Thursday Nov 29

I spent a good portion of the last two days gathering donations. The Soroptimist group of La Mesa has adopted our family. One of my therapeutic activities is searching for Sam and Nick's childrens books. I've found several already. I also found the handmade Christmas stocking that I made for each of the boys 17 years ago. If I can't find the kits to remake new ones I'll take apart the one I found and use it as a pattern. Last night I read Psalm 57. Ps57:1 O God, have pity, for I am trusting you! I will hide beneath the shadow of your wings until this storm is past. We need all the protection we can get dealing with the insurance company.

Tuesday Nov. 27th

Last night I read a prayer from a book called Where is God Now? Every time I'm led to such pertinent lessons I'm reminded who is beside me. All I need to do is ask for the comfort and be still. The prayer is as follows:

O Lord, my eternal Dwelling Place, my house in this world is gone. Gone is the earthly security of my own roof above my head and my own walls surrounding me. Loss of my possessions means loss of reminders and keepsakes of my past, and I ache from being so uprooted. Give me shelter and protection for my body. Comfort me by Your dear Son, who himself knew the pains and perils of homelessness, that my confidence may rest in the shelter He is for me. If it be your will, let my house and home be rebuilt. If that is not Your will, let me be content; to the glory of Your name. Amen.

Please continue to pray for all of us who have lost their homes. It will be a difficult Christmas season without our family traditions. But remember JESUS IS THE REASON FOR THE SEASON.

Sunday, Nov. 25th

We spent the last four days in the desert at Ocatillo Wells. We borrowed motorcycles and quads to ride. Our new home got very dusty but we had fun.



The Thanksgiving dinner was great. Our friends cooked all four days. What a nice treat. On Friday night I drove back with Sam to Ramona and went to a Christmas boutique on Saturday morning. There were thousands of Christmas items for the fire victims. I found several things that were the same ones we had.

On my way back to the desert I stopped at the tree farm and bought a 14ft. Christmas tree. I'm going to put it where our home was.

Nov. 16-18

It's been the usual breakneck pace. Nick and I spent 10hrs. on Friday, driving up to La Mirada, CA for mattress sets. We picked up 3 sets for others in our church as well as our own. What a frustrating day. We kept getting lost and I had a hard time turning the U-Haul trailer around when we got stuck at a dead end. Saturday the work crew hand picked all the river rock from the stream bed and moved it down the hill to salvage it. They also laid out hundreds of sand bags for erosion control. Monday will be one month since our home burned down. It's going by so fast.

Thursday, Nov. 13th

Sorry it's been quite hectic and I haven't had time to update. Tuesday I worked the night shift 11 pm to 7 am. Then I spent the day going to several donation centers. Each one takes hours to go through stuff. Kourtney and her sisters Kamryn and Kacee sold cookies to do a fund raiser for us. Aren't they adorable? They gave me the box Wed. morning. I found my baby Jesus in the 40ft. burned out container. The rest of the nativity set is there but very scorched as well. Yesterday was all the running around for the motorhome. Today we're going to Orange County to pick up free new mattresses. The company is giving one per household. We're getting some for the ladies at our church who also lost their home.

Monday Pt.2

I am ready to receive your e-mail. I miss hearing from everyone. You can sign in and comment on the blog or e-mail me at jstrizver@gmail.com.

Monday Nov. 12

Sunday's are always a blessing at Ramona Lutheran Church. The last three have been exceptional. Hugs and prayers abound as we share with our church family. Everyone has a special gift to share. Time, talents and treasures are pouring in to all of us who have lost everything just 3 short weeks ago. The Lord has been leading me by the hand to where I need to be and what I need to do each day. Our Bible study on Sat. highlighted prayer. Our sermon on Sun. was about prayer. My e-mail from my sister this morning was about the power of prayer. Even though we lost all of our material possessions we have our faith and can clearly see His hand in our lives. Thank God I have Him to hold on to. A confirmation of His presence is that my littlest angel from my collection survived the fire. She's a little bedraggled but in one piece. On Sunday I received two gifts. There are 2 new additions to my rebuilding of my angel collection. My littlest angel has new friends!

