Smoke, burning, and water

Dennis bought us some really beautiful pork chops for our meal following church today. I've been just so fatigued that I don't attend church anymore. I've really missed it, but it's nice to be able to have a hot meal on the table for Dennis and the girls when they return home. Except for today that is. I prepared the sour cream and chive (uh-uh, don't ask for my recipe! It's in a box....) potatoes to bake in the oven while the pork chops did their nice "Shake N Bake" thing. Directions said 450* oven for 30 minutes. Good thing I didn't follow the directions or our house would have burned down!! =( I set the temp to 400*, put everything into the oven, closed the oven door, and set the timer for 20 minutes. I thought, "I'll just check on everything when the timer goes off". I then went into the living room, and proceeded to watch Danika ( suspencful, sit on the edge of your seat movie) The character in the movie had visions where she became a part of the vision, and during one of her visions, I thought "how realistic this is"...it was so smoky looking. Then, I noticed that the air all around me seemed smoky, and I could smell something. The timer on the stove hadn't gone off yet, so I didn't know what the smoky, smelly thing was. I ran into the kitchen, and there I saw smoke pouring from the oven!!! =( I turned the oven off, and went into the livingroom to open the front door. Dennis and the girls were just pulling into the driveway, and my cell phone rang. I was yelling into the phone "the house is full of smoke!". It was Dana on the phone, but I wasn't listening to her because Dennis had opened his car door, and the girls were pouring out of their side of the van. All at the same time the girls said "what's that smoke? And what's that smell?" Dennis went to the kitchen and pulled the food from the oven. (yep, Dana was still on the phone...waiting for me). The pork chops were all burned. =( I was crying. I finally went back to Dana who was waiting for me on the phone, and told her what had happened. She said she had called to say they would be here at our house in about an hour. I hung up the phone, sat in my chair, and tried to make some sense out of what had happened. I still haven't figured it out yet. Dennis and DJ were so sweet. They ate the burned chops anyway. The girls tried, but they couldn't do it. Ally usually likes pork chops, but not today. Wonder what was wrong?!

The visit with Dana and her family was very sweet. We don't see them very often, and it's easy to see how fast her kids are growing. I was amazed at how tall the two boys have gotten, and what sweet young men Austin and Chandler are. Brooklyn even allowed me to hold her. We watched My Little Pony together, and I loved that. She is such a beautiful little girl.

After everyone left, the girls went into the pool for a swim. It was 93 out this afternoon and the pool felt good to them. Abby and Shane came over and then Emily came, too. Gary and Denise drove over for a visit, too. That was fun. So I saw all 4 of our kids, and all 9 of our grandchildren!