Firefighter Sam

This post is dedicated to my awesome husband who has been working his tail off this week to help put out the Herriman fire. Here is a little bit about what has been going on with us this week. On Sunday afternoon we first heard about the fire out on Camp Williams. Because Sam is an engine boss of one of the fire crews on Camp Williams he knew there was a possibility that he would be called in. He made a phone call to range control on base, and they told him he wasn't needed yet, but to be on standby. We left to go to my Grandparents house for a family dinner, and this is about what it looked like at 5:30 pm on our way there.

As soon as we sat down to eat dinner at 6:00 Sam got the phone call that he was needed right away. So without even eating his dinner he took off. Me and the boys stayed to finish dinner and visit with family, not really aware of what was going on out there on the mountain. As we started packing up to go home around 8:00 I noticed that I had missed some calls, and had a message from Sam. He said that they were evacuating families and that Maria, my sister who lives in Herriman, should find out if she needed to evacuate. We went out to the cars and were absolutly shocked by what we saw. The fire had spread so fast, and from were we stood on my Grandparents front porch in Riverton we could see the fire pretty well. I wish I had my camera with me, but it looked somewhat like this, only it was darker and you could see it better.

Maria and Chase took off pretty fast to get to their home, and start packing. When I got home I immediatly turned on the TV to watch the fire on news. Shortly after I got a call from Sam. He said that they were moving him to a bulldozer crew to dig fire breaks around the perimeter of the fire to try and stop it from spreading. I sat up for hours, watching it on the news, and worring about how he was. Around 11:00 I got a text saying that his crew had been pulled out twice because it had got to dangerous to be in there because of how fast it was moving. The winds were blowing fast and the fire was moving like crazy. Needless to say, I didn't sleep very well that night, but I can't complain because Sam didn't sleep at all. He stayed out there all night, and all day Monday. I can't imagine what I would be like being in the middle of this:

Sam spent all day Monday working with the helicopters, circling aroung the fire and telling them were they needed to dump the water, and flame retartant. He finally got home around 8:00 monday evening, very tired, and excited to get some rest. He headed back out early Tuesday morning, and spent the whole day with his fire crew digging out "hot spots". He also got to go up in a helicopter to get a get a great view of all the damage. He came home late tuesday evening covered in soot. His face was totally black except for were his sunglasses has been.

They had managed to get the fire 50% contained by the end of Tuesday night. They still have a lot of work ahead of them, and the fire season is still not over.

Monday morning Sam was at a press confenference with the Govenor, where Gov. Herbert said that it was a miracle that more homes weren't burned. He gave special praise to the men who operated the bulldozers to build the fire breaks around the fire. They really did some amazing work out there, and I am very proud of my awesome husband and all the other amazing men and women who helped stop this fire from burning down hundreds of homes. These guys really are heros.

The Hunt

It's hunting season again, and we have already had two succussful hunts. Last week Sam did the elk archery hunt, and today we took the boys and went up to wyoming for the rifle antelope hunt. The kids had a blast on what was probably the easiest hunt ever. It was the first time that we have taken the kids out hunting, and they were so excited to get in on all the action. I left out the really gross pictures, but here are a few of the less bloody ones.

Pronghorn Antelope, soon to be jerky.

Mackay

Mackay wasn't quite sure what to think of this.

Drew and Sammy, Best Buddies.

My boys, all dressed up in their hunting gear.

They can't wait to go back next year. Sam seems to think

that next time I will be the one with the gun -we'll see.

Back to School!

The kids are back in school!! And even better, I'm all done with school!!!!

Drew started second grade last week, and has the best teacher ever. He loves his class, and is excited to have some of his best friends in his class this year. Sammy had his first day of kindergarten today. He really didn't seem too excited to go, but says he likes it. He only knows one other person in his class, but I think he will enjoy it more as he makes some new friends. And I am feeling like a terrible mom because we were late getting him there, and I wasn't even sad to see him go.

And best news of all..... I graduated!!!! And got a job!! I still have to take my board exams. There are two of them, and I will be taking the first on Tuesday morning. The first one shouldn't be too hard, but I am kind of nervous about the second one. So I will be busy studying like crazy for the next week, and hopefully take the second test in a few weeks.

Sammy after his first day at kindergarten.

Summer 2010

I can't believe this summer is almost over. That means I'm almost done with school!!! Only 3 weeks to go then I'm officially a college grad. Here are some pictures of the fun things our family has been doing this summer.

Playing at Bear Lake

Trip to Yellowstone

Easter and New Easter Friends

Here are a few pictures from our easter. We had a

great holiday with lots of family and friends. Can't wait for

warmer weather, I have spring fever so bad.

Drew at our family easter egg hunt.

Sammy finding eggs.

Mackay easter morning.

Here are a few of our little easter friends. I wish they were still

this small. We have 12 chickens and 2 runner ducks.

Drew with Phineas, everybody's favorite duck. He is

so stinkin cute.

Halloween 2009

I know I'm a little late posting about Halloween, but I at least wanted to get some pictures of their costumes on here.

This year I told the boys that I was not buying new costumes for Halloween, so after

digging through all the Halloween stuff this is what we came up with.

Drew really wanted to be a bat. I made his wings out of an old broken umbrella we just happened to have. His ears we found in Grandma Hills costume box. We think it turned out pretty good.

Mackay was a lion. He really hated any costume I tried to put on him. It wasn't until he actually went trick-or-treating that he figured out that the costume wasn't so bad if it means he get lots of candy.

Sammy made the cutest caveman I've ever seen. This costume was also out of Grandma Hills costume box. We added the wig which really gave it a nice finishing touch.

Time for an Update

I haven't blogged in awhile, but that's usually how it goes. I did try to update about a month ago, but had some computer problems and put it off again. Here is a little post about our summer adventures.

Last time I posted, we had just returned from our Montana camping trip, the first of many camp-outs this year. In July I got to go to girls camp, which was a blast. We also camped out at Bear Lake with my family, and at Current Creek Reservoir with the Hills.

In August we went back up to Bear Lake a few times, and Drew started first grade. Sammy started preschool in September, and loves it so much. In October Sam and I got to take a trip without the kids up to Portland. Sam had a work conference there, and I decided to tag along. It was an awesome trip, I love the Oregon coast. Halloween was lots of fun this year. Drew was a bat, Sammy was a caveman, and Mackay a lion. So cute!!

Life has settled down a little this month. I started clinicals, and so far I am loving it. We are looking forward to Thanksgiving, we will be going up to Idaho with all the Hill family. Here are some fun pictures from this summer, and some family pictures taken by my brother in law Aric.

Family Pictures

Mackay's 2nd Birthday

Camping Trips

Sam and I at Cannon Beach