amazon

Sunday, November 10, 2013

One House Sold, One More To Go!

 We closed on my parents old place this past week, and now the focus is on getting our old house ready to go. We had lived in a small town before and had been there for about eight years.  It was a nice town and I think we would've stayed there except for two things. One, we really wanted an acreage, and even though maybe we could've eventually found something around there, there's still the second reason...the flood of 2011.

 On June 1st 2011 we found out that because of an excess of water being let through Gavin's Point Dam it was expected that our town would flood. We were originally told we had about 24 hours to get what we wanted out of our houses and get out of the town. Our town was even on the news and they said we would be "wiped off the map"!

I panicked. We had bought our house as a "fixer-upper" and torn the whole thing down to the studs (and took out some walls completely!) and then re-built the entire thing ourselves. No architects, plumbers, electricians, contractors, nothing.

We bought it...

We gutted it...


 We put it all back together.

We did it all with our own hands (more my husband's hands than mine, especially after our kids were born!) This also meant we moved in with my family off and on when we were working on things that we didn't want the babies in the house for, so my husband would go straight from work to our house and work on the construction there until late at night, then drive to my parents place to be with us even though the kids were usually already asleep. We barely saw each other for months at a time, not to mention he was working so hard on very little rest and I was caring for the kids alone.  It was so much sacrifice in time together as a family, energy, money, and in so many other ways, and then to hear that it would all be destroyed was pretty difficult. When I found out that we had to get out I called my husband and told him what was happening and he said "We have our family, so we are ok. We will be fine as long as we're together". I'll never forget that. It calmed me down. Then so many of our wonderful family and friends dropped everything and came to help us, some with trucks and trailers, some with basements or garages they offered to store our stuff in, some with many prayers for us. Another thing I'll never forget? Looking out at our front lawn at our friends and family loading our stuff into their vehicles to help us move it all as quickly as possible. It was getting dark and there was lightening off in the distance, and I was so very thankful that I was blessed to have these amazing people in my life.


This pictures was the street in front of our house in our normally very quiet town! So many people trying to get out what they could and find somewhere to go. Lots of people were going to shelters that had been set up in other towns. We were very fortunate to have family nearby who were willing to help us, we spent the next few months alternately staying with my parents and in-laws.

To make a long story (sort of) short, basically everything surrounding our town flooded, the fields, the other small towns, the streets to get into town, but our town was untouched (remember those prayers I mentioned?) . We moved back at the end of September 2011. But after that we knew we wanted to be farther from a river!

So next up on our journey, we will start getting ready to sell that house. It's where we lived when we first got married, where we started our family, and where our kids spent their babyhoods. And even though it didn't seem like it would be a good memory at the time, it's where I learned how true it is that we really are ok as long as we are together (with not only our little family, but our extended family and the greatest friends we could ever ask for).  

I'm so looking forward to making lots of great memories in this house and on this land now. I would love to hear some memories you have from your homes over the years too!

This post is also on theprairiehomestead.com on the Homestead Barn Hop, and http://back2basichealth.blogspot.com/ for Tuesdays With A Twist.

6 comments:

  1. Wow - what a story! I'm so glad your family and friends were able to help you! I think I would be moving away from a river after an experience like that also!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Vickie!
      Having people to help us out and be there for us made all the difference. We were very careful to check where rivers and other bodies of water were before we bought our new place!

      Delete
  2. How sad, but happy, brought tears to my eyes, thank you sooooo much for sharing your story on Tuesdays With a Twist.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Joyce! It was an emotional experience, especially at first. We lived far enough from the river that we were not considered to be in a floodplain and it never crossed my mind that the river would cover all those miles! Thank you for visiting!

      Delete
  3. Oh my, I just caught this post on your sidebar and thought to give it a read. It is a very moving post. I can only imagine how hard it was to leave your home especially as it was such a labor of love. It funny how God moves us where he wants us as so many time we can't see what for. I see myself that way often. If I could have had my way I would still be in the "old house" in my old home place but it didn't workout that way. I am sure your family is being lead for good purpose. I hope the move will go smoothly for you family.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree, God takes us where we need to be. It is funny how you can look back sometimes and see how things came together perfectly when it didn't seem that way at the time. I hope you're having a good weekend!

      Delete