Fourth of July Fire

As most of you have probably heard, we had a fire at our house on the 4th of July. I wanted to get some pictures up here for the in-laws to see. It is a horrible thing to have a house fire, but there are many things for us to be grateful for.

I am so thankful that I happened to mow the lawn by the side of the house the grass back there was almost knee high, I had avoided the side on my many lawn mowing adventures, but on the 2nd of July I decided to go ahead and mow the heck out of it. So luckily it was not an added fire hazard.

I am grateful that the propane tank was aimed away from the house and towards the fence.

I am grateful I wasn't home when it happened. Conrad and I had played in the back yard that morning. It would have scared the heck out of him, and I am not sure I would have reacted as swiftly as my neighbor did.

I am grateful the neighbor was home from the coast (where they had spent the last few days) that he was downstairs and didn't mistake the noise for a fire work. I am grateful he had his garden hose connected and was brave enough to start hosing it down.

I am grateful that my other neighbors helped by one calling my cell phone to let me know what happened, and the other driving to my work to try and have them get a hold of me.

I am grateful for Dan and his helpfulness and really taking control over the situation as far as calling the insurance adjuster, contractor and of course his parents.

I am thankful for Ron and Diane (my wonderful in-laws, I love them so much) who helped us out with the deductible, and offered us advice with dealing with an home owners insurance claim.

I am grateful to my parents who would have opened their home to us, if we had nothing to come back to.

I am grateful we had a new home for our cat, whose favorite perch was the BBQ grill.

I am grateful that insurance gave us $90 to replace the flower pot we had sitting on the grill

(I am going to miss that old flower pot !)

Anyhow here are the photos of the damage, and I will add a cute little video of Conrad at the end, because there is no better way to wrap up a post than my son in all his cutie pie monsterness.