Tornado in Kirksville...We're Alive!

We had a tornado here in Kirksville on Wednesday night around 6:00 pm. It has been a crazy couple of days. Ben was just about to come home from school when the sirens went off (I hate that sound). He was about to get into his friend's car when he looked up and thought it was going to come down on top of him. The sky was so dark and the rain and wind were unlike anything I have ever seen before. So he ran back inside the school for safety. I was at home and we were talking on the phone through the whole thing. We didn't actually see the tornado, but we sure felt it. I'll be honest, I was scared out of my mind. But nothing like what our friends must have experienced.

Several other med student families that are in our ward were in their homes when the tornado hit them. They were hunkered down in their basements and heard and felt the pressure of the tornado. They told us that there next door neighbor was actually in the tub seeking safety and had a piece of drywall fall on them and cover them when their roof was torn off. A Dean from Ben's school also had his home damaged beyond repair.

We got the call afterward and Ben went out to help the clean up crew until midnight that night. Thousands of people in the neighborhoods nearby the hit were without power so we had a friend's family over for a few days until they repaired the power lines. Ben spent all day Thursday cleaning up and packing the salvageable things for our friends and the Dean. I was able to help round up food for all of them, but really just wanted to go out and help; I was able to do so Thursday night for a while. The work was quick with the enormous turnout of help, considering how long it could have taken. We were blessed with a nice day of sunshine yesterday for salvaging and packing. There were three deaths, none of whom we knew. We feel so blessed to have been protected, and are praying for those who weren't. Unfortunately, the weather is still scary and stormy and we are under tornado watch from now until 8 tonight. We will be praying hard tonight. Here are the crazy pictures. The picture above is actually the picture of the tornado here just as it touched down. I didn't take that one! But the rest below are ones I took while delivering food and cleaning up. I guess it's one more insane thing to chalk up to this experience of living in the Midwest.
The stairs in one of our friend's home.

Outdoor shower anyone?



The master bedroom in the home of the Dean from Ben's school. Great view huh? I guess his tv was on that back wall. Who knows where it is now. Probably in the pond.
Another view in the master bedrooom.
Thank goodness for insurance.

Tulip Festival

Tiff's little boy, Nate. He was wiped out after a long day in the car and sun :)
Isn't that an awesome float!
Reliving the Prudential days! (Tiff used to be a manager for them)

Oh, so pretty!!
Jaime and her daughter, Whitney.
Whitney. Such a cute sour face.
Naters!


Tiffany, Jaime, and I decided to take a day and get out of Kirksville! We went up to Pella, Iowa and attended the Tulip Festival there. They had beautiful tulips everywhere, tractors (which the kids loved), a parade, tons of authentic food and treat, and little shops like at a fair! It was very nice to get out. Here are some of the pics!

And...SOLD!!!

Well, we have some good news here: We sold our house! As much as I am really going to miss this adorable little house when we move and are living in a basement again in Utah, it is a relief to have it sold. We have been trying to sell it since January and have been praying and praying for buyers. There is a possibility that we will be back in Kirksville since the Dermatology residency Ben wants is here, but that is far from definitive yet! Without knowing if we will be back or not, we were beginning to worry about the house not selling. We finally decided that if after the showings we had last week we had no potential buyers, we were going to try and find renters instead; that idea didn't appeal to Ben and I very much since dealing with renters is unpredictable and a pain! But what can you do when there is a mortgage that needs to be paid! We finally took the necessary actions--making a blog for online reference, notifying our realtor of the upcoming change, and deciding on posting possibilities at the school and facebook-- when we had an offer, our only offer! I decided that sometimes Heavenly Father just wants us to move forward in action and faith, trusting it will all work out somehow, and He will make the rest happen! Well, we acted and He answered. I think we are getting more used to waiting for things now :P With the economy the way it is, it is a huge relief to know that we don't have to worry about the house anymore; it is a blessing that we didn't lose any money too. The circumstances and arrangements in the sell really are a miracle for us. We still have the inspections and appraisal to go through, but we think everything will out just fine. We close on June 24th, the day after Ben packs the truck and leaves for Utah. We have definitely learned a lot here! We will miss our house, especially after all the word we did, but moving on means we are that much closer to being done with med school!
Another short update. Ben only has two weeks of this last quarter left; his last two weeks of formal in-class education EVER! He is plum tuckered out of sitting in a classroom and taking hundreds of tests; and he is so excited to be done with this part of med school. It's one step closer right?!! Love you all.