Frankenstorm Sandy

We heard that a nasty storm was on its way. The news was telling us to be ready with food/water for a few days in case power went out etc. I kinda blew it off for a while because Jake had been on the Emergency Preparedness board in our last ward and they were always talking about the big earthquake that was 40 years over due (blah blah blah) and how we needed to be prepared. But after the sister missionaries came over to our house to email their families due to the inclimate weather and informed me that their mission president had said to be prepared for up to two weeks with food, water etc. I decided this might be a little more serious. We tried to be semi prepared making sure we were stocked up on water, had plenty of ice (filling up empty milk cartons and freezing them etc) in case our refrigerator went out of commission, and had enough food that didn't have to be cooked in the oven/microwave and had our candles/flashlights and batteries ready. Brittany and Leon's idea of preparing was making sure they just came over to our house. Well we were super fortunate that we got some rain and winds and our power was only knocked out for a few hours. Besides some roof shingles from the house next door hitting our car, and a tree falling over on our street, there was no damage. The kids found the fact that they were experiencing a hurricane quite entertaining. They loved using the flashlights. When it seemed pretty calm Jake took Carder and Jaxon go out on the porch check it out. They thought it was awesome. Brenn was totally enthralled standing on her little stool watching the boys out the window. 

We feel super grateful that the hurricane left us basically unscathed. Our hearts go out to those who weren't so lucky. Our ward was great at taking several days to go down to New York and help in the clean up efforts. We weren't able to go since Jake had school and I had the little people. I was able to help cut and tie some blankets with the Relief Society to send down to the people who had been affected more seriously by Sandy. We are so thankful to live in a country/community where people are so quick to offer their help to those who need it.