Oklahoma Adventures Week 19

December 9th-16th

Well, we officially live in a declared state of emergency. For those of you that haven't watched the news lately, Oklahoma was savaged with a terrible Ice Storm. (don't worry, we're all okay). It's been quite the experience. We laughed at our "canceled" Church last week, but didn't realize the extent of it until we went outside and saw that our cars were completely encased in about and inch thick of ice! ... Seriously.

Ice was so thick we couldn't even get to the keyhole on the car. It was crazy!It actually came off pretty easy though once we ventured out. The body of the car you can basically just hit it and the big chunks come off, but you need a special de-icing spray for the windowsThat is just a small chunk of the ice from off the hood of the Subaru. We decided we better get them ready to go just in case our power went out and we had to go to Nola and Gary's.We were truly blessed in this Ice Storm and never lost power. We were able to stay home and stay warm. We had a lot of branches fall off in the back yard and sagging power line, but again, we always had our power. It was reported that over 650,000 residences lost power. There are still hundreds of thousands without power. It's been quite the experience and actually pretty cool--only because we never lost power--but that doesn't make the devastation any less tragic, however the majesty and power of our Heavenly Father and nature have been awe-inspiring. There is beauty in even the ugliest of weather.

You'll want to click on these pictures to make them a little bigger to see the detail.These pictures don't do the beauty justice. It's almost like the world was covered in glass, or better yet, diamond. It was so crystal clear and thick on the leaves and branches.That's one way you could tell it was starting to melt is that the ice became more translucent, rather than crystal clear - that's why we didn't notice how bad the storm was, everything looked crystal clear and dry, but it was really encased in this perfect ice.It was beautiful, but did cause a lot of damage and while I don't really want to have everyone live through a storm like this again, I am grateful for the opportunity to have experienced it and been safe from the danger it caused. So, maybe just keep Oklahoma in your prayers for the next little while as it gets back on its feet. :)

In happier news, we're so excited for Christmas. We're leaving for our trek to the west in just a few days. (I'm still not organized and I haven't planned what I'm packing yet and it's driving me crazy, but we'll survive). Logan is ready for Christmas too, he's been practicing on one of Morgan's presents.

So, if anyone needs help opening presents, I'm sure Logan would be glad to be of service. Unfortunately because Morgan now works with the Young Men in the ward our house became a flashing target for a toilet paper job....It was a pretty pathetic job. We had been up most of the night with Logan, and supposedly they say they got spooked when Morgan turned on a light and made a break for it. I'm not buying it. We'll have to teach them a thing or two about the proper way to toilet paper a house. :)

The rest of the week has just been the aftermath of the storm and a cranky baby. I'm sure it's just a phase, he's still our little bundle of joy. Now that he's moving around and wanting to feed himself, he's definitely a lot more messy. Good thing we'll be at our parents' houses over the holidays. See what they have to look forward to. :)