Christmas 2008

It is hard to believe that Christmas has come and gone already. It is a woderful time of year to think about all that we are blessed with. I really need to do that more often. It was beautiful this year our first "White Christmas" following the Ice Storm that taught me many valuable lessons...maybe I should look at that as my first Christmas gift.

We spent quite Christmas Eve with a new Tradition of take-out! This left me with patience and time to bake and decorate cookies for Santa.

We did have one Christmas Eve tradition of opening one gift and the gift is always new pajamas. The suprise is what they will look like. The boys were so excited that they wanted to go to bed early. And they tried, but I think the visions of "sugarlums" dancing in their heads kept them awake longer than they wanted. Finally they dozed off and me not far behind them.

Christmas morning Geoff and I were awake by 5:ish. The boys still asleep, so Geoff ran up and down the stairs a few times very loud making mention that someone had broke into our house and left stuff....the boys were up in no time, but had to wait at the top of the stairs so I could get the camera's (yes plural) ready.It didn't take long to open the gifts, and in no time the floor was unidentifiable and everyone was having a good time.

Off to the kitchen for the one standing tradition....a large breakfast. It took me 2.5 hour before I was done. Normally I throw the Ham in as soon as we wake up but this year I was in no hurry....We ate and played the rest of the day.

We had a few visitors that evening which was a pleasant suprise. Thanks! We ended the evening with the Nativity....I liked that, it summed up the day!

We survived the Ice Storm of 2008

We survived! Friday morning 1:17 am a flash of light and then the power is off. All night I was up, I could hear trees cracking, breaking and falling to the ground. The emergency sirens were going off all night, and I was fearful the big oak that leans over our house would fall through and land in the boys room. Finally I wake them up and move them all to one room, and I go down stairs so that I don't hear everything that hits the roof. No suprise - "Snow Day!" When Geoff gets to work he tells me our town is under a state of emergency. It looks beautiful outside, but it was a mess.

Thanks to our wonderful neighbors the Hopeck, they hooked us a line to their generator and we were able to plug in our fridge, keep our cell phones charged, and Geoff's laptop provided our movie screen! That was day one. Our thermostat read 59'. This wasn't so bad yet. Could be kind of fun. We put up a barrier between our kitchen and family room to keep the heat in. The power company said we should get power by 4:00 am Saturday. Unfortunately we had called before the snow hit the frozen trees.

We wake up Saturday morning, no power. I decide to cook eggs on the pancake griddle, but shorted out our power when I went to make toast! We go for a drive, but this time we could really see all the devastation. The roads were a mess. The houses behind us had a tree that fell on a power line and it was all laying on the ground. Broken trees and limbs everywhere. Power still out to most of the area. We find a McDonalds open-we have to drive thru because we haven't showered in 3 days. All hope fails that night when Geoff talks to the men working on the transformer and they can't locate our neighborhood on the grid. Reality sets in, we are hooked to the neighborhood with the tree and power lines still on the ground. Our thermostat now reads 47'.

I can't sleep so at 4:00 am on Sunday I take a cold bath, and wash my hair. I feel much better. When the kids wake-up I torcher them by washing their hair in the cold water of the kitchen sink and then warming up baby wipes for a quick clean off thier bodies. I am able to blow their hair dry. We sit down to watch spongebob. The neighbors call to offer us showers, I tell her my torture story and then hang-up. Boom, the power is back on, nearly 60 hours later. I was so excited, then I cried. Oh how thankful I am for electricity!

Thanksgiving

What a wonderful time of year that snuck up on me so fast this year! This is our third one away from Arizona. Wow, it doesn't seem like time can go so fast, but it really does. It makes you think about a lot and how important every minute is and what you do with it.

This Thanksgiving I am thankful for friends who took our family into their home and fed us and entertained us. I am thankful for my family, for my husband who works hard so that I can be home with our kids, for the kids and their smiles, hugs and kisses, who make each day worth getting up for! I am thankful for my knowledge of things greater than this earth.

For my final thought I am thankful to each and everyone who has touched my life. You know who you are...Happy Thanksgiving and an even better Holiday Season!