Happy Thanksgiving!

Today we are thankful that we still have our home! On Monday, I was getting dinner ready and I had a few pots boiling on the top of the stove. I turned on the oven and it started making a really scary popping noise and suddenly there was that awful, icky electrical burning smell. I called Kevin over to see what was happening and there were a few more little crackles and then POP!! and there was a flash and the whole stove went dead. Kevin told me and the girls to get out of the house. We were having friends over for dinner, so we called them and we all decided to meet for dinner at Burger King.

Kevin pulled the stove out and there was a scorch mark on the wall. There was a sheet metal box on the back of the stove that was covering the electrical wires, and there was a 1/4" hole burned clear through it. The electricity had arced so hot that it had gone through thick sheet metal! Kevin tried to take the face plate off the outlet, but the screws were welded to the plate and it is not going anywhere. He also checked up in the attic to make sure that none of the flash that we saw had started any fires we couldn't see yet. Thankfully there seemed to be no sign of any fire.

A few years ago we had a Family Home Evening on fire safety and we talked about how to get out and where we would meet, etc.. Well, this kind of freaked Rebecca out (she was five at the time), and so we went over to the fire house, which is only a block away, and they gave us a tour and answered all of Rebecca's questions. Ever since then she always prays that our house will not catch on fire. We appreciate those simple, faithful prayers!

On Tuesday a service tech came out and checked the stove. He said that the wiring had been installed improperly and that one of the wire connections was really loose. (I was amazed that this hadn't happened any sooner!) The electrical cable has to be replaced and the terminal box that all the wires connect in has to be replaced as well, as all the plastic parts were melted. Since the cord is a four-prong instead of a three-prong, it is a special factory order and we have to wait until after Thanksgiving to get the range fixed. Hmmmmm.

Thankfully I was only in charge of making some pies, and Kevin's mom is cooking the turkey. I had to go over to a neighbor's house on Tuesday to boil some spaghetti noodles, and yesterday I went to another friend's house to bake the pies. Thankfully the microwave is still great so we can have leftovers for the next few days until they get this fixed. Hopefully Monday. So even though our stove is cold and dead at the moment, we are thankful there was no other damage and that we and our home are safe.

Happy Thanksgiving!