The Great Texas Ice Storm of 2013

We've had quite the weekend here. So I thought I'd catch up a bit on the Blog.

We are going on now almost four days of weird Texas weather and being stuck inside our home.

Last Thursday night we had a terrible ice storm come through the area. Stephen and I awoke about 3 different times during the night to loud sounds...come to find out it was our front and our neighbors two front trees snapping and breaking because of the weight of the ice from the ice storm. A lot of the trees out here still have their leaves and this mixed with freezing rain was a disaster. After the last snap at 5am we turned on the news and realized how incredibly bad the storm was that had come through.

School has been canceled both Friday and today (Monday). They are telling everyone everywhere to stay home and don't go anywhere. We were supposed to see our friends sealed in the Temple on Saturday and yep you guessed it....the temple was closed down and they had to cancel their sealing. We also had church cancelled yesterday too, which felt weird. It's been so crazy around here!

It's been a bad storm, but I've definitely been in much worse. The problem in Texas is that they don't/can't do anything about it. No plows. No salt trucks. Nothing. Just shut the entire Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex down.  The biggest problem is that we've had freezing temperatures in the 20's ever since the storm, so nothing is melting. On top of that the last two nights we've had Freezing Fog...AND the even crazier thing was that we were enjoying our nice balmy December 80 degree weather just the day before all this mess.

The frozen blades of grass

Our little tree in the back yard pretty much broke right in half

I will have to say though, it has been kind of fun to just  enjoy all this time together as a family. We've tried to keep busy.  We introduced Andrew to a few Christmas movies. Finally finished decorating for Christmas, had the missionaries over for dinner, made Christmas cookies and treats. We even took Andrew outside a few times to "play" in the snow and ice. He wasn't quite sure at first. but he loved the crunching sound it made when he'd step on the frozen blades of grass. We even got a little creative and in true Texas fashion, came up with our own sled.

Here we go! 

Spinning around on the ice was much more fun then going down the little hill.

This little monster LOVEs popcorn and sitting in the corner of the couch. He was excited to watch Christmas movies! 

Trying to pick up the leaves frozen to the ground. 

Funny things we've seen....

• People ice skating in the middle of the street. There is almost an two or three inches of thick solid ice out there. Everywhere.
• Semi trucks were stranded on the freeways for almost 48 hours. They couldn't go anywhere and nobody could get in to help them. 
• Our neighbor across the street cracked me up while I was out with Andrew yesterday. He was trying to shovel his driveway in boots he'd covered in plastic (I'm assuming they were leather or something he didn't want to get wet) with a garden shovel. Yep that's how we do it here in Texas. If only I'd had my camera.
• Some gas stations have completely closed down because they are out of gas. No trucks can get in to fill their tanks.
• We did have to do a quick Wal-Mart run Saturday night to get some more cough medicine for Andrew and a few other things. It was packed. People were almost in panic mode and a lot of the shelves were bare. The funniest things were the frozen pizzas were almost completely gone and the toilet paper. Oh and of course the small supply they carry in Texas of winter hats and gloves. (which isn't much to start with)  Stephen and I just had to laugh. It's like the end of the world down here.

 It is beautiful, all covered in ice.

Our rose bush has seen better days

Usually this time of year can get crazy with all the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. With so many Christmas parties, shopping for gifts and other holiday activities. It's been wonderful to slow down a bit and put life on hold for a few days and just enjoy our time together. So grateful for cars with full tanks of gas, that we have had our power the entire time and there is no major damage (i.e frozen pipes) to our home, just broken trees outside.

Thanksgiving in Utah

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and I always look forward to spending time with family. We have tried to teach Andrew this month about being thankful and not sure how much has really sunk in. But it has been a great month to reflect upon the many blessings we have.

My oldest sister Melinda hosted this year and it was absolutely beautiful and she went all out and thought of every little detail. I wish I'd gotten a picture of all the cute treats she had made for the table decor and name tags...they were darling. The weather was perfectly warm and the food was delicious. We stuffed ourselves and spent lots of time looking at the black Friday ads. Yet, surprisingly nobody went out...did most of our black Friday shopping online this year.

