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Would you like to be a guest blogger?   We are looking additional readers who would like to be just that!

The requirements are simple.

-You can remain anonymous or use your real name.
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-It can be an opt end piece about the paranormal and doesn't require you to have had any paranormal experiences.
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-Maybe you're on a paranormal team and would like to talk about an investigation or maybe even paranormal team ethics.  Ethics is a big thing with us by the way.  :)
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-Your submission is subject to review and approval.

If you like to be a guest writer just email us at mismastejasranch@gmail.com

Thanks

Question From A Reader: "Will you ever name the paranormal team that investigated?"

We are working on the aftermath entries following our reveal and hope to have them up soon.  In the meantime here's a recent question we got.  We have gotten this question quite a bit but I don't think we truly ever answered it fully.

"Will you ever name the paranormal team that investigated?"

The short answer is, no we probably won't and that's how we've answered the question in the past.  That answer usually leads to follow up questions such as, "you should so that they don't do this again".  From the outside looking in, that appears be true since our mission is to help others who are experiencing issues.

However, I don't think calling a team out by name would achieve our goal.  The purpose in sharing our story is not to single any group or individual by name regardless of how upset we are with them.  The purpose is to help others by giving them strength to overcome what is happening to them.  We encourage them to seek out help.  Hopefully, based on our experience with a paranormal team,  they will do their due diligence on anyone they bring in to help them. That's the message we want to send.

I am aware that one of a former team member has attacked us publicly in a TDF group.  I have no beef with him or the the team other then how they acted and conducted themselves while here.   If he chooses to attack us, that's his problem.  He has to live that self created negativity.

The only thing I would say to him right now would be to look in the mirror.  The next time someone begs you for help as we did before, during, and especially after your investigation, do your best to honor your creed and help them.  Give them answers, provide guidance, and by all means have the courtesy to respond to their pleas after you've finished your investigation.

Believe me there are so many times I would like to publish the team's name and it's members because I am so angry at what they did but I remain committed to not doing that.  I feel that would just bring in negativity back into our lives as well as create a "he said, she said" situation.  Also, publicly naming them would be counter productive to our goal.

Generating positive energy in our lives and surrounding ourselves with people who help us achieve that balance one of the many keys to protecting ourselves.   That former team member doesn't meet that criteria.

In closing, all I want to say to the former team member is stop talking about me behind my back and stop harassing me on social media (directly and indirectly).  We gave the producers your team's name and your leader choose not to cooperate with the production company.  He didn't want to provide any evidence or talk about it.  As a matter of fact, he said that everything they collected that night was deleted.  He had his chance.

If you have a question, we encourage you to ask.  Our goal in sharing our story continues to be to help those who are suffering and just need some courage to get the help they need.  No one should suffer in silence.

We've made it easier to submit questions too!  Just Fill out the "Contact Us" Form on upper right.

If your question is for one of us in particular, please say who it's directed to.   Also, we won't publish your name unless you specifically ask us to do so.

The Reveal-Part Four

After about nearly 45 minutes, we finally collected ourselves and went back to the reveal.  We were still in shock about everything we heard and were emotionally drained.  When you hear the things we we heard that night, you start second guessing everything you've done up to this point.  Many things were discussed in our reveal.  Things that not only provided answers for us but also allowed Amy to connect all the dots regarding our experiences.

We talked about nearly everything we had experienced over the past 8 years.  It was like a horrifying confession of things we never talked about with others due to the fear of being judged and ridiculed.

While emotional exposing ourselves during the reveal, we discussed how our physical and mental health had declined.  Amy told us that was what the crazy woman wanted to do.  

"She's feed off of all of you, slowly torturing ya'll and is really going after Heidi", Amy said to us.  "She will not rest until she has done everything she can do to break you all apart."

Amy asked us how much we knew about our home.  We mentioned that it sat vacant for over 6 months while it was on the market.  However, we never thought anything of that because we were buying during the real estate crash.  Given that, along with the age of the house, we never considered any issues the house may have.  Plus, paranormal activity never crossed our minds.  

When things started happening, we talked to the previous owners and they told us they never had any issues.   Amy found this disturbing because even if someone wasn't a sensitive they would feel the effects.  Amy felt that they may have experienced things but dismissed them as natural occurrences; something easily explained.  That denial just made things stronger and more powerful.

Because there were so many issues we experienced, it became hard to articulate them all to Amy as we felt as if we were rambling.  The sleep writing and sleep walking by me, she attributed to the dead trying to communicate thru me or control me.  She said there is so much residual energy that it would make it very difficult for anyone to feel totally comfortable here.

The land held a majority of the issues.  Too many negative and violent ties to it.  Suicide of the crazy woman, ties to a ruthless guerrilla gang, raid by soldiers, the path of dead, Native Americans, and just the general violence of the area.

After we had poured out of heart and soul to Amy, Steve said, "You guys okay?"  We nodded as he told us Amy was about to tell us if we could continue to live in our home or if we had to leave.  It was the moment of truth.  Given everything that we had been told and talked about, our hopes of staying were not high.

Amy begins by telling us that we are all sensitives and each of us has something just a little different.  Normally she would tell someone they needed to leave but told us due to our abilities we would have issues regardless of where we lived.  These abilities are like a buffet to the dead as they are drawn to us.  The path of dead had always probably been here and when we moved in those in the path naturally gravitated toward us.  Understanding and learning to control our abilities would be the key to peace.  She recommended protection stones, family strength, and working with a Reiki.  Everything would be a trial and error situation for us but protecting ourselves, our home, and our surroundings would be something that would be continuing and ongoing for us.

All the sudden everything from my past made sense.  I told Amy about the experiences I had as a child and young adult. (See This Question and Answer Blog Entry).  She nodded and said those are what sensitives experience.   The puzzle was finally coming together.

Amy then begins to talk about all the residual energy on the property.  She said it was everywhere; the house, barn, land, the garage.  So many people had ties to the property or traveled through it that all this residual is natural and our sensitivities turned it into a hectic and exhausting environment for us.  She told us we needed a psychic to cleanse the house.  However before that could be done, we must clean the house with hot salt water, cleaning every surface possible.  The psychic will then do a cleansing of the house, land, barn, and garage.   The psychic would then teach us how to do a proper cleansing and we will need to do a general cleansing once a month, forever, due to our abilities.   We would as need to learn about protections and things we must do on a daily basis to keep our home calm and safe.