Saturday Nov. 10 2007

A clean slate! Unbelieveable. When I got up to the house it was totally gone. I thanked everyone for cleaning my house, BUT gee guys you went a little to far. There's nothing left. Jonathan was scraping up the last bit of kitchen tile. He said the cleaner must have been too strong. We all had a laugh. Three dumpsters took all that was left. Here's a picture of my new tree!

Friday Nov 9 2007

The day we returned to our home after the fire I saw what was left of my beautiful ceramic Christmas tree and ornament collection. The tree was hand made by my sister Carol when I was a child. It was given to me last year by my mother. I loved the way the soft glow of the tree light my entry way. It was now in 12 pieces. I called my sister and told her she needed to make me another one. I wanted that piece of my memory back.

I went to the Ramona Thrift store on Wednesday to pick up some jeans and t-shirts. When I walked through the front door I spotted a ceramic tree on the check-out counter. It looked almost like the one Carol made. When I inquired about it the clerk said it was sold. I explained to her why I was so interested in it. The young woman who had just purchased it overheard my story. She came over and handed it to me and said "Merry Christmas". I stood there in awe. A total stranger, was being so generous. I gave her a hug as tears filled my eyes. I will never forget her, her name is Tanya.

Thursday Nov. 8, 2007

Today has rendered us many blessings. The Tide Detergent Co. has set up a giant laundromat in Ramona. I took two bags there and someone will do my laundry, free of charge. They had the church lot full of donated items. Everything from dog food to tooth brushes. They loaded up my SUV and off I went. The Thrift Store had a 40ft. storage container also full of donated household items and clothes. The compassion and caring has been so comforting. When I returned to our place, three men from the Samaritans Purse, a disaster relief group, where taking out the burned trees around our house. The Lord is providing the help and our multitude of tasks is being done one by one. I'll get more progress photos this week-end. Blessings to all who are praying for us. Here's Kourtney, she did her own make-up and performed on of her dance routines. She's feeling better today

Wednesday Nov. 7th

Remember when Sam rode on John's lap on the tractor? Here he is driving it . Also look what's left of my I-pod. Just a busy day doing errands before work. The second dumpster is full and the house is disappearing. Our 5th wheel needs to be towed on a flatbed trailer to the RV repair shop. We need it checked for damage before we can use the gas or generator. I went shopping at "Good Will". I felt like the radio commercial with the excited teen who gets so much "good stuff" for her money. They gave me a voucher for $200. I actually did find new items, folding chairs and tools like new. A little for everyone. I got Nick the Dr. Seuss book, Hop on Pop. He loved that one as a child and has a recording of himself reading it at about 7 years old. He transferred it to his computer so it wasn't destroyed. It made me cry when he played it for me this morning.

Tuesday Nov. 6

The first dumpster load of debris was picked up today.  So much was burned that there's just metal, plaster and stucco.  All the desert toys and yard equipment went in it too. We looked at motorhomes today and I had a mini meltdown when John wanted one over 30ft. long.  I was afraid I couldn't handle it on the road.  We compromised when I was done crying.  He gets a larger motorhome to live in and I get an inground pool! I feel better now with that prospect.  Some folks from the Billy Graham Disaster Releif Team showed up at the house. They are sending up a work crew to remove all the burned trees for free. I'm working with Kourtney every day 6pm-11pm while her mom recouperates.  LOVE TO ALL.

