Dump Fire Flood - In My House

The flood hit our home.  This is a write up on it.  Strength comes from adversity!!!

On Labor Day weekend, I was with my family at the Yuba Dam for a bit of a holiday.  I had told my Wife just that Saturday afternoon how nice it was to be away and how grateful I was that my cell phone had no signal, no on could reach me.   On Saturday evening, we received a call about 8:30 on my wife’s cell phone.  I hesitated to answer it, as I knew we did not want to be bothered.  But as my wife is in the Primary Presidency, I felt like I should answer it, in case it was something important.  Needless to say, the call was very important.

One of my neighbors was calling to let me know that there was a flood in my area and that I needed to get home to check on my home.  I asked him how bad it was, and he could not say.  He said he was working on getting back to my home and would let me know the extent of the damage.  I assumed it was a little bit of water in the basement, thought to have my brother go to my home and open the door, let the water out and then return home after vacation to fix things up.

After that call, and waiting a bit for him to call me back, I started to receive on my phone text messages from family asking if we were OK   I started to see the seriousness of the situation and began to worry.  I then receive a call back from my neighbor that it was pretty bad.  I then decided to leave Yuba, leaving my family there and told my Wife I would be back in a few hours after I checked things out.  On my way home (it took an hour to get home, usually an hour and a half to get home) my phone began to beep with more,  text messages and phone messages that did not go through due to lack of signal.  Each message told me that there was a major flood, that my home was damaged and to get home as fast as I could.

As I arrived home, it was like a war zone.  There were large rocks everywhere, blocking the rock, boulders if you will, the size of 10-12 basketballs in size.  It was devastating.  There were people everywhere working hard to clean the mess.  There were machines and other equipment everywhere clearing roads.  Emergency vehicles as well.

As I arrived to my home, my front and back yards were destroyed.  There was not much there but about a foot of think mud.  As I went to the basement, there was about five feet of water in the basement.  Luckily one window broke open to let the water out.  If that had not happened, this could have been a lot worst for us.  At first I admit I was at a loss and not sure where to start, but a few good friends came by and began to just help.  We broke open the basement door with an ax, no other way to open a door that opens in with that much water behind it.  Once we cracked it open, the water began to flow and even slice open the metal door more with its strength.  After we broke down the door we began to work.  You could see that about three feet of water was gone, but there was still two feet of thick, cement like mud, with large rocks in it.  My first thought was to get it away from the walls, to relieve the pressure.  This was work on hard by trenching, my brother, and three friends were helping us with this effort.  At this time, it was about midnight.

 

So this is when I began to feel really low and lost through what had happened.  I realized that this was more than a “flood”.  This was a major catastrophe and  loss for many families in my neighborhood.  And with this, it was going to affect my family as well.  So for the next hour, five of us dug and trenched and dug.  It was hard work, and at some points, very deflating.  I not only was cleaning mud, but looking at my children’s play room   All of their toys were ruined, but most were gone.  I looked at it as though it was just toys, no big deal.  Then I went to my office that was there and noticed all of my things were destroyed and gone as well.  I-pad, i-touch, computer, LCD monitor, desk, chair, shelves, etc…. I felt like hey it is stuff, I can replace it, then I noticed that much of my sports memorabilia was destroyed.  And then I noticed my mission stuff.  90% of either destroyed or gone.  All of those memories were gone.  Then I realized how important those toys would be to my kids.  It really began to sting, and hurt emotionally.  So at this point, I was tired, discouraged and lost.  These emotions were compounded not only through this fir our family, but also the fire that had happened this summer, we were evacuated and the fire was about 150 yards from our home, and the wind storm from winter that blew out trailer over the back of our yard and destroyed that.  These emotions make one feel alone and quite lost in a large world.  And these were my feeling at this time.

About two in the morning after working so hard on this basement, I began to tell everyone that were looked ok, and let’s call it a night.  Right then my Bishop showed up at my home.  He asked how I was doing and if I needed anything.  I told him that we were about to call it quits, that we would go another 20 minutes and then leave.  He asked if we needed more man power.  I said yes, but that we would only be there for a short bit.  About five minutes later, I heard my name outside the basement.  A brother stood there with about 25 men asking where they can get started.  Reminder, this is now pushing 3AM. I was overflowed with joy and told them what we were doing and we all got to work.  We worked hard until about 5AM.  At that point I said thank you and we all left our separate ways.  I inspected more of the home, talked to my neighbors and then went to bed.

