Burn Baby Burn

     The past two weeks have been quite eventful for our little family. A couple Saturdays ago was the first weekend we have had off since we returned home from Alabama. We were so excited to finally have some family time, and maybe to even get a few chores done. We worked all day long doing yard work, getting organized, and a bit of fall cleaning. We were feeling very accomplished! That evening the kids were sound asleep in bed and Morgan and I were just relaxing, doing homework, and watching Netflix. Suddenly I could hear a strange buzzing sound. A few months back our fridge died and it sounded very similar to that. I asked Morgan what it was so he got up to investigate. He walked all around our little apartment and didn't see anything, so he proceeded to look through the peephole. The thought occurred to him that maybe someone was trying to break in by drilling into our lock. As he opened the door a cloud of smoke rushed inside. We finally realized that it was the fire alarm going off! The next words out of my mouth where "grab the kids...let's get out of here!" We ran to the bedrooms, grabbed our poor little confused babies and jumped our back fence. The minute we got to the parking lot we could already hear sirens coming our way. We were very impressed with the

promptness of all the rescue crews! Our whole building was evacuated, and everyone was a little confused as we just stood in the parking lot waiting for some news. Our sweet little son who is 21 months old thought that it was one big
 party! He loved seeing all of the firetrucks and flashing lights. There was a woman trapped in an apartment on the third floor. Luckily she had a fire ladder that she strung out her window, but she seemed to be too afraid to come down it. It was fun to watch the firefighters in action. They put their huge ladder to the side of the building and pulled her out. My poor husband ran out so quickly that he forgot to grab some shoes. For the rest of the night he was sporting some fun $2.00 camouflage Walmart flip-flops. Several hours had gone by and Levi and Larynn were getting super tired and fussy. We started to ask several policemen and firefighters if we would be able to go back into our apartment soon. That is when we learned the the fire started in the apartment right next door to us. Not only did they have to kick our door in to make sure everyone was out, but the carbon monoxide levels were still too high. Finally at midnight we decided it would be smart to find somewhere to sleep and figure out what to do in the morning. We were both exhausted and our patience might not have been as great as it should have been, so it took us until about 1 AM to figure out where we were going to stay for the night. We had nothing but the clothes on our back and the diaper bag. Needless to say, the rest that night was not as restful as we had hoped.
     The next morning was Sunday. We decided to head over to our apartment to see how bad it was. We had high hopes that everything would be great and we could carry on our Sunday like normal. Well that was not the case. As we walked down the hall toward our home the smell of smoke was overwhelming, the lights were all knocked out, and there was water everywhere. The front of the next door apartment was completely black. We could barely see inside through a little crack and it was destroyed! As we walked into our apartment both Morgan and I started to cough because the air was so strong and heavy with smoke. We quickly threw whatever we thought we would need into a couple of suitcases and left as quickly as we could. We are so thankful that so many of Morgan's siblings live in the area. We ate lunch and went to church with one of his sister's, we were able to borrow a portable crib from one of his brothers, and we stayed the night with his oldest sister. Family is seriously the best!!
     We are so grateful that we got renter's insurance only 6 months ago, because if we hadn't we would still be homeless. Our insurance put us up in a super nice 2 bedroom hotel that serves breakfast and dinner! We feel like we are on vacation! They cleaned our whole apartment from top to bottom not to mention all of our furniture and clothes! Although we are super excited to get back home and back to normal life, we are so so so thankful that everyone is ok! We are truly blessed!

Tomatoes and answered prayers

   It never ceases to amaze me how prayers are often answered in the most unexpected ways! Morgan is going to school to eventually be a dentist. He made a decision when he started working on his undergrad that school was going to be his full-time job. Every summer since we got married he has worked for a company named Vivint selling home security. For just a summer job, it has honestly been amazing! Morgan has been able to successfully support our family throughout the year in only 3 months!! I know... my husband is pretty awesome! :)

   This summer Vivint sent us to Birmingham, Alabama. The sales have been coming along great and Morgan has been working his heart out. However, this past June we applied for dental school which is extremely costly, and a few other unexpected situations came up that quickly depleted our bank account. A family of 4 is most definitely not cheap! One week we checked our bank statement and the balance came out to $2.09. OUCH!! The only solution we could think of is...PRAY! As scary as it was, we had to completely turn everything over to Heavenly Father and have faith that everything would work out alright.

   A few days later I was working on our weekly shopping list after the kids had gone to bed. It was just a usual list for us...beans, eggs, milk, cheese, tomatoes. Then, the doorbell rang. I am ashamed to say that I haven't met any of our neighbors, so I had no idea who it could be. As I opened the door I saw the sweetest little Asian woman holding a shopping bag full of tomatoes. She began to tell me how their garden had been very successful that year and they would never be able to use all of the tomatoes. She handed me the bag with a smile, I thanked her and she left. 

   As I was thinking about the experience, it was amazing to me that the second I put tomatoes on our list they showed up at our doorstep. This simple act of kindness not only helped answer a prayer but it made my testimony soar! I now know that this was a little reminder from a loving Father in Heaven that he will take care of us! All we can possibly do is our best and he will take care of the rest! I am eternally grateful to that sweet Asian lady and her tomatoes!!

Family is Everything

This being my first blog post ever, I thought it might be fitting to do a few introductions. My name is Kayla Hooper, I am 21 years old, and I am a stay-at-home-mommy to the two sweetest kids there could ever be! I absolutely love my job and I would never trade it for anything! I was fortunate enough to meet my best friend and eternal companion, Morgan Hooper, not long after graduating high school, and soon after that we were married. I know to some it may sound crazy to have a family like this at only 21 years old, but it is amazing and I could not imagine life without this crazy bunch! Only 3 days short of our first anniversary a precious little boy joined our family. We named him Levi, and he has been all smiles and giggles since the day he was born.

 Just a short 13 months and 8 days later we welcomed a little girl into the mix. Our little Larynn (la-rynn) has been such a sweet addition!

Life is crazy with these two! With Levi being 20 months and Larynn at 7 months, I find I am lucky when opportunities for precious things such as showers and bathroom breaks arise. My days are certainly busy, yet everyday is amazing! I love watching these two sweethearts learn and grow! Becoming a wife and a mother is no doubt the best decision I have ever made!