Time to buy a gun

Today I am thankful for safety. Let me explain why:

Last night seemed like any other normal night and nothing seemed out of place or off. I was lucky enough to have another girls night with Ash and we headed to grab diner and a Jazz game and had a blast! I got home around 10:15pm and started to tell Mike about the game. Bella was running around like crazy and so I figured she must have to go potty. I open the door and let her and she B-lines straight to the back of yard to the fence and starts going CRAZY. She is barking and growling and doing her best attempt at sounding scary. Let me step back and preface that Bella is not a yappy dog, she only barks like that when someone is on the other side of the fence. I immediately start yelling at her to stop and to come back in and look around to see if my neighbor is out or what could be causing Bella to act this way. Then I notice something strange. On the other side of our fence (not in our yard) I see what looks like the outline of someone standing there, facing me, looking at me, just an arm lengths from our fence.

I immediately get that gut dropping feeling that something isn't right. Meanwhile Bella is still going crazy barking right where I see this figure. I turn and yell at Mike (who luckily was right there in the great room) to get up because I think someone is there. Mike jumps up looks out and see two eyes reflecting back at him, exactly where I can see the figure and where Bella continues to go crazy. We yell at Bella to come in and she slowly starts backing away still growling and doing her best to protect us.

Because of how our porch is, the light reflects off of the awning and casts a shadow directly where this person was standing. Mike tells me to grab a flashlight and we head back out on the stairs. I still see the figure standing there, and Mike still sees the eyes reflecting back at him. Because our yard is pretty big the flashlight didn't really do that good of a job illuminating this guy standing there. Mike continues to shine it on him and yells "Hey" and finally the guy turns and takes off down the fence line.

I immediately call 911 and we lock all the doors and the realization of the situation starts to set in. I start shaking uncontrollably but manage to keep my emotions in check because I realize Mike needs be focused on protecting us not me crying.

We see someone approaching the front yard and Bella starts to go crazy but we realize its a Cop (so much for the element of surprise) and they start searching the area. They check our neighbors yard and the empty field behind our fence and even down the the trax station and don't find anything out of the ordinary. They thank goodness were very thorough and finally came in to get our story. They tell us to be safe, keep the doors locked, and call again if we ever see anything again.

We immediately say a prayer and check all the doors and windows again to make sure everything is locked. We call Mikes brother Rogan and he heads up to stay the night with us. Then everything really sets in.

Not only was this guy standing just behind our fence, he continued to stand there for a REALLY LONG TIME. That is the part that scars me the most is how un-phased he seemed by us potentially seeing him. He just stayed there. Watching. Until Mike yelled then he decided to move. That really makes us question what his motives were. He is definitely a pretty bold guy. Nothing makes sense in the first place of why he would even be standing there. If by chance he wanted to cut through the field, he would have used the gravel road, not struggle through the weeds and grass clippings behind every one's fences. Or if was drunk or just doing something sketchy he would have bolted when Bella started going crazy.

I could go on and on at how scary it was but its time to just be brave and strong and do everything we can to protect our family and little Will. We installed three more lights in our backyard and are heading off today to buy a gun. I am so thankful for the power of the priesthood and I know that it is because of the blessing Mike gave on our house when we moved in that prevented the intruder, or whatever it was, from being able to cross into our yard.

So fair warning to everyone, if you plan on playing any jokes on us be prepared to get shot!