TADAH!!!

Well, we didn't do any cleaning today - we are all finished, except for the laundry. It felt great to be done and the house looks so clean now. However, I am still finding spots where there is fire extinguisher powder. I guess I will have to put up with that until we move.

Speaking of moving...we have been trying to get ahold of the house mover for over a week now. I couldn't even leave a message because his message box was full. But today, surprisingly enough, he had emptied his mailbox and I was able to leave a message. The jist of it was contact us very soon or we will find someone else to do the job. Anyways, enough of that.

Josh is still in Kamloops with his grandparents and his cousins. He is homesick, but is having a great time. They have gone mini-golfing, gone to Ruckers and are planning to go to the Wildlife park tomorrow. It's so quiet around our house without him - it will be great to have him back home again soon.

The girls have been lazing around since we got home. Naomi appears from her room when she is hungry. Other than that she is busy reading and we hardly see her. Hannah has been enjoying going swimming at the river. They have a rope swing attached to the bridge. They have a blast everytime they go.

Brian and I begin working on the new house tomorrow. We will do what we can while we wait for it to be moved. Work, Work, Work!!!

SOME GOOD NEWS

Today, was another day of intense cleaning - we tackled Josh's room. His seemed to be the worst. There was more extinguisher powder there than any other room. But in the midst of this one of the police officers showed up with some of Brian's coin collection, his wedding ring and one of my gold chains. They have also found out who has the xbox and the gun. Things are slowly getting back to normal. Thank goodness.

WE'RE BAAAACCCKKK!!!!!

Well, we finally arrived back home yesterday. We drove into town around 4:45 and pulled up at the house to find that they had changed the locks. So, we all piled back into the truck and went to the police station. While we were there they showed us the pictures they had taken of the house after the breakins. They also had 2 of our bikes there. What we can't figure out is why they stole the bike that didn't have any pedals and left another one that worked well and was whole. I guess we'll never figure that one out. In any case, we are still short 2 bikes. Anyways, after the police station we had to go to someones house to get our new keys. When we got there his brother came out to inform us that he was passed out. He went in to try and rouse him. Eventually his sister showed up and she was able to get him moving. But the keys were still proving to be elusive. It turns out he didn't have them, someone else did. So, he went to find her. After about 15 minutes he showed up at our house minus the keys. He couldn't find her. Then this very hungover man says we'll just remove the boards from one of the windows. So, he got a big sledge hammer from his truck and took one swing at the window. Then he decided that wasn't going to work. He would go home and get a saw. After another 10 minutes he is just coming back, he pulls into our driveway then states "that's the car I'm looking for" and takes off again. This time he was back in 5 minutes with the keys - thank God.

I thought that after seeing all the pictures I would be prepared for what awaited us. But it was still a tremendous shock. We just walked around looking at everything. Bursting into tears at some things. One of the most heart wrenching was finding that they had drawn rude things on a picture we had from when we were in Disneyland. It was one take the rides, so it is irreplaceable. Another was finding they had taken our wedding rings and other jewellry.We just wandered for over an hour. Since then we have spent all our time cleaning. The powder from the fire extinguishers is in absolutely everything. We have had to wash down walls and even after 3 washings the floors still have the powder on them. My laundry room is piled high with laundry. Practically everything we own has to be washed because of the powder. They had emptied all our drawers and stuff was thrown around everywhere. We still have tons of cleaning to do, but it will all come in time. We are coming to terms with things even though it has been hard. As we compile our list of missing and damaged items, I am more relieved than ever that we have insurance.

That's all for now. My next post will be about something more uplifting - promise.

MORE RED WRITING!!!!!

We had a wonderful day today until we returned to my Mom and Dad's house. Upon arrival we had a message from the RCMP in Ross. It turns out the same kids broke into our house again last night. This time they broke the window in our bedroom. This means that my bedroom will be a nightmare to clean before I even begin on the rest of the damage. I guess they threw our stuff all over and they stole one of our .22's. We don't know what has been stolen and we won't know this until we get home. The police have recovered 2 of our bikes, both with flat tires. I had a very hard time swallowing this one. I am not dealing with it well. The sense of personal violation is incredible.

MORE MEMORABLE HOLIDAY MOMENTS

I wish all holiday memories could be happy ones, but unfortunately, not everything that happens is good. Naomi opened her email today and found out that our house has been broken in to. So I got on the phone to the RCMP and Yukon Housing to find out what was going on. I guess a couple kids broke the window in our laundry room and climbed in. They went through all the drawers in our bedroom and one of the kids rooms. They released a fire extinguisher both upstairs and downstairs. And they broke into our shed and stole at least 3 of our bikes. I have no idea if anything was wrecked or stolen other than that. Needless to say, this has put quite a damper on our holiday. But there is absolutely nothing I can do until we get home so there is no reason to worry about it. But it won't stop me from being mad. The cops said they may be able to get information easier if we promise not to press charges, but that was not a promise I was willing to make. They have a very strong suspicion who did it, they just have to prove it. I guess my first priority upon arriving home will be to take pictures for insurance purposes and then start cleaning. (notice the colour of the writing today - red as in anger!)