Page One of Amy's Notes

"Now, first let's deal with this guy," as she points to     the sketch of the hat man.  She tells us that he only     thinks he's trapped in the house but that's not the case    as he can leave anytime he wants.  He likes being on    the land as he sees it as simple reflection.   "So, a     male medium, who is kind of a tough guy, and I think     it may need to be an older guy, will come in and lead   him outside."  She continue to tell us that he will go   willing but the medium needs to be firm and assertive   when telling him.  Once he's outside, he will be   banned from the property but we could allow him to   roam the land.  "However be sure that he understand   he is banned from the house, barn, and garage."

 "Second thing is the deceased woman.  The first step that needs to be done is through a Reiki Master who needs to sever the attachment between Heidi and the deceased woman."  Amy further tells us this will be very difficult and may become volatile.  Doing this will take a lot out of Heidi as the dead woman will draw all the energy she can from her just to hold the attachment.  I remember Jennifer taking a deep trembling sigh as we hear this.   The thought of putting Heidi through something like this was unfathomable.  I felt the fear in Jennifer's hand as I squeezed it tightly.

"Once that is accomplished, the male medium needs to step in...and force her out"  We will need to us the same male medium as he will be strong enough to do this.  Amy warns us this will probably become volatile because she's "probably not going to really want to go."  However, the male medium should be able to accomplish this if he is strong and demands her to leave.  He should say, "NO ONE WANTS OR NEEDS YOU HERE! YOU ARE NOT WELCOME IN THIS HOUSE!"

The emotion of what we are hearing is overwhelming however we manage to hold it together.  Amy then talks about what all the experiences meant and provided us with some closure in the form of warnings.   "All these things that have happened serves as a warning that you must understand your abilities and how to deal with them; control them."  She guides us through steps of what we must do, individually and as a family.  She said these experiences has lead to all of us having PTSD.  Because of this, our family as a whole should start counseling.  She told us that psychotherapist for this would be best as they are more open to the idea of paranormal issues.  Amy encouraged us to be open about what happened to help us get over everything that has occurred.

Page Two of Amy's Notes

"As for your daughter, Heidi, these experiences are a huge warning"  Amy strongly tells us.

"She has PK abilities.  
People with this type of ability are able to effect their physical environment."  Amy adds.

Amy tells us more about Heidi's PK abilities.  She's able to control her physical surroundings with just her thoughts.  The problem is
that Heidi doesn't realize she has this ability.  Because of this, she may unintentionally target anyone who she feels poses a threat or someone who makes her angry. This could be a very dangerous situation.
Her failure to control her PK will cause a poltergeist to grow.

Amy tell us, "Heidi will need individual counseling to help her understand her abilities but also because I believe 
that she's suffered some sort of abuse."  

In addition to Heidi taking counseling, she will need to take up Yoga and work with a Reiki Master if possible.  She needs task, something to release all of her energy in a proper manner.

Page Three of Amy's Notes

"All of you have a difficult road ahead of you.  It will take a lot of work to get through this in order for you to lead peaceful lives."  Amy tells us in closing.

Digesting all this takes us a few minutes.  We are exhausted and emotionally drained.  My head was spinning from everything we heard.  I honestly thought our issues wouldn't be as bad as they turned out to be.

"You both looked like you've been hit with a Mack Truck, " Steve said.

Steve looked at Amy and asked her if we did everything that she is telling us to do, would things change for us in the house.

Amy nodded her head and said, "Yes,  I think the illness will subside greatly. I think that Heidi, in particular, will become much more focused..."

Steve looked at us and asked, "So I'll ask you straight out, you going to do what she says?"

I didn't hesitate in my answer, "Absolutely...I will do whatever I have to do to protect my kids.  I have to protect my family."

The next stage of our saga was just beginning but I didn't realize how all hard and terrifying it was going to be.

The Reveal-Part Three

Note:  This blog entry deals with some very sensitive issues that were not aired on our episode. It has taken a long time for us to heal from what we learned.  The emotional toll it took on us and the details leading up to Jennifer's breakdown are in this entry.


My hope that the Hat Man was our only issue were dashed when Amy said, "Yea, I did" after Steve asked her if she saw anything else.

I will never forget the look on Amy's face when she said that.  I knew by the tone of her voice and her expression, that we were about to hear something very horrifying and troubling.  I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach, my heart was racing, and my knees began to shake a little.  I thought, "Oh God, this doesn't sound good."

I also felt that the reveal was beginning to wear on Jennifer.  She was already upset over hearing that the paranormal team may had done a blotched cleansing, but hearing everything about the Hat Man nearly sent her over the edge.  I was really worried about how she would handle what we were about to hear.  One thing that everyone should know about my wife is that her love for our family runs deeper than anything in the world.  She can't stand to see any of us suffering and she'll do anything to ease the pain. She is, without question, the most amazing person I know.

"The next person is a female and to me she's a big problem." Amy said.  As soon as she said that I knew she was talking about the screaming crazy woman.  I remember reaching under the table and grabbing Jennifer's hand, squeezing it tightly as we were both beginning to tremble.

I knew what we were about to hear wasn't going to be good.  Amy told us, "...She effects the living in many different ways...she'll take the energy from the living to feed her own energy to keep herself up." All the sudden we realized that all the fatigue, depression, health issues, and lack of self-motivation was caused by the crazy screaming woman.  Amy listened to all the health issues that we've had since we've lived here.  There were times that everyone one of us were sick for days on end and the doctors couldn't figure out why.  Jennifer talked specifically how her health had deteriorated since moving here.  She told Amy how she was in great health, but since living here she's had vitamin D issues, gallbladder removed, depression, fatigue, and stomach issues.  I could hear Jennifer's voice tremble as she began to realize that all her issues were because of the crazy woman's attacks.  .

Steve then begins to tell Amy about the video that I shot in the kitchen of the drawer. (Click here to see the full Video in blog entry, "The Storm Intensifies.")

After watching it, Amy looks at us and asked, "Have you had physical phenomenon going on prior to the other experiences?"

I told Amy about the time the butcher knife flew off the counter and caught me across the arm.  I told her the cut was so deep that I probably should have gotten stitches but was hesitate to do so because I'd have to explain how I got the cut where I did.  I showed Amy the scar from the cut.  Steve then showed Amy the picture that Jennifer took shortly after it happened.

"Dammmnnnn, that would be more of a poltergeist phenomenon than a deceased individual" said Amy.

