Lake Front Property

Early Saturday morning Karena, Hannah and I headed to a Girl Scout Day Camp. It started raining as we walked out the door around 7:20. We had to drive north of Nashville for the camp and it poured the whole day. The girls had a good day despite the rain. We played games, made picture frames, tye-dyed t-shirts and enjoyed each others company.

We were supposed to leave around 4:30 but opted to leave early due to the reports of flooding we were hearing from family over the phone. In our group were 3 parents and 6 kindergarten and first graders. We left around 3:30 and drove about 20 minutes when we heard we weren't allowed into or out of our county. We made a decision to head to a friend of mine. She was a life saver. She had felt the need to make a batch of spaghetti and had arrived home just in time to get my call. I truly felt blessed that she had listened to the Spirit. She accepted all 9 of us with open arms. She not only let us invade her home but she fed the girls and let us take over her TV. Many of the girls said that they never wanted to leave. After several hours of her hospitality we had to make another decision. Whether to try to head home or to find a place to stay the night. We opted for the later and headed to a hotel down the street. Most of us had nothing but a purse and the clothes on our backs. The man checking us in was nice enough to give us toothbrushes, toothpaste, combs, shampoo, conditioner, deoderant, and razors. I was very grateful for the toothbrushes, toothpaste and deoderant.

All the girls were wonderful. They were on a grand adventure and loving every minute of it. We watched "Ice Age," got them some more food, and then all retreated to our rooms. We did our normal nightly routine. We read scriptures (Thanks, Gideons!), prayed, and heard a story. As I was flipping pages through the Bible trying to decide what to read, Hannah suggested the Noah's Ark story. (Quite fitting actually. If it rains much more we might need an ark.) I believe all the girls slept just fine. I can't say that for the parents. I know I tossed and turned all night long.

Everyone woke before 7:00 the next morning and headed down to breakfast. I considered taking Karena and Hannah to church for Primary mainly just for something to do. At breakfast one of the ladies husband walked in. He had made it through Nashville taking a lot of back and side roads. I don't believe she had ever been so excited to see her husband before. The other mom and I discussed our options. We decided to try and make it home. If worse came to worse we could just stop at another hotel.

How we should have gone home

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How we actually made it home - The Long Way


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Driving home was tedious and hopefully an experience I never have to repeat. Imagine driving through a car wash for 45 minutes. Once we finally made it to I-40 the rain slowed down and it was a fairly good drive the rest of way. The wind was strong but we managed to stay ahead of another storm that was coming in behind us.

We made it home around 9:30. I walked in the door and yelled, "We're home!" It was neat to see John and Tyler both come running from upstairs. Everyone was so excited to see each other. I hugged Tyler and sat down in a chair and burst into tears. I had held it in for 2 days. I couldn't keep it in anymore. I cried even more when I walked out onto the back deck to see the flooding in the backyard.

Here is a video of our backyard. John took the ones from last night. I took the ones today.

Since the video has been made the water has risen even more. But we are safe and we are together. We are praying for the safety of those around us and that the waters will recede quickly. Thank you for all your prayers and well wishes.