No more weekends like this!

So why am I cleaning the ceiling?

To find out keep reading below!

Yesterday started out like any other Saturday, except Heather TJ and Lee were here visiting. Everything went fairly well, I began my day getting up at 6am getting dress for working in the Stake Onion Farm. We need to weed the onions each week to keep it all under control. Our ward has 9 rows and the HP have 5 of those. Of course those 5 rows look pretty good. I can't say the Elders rows look the same. I'm not sure if they are raising onions or weeds, the weeds are taller. They may need help soon. I returned home to find Chance, TJ, Leo awake and playing. I ate some breakfast and had Chance get dressed for some yard work. Chance and I started at 9am, I trimmed some more hedges that needed it badly and Chance started mowing the front yard. I finished the hedges and ran in to take a shower. Apparently the girls were waiting (Grammy, Heather and Sara) for us to finish but then Heather and Sara decided to go on their own. Grammy and I stayed and I finished up the yard on the riding lawn mower. Finally the girls returned and Grammy and I left to go have lunch and do some commissary shopping.

So all in all, every thing is fine. We got back and Grammy and the girls left for more shopping, I stayed with Mr. Lee, Triniti and the boys. Later everyone got home, we cooked some chicken on the grill and had corn on the cob, etc. Good dinner. So why my statement "No more weekends like this!" well here's where we set up for an exciting evening. Grammy starts by boiling down the chicken water to get a good broth and the girls leave for a sister night away for a few hours. (Truth be told they go to Walmart! Do we need to get a life or what!) The grand kids are put to bed for the night. I go down stairs and Triniti joins me on the couch as we watch the World swimming championships. Soon Grammy joins us and Triniti falls asleep. The 10pm news just came on and we were watching when suddenly Grammy jumps up and says "Oh NO!" and runs up stairs. I'm used to this as she occasionally forgets something important and hurries off to get it done. No problem right! I go back to watching the news.

Then from the top of the stairs I hear one word "HONEY!" Of course being perceptive man that I am I knew this was not a Honey! Get the trash taken out! kind of call. It wasn't even a Honey! There's a spider in the kitchen kind of thing. Nope! I immediately knew this was a HONEY! (I need you NOW!) kind of call. So I quickly push Triniti off of me and start for the stairs. As I turn to the bottom step around the recliner I hear a "HONEY! FIRE! Well let's just say I flew up the stairs, faster than I normally go up. As I hit the middle of the stairs a distinct smell hits me right away! Something is burning! At the top of the stairs I see a lot and I mean a lot of smoke in the living room. I rush to the kitchen and I find Grammy standing about 4 feet from the stove where a four foot wall of flames is shooting out of the pot that was boiling down the chicken water to a broth. Grammy obviously has tried something and I quickly assess that getting the correct lid from the lower cabinet next to the stove would take too long I asked where's the fire extinguisher as I turn to the place I knew it to be. Grammy tells me here she has it and I grab it, Pull the pin and squeeze the trigger and put the flames out quickly. Now at this point I'm thinking I can't stand the smoke much longer so I say let's get the doors open and get outside. I tell her to go out the back door and I turn to head for the front door when I see Chance (I say I saw him but really I saw most of him, as the top half was shrouded in smoke) in the living room asking what is going on! I yell and say get back to the bedroom and stay there with the door closed. Triniti is starting to come up the stairs and I tell her to get back down stairs and close the door. I'm think of mitigating the smoke getting into other parts of the house. I get the front door open and start coughing the crap out of my lungs. My throat is burning and I'm trying to get clean air into my lungs. I think to myself I hope the neighbors didn't see any of this and try to call 911. Then I hear the garage door opening up I think why is Grammy still in the house. So I run back in and I find her now out back with the smoking pan and she is using the hose with a sprinkler head still attached as a way to stop the smoking. Unfortunately she put the pot on top of the one extension cord so it melts the cord. At about this time Martha calls me to ask what is going on? I figured Chance had called Sara (which he had) so I tell Martha "Do not come in the house as there is too much smoke!" and I hung up on her. Of course this puts them in a worry! Sorry girls! I wasn't thinking real clear at that moment. I thought the girls may have just pulled up out front. So I was thinking about Martha's Asthma and I didn't want her to be affected. I checked on the kids once more and they were okay. The little ones were still asleep and with the doors shut very little smoke would have gotten to them. (As a matter of fact Leo, TJ and Lee slept through the whole ordeal) Soon the girls pulled up, I was out front with Grammy and of course the mother instinct kicked in, "Where's the kids! Are they alright!" There was a little bit of smoke still clearing out and so after we assured them all was okay and what happened. Sara with no breathing issues checked on the kids, who were just fine! Heather or Sara checked the kitchen and we still forgot to turn the burner off! We spent the next several hours cleaning walls, ceilings, the kitchen of course to get most of the smell out of the house. At a little after midnight we called it quits and went to bed. Yes, we made it to church on time at 9am. Today, we cleaned the rest of the house, the carpets, couch, clothes etc and it smells a lot better!

So lessons learned! Do not leave the kitchen with a pot on the stove! Don't forget the fire extinguisher and have it near the kitchen not in the kitchen! Check the smoke detectors (they didn't go off!), and perhaps the most important is to listen to the promptings from the spirit as we are convenced that thats what reminded Grammy of the pot on the stove and we caught it in the nick of time and nothing is majorly damaged! Just some smoke stained cabinets, ceiling, melted overhead light parts and alot of worried people! Metal appliances helped as the microwave is good as new. Amazing!

Check out the pictures below!