What a weekend!

Our original plan was to go to Amy's birthday party out in Rowland Heights. I'm so glad we didn't go!

The Yorba Linda fires hit us. It jumped the 91 freeway and up into our area. Pictures from our front porch...

15 minutes after taking this picture, you can hear the blaring sirens of the fire trucks, the water helicopters circling above us...then the police screeching down our street, on the loud speaker, "Please evacuate your homes immediately!"

That was some scary sh*t, I'm telling you. I'm glad I already had taken pictures of the house for fire insurance purposes beforehand. I had already started packing with the girls. Clothes, stuffed animals, important documents, laptop....after hearing the police, I was like a chicken with it's head cut off. Scrambling in all directions grabbing pictures, Josh's handmade quilt from his grandma, our memory box...anything that could not be replaced. (Josh grabbed the house slippers that I had bought for him...seeing him run out with it was so cute!) I grabbed a storage box full of the girls' old drawings and schoolwork and started emptying it all in my trunk. I mean, my brother and I have had conversations about what we would take if we were ever evacuated, but to actually experience it, is a completely different story. Standing in the garage looking at both our open trunks, I finally felt like we had packed everything that was important to us. I took one look at Josh and wanted to cry. He held me for a little bit. I'm so glad he was there.

We were packed and ready to go 10 minutes after the police came by. We got into our cars and joined the caravan with our next door neighbors. It was hectic trying to get out! The police did not allow anyone to go down the main street because fires were already erupting in spots a mile away from our house. Everyone was using the same small streets to evacuate.

That's Josh car in front of me and many more cars in front of him.

One of the funny moments we had, of course, in retrospect...=)

I was standing in the kitchen trying to fish out our beta fish, Blue Jay, and put him in the water pitcher to take with us. Josh walks by with his arms full of his autographed collector football helmets and screams to me, "Leave the damn fish!" I scream back, "Then leave your damn helmets!" He took the helmets. I took the fish. =)

So, we ended up at Sam and Megan's in the city of Orange. Hung out with them till we figured out what to do. Josh had a great idea to get our minds off of the fires. He suggested we get a hotel room by Disneyland and then spend the rest of the evening there.

At Disneyland...all decked out for Christmas!!

I had found a Marriott Residence Inn that's equipped with a full kitchen and sitting area in case we had to stay longer. They also allowed pets there too, so Lexie and Blue Jay were okay staying with us. Look at Lexie on the bed! =)

After Disneyland. Josh, watching the fire reports on the news.

The mandatory evacuations were lifted by the next morning and we were home by noon. Unpacking all our stuff was a b*tch, but I'm really thankful our home was still there for us to come back to.