Wow! December sure arrived with bang this year, huh?! We hope you all fared well in the winter storm and are now enjoying some beautiful snow and ice! We only received a few inches of snow, but it was on top of a lot of rain that had frozen into a thick, thick sheet of ice, and of course there was WIND! We have seen many power lines down, and utility poles that were blown over and/or snapped into pieces.
For us, the excitement began when Jeremy got up and left for the gym at 5:00 a.m. Friday morning--right in the middle of the storm! His 20-minute trip took 55 minutes, as he was driving in a white-out! He called me when he got to the gym to report his adventure and say that State Farm had closed their offices for only the 2nd time in 20 years!
I'd been listening to the radio to confirm that Annah's school would be closed and heard them say that several of the small towns and villages outside Bloomington-Normal had lost power. I pretty much assumed we'd be next, and we were--at about 6:00 a.m. After his workout, it took Jeremy an hour and a half to drive back home, and he counted 22 cars in the ditch on the way. It was starting to get cold in the house by the time he got home, and we realized it was going to take a long time for the power to come back on. Around noon, we wondered if Bloomington-Normal had power or not, because we thought we'd head to a hotel. We called our dear friends, the Kellers, to see if they had power in town, and they said yes they did, and please come on over!
So, we were blessed to spend some time with them, enjoying their company and warm home until we were pleasantly surprised that the power came back on at our house Saturday afternoon. I have to give kudos to Jeremy for thinking of turning of the water main and emptying all the pipes so they didn't freeze when our house got insanely cold. Apparently, a [freight] train had derailed between Arrowsmith and the next small town, and that was what knocked out our power. I believe some within miles of us may still be without power from the downed lines and poles. We thank the Lord that we didn't have any damage and that we were kept more than safe all weekend.
Saturday afternoon, the kids got to go visit Santa at State Farm! We didn't think Caeden even knew who or what Santa was, so we explained to him what he looked like before we got there and told him he would get to sit on Santa's lap and have his picture taken. All the kids were very excited to see Santa and we all are anxious to see how the picture turned out! Caeden received a Super Sudser, bathtub crayons, and bathtub tints!! Annah & Sylvia each received a $10 gift card to pick out whatever they want at Toys 'R' Us!
Saturday, December 2, 2006 -
Saturday, December 2, 2006 -
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