After . . . .

Derek's off the phone and the following happen but I may have some sequencing wrong. What do you expect? A tornado just hit our house!

Derek immediately thinks of my mom who lives in town. I'm still stunned and not thinking anything but - Wow! (Sorry Mom!!) So he's trying to call my mom - no answer. He calls my dad and leaves a message. He calls his mom. He calls his dad. Basically to let them know that we were hit but okay and that we couldn't get a hold of my mom. He thinks to call our Pastor and friend, Terry Tyler, who is going to go check on Mom.

As Derek is making these phone calls, he steps out from under the stairs but makes us stay because we're not sure if it's secure enough yet. I pray for us and for Mom. God was so awesome - he kept me calm and I was with the kids.

After the calls are made, we do find out that Mom is okay. And apparently everyone gathered at her house. Terry went there, then, Derek's parents ended up going there because they couldn't get through to us.

The police officer in the neighborhood and some others started going door to door to make sure everyone was OK. After they yelled in and checked on us, Derek let us come out from under the stairs.

Oh and in between phone calls, he asked me where the emergency kit was and if there were flashlights and batteries in it. And I have to say that I have been MADE FUN OF MANY times because of this kit and other safety ideas.

So where was I? Phone calls are made, we're out from under the stairs and ready for the next step. Derek goes upstairs with the flashlights to see the damage or at least what he can. He continues to narrate . . . "Oh yeah, there's damage, roof gone, etc."

He finds shoes and jackets for us and brings them down. Of course I am not happy with what he brought me so I ask him if the closet is still there and tell him exactly what pants & shoes I want and where they were. I also ask him to get my purse too!!

So now that were set, we shove our puppy, Sally, in the cat carrier. And we head upstairs. Derek directs us and says "We're going up and finding a place that's safe to go to. Go STRAIGHT out!" We do. As I walk up the stairs I see things - pillows, basket, DVDs, etc. blown down the stairs that were in other rooms of the house.

It was VERY dark out. Debris everywhere and insulation EVERYWHERE!! It looked like mud on everything.

We head to our neighbors. Their house looks the best, there's others there, and he's already got his generator going! We gather in the basement because there is another storm heading our way.
While we're there, Derek's mom, step-dad and brother make it into our neighborhood. But the other storm is still possible so we wait there till it's safe to go back to his mom's.

We finally get the OK to go and it takes quite awhile to get to Wakarusa. There was traffic, detours, etc. But we made it!! I set up Emma's stuff, we made a bed for Sally in a container, and Jesse went to bed. Derek and I ended up on the floor in the living room with Emma. Emma fell asleep. Bob and DeeAnn went to bed. Derek and I finally "talked."

We were both still in shock. WOW! A tornado had hit our house! We didn't know quite what to expect the next day when we saw our home. We thought about stuff we had out . . . Derek's laptop for work, bills, etc. And we remembered the Yoda Halloween costume we had got for Emma. It was hanging in the laundry room above the sink. It was so cute. Jesse wanted to be Darth Vader (Surprise) and so we were searching for the perfect costume for his side kick and there it was. YODA!! So funny! I'll have to add a picture.

Anyways, that's the last thing I remember talking about. We just layed there arm in arm completely amazed at the nights events. Then we fell asleep. When we woke the next morning . . . . . .