Wicked Wind

Wow. I've never been in a hurricane or a tornado before, but what we endured Wednesday night into Thursday must be (I imagine) what it feels like. I have never seen anything like it. We were awakened just before 2:00 a.m. from scary, house-shaking winds. Normally, even during extremely windy or rainy times, we don't hear a thing. Our house is solid and sturdy and I feel so safe and protected in it. And as the winds were howling, I was so grateful to be in our home. But it was scary!

After the winds began around 2:00, each of the girls came traipsing into our bedroom, about 20 minutes apart. Quentin and I scooted over and let them into our bed - until all 3 of them were there, so I offered to let them stay with Quentin and I would sleep in Kiera's bed. But it was so noisy and my heart was pounding so I couldn't sleep.

After tossing and turning, I got up at 4:00 and watched the news. Pretty soon every one else was up and we watched it together. Then at 6:00 the power went out.

I thought the storm wouldn't seem so scary once the sun came up, but I almost think it was worse because we could see all the damage that was going on. We would go from the east side of the house to the south side to the west side and it seemed like every time we looked out the window we could see more damage to our neighbor's homes. Across the street, 3 huge trees that have been there for 30 years toppled over. Shingles were flying everywhere, and we could see them peeling and flying off our neighbor's roof. It was horrible. At one point, we were pretty sure all the rocking of one of our flowering pear trees would cause it to topple. Looking at the grass surrounding the tree, it looked like ocean waves. It was so weird, but our tree survived. In fact, we didn't lose any trees - thank goodness.

Needless to say, Quentin didn't go to work (he was afraid if we opened the door from the house into the garage it would change the air pressure and our garage door would be sucked in) and the girls stayed home from school - we later found out that all schools in Centerville were closed. I even cancelled my preschool class for the day.

So the storm started just before 2:00 a.m and the winds didn't die down till after 12:30 p.m. It was just constant, horrible wind - with gusts up to 102 (that's Category 2 wind for hurricanes!) I guess Centerville got hit the worst.

After the wind started to die down (finally), we ventured out to assess the damage to our home, walk around the block to see our neighbors' homes, and chat with neighbors.

We were pretty lucky and our home fared pretty well compared to most of our neighbors. 6 sections of our ugly wood fence came down, our downspout and a few pieces of fascia and soffit disappeared, lots of shingles came off (but luckily there is another layer underneath, so our roof is still protected until we can replace the shingles), something hit the side of our stucco and made a big hole in it, a power line came down in our backyard and wrapped around our peach tree, and perhaps the worst damage was that our garage door was bowed in about a foot. Check it out:


(SHINGLES ALL OVER OUR GRASS)






Our tent trailer, which weighs a beastly amount, was actually pushed about 3 feet to the edge of the retaining wall that it sits on. The thing we bought to hold the wheel tight scraped along the driveway as it blew.




As we checked out our block and neighboring streets, I thought it was weird how huge trees could be blown over like they were toothpicks, but small Christmas decorations (like plastic candy canes lining the driveway) were left untouched. It was just weird what the storm did and where it hit the hardest.

Here are some of our neighbors' homes:





And here's a few pics of homes on streets near our house:





This is my grandma's neighbor's house, a mobile home. It was unbelievable that Grandma's house was just fine, except for an awning that came off - but then right next to her was this:



It was a freaky storm! Our power was off beginning at 6:00 a.m. and we were told to be prepared to be without power for up to 48 hours. We have a gas fireplace and would have been fine to sleep in front of it, but my mom tempted us with a warm dinner at her house and offered to let us stay overnight. We had only slept about 3 hours the night before and I really didn't want another sleepless night in a cold home, so we went over to Mom's. Around 7:30 we talked to some of our neighbors and they let us know the power was back on. It would have made sense for us to go back home, but the girls were so excited to stay at Granny's house overnight, so we did. At least we had a soft place to land after such a crazy day!



Today (Friday) we spent the day picking up shingles and twigs and debris out of our yard, straightening our porch lights, and contacting our insurance company. I'm amazed how something like this can make us be so aware of things we take for granted (electricity, a warm home, a good night's sleep, etc.) and be grateful for safety and security!

Oh, and check out these cute little birds that were holding on for dear life during the storm. There was no break at all in the wind so they couldn't fly - they just had to stay where they were!

Funny

Kasidee saw the dress Makenna had on at church yesterday and asked me, “Is that dress getting bigger or smaller?...Because I want it to fit me someday.”)

Murder Mystery Party

A little over a week ago, we hosted a Murder Mystery party. We had done our first one last year and loved it - dressing up, playing a character the whole night, taking clues and trying to figure out "whodunnit"...it was so fun! This time the theme was "The Wall Street Scandal," set in a New York penthouse in 1987. We invited a few couples from Quentin's family and had a lot of fun. Quentin and I already have plans up our sleeves for doing another one in a couple of months. So fun!

Bah.