I could immediately feel Jennifer sink in her chair after hearing that.  I knew she was really starting to have a difficult time holding it together with everything we were hearing.  I put my hand on her knee and could feel her trembling.

Jennifer after hearing about the poltergeist phenomenon.

Steve asked Amy if she got anything on the crazy woman in life.  All Amy could say was that she felt the woman died fairly recently.  Jennifer began to tell Amy about a family friend who recently passed away. Steve showed Amy the picture and asked if the woman was her.

"No, but she's here right now trying to warn you about this other woman." Amy said as she looked at the picture.

Steve then told us about Etta (Davis) Peters.  Etta died on the property in the early 1900's.  Her death was a mystery as no death certificate or record of her death exists other than a brief obituary.  He showed us a 4 or 5 line obituary for her.

Steve asked Amy if Etta could be the woman in the house.

"Yea, I think she is." Amy answered.

I did some research and found that Etta is buried at Providence Church Graveyard which is about 3 miles from our house

Amy then tells us about the dead people that are standing behind Jennifer.  She looked at Jennifer, and said, "There are seven dead people behind you.  They're all trying to warn about about someone who is hurting one of your girls.  They're saying that a living person is molesting the girl who sleeps in the back bedroom."   Amy said they're frantic about it and are trying to protect her from this person but can't.

"Who?  Who's doing this!?!  Do they know who it is?"  I angrily asked Amy. 

"It's someone she knows and they're taking advantage of her trust but they don't know who the person is."  Amy tell us.

Naturally since Heidi is in the back bedroom we think it's her.  My mind starts to run wild.  I think of about all the people she comes into contact with at school and at her gymnastics practices.  A picture of every person starts going through my mind.  It's like a slide show; a photo line up.  The pictures were moving so fast that I had trouble concentrating on what Amy was saying.

I immediately feel like a failure as a husband, father, and protector.  Someone is hurting my child and I want blood.  I want to beat them with my bare hands and leave them for dead.  I want them to suffer.

Amy begins to tell us all the things the crazy woman can do.  She first goes after us physically and then goes after you mentally.  Slowing sucking all the energy and sanity out of us until we're nothing but a useless shell.  After she's drained that person of everything they have, she'll  move onto the next person.  You would build yourself back up then she'll come back and do it all over again.  It was a never-ending vicious cycle.  She'd nearly kill us but leave enough life left in us for the next round.

As soon as Amy said, "She's kind of fixated on the man of the house", I knew exactly what she was talking about.  I knew deep down that the crazy woman was like this but I just didn't want to accept it.  I thought I had stopped her from being obsession with me but I didn't realize that she was "extremely jealous of anyone who gets his attention" as Amy said. 

Jennifer looked at Amy, "So everybody here."

Amy shakes her head and says, "yea and when that happens she tries to lash out, violently."

It was scary to think that someone was so fascinated with me that they wanted to hurt my family.  How do I stop someone such as her? She so obsessed with me and I can't do anything.  Restraining orders don't work on the dead.  Why was she fascinated with me, it's not like I'm the greatest looking guy.  I guess it was because I was the only guy around. As I had mentioned in the blog before, I knew she was like this but I didn't realize it was an obsession.  This was a nightmare, like a paranormal fatal attraction.

Amy told us what she saw in the back bedroom, something very disturbing took place there.  She said she did have it sketched.

Steve opened the envelope and pulled the sketch out.  All he said was, "Sorry" as he put it down in front us.

I overcome with emotion.  I couldn't really speak as so many thoughts ran through my mind.  Angry, failure, fear, and anxiety all rushed through me like a fright train as I struggled to hold it together.

Jennifer leans forward and says,  "And this is is in the back bedroom."

"Yes", Amy replied.

The sketch of what Amy saw in the back bedroom.

"That's Heidi's room", Steve said.  "Why's she going after her?"

Amy pointed to Heidi in the picture and tells us that she feels that Heidi is a PK (Psychokinesis) Agent and that to a dead person is "like the fucking Energizer Bunny."  Amy continues to tell us all the things that Heidi is capable of doing as a PK Agent.  However, Heidi is not aware of her abilities but she does knows she's different.  She doesn't realize how or why she's different and certainly doesn't understand how to control her abilities.

Amy told us more of why the crazy woman was going after our daughter.  "...and she's jealous of her! She kind of wants her out of the way." 

"Out of the way in what manner?"  Steve asked Amy.

Then Amy said to us the last thing that any parent wants to hear, "like get rid of her.  Like if she died she would be ecstatic."

Everything we heard was overwhelming.  I was angry and scared; I was ready to fight.  My family was in danger and I had to do something.

The toll this took on Jennifer was too much.  She finally reached her breaking point.  "I feel horrible.  My heart hurts."  she said after hearing everything.

All we could do was hold each other.  Try to collect ourselves and regroup.  We lean on each other anytime we hit a rough patch in our lives.  Being there for one another and gaining strength from each other is how we coup.  It's how we survive.

We had to stop filming as Jennifer started to hyperventilate.   She was sobbing and shaking uncontrollably.  Emotions were pouring out of her.  Seeing her like this was heartbreaking, all I could do was just hold her and ensure her everything would be okay.  We would get through this.  We took Jennifer outside to on the back porch.  I practically had to carry her because she was so distraught.  As I walked her outside, I could see some of the crews eyes watering up.  The emotions of what just happened effected everyone.

Steve was absolutely amazing.  It seemed as if his police training kicked in as he treated her like a victim.  He knew exactly what to say to her.  Without his help I don't think we could have continued with the reveal.

We finally collected ourselves and told the producers we're ready to continue.

Now we know what had been torturing us for nearly 8 long years.  We told each other if Amy told us to leave, we were leaving that night.

The Reveal-Part Two

Amy said when she first got here, she came inside through the back and she could feel the presence of others as soon as she entered the mud room.  She walked through the house to get a feel of it and then straight through the front door.  As she was standing on the front porch, she could see a line of dead people walking back and forth in front of our house. She said there were hundreds of them.  While she's there, two black figures (not sure if she said shadow figures) just charged at her.  They were angry, aggressive, and wanted to hurt her.  They didn't want to necessarily be in the house but they did want to be on the property.  The figures were solid and very physical.  She said if someone were to get in their way, they could get hurt because these figures were quite capable of doing so.  Amy felt that they had some sort ties to the property; like a claim on it.  There had been times that we would hear tapping on our front windows and the storm door on the front door would shake.  She said that was them either trying to draw us out or  they wanted inside.