When the Bishop had come earlier, he mentioned to me that the Stake had canceled church for Sunday and that we would all have a  lot of help come in the morning.  Starting at 9 AM.  He told us we would have 20-30 people helping each home.  There were 11 homes hit very hard.  I was grateful for the help.

In the morning, I started working about 7 AM.  Getting organized, digging and just plain trying to figure out how I would get through this.  As I saw the aftermath that morning, I could not believe my eyes.  There are 25 kids on my street, ranging from many ages, but the majority are from age 2-9.  The street behind us that was hit as well, has 15 kids in the same age range.  I could see where the flood had hit, and how large and high it was.  I was grateful that no one was hurt.  In fact, I was told that the night it happened, all of the little children in the street were out playing.  It began to rain and they kids were enjoying the rain, playing in it.  Suddenly there was hail, the size of a half dollar.  It hurt the kids so they all ran into their homes.  About two minutes after the hail begun, the flood hit our street.  Our Heavenly Father blessed us with the hail to protect these children.  If that hail did not come, this would have been much more than a clean-up effort.

As I continued to work, it hit about 9 AM. At that time, there were about 5-6 people that came to my home.  They began to help and we worked hard.  There spirits were high, but the task was so large.  I remember one person saying, “this is going to take forever”.  I was worried, that they would leave, knowing it was a large task.  No matter, I plugged away with the wonderful help I received.

At about 9:15, a brother came by and asked for me.  He said, how many are there helping you?  I told him there were six.  He asked if I needed anything, I said if you have a couple more folks that would be great, but I know others need help to.  He said OK  let me see what I can do and left.  At 9:30, I heard someone call me out of the basement once again.  This time there were twenty people asking what they could do.  I told them and they went to work.  Five minutes later, I had twenty more show and this lasted for the next little bit to where I had at about 10:00 AM, 150 people at my home digging, filling buckets, doing a bucket brigade and sending buckets back in.  It was amazing.  I was so grateful and amazed.  Then I was told that for the rest of the day, every two hours, these number were going to come and relieve the others.  They would come in shifts of two hours.  And to that point, every two hours more would come, but interestingly, only a few would leave.  Most would stay an extra hour to help then leave.  So add the number up, each home, all 11 had over 200 people at their homes helping at all times. 

That afternoon, things begin to wear on you.  I was grateful for the friends that came by and helped me personally.  Helped me sit for a minutes, take me away from all the mess and let the clean-up continue.  After s short lunch break, I went back in to work more.  I saw someone I recognized and asked, what they were doing back here.  He told me he went home, got cleaned up and ate lunch, then returned to help finish the job.  As I looked around over the next 20 minutes, I saw about 30 people that were there from the morning shift, just helping out.

So image the mess, the total destruction this flood caused.  As I spoke to the professional company that came to help, he quoted me that it would cost anywhere between 10-15 thousand dollars to clean up my basement.  And it would have taken him two days easy.  By 7:30 PM that evening, my basement was clear of the main mud, the carpet and pad were out, the sheet-rock and insulation were gone.  All that was left was power washing and deep cleaning.  The time it took this group was amazing.  Many hands made a difficult and seemingly hopeless situation probable.  The stake told me two days later that on Sunday, there were over 5000 people that came to help with the clean-up.

This clean-up continued for another week (in fact, we all still work on it to this day).  It was amazing to see many people take time off from work, using their personal vacation to come and help us.  Businesses took time off to have a team of people come to our aid.  Schools and sports teams left their time form practice and other things to help us clean-up.  It was amazing to see how many came at a time when you felt lost again, they would show and lift our spirit. 

The Monday after the first week, there was a heavy rain storm on its way.  It started to rain in our area, and I admit I was nervous.  Some of my neighbors were very stressed and the solution to prevent this from happening again was quite not yet completed by the city.  I came home from work a bit early.  I stood on my street and talked to one of my neighbors who was hit worst than me.  He was very scared.  I could see the concern in his eyes.  I told him I would get a truck and get more sand bags to protect his home.  He was so grateful.  After I spoke with him, I went to find a truck, I turned to my left and there was President Gardner, from our Stake, in his truck, asking me what needed to be done.  He was dressed in his work cloths (shirt and clacks), but said, let’s go get the sand bags and get to work.  We went together and loaded a truck full of bags.  Upon our return, it began to really rain hard.  We worked together to get the sand bag in place.  The interesting part of this is was after he handed me the first, then the second set of sand bags, all of a sudden two men showed up to help.  Two minutes later two more showed up.  Two minutes later, three more showed up, then all of a sudden we had, within 5 minutes of our return, 50 men helping us put down, grab and deliver more sand bags.  And more were coming.  I was amazed how these people just knew to come, they figured we would need more help with the storm coming.  They just felt our need.

