February 7, 2010

February 7, 2010

Dear Family and Friends,

J playing in the car. I had to get creative with the trash bucket.

The week started off with us still in the Charlotte, NC area. We got up in the morning and had a very slow start. B-man got to go swimming in the pool, and J even liked putting his little toes in. We then packed up the car and headed home. The roads were all nice and clear. We stopped a few times, once for food and gas, and the other time to shop for furniture. High Point, NC is a well known furniture outlet area. We didn’t really know much so we just picked a random shop, and were disappointed. Next time we will go and be a little more informed. We then headed off for the rest of the trip. We tried to find a Sonic on the way home for some drinks, but the address we had must have been for a future Sonic because there was nothing there. M was so disappointed about that one. B-man did great on the drive. J was pretty frustrated at times. But we made it. We made it home, and had time to get the boys to bed and then unwind ourselves a bit too.

B-man on the way home.

Tuesday was back to the normal routine, school, work, etc. I was supposed to have mutual that night, but we didn’t because there was a snow storm.

My view of M for most of the drive.

Wednesday we woke up to about six inches of snow. B-man’s school was cancelled and we had a fun day at home. The snow was easy to shovel and was a fun break. Early in the morning our friend’s dropped off their almost 2 year old. She spent the day with us while her brothers and parents went skiing at a nearby resort. The day went really well. B-man played in the snow. Helped me with the little girl, and before I knew it the day was over. We ended up having the whole family of the little girl over for dinner that night. (I had made extra and no one wants to cook after a long day on the slopes.)

Thursday was a normal slow day. Not much to report. Friday was when all the good stuff started happening. Friday the state was under a state of emergency for a big storm coming through. That meant that B-man had the day off from school. M went into work in the morning, and then was given four hours off by the government. That meant that he got home right before the snow started sticking. It was a little funny for everyone to be home, and not have snow on the streets, but it was great. We got Pho soup from a local place for lunch and just enjoyed being hunkered down together. The snow really started to stick during the afternoon. That night we had pizza for dinner and then put the boys to bed. We had a lot of snow by the time the boys were in bed. That night M and I watched 24. By the time we went to bed, the snow had grown exponentially. There was well over a foot by midnight. Although it was hard to tell how much since we were staying inside. Right as we were going to bed we noticed that there was a strange green flash going on outside, and then immediately after the power would go out. We think a transformer was having issues. But the flashes were BRIGHT. Large enough for me to notice them with the blinds down.

You can’t tell, but our mini-van is somewhere under all that snow.

The next morning I fed J around five and while I was feeding him the flashes started again, and then the power went out for good. We woke up and had a pretty quiet morning. We were grateful to have a gas stove so that we could cook something warm to eat. The house was pretty chilly, but we all just put on extra layers. We spent the time reading, playing games, and watching the snow fall. B-man and M walked to check on a single woman that lives relatively close to us. She did not have gas to cook with, so M then walked back over to take her some canned fruit, tuna, etc. B-man didn’t go the second time. Walking through the snow was a lot of hard work for both of them and they were soaking wet when they got back. Eventually M headed outside to start shoveling. We had at least thirty inches of snow, but it may have even been closer to three feet. Thankfully the snow stopped in the afternoon. M and our neighbors worked and worked on clearing the snow. It’s like eating an elephant. You just have to do it one scoop at a time. The men in our area of the neighborhood did such a good job though. Our area is the best cleared by far. We can actually see the entire pavement and see our cars. Most of the roads only have room for one car and still have a pretty good layer of snow. B-man spent most of the day outside playing with the other neighborhood kids and “helping” shovel. Around three o’clock the power went back on. We were so grateful to not have to go a night with no power. Our house got down to 62 degrees, (which wasn’t that bad) and then quickly got back up to our normal temperature. Everyone was pretty tired after a long day of shoveling. M also helped to implement the Stake’s Emergency Preparedness plan and was doing a calling tree to check on families and make sure they were okay.

J all bundled up with the power out. M is taking a shoveling break.

Sunday we had no church. There were a lot of families that were still stuck in their houses, with their streets unplowed. Because our street is not a city street the HOA had a snow plow truck come through. Most of the day was spent uncovering M’ car, and helping other people get their cars and sidewalks plowed. M worked a long day shoveling. It was a beautiful day though, the sun was shining and it wasn’t super cold. B-man loved being outside again. I took J out for a little bit, and he was so happy to get out of the house. He didn’t even mind sitting in the snow. Late in the afternoon M finally came in. We then had our own little Sacrament meeting. The Stake President had given permission for people to hold their own meetings with their families. It was really simple, but very nice too. We then headed over to a friend’s house for dinner. She made a great chili with bacon, pork, and beef! We spent the evening there and then headed home.

B-man drinking hot chocolate.

What a crazy snow weekend this has been. There’s more coming too! We love you all!

R, M, B-man, and J