I mentioned to Amy that once I saw a man slowly walking, dragging a rifle by the barrel.  He was wearing a uniform of some sort.  Amy asked if I could tell what kind of uniform.  I told her it was a civil war era uniform but I couldn't tell if it was Union or Confederate.  She said that was interesting because she felt the figures who charged her had some sort of connection to the Civil War.

Amy said that when she went into the barn and looked out into the back pasture, she saw a man walking.  As he walked, he changed into different stages of his life until he finally got to the stage of his passing.  She said he died in the house of some sort of breathing problem and that the energy she saw was just residual.

Amy then told us about her time in the house.  As she walked inside she encountered a male who was very tall and wearing a cowboy hat.  She felt he was from the Western times.  Amy got the sense that he had done some terrible things in his life; murder, robbery, setting fires.  He was very aggressive and physical.  He didn't die on the property but had some sort of ties to our land, either directly or indirectly.  He was "pissed" because he felt that someone in the house, a living person, trapped him here.  He would stand in the back corner of the open bedroom where Jennifer and I slept.  He was trying to figure a way to get revenge on the person who he felt trapped him.  Amy told us he was watching us sleep and at times we could see him as some sort of shadow figure.  She also said that being in the room would be uncomfortable.

Steve told Amy that we had issues in that room and we shared with her the things that had happened to us.   Jennifer said the room made each of us uncomfortable and that one time we saw a shadow figure walk through the room.  She also told Amy that she would wake up with bruises on her upper arm, like someone was grabbing her and trying to drag her out of bed.  Jennifer also shared that one time someone picked her legs up by the ankles and violently slammed them down on the bed.  I told Amy that I had felt someone grab my ankles and pull me down off the end of the bed by about two feet.  I even told her about the time I heard the boot steps walk from the back of the house, past the open bedroom and into the living room.  Steve asked Amy if the guy could do that, and her response was "Yes...and it's going to get much worse."

Steve asked us to share with Amy about the time we brought in the paranormal team for help (see blog post "We Work With The Dead Files & We're Here to Help...Well Sort of.")  I will never forget the look on Amy's face as we told her about that experience and how we made the team cleanse our house.  She said they may have done a blotched cleansing that is what he feels trapped him.

She tells us she had a sketch done of the guy and when we saw it, I was shocked to see the same guy I saw on our property once before.  I immediately start talking about our horse we had to put down and that one evening I saw the same guy from the sketch standing next to where we buried her.  As I approached him, he said, "just paying my respects." and he walked through the fence and faded away.  Amy asked me if I could tell what he was wearing because she just saw him wearing some kind of robe; like a church choir robe.  I said that I thought it was a western style decorative poncho.

The Sketch of the Hat Man

This poncho is similar to the one I saw the Hat Man wearing.

Steve spoke about a man named William Wade who once owned the property.  His brother, David Wade, and two nephews, Newton and Samuel, served with the Quantrill's Raiders.  They were specifically in William "Bloody Bill" Anderson's unit.   We all looked on as Steve showed the pictures of the Wades' and a couple of Bloody Bill.  He describes the things that Anderson did and how he was killed.  He also told us that David survived the war but Newton and Samuel were both killed in action.  All of these men had likely stayed on our property as Clay County, MO was very supportive of Quantrill and his men.

Steve asked Amy is anyone in the picture looks familiar.  She pointed to David Wade and said the only one that sticks out is "this dude. But it could have been him", she said as she pointed to the picture of Anderson.  She also said that the two black figures that charged her could have been the other two (Newton and Samuel) but she couldn't say for certain.

Steve asks me to tell Amy about what happened to me when the paranormal team was here.  I told her about they called out to the dead.  I remember the shock on her face as she said, "You never command the dead, you only use that when you're commanding them to leave."  I told her about how I was picked up and thrown into the wall.

Steve asked Amy, "Is this something this guy could do?"

"Yes...that's something someone like this would do, torture and if he traps you somewhere else it will be worse than that."

So now we have a ruthless western era outlaw, David Wade or Bill Anderson, in our house. The feeling of helplessness rushes over me because I felt that even if I could see this guy, I couldn't take him.

I could tell that Jennifer was starting to get upset as she heard the news that the paranormal team might have trapped a sadistic manic in our home.  It felt like having a wild animal locked inside with us and it was capable of killing any of us at the drop of a hat.

Jennifer and I were already starting to feel emotionally drained.  We didn't expect to hear that someone who was so terrible in life was in our home with our girls.  I was scared before but now I was petrified. How was I going to protect my family?  How could I beat this thing?

I had hope that we had heard the worse but when Steve asked Amy, "I'm afraid to ask if you saw anything else, but did ya?"

I knew by the tone of how she said, "yea, I did." That we were about to hear something far more frightening and worse.

It would be something neither of us were prepared for or wanted to hear.

The Reveal: Part One

Before I get into the nuts and bolts of the Reveal, I wanted to say some final words regarding what happened last week between Kerry Fitzpatrick, the Admin of a Dead Files Discussion Group, and myself.  I am still appalled that an admin of a group supporting the show would act in the manner he did.  I was even more disturbed that he felt it necessary to drag my kids into the argument.  After he crossed that line, I was afraid he would do so again and decided to shut myself down.  It had been a stressful couple of weeks and Kerry's attack on my family's character was the final straw.  I put a lot of thought into everything and started to question whether or not the blog was helping.  After some soul searching I felt it was time to shut it down.  I truly thought the blog would fade away without a lot of notice, however I wasn't prepared for the response from so many of you.  It was humbling to see how many people cared.  Some of the private messages brought me to tears as people explained how us sharing our story gave them hope as well as the courage to speak up and get help.  That was the mission in sharing our story in the first place, helping those suffering in silence.

Amy Allan even chimed in and along with her encouragement and support, along with all of you, we decided to continue the blog.

Helping others is the mission and Kerry's comments or opinions should have no baring on that goal.  If he wants to be lower than whale crap on the ocean floor, that's his choice.  I will not let him steal hope.

I'm back in the saddle...our story continues.

The Reveal-Part One

The Reveal was scheduled for the evening and our day was filled with anxiety of what was to come.  Jennifer and I discussed one last time what we would do if Amy told us we needed to leave.  We remained true to our initial decision that we would leave as quickly as possible; that night if necessary.