What a blessing this trial is has been and continues to be.  I thank the Lord each day for his tender mercies.  For the things I see and those I don't.  He really knows who I am, and I don't do enough.

She

There is a song by Elvis Costello called “She”.  I love that song and for some reason it reminds me of my wife.  I think at first she felt it was a bit of a slam, but as you listen to it, you realize, how, no matter what, he loves her regardless.  I feel this way about my wife.  Anyway, if I could write a song I would, but I am not that good at it.  So, here is my “She” to my Wife!

I love my wife very much.  We’ve been married for 12 ½ years and from what I can see, she still loves me, despite me.  I thought with all the recent events that have happened in our life, the fire, wind blowing our trailer off the back driveway, the flood to our home, I thought I would take a moment and let her be the news for a change and not the events, myself or others, but her, my sweetheart!  Here are the reasons why she is so great, so significant and so important to me and my family!

1.       She loves me, despite me.

2.       She forgives me.

3.       She is or kids best friend, she is my best friend.

4.       She makes me feel like I am on top of the world, even when I am an ID10T error!

5.       She is very smart; you should see how much homework she teaches the kids.

6.       She is very organized.  There is no one else like her.  Everything has a place and a purpose.

7.       She prays to God, and prays for our family.

8.       She is the most beautiful person I have ever known.  No other has ever grabbed my attention like she did, and still does.  More beautiful every day.

9.      She takes good care of herself, but does not seek attention for this.

10.   She thinks things through.  She never rushes into a snap decision.

11.   She is a very patient person.  She knows how to deal with pressure and stress better than most.

12.   She is a wonderful cook.  My Mom is great, but my Wife is the best!

13.   She is very frugal, thrifty, and not cheap.

14.   She loves beautiful jewelry.  There is never enough budget for that.

15.   We enjoy the same things, movies, talking, flirting, and laughing.

16.   She cares for others, worries for others.  She always looks at the others point of view.

17.   She is the greatest mother in the world.  Our children have great strength and confidence because of their mother.

18.   She loves me, despite me.

Moments To Be Grateful For

As a father, I am always trying to teach my kids between right and wrong, between honest and well, you know the rest, the list can go on and on.  It seems sometimes that there are so many moments where I feel what I am doing is a waste of time.  I seriously feel sometimes that nothing is getting through and that every ounce of effort I put in is being combated with a dumb kid move or the "I don't know" reasoning.  In fact, over the last few weeks, even with the threats that Santa will not come, I have felt like my kids just don't listen or even hear what I am saying.  I mean, how often, be honest, do you tell a child over and over to do something, to get something, or to listen, to only have them go do or say something completely different right after your comment.  Me, everyday this happens.  I mean, someone shoot me!

So my wife comes home the other day and says, I need to tell you something about Brenden (our 9 year old).  I think to myself, Brenden is a pretty good kid, but once in a while, well, dumb will happen.  My wife says, "Brenden saw a person drop a dollar on the ground", I had no initial thought.  Most of the time we think, ok, the kid thinks they find money, so it is their money, even if they watched a person drop it.  So my wife continues, "he saw the person drop the dollar, picked it up and ran over to them to give it back to them.  I was so happy to hear that.  It is such a simple thing, I mean it is only a dollar, 100 pennies.  The fact that he thought that was the right thing to do, that he had that thought in his kid brain, that was wonderful to me.  Brenden is always one to do good, and choose the right, but in this case, it deals with money.  Money changes people, let alone a young kid.

I was so proud of him and his honesty.  He will make an amazing older brother, missionary and father some day.  If I could just get him to put his shoes in his room.

