Before We Decked the Halls...

... we froze our little booties off! We had a HUGE snowstorm that resulted in a power outage... for TWO FULL DAYS! Yes, we were without power for 48 whole hours. And it was not fun. It was FREEZING. And Brooke had a cough. And our fireplace has a warming radius of about four feet. Wow. That's about all I can say.

Our power went out around 9:30 pm (this was about a month ago). We dug around and found our flashlights using Jake's Buzz Lightyear flashlight. Nice. Prepared, aren't we? Hoping it would be on in the morning, we went to sleep.

It had snowed a ton, and the rooftops were loaded. Probably because this neighborhood is a vacation spot, all the roofs are at a steep angle so the snow falls off. That's just fine, except when the snow fell off, it sounded like someone pounding on our walls with a hammer. It was SO LOUD. All night I heard the snow falling. The wind was blowing around 85 mph so the ice from the trees was pounding our walls all night as well. It was not a restful night of sleep. In the morning, still no power.

I guess the power company had no idea where the power lines were down. They had flashlights and were following the power lines, looking for damage. No wonder it took so long. By about 24 hours, we were freezing! We busted out our emergency propane burner and heated water for hot chocolate and Ramen. We finally broke down and called Scott's aunt and uncle and begged to stay at their house that night. We took the kids to McDonald's for dinner and then spent some quality hours in the warmth of Wal-mart (there aren't a lot of options here) before heading over to Mike and Kim's for a lovely warm shower and heat coming from the vents.

I feel like Kip... I love technology! Always and forever.

We went home around noon the next day. Power was still out. I put B down for a nap and bundled the kids up to go sledding. We had a great time. Then we came inside, bundled up again, and sat by the fire to read books together. It was cold. We bundled the kids up and headed to the church that night, still without power, for a hot meal. It was not a relief center or anything. Most of the town had power. It was the Christmas party. We were so happy to be in the heat again and eat a hot ham dinner.

Driving home from the church was like waking up on Christmas morning--we were full of anticipation! We weren't disappointed. Our power was on! It went off three more times that night, but when we woke up the next morning, all was restored. It was a beautiful thing. I am so grateful for modern conveniences like heaters and electricity. The end. :)

Here are the kids playing during the storm. Jake does great on this "snowboard."

It was cold, wet, heavy snow.

It's lovely at night.

Bundled up and in need of a shower! It was really only warm if you sat right in front of the fireplace. We were grateful we had that much heat.

It was not always happy.

Bundled up

After sledding the 2nd day, we piled up all the blankets.

Post-power outage. Jake is back to his "running clothes" that he wears daily to show off his muscles. He is loaded with light sabers and the popper.

We took Scott's assistant Ora and her husband Jacob out to dinner for Christmas. She is such a great lady!

Jake is really into hoarding all his toys. He tries to keep a stash up high on the counter. It is ridiculous! But it's pretty funny.

My kids missed the memo that we no longer live in CA. They love to be in their swimsuits.

Snuggling with dad. Our kids are not snugglers, so this is a rare treat.

Stay tuned for Christmas and Alisa's cute haircut by my sis!