Our Life: Christmas Night

After having a wonderful white Christmas day, Lawson, the kids and I, as well as my sister-in-law and her family went to bed around 10pm. My in-law's, Terri and Lawson, decided to stay up to wait for the power to come back on. My father-in-law wanted to keep the fire going to help heat the house. Around 11:30pm is when the craziness began. Terry mentioned that she smelled something strange and heard a strange sound high up in the chimney. Lawson walked out of the house to look up at the chimney and noticed sparks shooting out of chimney and smoke coming off the ridge line of the roof. He ran back in the house and ran up the stairs to look in the attic. He noticed an orange glow by the chimney and the attic was filling with smoke. He woke up Brooke, Seth and their kids and told them the house was on fire, they needed to get out. Terri was the one who woke us up. She ran in our room telling us to get the kids out, the house was on fire. It seemed so unreal. I got out of bed and pulled on my YellowBox boots and my coat. Terri grabbed Judah off the bed and wrapped him in some blankets. Lawson had fallen asleep on the floor with Baby Lawson in the bedroom across the hall. I told Terri they were in there and she got them up. We got Lawson's jacket on him, no shoes though, and then I told Lawson, "I've got to find my purse! I've got to find my purse!" All I could think was that I needed my wallet. Since there was no power, it made finding everything so hard! I was feeling around on the floor and picked up what I thought was my purse (diaper bag). I ran to the bathroom where I knew Lawson had put his wallet and grabbed that. When I threw it in my purse, I realized that I had picked up a Publix bag with stocking stuffers. I ran back to the room saying over and over, "I have got to find my purse!" All common sense and rational thinking tends to go out the window at times like these. Lawson followed me with his iPhone, trying to light up the room enough for me to see the diaper bag. I found it, grabbed Lawson's wallet from the stocking stuffers bag and we all went outside. Baby Lawson and Alyssa were put in the Sequoia and someone yelled to call 911. Terri and I were praying and Brooke called 911. Big Lawson said, "Calling 911 won't matter because the fire truck won't be able to make it up the mountain due to the snow." There were sparks coming out of the chimney and smoke pouring through the roof. Again, speaking to the not being rational at a time like this, I looked at Lawson and said, "I need my suitcases!" He ran back in, zipped up the suitcases and got them out of the house. Baby Lawson was crying in the Sequoia and the guys were in the house looking for my father in law's Crocs. (Again, not really rational.) My father in law called a neighbor who also was a first responder and he came immediately. I picked Lawson up out of the Sequoia, and tried to calm him down. He had been buried under a blanket that was pretty heavy. At least he was warm. I realized he didn't have any shoes or socks on, so I went to the suitcases that had been moved up toward the shed. I needed to find socks. I open the suitcase and grab some ugly orange socks and shove a sweatshirt and three pair of underwear in my diaper bag. Because that's all I could think of. Strange. Lawson couldn't see me up there, so he panicked and started yelling for me. Big Lawson moved the Sequoia up toward the shed and thankfully, our van and Brooke and Seth's car was down at the bottom of the mountain. I heard Lawson and yelled that I was coming. And throughout this whole 10 minutes of getting out of the house (which felt like 50 minutes), everyone was yelling at each other to make sure we knew where everyone was and also for the guys to get out of the house. I had Baby Lawson, Terri had Judah, Brooke had Jaron and Lawson had Alyssa. Big Lawson and Seth were with us and we all started hooking down the mountain to the closest neighbors, the Poteet's. So we were slipping and sliding down the mountain in the snow, praying and trying to stay together. We can hear the sirens from the fire trucks that were on their way. I am falling down the mountain and finally yell at Lawson to help me with Baby Lawson. He gives Alyssa to Big Lawson, picks up Baby Lawson and then I try to find Judah. Terri had Judah, so I take him and we continue to slip, slide and trudge down the mountain. We make it to the Poteet's and bang on their door till we wake them up. We tell them what is happening and they take us in. Lawson, Lawson and Seth go back up the mountain to see what is going on. When they got up there, the first responder said they had one chance to get anything off the first floor that they could. Lawson went in for his wedding ring and then they all notice our cameras. So we ended up with our camera and video camera, iPad, Lawson's wedding ring, and two bags of the boys stocking stuffers. Seth got their camera, a high chair, and his gift from us. Big Lawson got his medicine and a duffle bag and somehow made it out with his stocking stuffers. And that was all. About 45 minutes after we were awakened, the guys were back at the Poteet's. While we were waiting for them to get back, we kept thinking that the firemen they were bringing up the mountain on a four-wheel drive ATV, would be able to put the fire out. That everything will just have smoke damage. But then Seth came down the stairs and said, "It just caught on fire." The Poteet's had a picture window that gave us a view of the flames coming over the tree line. That's when the shock and the realization that everything was burning set in. I realized I left the external hard drive, the camera and the video camera and my wedding rings. It was such a relief when Lawson told me he got the video camera and Nikon. But losing the external hard drive was the worst. It's after midnight by now and the kids are wired. Stress is making me sick to my stomach and we all cry off and on. We realize that we are so blessed that all of us got out safely. My in-law's were awake when the fire started. They were able to wake us up and get us out. Stuff is just stuff and replaceable. But it's still hard. And we look like a ragtag bunch. Terri had no coat or shoes on when she ran out of the house. Seth had shorts on and no jacket. Judah had no jacket and Lawson had no shoes. Alyssa and Jaron lost a shoe on the way down the mountain. But we were safe. We finally got the kids to sleep around 2am and we try to sleep but it is far from coming. Throughout this we are posting on Facebook and calling family. It's hard to call your parents. I called my dad and said, "We are all ok, but the house is on fire." Lawson and I put the babies in a bed and laid down with them and just prayed and and thanked the Lord that we were all alive. He also went and stayed with his dad. How hard it was for Big Lawson, to see the home he had built and worked so hard on, burn. We all finally fell asleep around 4am. And Lawson and Judah could not sleep in, so we were up early. The Poteet's made us breakfast and we had to think about how we were going to get off the mountain. Brooke and I had 2 diapers between us, so we knew we were going to somehow have to get to Walmart. And we just wanted to get to Brooke and Seth's house to shower and be in our own space and process what had happened. The first responder, Lynn Ashe, drove us all down the mountain in shifts in his truck. We learned that the firemen stayed for 5 hours making sure the shed didn't burn down. The firemen also said that had they gotten the firetruck up the mountain, they could have saved the house. The roads were so bad and they tried, but put one truck in a creek and the other slid back down the mountain.

Through all this, we have realized that the Lord is faithful. We had a wonderful outpouring of prayers and gifts and money from friends and family. And even from people we didn't know. And insurance came through and we will be able to replace much of what we lost. It still hurts that we lost pictures and videos and recipes and personal jewelry, but our families are what are most important. He has given my in-laws and incredible peace. They had been trying to sell their house and while this was not what you want to happen, it has enabled them to pay off their mortgage and look for a home in Florida, where they have relocated.

And as I write this, I have gotten word of a tragic house fire. Bro. Greg, my teacher for my elementary and middle school years lost two of his great-nephews in a house fire. His nephew and great-niece are in critical condition in a local hospital. This serves as a reminder of how merciful God was to us that we are all safe, but also for me to pray tirelessly for this family and their loss.

Seth and Lee are looking for my wedding rings. And then they realize that the attic and 2nd floor have collapsed on the bathroom, where I had put my rings. Thanks anyway, guys, for looking!