So the 6-year old in our home, Caden cannot be left out of this.  It was interesting to watch him the other day.  We had just finished prayer, were putting everyone to bed.  Our youngest boy, Isaac fell asleep on the couch.  We told the boys to get in their beds, and we were helping our oldest daughter get to bed.  There seem to be a lot going on that night, and we were busy helping her with something.  So when Caden came back in the room, I was ready to yell at him, "get to bed".  You understand right, if you read above, you understand.  For some reason, I kept my cool and just looked at him.  He said, Dad, I put a blanket on Isaac while he is asleep on the couch.  Great, I told him, and I was back to helping my wife and daughter.  A few minutes later, he comes back in.  Again, think if my opening words, I am ready to yell at him, "go to bed!!!", but I keep my cool.  He says, "Dad, I put a pillow under Isaac so he can sleep good until you take him to bed".  So I look at him, this rambunctious 6-year old who loves to do the opposite of what he should sometimes.  I look at him and thank him for what he is doing and for caring.  I tell him that is very nice and that he has a good heart.

So two things, one, don't yell right away.  It can sting later.  Two, wow!  That is a sweet thing to do, and a very charitable thing from my view point.  Something that a dad can always be proud of.

These young boys have a lot to learn, they have a lot to practice and overcome (just being a kid can be hard enough), but I have to say, maybe sometimes things are heard.  Maybe sometimes they are getting through the wax in the ears.  Regardless, I am proud of my boys and they great men they are becoming.

Holiday Season and My Thoughts

At the beginning of the holiday season, things were just great.  Family was looking forward to Christmas, kids were excited to see Santa, and I was looking forward to what I might receive for Christmas.  Since Thanksgiving, all I have thought about were presents and decorations.  You know, the typical ways we celebrate the time of year.  We even have a brief service project in mind, one that would include and help a family member, but nothing we had to go out of our way for.  You know, write a check and all is well.

Move to this morning, December 5, 2011.  I received a phone call from my Mother-In-Law.  When I answered, she sounded a bit down.  I said hello in a “chipper” way to let her know I was happy to hear from her.  That did not work.  She immediately said, “Jeremy, Greg is being taken off life support today”.

I was playing basketball the Saturday after Thanksgiving, Greg was there with his three kids (they sat watching) and he was there with his brother and my brother-in-laws.  We had a good time, and of course, Greg was the hot item, tall, fast, hit three’s like crazy and was the most in shape of all of us.

This young man is part of a family that is very close with my Wife’s family.  They have known each other for years.  And it hit me so hard to hear that he will be gone for Christmas, taken in the prime of his life, leaving three kids, a fourth on the way and a wonderful wife behind.

So now, I sit here a few hours later, a few tears have been shed, and I began to think about how many have it so hard this time of year that I know.  I began to think more about this family losing their father, I took thought to my sister who is pregnant, but we know that the baby, who will make it full term, may only have a few hours to live after birth, my heart began to pound for my brother who is divorced and will not be with his children on Christmas day, I began to think of Kevin, who is in the process of divorce.  My sweet sister-in-law who is trying for divorce, who has so many challenges and as many responsibilities. Then I remembered our Vick Family Christmas project, Jeremy, Brooke’s cousin who has cancer and then to my great Uncle who just found out he has cancer and lost his job.  Then to my friend who is helping a family with 11-kids, no fathers in the picture, heating house on a wood stove and cooking food on a hot plate.

So now I sit here writing this note to myself in appreciation to my God for all he has done for me and for what he has provided me and my family.  A home, food, health, my needs, my wants and even an abundance of love.  I think about the trials these families are going through and how strong they must be to have this trial, but how hard it must be regardless.  I wonder how anyone can handle such situations without losing it.  I know that I would be a mess and have no patience for any of these things.  Even harder, as a man, feeling helpless, like there was nothing I could do.

So I take this time to tell myself, my family, you, that this year will not be the status quo!  There is much to be done in God’s Kingdom and I am blessed enough to get it done.  It will take some thinking and working with my Wife, but we will not sit idly by and just “write a check”.  We will provide service, we will provide love and we will provide for those in need, their needs and if we can, wants!

Happy Holidays to all, Merry Christmas to everyone and God bless you all!

Can I Do Some Sit-Ups?

So I am a Scoutmaster for the 12-13 year old's in our Ward and Scout Troop.  I have nine scouts and they are great.  We have a lot of fun camping and learning skills, and the guys are great.  One of the things that I really work on is being on time, and wearing the right uniform for the day.  These guys know that if our event starts at 7:00 PM, they on time is no later than 6:59 PM.  It is funny to see them run up the stairs of the building as they arrive, when they know they are close to the time.  They are hurrying, and the other scouts are always cheering and saying, hurry, hurry!!!