Tuesday Nov. 6th

Sam sent me his photo file yesterday. There are some happy and hopeful pictures to share. The daisy was there blooming outside of what was left of the front door when we returned after the fire. John and I are holding the top to our wedding cake. We took a break from the rubble yesterday. Being there so many days in a row makes our throat feel like we drank Clorox. I'm also physically and emotionally drained from seeing what's left of our home. I've come to grips with the fact that there's nothing of value left. As you can see from the incinerated metal storage container our last hope of having anything to return to was dashed. I have also been working with Kourtney and she's been quite sick. She came home from the hospital with tons of antibiotics around the clock and her mom had surgery Monday. I also lost my job with Hector. Medical switched him to LVN's so 3 of us are out of a job. It's a good thing Kourtney has room for me to work. I forget about my troubles when I'm at her house because of all the kid's running around and all the fun they have together. Some of the best dressed ladies at my church are thankfully my size. I have four bags of clothes they gave me. It's like Christmas going through my new wardrobe. Love to all. GOD IS SO GOOD TO US!

Our neighborhood.

Sunday Nov. 4

We didn't do much work today. Our friends the Thompsons and Brown's, came by to help sift. We found my silverware, amazingly not melted together. Sam and Nick's baby spoons and forks were intact. I'm about done with the searching. It's tiring and tedious. We're ready to move ahead.

Only a few homes survived.
I can hardly recognize the ones that burned. First photo is the Burkhart's. Next is Gene Spinetto and Donna Omans home. It had the white pickette fence around it.

Josh and Michelle's beautiful home was also destroyed.

Last photo was Ted and Donna Young are our immediate neighbors. They hid in a cement bunker near their home as it burned over them.

When we returned to Barry's house at 10:00 pm I remembered that I left the hose running in the back yard. I'm trying to save my palm trees. Guess what there''s no neighbors to call to run over and turn off the water. After calling around to reach someone nearby I got ahold of the Bradley's. Steve actually got out of bed to drive over and shut it off. THANKS STEVE. I sure don't need a larger water bill than we''re already bracing for. Since our piped melted in the fire water was spewing everywhere. Love and thanks to all.

Saturday Clean-up

11/03/07 Today was an incredible outpouring of love and concern. We had about 30 people at any given time from 10:00am to 7:00pm. Some were utter strangers to me. Now they are on my guest list for our celebration party once our house is rebuilt. A great group of generous people gave up their week-end to help us clean the trailer and sift through rubble. A group of families from the Maxim Miramar office, many families from the area LDS Chruches, and several of our dearest friends worked diligently throughout the day. We laughed and cried together as we shared the experience. By the end of the day we had many more treasures and a spic and span trailer. GOD IS GOOD TO US! Someone found the Mother's Day present Nick made for me in first grade and pieces of a tennis bracelet John gave me for an anniversary gift. We'll keep up the effort as long as we can. Thanks to all who helped and are thinking about us.

Friday 11-2-07 UPDATE

THANKS FOR CHECKING IN WITH US. LIFE HAS BEEN SO INCREDIBLY HECTIC FOR US. THE SIX OF US HAVE BEEN SPLIT UP FOR DAYS. I'M WORKING AND STAYING WITH BARRY IN LEMON GROVE. JOHN HAS BEEN DOING ALL THE EMERGENCY PAPERWORK ETC. EACH THING TAKES SEVERAL HOURS NOT ALWAYS WITH A FAVORABLE RESULT. HE STAYED IN THE SMOKY 5TH WHEEL LAST NIGHT TO ELIMINATE THE COMMUTE. NICK IS GOING TO WORK AND SCHOOL. HE'S IN SAN MARCOS WITH JONATHAN. SAM IS WORKING 2 JOBS, GOING TO SCHOOL AND STAYING IN CARMEL MT. PRESTON (DOG) IS AT THE KENNEL AND TIGGER(CAT) IS LIVING WITH RUTH IN EL CAJON. THE COUNTY HAS ANNOUNCED THEY WILL ASSIST WITH DEBRIS REMOVAL. THAT WILL GIVE US MORE DAYS TO SEARCH THE RUBBLE. THE ONLY TIME THIS WEEK-END THAT WE WON'T BE THERE WILL BE SUNDAY MORNING. WE SHOULD BE THERE BY 12 PM.