There is nothing like home sweet home. Doug and I are very grateful to be home after escaping being held hostage by hurricane Frances. We had a wonderful vacation in Orlando with the girls. They were delightful to spend time with and had a great time at the theme parks. We really played hard the whole time. We knew the hurricane was coming, but we were scheduled to fly out on Fiday the 3rd, and the storm wouldn't be there until late Saturday. When we found out Thursday night that the Airports were closing on Friday, feelings of panic, frustration, anger and discouragement welled up within me. Why would the airports close when the weather was perfectly fine?? We had called earlier in the week to get an earlier flight home, but nothing was available then. We decided to kneel and say family prayer before Doug took off for the airport Thursday night to see what he could work out. When he returned, we had little hope of coming home any sooner than Tuesday of this next week. Nothing. So, we prepared to hunker down and witness our first hurricane. We reserved a hotel room for several more nights, and went to the grocery store for supplies and food. Everything in Orlando was closed down, all the malls, most restraunts and grocery stores were closing early on Friday, so we needed to be prepared. We were trying to think of anyway we could to get home. We thought of driving out of there on Thursday, but the roads out of town were gridlock, and little gas was to be found, so that didn't seem like a possibility. We played it cool on Friday, hung out at the pool, relaxed and tried not to be too discouraged - the girls were pretty much unaffected by the whole thing, they were having fun. I was missing my little boys like crazy, and hated having to arrange extra help when I was dying to be there with them. Firday evening as we were driving back from dinner ( we found a place open) we were listening to the radio, and heard that the roads were all clear, but there was little gas to be found. We started entertaining the idea of getting out of there. When we got back to the hotel room, we checked with the rental car company to see if we could drive to Atlanta- that worked out. We called Atlanta to see if there were any flights to Salt Lake Sat. morning- there were several so we booked one. We hit the road Friday night around 8:30 to make the 8-10 hour trek to Atlanta. We made it in about 8 hours, 4:30 a.m.- so we checked into a hotel and got a couple hours of sleep so we could make the 8:20 a.m. flight to Salt Lake. When we got to Atlanta, they told us that we were smart to drive out of there because they were already cancelling flights up until Thursday of next week, because it is such a slow moving storm. So, who knows when we would have made it home - especially after all the flooding and damages of the storm. When we boarded the plane headed for Salt Lake it felt too good to be true. It was another testimony to me of how our prayers are answered, but usually not in the way we expect them to be. It was a sweet reunion to see my two boys again. A huge thanks to Ed, Val, and Lizzy for stepping in. The house was beautiful, and my little ones were well taken care of. I have the greatest family in the world. My sweet sisters in law were such a big help as well, and Kathy had a cute sign and balloons to welcome us home. There is a touch of fall in the air, and it smells like back to school. I love home. I don't think I could ever get used to living in a steamy hot place like Orlando. It was fun to visit, we had a blast, but there's no place like home. I love you all. Alison

p.s. When we went to church in Orlando, the bishop greeted us and looked so familiar to me. Turns out to be Wayne Hales. I asked him how there family is doing. Jennifer lives there in the ward. I forgot to ask about Amy. Stacy lives in Idaho and just had her 3rd miscarriage, she has one little girl. Jada was visiting her, so I didn't get to see her. Merrilee is living in Mesa and has 3 children. It's a small world. It was fun to see him.