Welcome back....

Who knew that it would be 17 months before I would post again!!  That is CRAZY!  and CRAZY may explain the past 17 months.  Since I use this blog as my memory bank, I am going to post important events that has happened this past year and a half.

September 18, 2018:
Today our sweet little Eva Rose was born in Paradise California! Our first grandchild, our first girl!! We couldn't be any happier.  Parker and Kendall are going to be the best parents.  We are going to meet her in 6 weeks and can not wait!

Oct. 9, 2018:
Hurricane Michael came to shore as a Cat 5, making landfall near Mexico Beach, then headed our way.  I believe it was a Cat 2 when it got to us.  This was one of the worse hurricanes to ever come to our neck of the woods. Totally wiped out Mexico Beach and snapped trees all across Georgia.
We lost one big pecan tree and it landed 1 foot away from the back porch! We didn't have electricity for a couple of days.  Lost every thing in the refrigerator and freezer.  This was a first for me - to throw ALL your food away and totally start over, like ketchup, mustard and mayo.  I guess I always have those staples (I mean, we have had good practice in not having a refrigerator in the house, but this was different).  It was HOT too, but felt great outside, so what did we do?? We put a mattress in the back of the truck and slept.  High class camping is what it was! and it was awesome!!
We left for California exactly one week from the time it hit, and couldn't be more glad to leave the mess and devastation behind. We were tired and totally drained.

It's a hurricane party! Cindy and Gerry stayed with up

That orange line you see is our cable! But luckily it still worked!!

as the tree fell, it took down part of the other pecan tree and fig tree😣

Not cool!!  The suction from the hurricane was so strong, it pulled the boards and warped them😠

nice set up

Oct. 17, 2018:
We have arrived!! This is our first trip to California! and Our first time meeting our little Evie, and seeing Parker and Kendall's new house (really sorry I didn't take more pictures of the house).

Eva and her Papa 💕

Eva and her Grammy💖

Tim at the famous Honey Run Bridge (so cool, so old)

My heart is FULL 💗

Day trip to the Salmon Hatchery

I think this is the Oroville Dam

This is a popular river - can you see the water line? The same level as Tim's hands in photo.  This shows you how low the water level is after years of drought (can't even see water - boats were not allowed).

😍

Just SO pretty!! SO many trees - this thought ran over and over in my head as we drove around

Walnut Tree

Look how they graft the trunks - fascinating!  The black walnut has a better root system, but the white walnut has a better nut, so they graft them.  Fascinating to me, and SO MANY.  They also had tons of almond orchards - we stopped and picked some! So fun!!!

The Famous In-N-Out!  On Kendall's first trip to Georgia she wanted Parker to take her to his favorite Georgia restaurant, so he took her to Waffle House 😃, In-N-Out is a must in California. and if you get a chance - GO! Get the double-double (I think that's right- they have their own language)

Eva enjoying her first time to In-N-Out, so tiny

Best campaign sign I've ever seen- not sure if he won or not- but he's fed up😄

Eva looks JUST LIKE PARKER in this picture

We spent the night in Lake Tahoe - oh my goodness!  If you EVER get the chance to go to Lake Tahoe - GO!! It is beautiful- simply beautiful. Then we headed over to Virginia City / Bonanza

Lake Tahoe

Seriously y'all!!  Beautiful

I LOVE these trees, and I said it every single time we drove past one

You can't take this crew anywhere 🙈

Saying our sweet goodbyes - man was it hard to leave!

Presh

What an amazing trip!!  We did so much sight seeing, which I had not planned on, so it was a fun surprise.  Northern California is beautiful.  And there is nothing sweeter than our little granddaughter!


Back in Georgia and Back to Work:
Any one recognize this?  If not, it is a bin that was in the tool room, it was attached to the wall and held screws, nuts, bolt, just about anything.  It is so cool to me!

Nov. 8, 2018:
ONE WEEK after we left California - to the day - the Camp Fire started and burned down everything we had just seen. On the morning of Nov. 8th, about 8:30 am, the fire was headed fast and furious to the town of Paradise.  Parker didn't have to go to work until 11:00, so he was home. They realized they needed to leave, packed what they could, and left.  This is still so gut wrenching to me, but we want to thank God for all the things that took place, such as Parker still being home, in Magalia, not at work in Paradise. We are so thankful they were all together and with the dogs. Such a blessing.  Another blessing was that Parker and Kendall decided to drive north and go around the mountain, rather go straight thru Paradise.  Magalia is about a 10-15 min drive north of Paradise on the main road, Sky Way. Communication was not good, information not clear, and as we all know now, Paradise was totally on fire, people were trapped, cars on fire, just such a horrifying situation. Kendall was worried for her family, she wasn't able to reach her sister and father.  Most of Kendall's family lives in the town of Paradise. (let this just sink in for a bit... her family is easily as large as Parker's family in Moultrie! Think on that.  They all lost their homes, their family pictures, heirlooms, everything - whoa- this breaks my heart)(This is also the first time in Parker's moves that he took all his belongings from our house, all his treasures from childhood, his army uniform, etc. I know it's just stuff, but it is your memories, at least what triggers memories)
Parker and Kendall had both vehicles and on their way out of town they picked up a friend who didn't have enough gas to make it to Chico.  So they left Parker's truck with the friend in Chico, where everyone was evacuating to, about a 30 drive south. Parker and Kendall then decided to drive north (another blessing). (at this time it was approximately 5:30pm, this is when I was able to first talk to them). They drove 2 hours north to Burney, where her aunt owns a hotel.    The wind, which was causing the fire to spread a football field every 30 seconds, was blowing south, towards Paradise, towards Chico, all the way down to San Fransisco (3 hrs away)!  So up in Barney, the air was clean and crisp. It was calm. Safe. Just what they needed! Thank you, Lord!

On November 14, 2018, Parker and Kendall got confirmation that their house had also burned down.  Still today, 16 months later, this brings tears to my eyes and pain to my chest.