The producers were trying to decide the best location to film it.  Since they wanted to film from several different angles, it meant multiple set ups. They also wanted the cameramen kind of in the shadows as not to distract Amy.  Additionally, they wanted us sitting across from each other.  Our house is small and would make shooting this way difficult.  We would have to move furniture if we used the living room and there wouldn't be enough space for the crew.  We couldn't use the dining room because it was too small and our table is round.  Outside wouldn't work either because of yapping coyotes and noisy frogs.  The idea of using the garage was thrown out.  It was a perfect idea.  Our garage is huge.  It's built to hold farm equipment, big trucks, and trailers.   I actually think you can see a tractor in the background behind me.  You can literally get 6 mid-size cars in it. .

While the crew was setting up, we were in one of the back bedrooms.  Our producer  was telling us how the reveal was going to go.  It was simple, Steve would start by introducing us and then Amy would talk about her walk.  I recall him saying that some of the things you could hear might be upsetting.  He told us that once Amy arrives, no one on the crew will talk to her unless it's very simple and short instructions.  We wouldn't meet Amy until we started and when we walk into the garage, we were advised not to speak to her unless she spoke to us first.  The reason for all this isn't for effect, it's a way to keep herself focused.  She has to be able to read us and everything surrounding us and the slightest shift could break her concentration.   The last thing he told us was that once they start filming, they won't stop unless it's absolutely necessary.  They will just let Amy talk and the reveal will flow at it's own pace.  They don't want to distract Amy's focus in any way.

We were very nervous when we headed for the garage.  The anxiety was a little overwhelming as Jennifer and I stopped, looked at each other, and she said, "This is it."  We kissed and stepped through the door into the garage.

Despite the amount of people in there, it was dead silence.  Amy's back was to us as we walked toward the table.  We both took our seats and Amy sightly smiled and looked as us.  It was a look I had never seen before, it truly felt she was looking into my soul.  It was sort of uncomfortable but calming in a way too.  Her eyes are just amazingly stunning and she is even more beautiful in person than on TV.   Jennifer and I knew that we were in the presence of someone with a gift, an individual who had an amazing ability to see what others couldn't.  It was like being in the presence of a Greek Goddess sent from Mt. Olympus and we were granted an audience.

We sat there for what felt like an eternity as we watched Amy taking notes at a feverish pace.  She would only pause long enough to look up at as us.  The executive producers checked with the crew to make sure everyone was in place and ready.

"Sound?"

"Sound ready."

"Lighting?"

"Lighting ready."

"Cameras?"

"Cameras ready."

"Lance, Jennifer?"

"We're good."

"Steve, Amy?"

"I'm ready", Steve replied and Amy replied with a quick nod.

The seriousness of everyone made it more evident that this was the real deal.  No smoke, no mirrors, no theatrics.  All bets were off and anything could happened was the feeling I had.

Finally, the producers gave the good to go signal and we were off.   Steve started off just as you see on TV.  He told a little about us and showed Amy picture of all of us.  I remember him saying something like, "Now Amy, either Lance and Jennifer are puttin' one over on us or they got some serious problems"  I remember thinking to myself, "what if she didn't see anything?  What if this was just some sort mental defect we all had, what if we're all really crazy."  I mean, how can you explain all the things that happened to us over the past 8 years.  It was like Steve said, "..it's out there."  It is and I ,myself, had the hardest time coming to grips with all that happened.

Amy was taking notes at even a more furious pace as she listened to Steve.  When she looked at the picture of all of us, it was like she was looking into the minds of all of us, getting to know us from the inside out.   My feeling was that if you are in a room with Amy and she is zoned in 100%,  you have no secrets.

Steve turned over to Amy to tell us about her walk.  This was it, the moment we're either confirmed crazy or validated.  I held Jennifer's hand under the table as she began to speak.

As much as we thought we were prepared for what we were going to hear, we weren't...not even close.

The Waiting...

We had the day off from filming so we spent the day at home just trying to catch up with life.  Our producer had already given us the schedule for The Reveal.  It going to be filmed the next day, Thursday night.

To say we were anxious about the Reveal would of been an understatement.  We're excited to hear the outcome but also scared as to what would find out.  Jennifer and I talked about the possibility of being told our only solution would be to move.  We talked it over with the girls and decided if that's the only thing we could do, then we would leave that night.

Unlike several of the other clients who had been told to leave but couldn't do so because of financial reasons, we were lucky enough to have built enough equity in our home to make moving a little easier.  The only problem would be finding a place that was similar enough to support our ranching operations.  After a quick look on the internet, we thankfully found enough places that we could relocate to if it came down to that.

We still had all the dogs at my mother's house and needed to keep them there until after the reveal.  So, even though we were at home, we didn't plan on staying too long.  Just long enough to grab a few things and look around.  It was amazing for us to see that Matt and the crew had put everything back in it's place.  The only evidence that they were even there was some left behind tape over certain logos and some tape on the walls where they may have hung some covering.

Another thing was they left some ruts on the west side of the driveway.  It happened on the night of Amy's walk and it's a funny story too.  If you remember it poured down rain that night.  One of their vans got stuck in the mud and couldn't get out.  They actually had to call a tow truck to come and pull them out.  The tow-truck driver apparently found out that they were filming a Dead Files episode and he then told his wife.  She was a fan of the show and posted something about it on Twitter.  Needless to say, our producer wasn't too pleased as they still had the reveal to film.  The last thing they wanted was word getting out that they were there, so he contacted the tow-truck driver.  Within an hour, the Tweet had been deleted.

The house still felt heavy, like there had been some sort of fight or argument.  We could feel the conflict as well as some confusion.  There was silence for the longest time, no TV, radio, or music playing and a slight smell of cigarette smoke was in the air.  Finally, the crazy woman must had mustered up the strength and a scream came down the hallway.  It was as if she was running toward us.  Even though we had heard her scream at least a 100 times, this one sounded different.  It was angry, frantic, and lost.  It sounded like a scream similar to a child who's lost in a store.  As she appeared to run past the entrance to the open bedroom, a picture fell off the wall and slammed onto the floor.  It was like it had been taken off the wall and thrown down as if she was having a temper tantrum.

We decided it was time to leave since crazy woman was getting all wound up and active.  Her screaming made uneasy and just increased our anxiety about the upcoming reveal.

Not a lot of sleep that night in anticipation of meeting Amy and hearing what she had to say.

"You stole the show!"

