Challenge ahead for landslide family

Coordinating two children, getting ready to go back to school for two

working parents can be a challenge. Imagine adding the stress the

Stevens family is experiencing, after losing their house and many

belongings in the June 1 Bluebird Canyon landslide.

John and Diane Stevens and their two children Hayley, 14 and Luc,

11, are making the best of their situation despite the fact they’ve

had to move 10 times in less than three months.

“Whoever sleeps best in whatever room gets the room or the couch,”

Diane said. “We’re just trying to get sleep and stay healthy. You

just do what you have to do and are grateful to have these homes. We

make it work; it just takes some adjustment.”

While she should only have to concentrate on her sophomore year,

Hayley is also trying to catch up on last year’s schoolwork.

“I’m still taking some finals now,” Hayley said. “I didn’t have

anything to study off of, everything got lost, so I got behind in

studying. I’m not excited I had to study [over the summer]; I thought

it would be easier and done faster. It’s kind of a bummer.”

Luc, who will be entering Thurston Middle School, received math

tutoring from Laguna Beach High School principal Nancy Blade because

he fell behind at the end of the year.

“Right after the slide, John Stevens was here; I asked them

whatever they need I’ll help immediately,” Blade said. “I said I’ll

tutor Luc over the summer; I would love to do that. I love working

with children, and I don’t get the opportunity to do that often.”

Now the Stevens’ have to get ready to embark on another academic

year. Most of their salvaged belongings are in a storage facility or

housed in different locations in the community in several friend’s

garages.

“We’re going to try and get some of her things this weekend to get

ready and try to find her computer,” Diane said. “The reality of

school -- we need to get the basic things figured out, where they

are.”

For the most part, the need for clothing isn’t a problem. Their

neighbor Bobby Lockhart, his family also landslide victims, has

connections in the surf world, which helped greatly Diane said.

Friends, companies and manufacturers such as Billabong, Volcom,

DVS, O’Neill and Rusty donated clothes.

“Within hours, bags of clothes were being dropped off,” Diane

said. “We set some aside for the start of school.”

“Boxes were filled with stuff; it was like never ending clothes,”

Hayley said. “Whatever we wanted we pulled out -- hats, shoes, belts,

trunks, socks, which was great because we had nothing at the time. We

ran out in our ‘PJs,’ so it was really helpful.”

Immediately after the disaster, Hayley found her self in a media

frenzy.

“I definitely told the same story many, many, many times,” Hayley

said. “It almost became kind of normal; it’s become second nature.”

Going back to school right after the slide was appealing to

Hayley.

“I really liked it; it was something that was normal to always see

the same people, something to look forward to,” Hayley said.As for

the new school year, Hayley said she doesn’t want summer to end, but

is looking forward to volleyball and soccer and seeing her friends.

Luc said he looking forward to attending Thurston where he will

continue to play soccer and run track.

A couple weeks into the school year, the family will be moving

once again to a more permanent location -- a trailer situated next to

three other landslide victim families on Canyon Acres.

“My goal is that this doesn’t affect them and they keep their

grades up,” Diane said.