Tuesday, December 16, 2008

HIGHlights


Because after an ice storm and four days without power, you can imagine the lowlights.
I would prefer to tell you about the beauty, the creativity, the service rendered to us and to others, the togetherness and GREAT GRATITUDE we felt when the power finally came back on! Also, it's especially humbling, knowing that there are SO many who are still in the cold and the dark, and may not even get power back for Christmas. This was an amazingly devastating storm. As the frosting on the cake; the kids got their first and best Christmas present, when we logged onto cancellations dot com and found out that in our town, school will not be in session until JANUARY 5th. That's right: A three week, one day vacation. AND... because we are in an official state of emergency, I understand that we will not have to make up the missed days at the end of the year! We are grateful. Just so you know, we are the first of a VERY small handful to get power in our town. We feel blessed. The schools are being used for emergency shelters for those who cannot otherwise escape the cold and the dark.

13 comments:

ChefTom said...

So Glad to hear that you are back on the grid and thawing out.

As a token of solidarity, we did not turn our heater on yet, the house is getting chilly in the morning, all the way down almost to 60 degrees in the house. I know, it's rough... LOL

LL said...

Glad to hear you guys are up and running. i can't believe what this storm did!!!
beautiful pictures of the ice, and way to look at the bright side through all of this.
And THREE WEEKS vacation--almost makes it all worth it.
Welcome back!

Anonymous said...

It was our pleasure to house and serve as a vehicle for you to do loads of laundry. I remember when the power went off for about 8 days with 2 in diapers...Not my own, but Sean and John McCarthy. That was so hard. Our charcoal grill was on our front steps...can't remember what we cooked, but only that we used it.
Roger tried our generator and it is working perfectly...Yea...just in case we need it.
One of those pictures was of Roger
cooking biscuits in a dutch oven. He is the mountain man...loving a lot of the adventure...definitely a good man to have in time of emergency.
mom

Jane said...

WOW Jenn!! I can only imagine how crazy that must of been. There is nothing like an ice storm. I have only experienced them when we lived in MASS. I am so glad that you have your power back. And YAY for family togetherness, 3 weeks is enough time to make a trip to AZ isn't it?
So glad you are ok, and that you are back to blogging. I for one missed you!

Jo Jo said...

I can't believe how underdressed everybody looks. Did it warm up after the ice storm? Beautiful pictures!

Joy said...

Loved the amazing pictures of the tress. My boys thought that the were awesome. And they would like 3 weeks off of school also.

ellen said...

Lucky kids!! The best Christmas present ever!! I'm glad you've got power and I hope things settle back to normal. Merry Christmas!

Becky said...

I've missed you...:(

mckell.b.p.55 said...

Wow... And Adam made sure I knew that he was getting an extra week off of school... :)

Unknown said...

Thanks, Tom, for showing us some love. I'm sure you're shivering in warm and sunny Arizona! I LOVE New England, and I love experiencing all four seasons. But I have to say, 4 days without power was my limit this time. We got that generator humming just five minutes before our lights came on. And then we gave it to another family whose lights are still not on. And yes, the weather did get into the 50's on Monday, which was a nice reprieve, except we then started worrying about our freezer items that were no longer in the freezer, but were outside, in an attempt to keep them from spoiling. We have great coolers and nothing except some frozen bananas were thrown out. Thanks to all of your for your support and love!!

shirlgirl said...

So glad that your electricity is back and that everyone is o.k. This is one story for each child's journal about the ice storm in New England in 2008. The pictures are awesome, and I love the one with the bench. Rog certainly put the Boy Scout training into place cooking on an open fire with a Dutch oven. Good for him. Just think years ago when all people had was kerosene lamps for light and wood stoves for cooking--the old black ones. They pumped, by hand, water from the well and carried it into the house. This was on the farm where my mother grew up, and I remember the lamps--before my uncle got a generator set up to provide electricity. Those are good memories. The kids must be so excited about not having school until January 5th--nice vacation.

Marilyn said...

I know one member of the clan that isn't happy about the school closing. His remark, what am I going to do for 3 weeks. He actually is quite the kid and is putting his entrepeniur skills together to make some money. We have a great picture with him and the chain saw, I will email it to you.

The Mormon Monk said...

Jen-Jen:

Tell Roger to put on a coat! I don't want any Whitcomb germs when we see you on Saturday.