Before . . . .

Okay, it's 9:45am. "Our tornado story" will be an ongoing project but I have to start somewhere. I'm trying to remember what all went on that day - so here goes . . .

10-18-07 was a Thursday. I'm sure Jesse went to school. Emma probably slept in till 11am because she was probably up late!! (Our bedtime trials with this one could be a book itself!) Derek would be at work in South Bend and I would have been "catching up" on anything and everything. Oh yes, and we had only had our puppy, Sally, for about two weeks.

Now it's coming back to me! So I would have been going outside frequently to potty train. I do remember that our house was for sale so there would have been some cleaning and picking up going on in case someone wanted to see the house.

I remember finishing our Christmas gift for everyone. My friend, Rocki, had shown me these awesome books she had made online so I got the info from her and worked hard to get these done. I remember telling Derek that we were going to be busy (moving or something) because I had Christmas done so God had other plans for us the next couple months. (WOW!) I know you women know what a relief it is to have this task done or at least know what you're doing for sure!! It takes the stress away from the upcoming season!

I can't remember if Jesse had football practice or not??? I know we did go to Raymond's for dinner. We would have met Derek there. On the way home, Jesse & Emma rode with me. The clouds looked cool. Jesse and I were actually talking about tornadoes. (WOW!)

When we got home It was about 7:30pm or so. My mom called to see if she could come over. See, she had gotten a puppy from the same litter as us. So, Harry, her pup, wanted to come play with Sally. I know, cute isn't it? Mom named Harry first and Jesse named Sally after our neighbor's dog, Sally. And FYI he is not allowed to see that movie!! (When Harry met Sally)

So Mom came over and the two pups played. Boy were they CRAZY!! Well, they still are at times. Anyways, I remember we were sitting in our three season room with them. The little TV was on channel 16. I believe the storms were starting. Derek actually showed me the radar on his computer at one time and said, "That one, that's the one that will hit us." (WOW!)

Well, Mom and Harry finally left maybe around 8:30pm. We got the kids to bed. I went to bed. But Derek stayed up. It was when he was coming to bed that . . . . . . .