Well, if they are on time, and they are wearing the right uniform that is required, I give each one of them a dollar candy.  It is a tradition now, probably not good for the bank account, but it works.  I do not give in much, I am very strict, so if they are not on time, they know there is no reward.

So, a few weeks ago, everyone was on time but two of them, a couple of guys forgot parts of their uniform, but most were very close.  I am not sure what got into me, but I decided to be charitable and so I said to them, to those that did not get the reward, that I would allow for them to earn it.  Push-ups!  25 each.  Too funny I thought, but they began to do them.  One young man was trying hard, but just is not strong enough to do the push-ups.  So I said, find, do 50 sit-ups.  Those are not as hard and he seemed very confident that he could do them.  As he began, I realized that he would not make it.  I began to think in my mind, how am I going to get this young man through this.  I am very strict, and one must comply, and so how can I help him without being soft and not keeping my word.  I began to worry and stress about this.

The other scouts were cheering for this scout, trying to motivate him along.  He was giving a very valiant effort, but could barley get to three sit-ups.  I said to him, you cannot get the reward with out the work being done.  So keep working hard, you can do it.  Suddenly one of the scouts looked at me and said, Brother Vick, can I do 10 sit-ups for him, will you count it as his if I do it for him?  Without any hesitation, I said yes!  Then I went on to say, I want the work done, and if you choose to do this for him I will accept it as his as long as you are aware he still get the reward.  The scout said, no problem and began to do the sit-ups.  Then from the other scouts another scout said, well  I will do 10, and then another and another, and another.  Finally, there were four other scouts doing the sit-ups, others cheering and one scout working hard to complete his own sit-ups that were required.  When it was all said and done, I received the 50 push-ups I requested, everyone received an award and my little troop, troop 1148 came together, served each other and became on, even if it was for that evening.

I am very proud of my Scouts!  I would not have expected that from them one year ago when I started, but they are growing up and becoming men.  What a great honor it is to serve with them and to see them grow and learn the aspects of the gospel, and implement it in their lives.

Pinewood Derby Build

My son has a pinewood derby coming up tonight.  We have spent the last few weeks designing and building his car.  I really have enjoyed spending time with him during this.  He has really enjoyed building a finished product as well.  I have really tried to allow him to build, design, and take the lead in this.  It is hard to let that happen, but it was fun to see his face after each step.  The car looks awesome, not perfect, but it is his car.  I asked him the other day if he felt like I did more of the car or if he felt he did more.  He looked at me and said, "I feel we did it together and we both made the car together".  That made me feel really good.  I have to admit that at times I would get frustrated with him and try to do it myself, but I really focused on letting him do it and let the mistakes be a non-issue.  I think that helped me learn how good my boy is at things.  It was amazing how smart he is and how he can really put things together.

Blessing Brynlie

Last Sunday I had the opportunity to bless our baby in church.  We call it a name and a blessing, but other religions will call a christening.  It is not exactly the same thing, but for an understanding, that would be close.  In this, we pray to our Heavenly Father and give the child a name and a blessing.  This is not a saving ordinance, but something that helps bring the baby into the fold for the ward.  I have always felt a little silly doing this as it is more of a tradition that anything, but it is something we do and it does not hurt at all.  For this one, with our newest child, I felt that same in morning as I have with the others, not thinking much of it, but feeling this is a nice occasion.  A funny thing happened when I entered the church building.  I felt the spirit very strong.  I sat down to reserve seats and began to ponder what I would do and say.  A bit later, my Wife Brooke, arrived with our baby.  Brynlie was so small and cute, she was all dressed in white.  A white dress that Ashlyn (our oldest daughter) wore for her blessing.  At that point, the spirit hit me very strong, and I felt so warm and happy.  Excited to participate in this blessing.  Again when the opening song began, I could not sing.  I was choked up.  I felt the spirit so strong.  As they called us up for our turn to do the blessing, I almost lost it.  I had to work very hard to compose myself.  I gave the prayer, very simple but focused.  It was a sweet blessing.  I then sat down and worked very hard to compose myself again.  It was a fast Sunday and there was time for me to bare my testimony.  It was very short, but the gratitude I felt towards my Heavenly Father and the peace I felt was amazing.  I was so grateful to be able to do that and happy that our little daughter is here with our family.  She is a great part of the family and that day, giving her a blessing only helped me feel how wonderful and important that she is and how a big part of the family she has already become.