Here's our Thanksgiving Day in Pictures!

 Jeff's annual deep frying the Turkey picture... This is HIS yearly tradition  and it's always so yummy! 

 Uncle Mike and Andrew walking around outside

  A little pumpkin bowling with the little ones!

Playing with the dog!

The Little Kids Table 

The Not-So-Little Little Kids Table

 Parker and Grandpa coloring

 Playing a little "I  Spy" with cousins while we wait for our Thanksgiving Feast!

Andrew even convinced a few of the cousins to walk him around. He loved it and everyone who helped him walk were instant friends with this kid! 

The little kids coloring with their turkey crayons at the little kids table. So fun to have cousins the same age!

 Playing a little football game outside

Even Grandpa got in on some football action!

Cousin Michael let Andrew "drive" the blue truck, which Andrew could have done for hours and asked  to hold the keys as soon as he got out. This kid LOVEs anything with keys and wheels.  

Had to get a picture in front of the truck. Growing up this was my Grandpa Dent's 1968 Chevy Truck, which now my oldest nephew has restored and painted it bright blue. Lots of memories playing in that truck when I was little. 

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with so much to be thankful for. So grateful to be able to spend it with my family.

They're Home!!!

After almost 2 years Grandma Lyn and Grandpa Jerry (or as Andrew calls them Grandma and Grandpa Missionaries) came home from Austria and completed their assignment to serve as missionaries for our church. We were so lucky to be able to go to Utah and welcome them home. Originally we thought we'd just wait and go out over the Christmas Holiday and spend some good time with them then. Then our plans changed just a month or so before. It worked out pretty great that they came in two days before the Thanksgiving holiday.  We were able to fly in just about and hour before they landed in Salt Lake City and so we stayed behind and found their gate without them know. Mind you they'd been traveling for probably the last 18 hours and it was 4 am in Austria when they landed. But we were excited to get the first hugs and chat with them a bit before the 19 other grand kids. Who I might add...were anxiously waiting behind security for their turn.

Andrew giving grandpa a long-awaited kiss in person

It was a wonderful reunion! 21 months is a long time to be gone and Andrew was only just a small baby when they left.

This was just before they left

I loved seeing how excited all the grand kids got, especially over the last few weeks before they got home! Some made paper chains to count down the days. Others made countdown clocks on their ipods/phones that showed down to the number of seconds until Grandma and Grandpa returned from their mission. We all couldn't wait...it was like Christmas morning.

After all the hugs and pictures we headed to their house and had a "waffle night" My parents served the Young Adults who lived in Graz, Austria. As part of their assignment they would do institute one night a week, FHE one night a week, my dad taught English and my mom taught piano, and with each of these activities my mom was involved with cooking food. Many many meals and snacks for each of the events. Friday nights were "waffle nights" and the YA loved American waffles. So to make them feel right at home we had our own family waffle night and stay up until after 1am chatting and laughing and catching up.

It was fun to see my parents just walk around their house in amazement and notice the little things they did without for so long. A large kitchen sink, a disposal, a dishwasher, a garage and then realizing their entire apartment in Austria could fit inside their master bedroom at home. They were in a bit of a culture shock.

We had a great afternoon the next day when they showed us some of their souvenirs and gifts people had made them. They talked to us about the many dear friends they had made. Each one of us siblings were able to visit them at some point during their mission and seem them in action as missionaries, meet the YA they worked with, see where they lived and tour the beautiful country of Austria. Such a neat opportunity to be able to share a small part of their mission with them.

The celebrations continued. for about four days straight with a little Thanksgiving mixed in the middle. It was so wonderful to have them home and be together as an entire family....probably the first time in 5 or 6 years that we had EVERYONE together. We are so grateful for their service as missionaries and felt truly blessed for the sacrifices they made to leave their family and serve the Lord.  They are wonderful examples to me and I wish I could be there today as they reported and shared the experiences they had with all the wonderful people they served in Austria.