injuries. The tornado DESTROYED (not damaged- destroyed) 400 homes in Griffin and 17 businesses.

The rubble of their house.

The barn that housed 17 horses.

Close-up of the barn.

This used to be a forest. All of the trees throughout the twenty miles that tornado went through are GONE. Ripped in half really...or up-rooted.



These pics (thanks to blogger.....don't bet me started) are WAY out of order. More tornado pics below.

Quincy's favorite place at Grandma and Grandpa's- pond. Yes, it scares me.

Kids enjoying the gorgeous weather.....and each other. For now.

J dawg celebrated his 34th birthday on the 18th.

Billy gave him this dagger....er....knife...whatever.

WE got a chance to go to St.Simon's Island for Spring break and Easter with Grandma and Grandpa Allred. It was so fun!

Easter egg hunt at the beach house.

The kids enjoyed the beach soooo much. It made the beach so enjoyable. They just wanted to play in the sand and beach ALL.DAY.LONG.

The first day we were there Lincoln scraped up his knee really good on the rocks that have the sharp seashells stuck to it. See pic below. I will spare you the pic of his gore-y knee. Ew. Anyway, so he resorted to jumping the waves like this. Guess which knee is injured? :)

Our family. Easter pic. I had the boys dressed alike- so cute. And I had a cute matching dress for Ella....but her entire suitcase got left home and so she rotated two outfits our entire beach trip.

SO much twisted metal everywhere. Twisted like a paper clip.

This house is VERY close to us. Less than half a mile.

Two people who live on this road (Lakeview) died. 8 people in griffin died.

Cows were everywhere. The fences were gone.

This house (on Lakeview...the afore mentioned road) is a house Jason and I put a contract on and fully intended on moving into. Things changed obviously.....Boy, aren't we glad now? I was able to speak to the owner. He was sleeping in the right corner. He said the roof/ceiling just came down on him. He was uninjured.

This house is directly behind the house that we almost bought. The entire top is GONE. There belongings are spread everywhere. There were two bedrooms upstairs. No one was sleeping in them the night of the twister. No one in this house was harmed.

The people in the above house rummaging through the rubble.