D & B DeWitt Family

Okay. Here is a funny blog. Monday night I was fixing dinner and the boys were playing games and Shannon was playing the piano when the lights started flickering and the electricity went off and on quickly a couple of times. Doug came in and asked if the lights went off and on and we said yeah, and he told us that the electical box (on the side of the house) was sizzling. I suggested rather loudly to get out there and turn it off. I was afraid it would start a fire! So he pulled the switch and when he pulled out the main breaker - it had fried right out the side of the box! This was about 7pm. Luckily, I had barbequed some steaks and salmon, but we had nothing left to eat with them but rolls. (we were in the process of boiling water for potatoes and stuffing when he pulled the switch). I told the kids they couldn't open the fridge or freezer until it was fixed so we wouldn't lose any of the cold that was in them. It was dark and so we lit candles but I can tell you here and now - I need to buy 'unscented' candles. By the time a few hours went by I had a headache from all the different scents that were burning around the house. We loaded the kids in the car and went as a family (minus Katie who was at a b-day party for Brandon's brother) to Home Depot to get a new main breaker. No luck. So, we all drove down to the shop to see if Doug could get a parts store to open for him and we get the part that night. No luck. The only place that would be able to open was Graingers and the part was about $3000! So we decided to spend the night with the electricity abscent from our home. It was not a pleasant night. The weather had not quite cooled down like it is today. In the morning I only let the kids open the fridge for the milk and they had to do it one time quickly. Doug had left early to go clear into Phoenix to get the part and then worked on it all day - eventually haveing to replace the WHOLE panel because of a broken stem (or something). We didn't get our power back on until 2:30pm Tuesday afternoon. 19 1/2 hours of no electricity. We hadn't dared to open any fridges (we have 2) or freezers (3) so we were not really sure of what it was going to be like inside of them. Luckily everything faired well. The ice cream was very soft, but other than that it was good news.

Now the funny part. I had made these special 'head flashlights' (check my July 26th blog), 25 of them, for our wards girls camp play. They came in handy once again. We all wore them around the house for the rest of the night. There wasn't too much to do, so we read, threw things at each other, and actually went to bed at a reasonable time. But here are some pictures that I made Shannon and Allan pose for because we forgot to take some on Monday night.