This blog post will be different than the others.  It's about the fun the we had with the crew and Steve.  This entry will not be dark and scary like the others.  Our time with the Dead Files crew was not all serious, we had some fun too.  So, I hope you all enjoy this little detour in our story.  I felt it was important to share this because it was nice to laugh while all the chaos was happening around us.

Jennifer is pretty tall at just a little over 5'7" and with boots on she's close to 5'10".  She is also a typical Texas girl who doesn't always filter the things she says.  I mean that in a good way too, it's one the things I love about her.  Her interview with Steve took place in the open bedroom.  As she was standing next to Steve, it was obvious she was a good bit taller than him. Not saying that Steve is short but with Jennifer wearing cowboy boots it made her taller than what she normal would be.

They had just started their interview and the producers cut filming.  He asked Jennifer, "Hey Jennifer, would you mind taking off your boots?"  At first, she thought it was because of the sound the boots made while she walked on the floor.  Then, out of the blue, she jokingly said, "oh that's right, I can't be taller than the star."  The hush across the crew was priceless.  Jennifer took off her boots as Steve chuckled.

The next person on the interview list was Heidi.  Steve interviewed Heidi in her room.  Like I had always said, the crew was unbelievable respectful of our situation & our experiences.  They knew we had concerns with the back bedroom, which was Heidi's.  After talking to Heidi and discussing with each other, Heidi decided she was okay with doing the interview in her room.  As the interview started, Steve said, "So Chloe, I hear you've had a lot issues in the house."  Heidi responded, "Well I don't about her but I'm Heidi and I have had a lot."

Emi was getting ready for her interview and was a little nervous.  Steve was great with her, absolutely wonderful.  Emi warms up to people pretty quickly, but Steve did it faster than anyone I've seen.  During Emi's interview, Steve asked Emi if she had seen anything.  Emi said that one time she saw a very tall creepy guy standing in the corner of her room.  Steve asked her what did you do, did you say anything?  Without missing a beat Emi responded, "I looked at him and said, 'Well hello creepy guy'".  Steve smiled and tried not to laugh but the producers couldn't contain themselves. Rob Rosen was beside himself laughing, he went up to Emi and gave her a big hug.  He said to her, "That was the best!  You stole the show!"  What made the situation even more precious was that Emi didn't know what that meant.  She thought it was a bad thing and started to tear up.  Rob was great with her, he told her that was a good thing because it meant she was the star.  The smile on her face was ear to ear.  

Emi and Heidi with Rob Rosen, the show runner and executive producer. May 2016

Even with all the fun we had filming with Steve, the interviews opened horrible memories for us, especially the girls.  The interviews with Steve was the first time we allowed the girls back into the house.  We sent them away after the filming was done as we still didn't feel it was safe.  That night they both had difficult time sleeping and I think we ended up all sleep in the same bed at my mom's house. 

Next up was a day off for us as we could just relax a little.  But coming up was the reveal and it wasn't going to be pretty.

Lights, Cameras, Action

The main part of the show which involved us were the interviews with Steve DiSchiavi.  Steve is a great guy but a no-nonsense type of guy.  He's good at his job and is professional but is also really a fund guy.  I get a lot of questions about what he is like.  I can honestly say the man you see on your TV every week is the man he is in real life.

Filming our interviews wasn't tough, just a little nerve-racking.  There were no scripts, no rehearsals, and the only direction we were given was  to "just talk about what happened and answer Steve's question."  We were NEVER asked to say something that didn't happen or embellish anything.

It's tough to talk about the things that happened to us while the cameras were rolling.  It made us relieve all the negative and scary things.  That's not always a good thing because those were very powerful memories to talk about.

During the initial interview with Steve on our back deck, they cut filming and Steve and I were just talking.  I remember him saying to me that being a father and not being able to protect my family had to be tough.  I started to break down because my mind immediately shifted to a memory of Emi running terrified down the hall crying, saying she saw someone.  How do I protect my family from something that doesn't fight fair and holds all the advantages?  It's heartbreaking and as I said on the show, "I'm the first, last and only line of defense."  I felt I was failing my family.  I didn't know they started filming again so what you're seeing of me during that interview is a genuinely concerned father and husband who's at the end of rope and feeling helpless.

Steve and I moved into the kitchen and I told him the things that happened there.  The knife flying off the counter and cutting my arm (still have a nice scar from that too) and the video of the drawer.  I was reluctant to use the video because of the naysayers, but they convinced to do it.  The first time Steve saw the video was during the filming as it was decided earlier in the day to use it.  The video that you see on the show is NOT the entire video and I only started filming after things were happening.  You can see the entire video and read the entire story behind it in the blog entry The Storm Intensifies. 

The next part of the interview involved us going down into the basement.  I admit that I was scared to go back down there because of everything that happened to me there.  To me, the basement was the epicenter of evil and all our problems.  No one would be able to protect me if anything were to happen and it took awhile before I could muster up the courage to go down there.   I remember Steve say, "It's pretty obvious this space bothers you."  I didn't realize until we watched the show that my fear of the basement was written all over my face.

I still get a lot of question regarding my interview with Steve as well as reading comments on social media because most people thought Steve was too hard on me.  They ask if it upset or bothered me.  The answer I tell people is, "no, not in the least little bit."  As I said earlier, there were not scripts, it was us just talking and Steve doing what he does best.  I expected him to be hard on me and, frankly,  I respect him for being the way he was.  That's his job.  It's what he did while he was a homicide detective.  Get the truth out of someone, find out the real reasons for why something happened.  I was raised by a Chief Master Sargent who was career military.  My dad was a man I respected and was a whiskey drinking, cigar smoking bad ass who didn't put up with bullshit.  So dealing with Steve was a walk in the park compared to that.

No one in the family was allowed to watch each other’s interviews.  The producers didn't want anything that would tip the other person off as to what direction their interview would go or what questions would be asked.  

Jennifer and the girls were up next.

When Rains It Pours!

After dropping the dogs off at my mother's house in town, we decided to reward all our efforts with a nice dinner out.  The rain was pounding, literally coming down in buckets.  I cannot remember the last time it rained so hard and for so long.   Weather alarms were going off left and right on our phones-Thunderstorm warning, Tornado Watch, Flash Flood Warning, etc.  It seemed like we got every type of Spring Time weather warning that night

I took all the severe weather as a sign.  Someone or something was angry that Amy was about to do her walk.   As we ate our dinner the voices started.  It was like being in a room with a bunch of angry people and I was the subject of their angry.  I closed my eyes and took deep breathes in hopes of silencing them.  However, my tried and true method that had never failed me in the past couldn't silence the voices.

