A Post Christmas Post Postponing Posting

Gentle Reader,
So much to catch up on--so little time. Or energy. Our house runneth over and that means late nights with older kids and early mornings with grandkids--and that means Nana has been burning the candle at both ends! But here's a little something I didn't want to forget:

Bailey and Norah got a new baby sister a few days after Christmas (yes--that's another post in the que!) so we had them here with us for a few days. We took them to church with us last Sunday and the Sacrament hymn was "I Stand All Amazed". I had four-year-old Bailey on my lap and quickly realized that she was singing along beautifully and clearly and knew every word to that hymn. After she belted out the chorus of
               "Oh, it is wonderful, that He should care for me, enough to die for me.
                 Oh, it is wonderful, wonderful to me."
She said, "I know this song because my Dad taught it to me."

I thought my heart would burst.
             

Stormy Weather

The view from my window:

The beautiful Autumn leaves were stripped from most of the trees by

Hurricane Sandy

.

The view from inside:

Our emergency water supply and hand-washed dishes.

Our power was out for 5 days total.

Our generator supplied power to a select few outlets so

the boys adapted their waffle making. Gunner is

surprised to find the toaster on the floor.

We got off pretty easy--our tarps blew loose and one side of the wood pile blew over.

That was pretty much it.

Sam putting the wheels on a second generator we got near the end of

the week-long power outage.

Shane making use of the empty box.

Our hard-working wood stove kept us cozy and warm

through the storm.

As I always tell the kids: "A fire warms you twice--when you haul the wood to 

build the fire and again when you enjoy its heat." 

We got off pretty easy compared to those in New York City and New Jersey. It was inconvenient to be without power but we were well prepared and the gas stations in our area were open and had power restored pretty quickly. Andy and I both filled up our cars before the storm and Andy had several big gas containers at the ready for our generator. It's heart-breaking to see the devastation along the coastal areas. They are still without power and there is no water or sewer service. They wait in long lines for gas --and that's with gas rationing. The local news channels carry the real stories of the problems and the suffering still going on. Even those who thought they were prepared were caught off guard with how bad the storm was in those hardest hit areas.  It was ironic to see on the news a sign in the window of the FEMA office: "Closed Due to Weather"

Our stake is joining with other stakes in the region this weekend to help with clean up. We will be clearing out and disinfecting an apartment building. Most of the residents are elderly and single moms. I am grateful to be part of the church organization that helps and reminds us to be prepared. We have an emergency preparedness specialist who gets up every week in Sacrament Meeting and gives a spiritual thought and a practical preparedness tip. We were all encouraged to have generators and to store water and food. That same church organization gives us an organized and safe way to reach out and help those in need during and after the storm.