Powerless

Hello! In case any of you have been wondering we are all ok! I am sorry I have not been able to post an update before now. We lost power the night of the hurricane and we still DO NOT have any. This Friday will be 2 weeks! My friend Janelle has power and so I am over at her house enjoying her company and the power!

After careful consideration and prayer we decided to stay and stick it out. We wanted to be close so we could asses any damages and act quickly afterward if needed. We were lucky and our house did not sustain any structural damage. Our fence was destroyed as each of the posts snapped off, we had tons of huge branches that had busted off in our yard and during the storm we had a leaky window in our Master Bedroom. We were able to keep up with it and so that did not cause any inside damage. The storm was pretty dang freaky to say the least. Imagine if you could fit into a vacume cleaner...that is pretty much how it sounded. You could feel the house ache and hear the flexing trees break. The winds really started pushing hard about 1am, the eye passed over about 6am and then the winds returned again about 7:30am and continued until about 1pm Saturday. Here are some pictures of our yard.....

I was so worried that one of these trees would fall on our house. Lots of debris but hey....I am totally cool with that.
What was left of our fence.... Another shot of the backyard. See all those pine tree branches? We don't have any pine trees in our backyard....only in the front. ;)
Weston starting cleanup....This is our neighbor's tree right across the cul-de-sac....It may be hard to tell but it is a huge oak tree that busted right in the middle and landed on his truck in the driveway. It took the guys a whole day to get it off.

Warren was out there with all the guys picking up....he was a great helper.
The beginning of the debris pile in our cul-de-sac.

Weston spent the week doing of service to others who were much worse off than us. Church members and neighbors. After they were mostly taken care of he got the whole week off work because there still was no power.....SO....this is what he did for 3 days with our Uncle Steve.

Friday will be two weeks without power. The first week we were VERY blessed to have a cold front move in and stay the entire week. We had originally planned to go to Austin to visit friends but there was so much clean up to be done and we couldn't have asked for better weather, so we stayed. This week the heat is back and we are praying power will be restored each day. About 75% of our city has been restored so we have been spending a lot of time with friends. So many have been very welcoming and generous. I have been bouncing around various friends homes doing laundry and trying to stay cool. The baby has been running a low grade fever for several days but today his fever is gone. Warren has been in heaven...finding sticks, playing with flashlights and building stuff with dad all week. He really doesn't seem to notice the difference, although he has been having movie withdrawls. Weston's building got power and so he is back to work. I am just trying to get enough sleep, keep the baby fed, keep us all cool and clean, keep ice and cold beverages in the cooler and maintain patience with the restoration efforts.

The great thing about the Hurricane is that is has brought families and friends together. I love that people are happy to help eachother. Wonderful friends have been taking care of us. I am so grateful for the love they have shown. It is that love that literally gets you through the storm. It is such a blessing to be a member of the church and also to know that if you need anything that the church is there for you too. I am grateful for the peace that comes through the Savior at this time. We love you all and will try as best we can to keep you posted on what is going on. Pray for Power!!!