As I’m doing my best to enjoy my dinner with all the extra "guest" yelling at me, the crazy lady decided she would join in on the fun.  Out of nowhere she screamed.  It was as if she was right behind me.  It scared me so much that I nearly jumped out of my chair.  For some reason, I always thought that the crazy woman couldn't leave the house.   Jennifer looked at me with concern and asked what was wrong.

"She's here.  Didn't you hear her?" I said

"Who, the screaming woman?" Jennifer asked                                                

"Yep, she has friends too and they won't stop talking."  I said as I put my head in my hands.

I told her of the other voices the yelling, thee threats they were making.   One whispered in my ear, "I have killed before, I can kill again.  I pay it no mind.  Ask that Billy Yank(?) about me, he will tell I know who to kill. Ask him about Johnny!" 

The all took turns basing Amy. "Why is that bitch coming here? You better call off that dog or you will regret it."

Their threats then turned to us.  'We own all of you.  You all belong to us. She will not be able to make us leave, we won't leave.  Call her off.'

HATE AT FIRST SIGHT

I was finally able to regain control and the voices began to fade.  I lifted my head up from my hands and as I looked past Jennifer.  There she was, it was the crazy woman standing at the entry way to the kitchen.  She was motionless even as the restaurant staff walked through her.  She stared at me with a look of contempt and angry.  The feeling was mutual.

She was wearing what looked like a white cotton night gown and her hair was a mess.  She was thin and frail; she looked as if she was had been through hell and back.  

I remember a loud crack of thunder which distracted me for a moment.  As I looked back at her, she pointed at me and then pointed in the direction of our house.  I felt as if she was demanding me to go home.  She slowly faded away.

I was sick to my stomach at what I had heard and seen.  It was surreal that the activity just attacked me all at once.  Voice I had never heard and for the first time seeing the crazy woman.  I didn't mention to Jennifer that I saw her because I didn't want her to worry about me as I was already feeling crazy enough.  It was all so exhausting, stressful, and left overwhelmed with anxiety.

The rain stopped, the skies started to clear, and the sun started to shine with what little it had left in the day.   We finished our meal and decided we would just drive by the house to see if the Dead Files crew had made it safely.  We drove by and saw the vans there.  Thankfully the house seemed fine with just a few tree branches down.   

As we drove back to my mothers, we heard on the radio that we had gotten the most rain for a day in May in over 50 years.  Seemed fitting for a night such as that.

Question From A Reader: "Just who takes any advice from Amy Allen-maybe her producer.LOL"

I don't normally answer questions that are ridiculing.  This popped up on Facebook as a reply to a post I made on a group page. At first, I brushed it off but after thinking about it some more I decided to respond. The question is probably rhetorical but I felt it warranted a response because the question, and it's answer, are the whole reason why we are telling our story.  

"Just who takes any advice from Amy Allen-maybe her producer.LOL"

Well, we do.  We had been victims of a slow deterioration for 8 long years.  As time moved forward and our situation worsened, we lost our will to fight.  Without Amy's help there's no telling what the outcome may have been.  When everyone else abandoned us, or made our situation worse, Amy and the rest of the Dead Files crew came to our aid.

Part of the reason we didn't publicly make our situation know and limited who we discussion it with, was because of questions such as this one.  We didn't want to be ridiculed, made fun of, or judged.  People who don't understand or haven't experienced paranormal are quick to dismiss others as crazy, disturbed, morally lost.  We didn't want that.

Questions and comments such as the one posted will cause those who are experiencing terrible things not to come forward.  They will not get the help they need. Their suffering will continue and they will eventually lose their will to fight.  At that point, they may be beyond help.  That's a terrible way to live.

It takes strength and courage to come forward and say, "Hey, this is happening and I don't care if you don't believe but we need help!"  It took us being on a TV show to finally get help and we don't regret that decision at all.

Those who are suffering should be encourage to come forward and get help.  More importantly those who step forward and offer help should be respected because at least they did something.   This question demonstrates this person can't do either.   He just pushes people back into their terrifying situation. And discourages them from getting help.

We are the opposite of him. We share our story in hopes of giving other's strength and courage to come forward.  Supporting them and encouraging them to get help.   

If you are experiencing something that you can't explain, seek out help.  Do not let people like this guy deter you from coming forward.  No one should suffer in silence out of fear of being ridiculed or judged.

Oh, by the way, to the comment poster,  you spelled her last name wrong.  It's Allan.  If you're going to insult someone at least spell their name correctly.

If you have a question, we encourage you to ask.  Our goal in sharing our story continues to be to help those who are suffering and just need some courage to get the help they need.  No one should suffer in silence.

We've made it easier to submit questions too!  Just Fill out the "Contact Us" Form on upper right.

If your question is for one of us in particular, please say who it's directed to.   Also, we won't publish your name unless you specifically ask us to do so.

Question From A Reader : "I love seeing pictures of your home. Do you ever see the dead in any of your photos...?"

We just posted an update to our ghost in the blog.  It's titled Time to Cowboy Up!  Check it out and please share it.  We would really appreciate the support!

We're starting to get into the nuts and bolts of our Dead Files episode and how they helped up so the blogs entries may be a little shorter but they will be more frequent.  All you have been so patient between entries, we appreciate that so much.

We still enjoy getting questions.  Your questions help us think through things and also help us through the healing process.  One thing to keep in mind is that we went through nearly 8 years of hell until we finally got a handle on things.  Healing from that takes time and all of you are a part of that healing process, for that we thank you.

Here's a question we got from Trish Calcote via social media.

"I love seeing pictures of your home. Do you ever see the dead in any of your photos, videos or hear them in your voicemail etc?"

If you follow us on social media you've probably seen a lot of pictures of our ranch, horses, and dogs.  We love our place despite all the past issues.  We take pictures in the moment; when something funny seems to be happening or just the shear beauty of what we see. Our house is filled with framed prints of most of the pictures you see on social media.  We never set out to take pictures in an attempt to capture something.  We also discourage others from taking pictures on our ranch in hopes of catching something paranormal.  To us, that's just a recipe for disaster.

   

We've never really explored the pictures beyond what the subject of it is.  I'm sure if we study some of the pictures in more detail we may find something questionable.  Especially if they were taken from 2008-2016.  Most of the time we take pictures and they're quickly uploaded to our social media accounts without really look at them. Maybe some day we'll go back and look to see if we did catch something.  

