1:45 am...and we were snuggled comfortably in our beds. Maybe some were snoring, but none of us took notice. We had two rooms at the hotel. My parents and some of the children were down the hall sleeping...most likely snoring.

During a rather pleasant dream, a startling, loud, and most obnoxious siren blasted from an alarm on our wall. Christa and I jumped up thinking it was the alarm clock. Suddenly, a deep voice began speaking over the siren telling the guests of the twelve story hotel to leave their warm beds, and head for the nearest evacuation exit. As soon as he began speaking, I grabbed the Emma (who was in my bed) and told Jessica she needed to wake up.

I walked into the living room and woke up Abigail and Caleb and informing them of the emergency. They yawned, said okay and laid back down. Emma was only half awake and wouldn't let me go, so I went back into our room to get the girls who were looking for clothes. Christa picked up Abigail and together we all left the room. On our way out, I told Jessica to get the key. She followed out behind us and shut the door, of course, forgetting the key inside.

My parents came out from their room, and we all stood on the balcony waiting to see if the alarm was real. We've been to several hotels and have had so many false alarms that we always wait if possible. And we were only on the fifth floor, so getting down would be no problem. I looked up and saw Mrs. Oakley waiting as well on her floor. We told my dad that we left our key in the room, so he took Emma down to get another for us, taking the elevator. :) We watched as the firemen and officers came through to investigate what had caused the problem. My dad talked with some people downstairs and came back up telling us we could go back to bed as it was a false alarm.

We went back into our room, put the children back into bed, and began to wind down after all the excitement. Emma was so upset that she wanted to sleep with my Mom, so I took her down the hall, put her in bed with Melissa and grabbed Grace to take her back with me. As I laid her in bed, she started crying because she was so frightened by the siren. We assured her it most likely wouldn't go off again. As soon as we stopped talking, it went off! I told the children to stay put, and went out on the balcony to see what they needed. The head fireman, waited for the guests to quiet down and then told everybody that it was a false alarm and we could go back to bed. Grace was crying all over again about the alarm, so after much comforting, I was able to get her quiet and almost back to sleep. As soon as we stopped talking, it went off again! But this time it was a woman's voice we heard, telling us that everything was okay, there was a false alarm and we could "resume normal activities." Grace was of course terrified. Abigail came and crawled in bed with Grace and me, and we went back to sleep until 6:45 this morning. Can you guess what happened then? The alarm went off...but this time is was only my alarm-clock.

Yesterday, we had a splendid time with the Serven clan. We went to their home after church, and had a wonderful time feasting, singing, playing and visiting with such dear friends. They taught us new songs, and in turn we taught them new songs. We are going to miss them so very much when we have to go back home. :(

The Oakley's arrived up here on Saturday and we have had such a blast spending time with them again. We can't wait for them to be able to come back home.

Five Senses Tag

I've been tagged by Jessica to post my favorite fives...so here they are!

5 best smells-

1. Clean laundry
2. Barnes and Noble (this way I can get coffee and books in one!!! ;-))
3. Freshly mowed grass
4. My Dad's cologne
5. Rain

5 Best Sounds-

1. Rain showers
2. Our church singing
3. Music
4. The sounds of nature
5. Fellowship and laughter

5 Best things to taste-

1. Coffee
2. Piccomolo Italian Ice Cream
3. Tres Leches
4. Creme Brulee
5. Banana Pudding

5 Best Sights-

1. My family
2. Sunrise/Sunset
3. A good book
4. A fresh cup of coffee
5. Good friends and food

5 Best things to feel...since I suppose they have to be something you actually touch-

1. A volleyball
2. Baby feet
3. Water
4. Books, books, and more books!!!
5. Chocolate

5 People I tag-

1. Kelly Blanchard
2. Faith Blanchard
3. Anna VonHolton
4. Nikkae Huber
5. Rebecca Serven

We've been busy...busy...dreadfully busy...you've no idea what we've had to do! Busy...busy...shockingly busy...much, much too busy to.......blog!

I can't believe how very busy we have been! I almost forgot that I had a blog...

Monday, we had a visiting family from California over for the evening. We had a great time chatting and getting to know them, and as is our tradition, we taught them the game, "The Great Dalmuti." This time we grabbed our Reformation costumes (capes, hats, crowns, etc...) and played in costume, which really adds to the fun of the game. Now we have a "Dalmuti box." Anyone who visits our home is required to learn it, so beware and think twice before coming. :)

Wednesday, my Mom and I brought a meal to a family from church who just moved. When we arrived, we found that the lady's sister was there watching the children. The family's grandmother had locked herself outside, and jumped the six foot fence, spraining her ankle. So, she called her husband, who couldn't pick her up since their son had just been stung by three wasps and was on the other side of town getting him. So, Mrs. E., the mother of the household, took the grandmother to the hospital to see if her ankle was broken. While we were there, one of the little boys fell down the attic ladder, and another fell in the garage ending up with a nasty contusion on the back of his little head. Poor thing. We thought it best to go before something else happened. :-)

Last fall, we moved the furniture around in our house, transferring our informal dining area from the kitchen to our (parlor) front room. For those of you who haven't been to our home, we have black chairs and benches around our family table. After several bumps and scrapes against the wall, the walls were black and rather nasty looking. So, Jessica, Melissa, and I decided that a paint job would do the trick.

We convinced my dad that it needed to be done before the pending baby shower (for Mrs. D.), so, he fetched the leftover paint from our tea room and helped us get started - and away we went! We even moved the furniture! We had this huge, massive wardrobe in our front room, which took four men to move when we had our floors put in. Jessica, Melissa, and I moved it from the front room, to the nursery. Impressed? Well, you should be. Like I said, this thing is gi-normous! Just wait 'till you see a picture of it! And, just so you know, I've been referred to as the weak link in the chain. :) Ha!

So, after painting ourselves in the process, the room turned out really nice (if I say so, myself). We installed new light fixtures, hung fresh curtains, rearranged pictures, and totally changed the furniture. We actually enjoy sitting in there now. :)

The baby shower went very well. We all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and ate plenty of food and dessert. Mrs. D. is a beautiful pregnant mom! As soon as I have time to download the pictures, I'll post them.