State of Emergency OR 36 hours of FUN!

We have been having such a wonderful fall, but I guess Winter was ready for it's turn. We had an ice storm move through NH on Thursday night. My biggest concern was the slick roads, I had no idea what we were in for.

Friday morning at 5am the boys came into my room saying, "Mom, our trees our in our driveway."
YIKES! One had broken completely, and the other had simply bowed over from the weight of the ice. See Pictures



Not only was the tree thing a stress, but our power was out. I got out our battery powered lantern (lifesaver) and our big flashlight.
Friday was normal with no power, we cleaned the house, played games. The kid's even played on the "nature made" play equipment out front, until our neighbor came and helped cut it up and take it away. But we soon realized that the power wouldn't be coming back on anytime soon. Ours were not the only trees that had fallen, and power lines were out all over NH. The Governor declared the storm a state of Emergency and shelters were opened up for people who didn't have power.



So it took me all day to realize, but NO POWER means NO HEAT. Luckily we were able to go to our wonderful friends house for the night and sleep by their fire. And our other friends the Titus helped with food. Jeff made the breakfast in his dutch oven, and I agree with Griffin it was the "best breakfast ever!" Thanks Titus family and Huntings for being better prepared then we were and sharing your resources with us. All in all, the kids had a great time spending the weekend with friends and playing out side with the ice.

(Elliot all buddled up with layers of clothes, trying to keep warm)
Sorry this is long, bare with me...

We learned a COLD lesson these past 36 hours without power.
-we need a back up heating source. Like a "r. Buddy" or better yet, a Generator for HEAT and Power.(the coldest our house got was 44 degrees, Brrr...)
-Batteries, we never went through ours but, what if we had? It would have been a really dark night.
-I need a dutch oven with accessories so we can cook food, although our BBQ could have served well.
-My cell phone was almost dead on the first morning and I needed a way to charge it, without having to depend on the car. Who wants to drive around and used fuel just to charge your cell phone.

Some good things we had going for us...
-we had our light sources ready with batteries, easily accessible.
-I had batteries in my alarm clock/radio so I was able to listen to news over the radio, it really helped me stay informed and the music helped our house feel "normal."
-We keep an "old fashion" phone, you know the kind with a cord? which helped us stay in touch with each other.
-we kept our water facets dripping so that our pipes wouldn't freeze(thanks Dad for that tip).
-Even though our food storage isn't where it should be, we did have enough food. Although we didn't even have to use it.

We were so lucky to have so much help and people looking out for us, next time we might not be so lucky, and my goal this year will be to get us, self sufficient for emergencies like this in the future. I know the Lord watches out for us, and this was a great reminder of all the counsel the prophets have been giving us. I know as I write this, there may still be some without power. Our prayers will be with them tonight.

(Mike setting up the laptop for the kids to watch a movie).