There has been times that we've gotten activity by accident.  The first being during a birthday party we had for Chloe.  Several of the pictures had orbs and something that looks really menacing in one of the pictures.  You can look at those pictures in the Party Crashers blog entry.

We caught the scream of the crazy woman on video by complete accident once.  Emi was making a video of herself making Reese's Peanut Butter cups and the crazy woman screamed as she was recording.  You can see the video in the blog entry You Scream, I Scream, But She Screams Louder!  This was an important video for us because it finally gave us the evidence we needed to convince others that something was truly happening.

We have also had issues with our cell phones at times.  I remember one time during a phone conversation, we could hear whispering.  We couldn't make out what was being said but it appeared to be a woman's voice.  At first I thought it was just interference but we hung up to try to get a better connection and she was still there.  I changed phones and the whispering continued.  The whispering was non-stop and lasted throughout each call.  We had times when our phones would ring with random calls from people.  We would answer but no one would be on the other end.  When we would call them back they would tell us they didn't call.  One other issue with a phone happened as Jennifer and I were watching TV.  Out of the blue, a woman screaming came through my phone. It was about four or five screams.  The strange thing was that my phone was on silent.

We also had an issue with a television shortly after we moved here.  You can read about that in blog entry This Was Open, and This Was Open, and This Was Open.  This activity was the first thing that made my mind start to question things.

Your question made me think about to an incident that happened when I was in my mid twenties.  I lived alone at the time and things would happen that seemed odd but I was always able to come up with some sort of logical explanation.  However there was one thing that nothing could explain away.  One evening, the phone rang.  The first thing I noticed was the amount of static on the line.  It was like an old radio.  I said hello a few times but nothing but static.  As I was about to hang up, heard a voice. "Lance?  It's uncle Jerry.  Tell your mom I'm okay." I was frozen in shock because it was his voice.  I was finally able to respond, "what, who is this?"  The voice on the other end replied. "Tell her I'm okay."  Then the called disconnected.  I quickly hit *69 to call the number back but got a recording, "the number you called is no longer in service."  A rush of fear and anxiety ran through me and I immediately called my mother.  After I told her what had happened, she said "I was just thinking about your uncle Jerry this morning for some reason and hoping he was okay."

Thanks for the question Trish!  I hope I was able to answer it for you!

If you have a question, we encourage you to ask.  Our goal in sharing our story continues to be to help those who are suffering and just need some courage to get the help they need.  No one should suffer in silence.

We've made it easier to submit questions too!  Just Fill out the "Contact Us" Form on upper right.

If your question is for one of us in particular, please say who it's directed to.   Also, we won't publish your name unless you specifically ask us to do so.

Time to Cowboy Up!

We slept so well at our friends house.  We felt safe and secure as well as relaxed.  I realized it was the first time we had felt that way in nearly 8 years.

However, we knew we had to get back to the house as filming was about to begin.  Jennifer and I decide it's time for us to pull ourselves up and get ready for Steve and Amy.  With that being said, we made our way back to the house but left Heidi and Emi with our friends.

Our house was a disaster.  We left in such a hurry that we didn't secure the dogs enough and they ran a muck.  Even so, the entire mess couldn't be blamed on them.  Things were out of place; furniture moved, cabinets open, pictures that once hung on the walls now on the floor.  The house felt extremely heavy.  The air was thick and had a feeling of death.  The smell of pipe and tobacco smoke could be smelt throughout the house.

A friend came with us to help us but also to protect us.  We wanted him their just in case I was jumped again.  We wanted someone there who could protect Jennifer and get her out of there.  Thankfully, nothing happened but while we cleaning up the mud room we could hear the crazy woman screaming and slamming doors.  Her screams sounded more hysterical than ever and the violence in which the doors were being slammed was unreal. I felt as if she knew Amy was coming.  We quickly cleaned as much as we could, gather some cloths, secured the dogs, and left for the day.

We were running out of time so the next day was zero hour for us.  We had to get the house in presentable shape as the filming was scheduled to start the following day.  This time it was an all hands on deck as we quickly picked up all the clutter, placed it in black trash bags and put it in the basement.  Jennifer was the only one allowed to go down to the basement as we didn't want to risk me getting trapped as I had been a couple of times before.  It's amazing how quickly you can get things cleaned and organized when you know a television show is on it's way.

It was hectic but that was good for us.  It kept our minds off all the other things that were going on and we were so excited about the possibility of finally getting real answers.  We were finally able to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  We would finally be able to rid ourselves of the evil that had invaded and controlled our lives.  The day of reckoning was upon them.

We sent the girls back over to the neighbors as they had done all they could do.  Chloe had helped some but we sent her away too just in case.  The safety of our girls was our top concern.  Jennifer and I stayed to do a bit more cleaning.  We did as much as we could but exhaustion set it in and we had to stop.  It was a good stopping point to because I could hear footsteps in the house and the smell of pipe and tobacco smoke was starting to fill the air.

The next day was the day, the entire Dead Files crew would be at house at 3:00 PM.  We didn't have much time so we hurried over to the house and got busy.  Lots of coffee was defiantly needed.  We cleaned, scrubbed, vacuumed, mopped, and dusted.    Our house had really fallen into disrepair over the years.  We just lacked the drive and energy to keep it up-at least to our standards.  Whatever was here had sucked the life out of us.  Any of you watched our episode saw the end result; a nice clean house.  It was cleanest our house had been since our saga began and it took every ounce of remaining energy we had to get it that way.

We had to be out of the house before the crew arrived.  That meant the next hurdle to jump was going to be even more challenging.  Keep in mind, we are working ranch/farm which means we have animals; lots of them.  We had to move every single animal off the property.  The hardest part was moving our dogs to my mother's house in town.  This was a massive undertaking as dog breeding is one of our businesses.  So we loaded approximately 22 dogs in the truck and off we went.  Mother Nature decided to have some fun with us and it started pouring down rain right as we left.  Maya and Ashby (the Lab we had at the time) were in the truck bed get pounded by the rain.  We joked that they needed a bath anyway but it had to be unpleasant for them.

We finally made it to my mother's, unloaded the dogs, set them up in her basement and decided to treat ourselves to a dinner out.  We want to give ourselves a moment to catch our breathe and enjoy ourselves a bit. 

However, the joy of a nice dinner would come with a side of unpleasent activity.