Things are getting back to normal (or at least our new normal). Now we've got a place to stay, beds to sleep in, and a mostly stocked kitchen for meals. We also have some of the comforts of home again, too. Our phone, internet, and tv service has been moved to our temporary home. We also took advantage of some of the Black Friday specials to replace some of the items lost in the fire. The kids have continued their school routines, and have adapted to their new bus routines. Dan and I have gone back to our work routines too.

Fortunately, Thanksgiving plans were unaffected by the fire. We were already planning on visiting with my (Sandy) parents, brother, sister-in-law, and nephew.  We are so thankful that we have what is most important: no one was hurt in the fire, we had family close by to have a place to stay, our vehicles were not lost in the fire (so we didn't have to worry about transportation), we had insurance to cover our losses, and a wonderful and supportive community and work places to help us recover incredibly quickly.

We are also beginning to decorate for Christmas. The homeowners of the house we are renting (Dan's former coworker and family) offered their Christmas tree for us to use this year, and a little Nativity was donated through someone at our church. We added a few presents for under the tree today, too, from the angel tree at our church.

With all the offerings of help in the first days and week after the fire, we have all our major immediate needs. We have been given generous donations of clothing, bedding, and more. We thank everyone for their generosity with meals, gift cards, and donations to our benefit account, so we can easily replace the little needs that come up, as they come up, as well as future bigger needs we will have as we eventually move into our permanent home.

Since we don't have any immediate needs at this time, I will be updating this blog less frequently.

We have moved into our temporary home! No more commuting from Stillwater! Our new, temporary home is 205 S 9th St in River Falls.

It has been nice to have a place of our own. Since we are still in the process of getting internet and TV, a friend loaned us a couple board games and a PS2 and games for the kids to occupy themselves. They were thrilled to have something to do!

We are getting settled in and all have beds to sleep in. We don't have any immediate needs right now. Since I know we will eventually have to move again, and we're not sure how much space we will have in a new place, I want to keep what we get now to just what we really need. I keep noticing little things that we don't have, of course right when I need them.

Internet and our satellite service are expected on Friday, so I'll finally be able to update from home and not just from our limited data plan.

So thankful that we are still a whole family, and we are growing closer as a family. I'm thankful that my children are handling this situation so well, and I know we will all be ok in the end. So thankful for family, friends, co-workers, church family and a wonderfully supportive community! Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm amazed at how quickly we have been able to find what we need to move into our rental! Thank you so much!

We plan to move in on Sunday! Yay! I know Dan & the kids will be happy not to have to commute to RF from Stillwater in the mornings. Laura is in easy walking distance to the middle school, and we will need to drive Tasha to school at Rocky Branch so she can continue to attend with all her friends in a familiar environment. Michael was walking to the high school before, so we will need to find where Michael's bus stop will be.

We have temporary bedding, but are still in need of donations of blankets & comforters (shades of blue preferred). Michael still needs a queen sized bed.

We also have temporary use of towels, but are still in need of donations of bathroom towels and hand towels (blues preferred). Also donations of kitchen towels. Sandy likes blue floral and garden/herb patterns, or any shades of blue.

Gift cards we can use for purchasing food and household basic supplies, etc. would also be helpful. Gift cards for Walmart (where Sandy can use her associate discount to extend the money) or KwikTrip (for our diesel vehicles) would be the most helpful. I'm working on restocking our 'pantry', and I'm concerned that if there is just a list of needs, we may get more than we can use of some items, and none of other needed items and we have limited space available. I'm not sure the best way to get gift cards to us yet, other than dropping off at our church, First Covenant (across from Burger King) or Walmart in Hudson.

We've been so busy, there just isn't enough hours in the day to get everything done! We're responding to calls and messages as best as we can manage. I can't believe it has only been 4 days since the fire... it feels like at least a week or more!

We don't have internet access set up at our rental yet, so it will be more difficult to update the blog. Right now I've been updating from my mom's computer. I'll post again as soon as I can. I have limited access on my phone, so I will still be able to check and reply to emails.

Please send emails to BOTH of us so we don't miss it. 

Dan's email: **********

Monetary donations can be made to "Benefit of the Waletzko Family" at First National Bank in River Falls.

Thank you so much for all your support!

We have found a temporary home near the middle school in River Falls!

We are working on getting it ready to be able to move in by Monday so Dan and kids don't need to commute from Stillwater to RF every day. 

Sandy's family has many of the basic kitchen items to donate, and we will let you know if we need anything else for the kitchen. 

We have most of the beds we need for now, but are still in need of a bed for Michael. He needs a queen sized bed since he is too tall for a twin or full sized bed. We are borrowing the beds we have so far, so please let us know if anyone has bed frames (twin, full, or queen) to donate for our 'permanent home'. We also have been given some bedding, but I haven't gotten a chance to figure out how many and sizes. I'll update once I figure out if/what we still need. 

Treasures from the Heart is donating some living room furniture. We also have 2 dressers available to us, but we could use more if anyone has some to donate or for us to borrow.

We also could use towels. Bathroom towels, hand towels, and kitchen towels, pot holders, and dish rags.

Please be sure to let us know if items are for us to keep or if we need to return them. We want to get borrowed items back to their owners!


Please contact us by email at this time. 
Please send emails to BOTH of us so we don't miss it. 

Dan's email: [email protected]
Sandy's email: [email protected]

Monetary donations can be made to "Benefit of the Waletzko Family" at First National Bank in River Falls.

Thank you so much for all your support!

I realized this morning that what would be easiest would be to have a central location that EVERYONE could access for information. This blog is a place so that the schools, River Falls Moms' & Dads' Group, First Covenant Church, Walmart, friends and family have one place to go to know our current needs.

Feel free to share our link with everyone who wants information! 

I don't have much time for an update this morning before I need to go to work, but I will have more time tonight and this weekend to add information. Check back often for updates!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU FOR ALL THE SUPPORT!

Sandy and family