I love Christmas. But I hate, hate, hate hearing Christmas music right after Halloween. I mean, come on - it's like as soon as Halloween is over, everyone is focusing on the next big holiday. But hello - Thanksgiving comes BEFORE Christmas. Thanksgiving, to me, is a sacred, reverent holiday...a time of reflection and gratitude. But I hate when I go to the grocery store and they're playing Christmas music when Thanksgiving is still a couple of weeks away! I get that they're trying to "set the shopping mood" but it just makes me want to run out of the store screaming, "Not yet! Not yet! I can't stand it!" If I hear Christmas music on the radio I can just roll my eyes and turn the station. But when I'm shopping - grocery shopping, for crying out loud - and it's everywhere I go, it just drives me crazy.

Let me just enjoy fall and look forward to Thanksgiving. But then the day after Thanksgiving, bring on all the Christmas craziness!

Funny

Yesterday in preschool we talked about stranger danger. Kasidee raised her hand and very seriously said, "You shouldn't get in a stranger's car because they could take you home with them and feed you chicken." (We don't eat meat!) Then her friend Libby piped up and said, "Or give you candy that you don't like."

Halloween

I really am not a big fan of Halloween, but I have to admit that our neighborhood makes it so dang fun to do the trick-or-treat thing! We usually just go around the block (45 or so houses on both sides of the street) and there are some "Can't Miss" houses to visit. There's the house that gives out freshly-made cotton candy, the house that is over-the-top decorated with spooky lights and scary sounds, the house that is all decked out with fog and screaming witches, the house that has a guy roaming around who has spent probably 6 months planning and working on his costume, and the houses that have a special treat just for our girls. It's fun to see quite a few adults dressed up, and it's great to chat with neighbors and friends! Happy Halloween!



CHECKING OUT THE LOOT...


KIERA MADE COSTUMES (OR OUTFITS) FOR MAKENNA AND KASIDEE'S BEARS!

Funny

Kasidee: "Magic, magic, make it disappear!" (Then later): "Magic, magic, make it un-disappear!"

Beautiful Autumn

It's no secret to my blog readers that I love my flowering pear trees in my backyard. They're pretty all year round, but this is my favorite time. Can you see why? It almost takes my breath away....

Family Pictures

Why, why, why is it that my girls, who are normally generally agreeable and happy, tend to show their worst behavior when we decide to do family pictures? It was a beautiful day so we decided to do some family pictures after church - and what a pain! Someone was whining that their hair was ugly; someone else whined that we weren't taking the picture the way they wanted it; another whined that it was taking too long. Now, our girls should be pretty dang used to having their picture taken. Their dad is notorious for taking tons of pictures, and I've really started enjoying photography lately and love to experiment by taking pictures of the girls. You would think they would be used to this by now. But there is always one of them whining during our family photo shoots - when one stops, another one starts. It's like they have an agreement to take turns so that someone is whining at all times!

Now that it's over, I can say that we took about a hundred pictures and got a handful of pretty decent ones. So I'm happy. But I think next time I'll have to bribe them to not whine!!

Funny

You know your kids are being raised in a "computer and technology generation" when your 4-year-old daughter wants to watch a video from a VCR and exclaims when it's done rewinding that "It's done loading!"

Halloween Spooktacular

Kind of at the last minute, we decided to go to the Halloween Spooktacular at the South Davis Rec Center last night. We've gone other years and had fun, but it's also quite crowded and crazy. But the girls wanted to go, and I figured Kiera's getting older and might not have too many years left of wanting to do stuff like this. So we went, and we met Eric and Mischelle and their kids there. And we did have fun! We went fishing, went to the duck pond, went through a spook alley, found our way through a labyrinth, played carnival games, had a canoe ride.... Good times!


Jordyn and Kasidee waiting to go in the bounce house

A canoe ride in the scary "swamp!" (Quentin went with Kiera and Makenna)

Pumpkins

We had been wanting to go to the Pumpkin Patch for a couple of weeks but hadn't gotten around to it when our backyard neighbor called and told the girls they could each pick a pumpkin from their garden! By the time we got out there, she had lined up over a dozen big pumpkins between our two yards - how fun and easy is that, to be able to walk to your very own pumpkin patch?! That was so sweet, and the girls had fun picking out their pumpkins. But we ended up going to Pack's Pumpkin Patch anyway because we've been craving spaghetti squash, acorn squash and butternut squash. Don't you just love Fall? It looks and feels and tastes soooo good!

Geode Hunt

The girls didn't have school Thursday and Friday (UEA), so Quentin took those days off work too. We had talked about going on a little trip close by, but then we decided to stay at home and do a few day trips. On Thursday we went to the Dugway Geode Beds. It was a little over 3 hours away, but it was worth it. I think the girls (especially Kiera) take after their Great-Grandpa Johnson and have the rock-hunting bug in them.

So...after driving over 3 hours, we consulted our directions which said to look for recent diggings off of the turnoff. We saw some small holes about 2 feet around and a foot or two deep. We started searching but found nothing. So we drove around the corner and found holes about 6 feet around - but nothing was there either. Feeling quite disappointed (and like we wasted a whole bunch of time and gas), we decided to drive around a bit before heading out. Then we saw it - a "mini gravel pit" that had been dug out by an excavator. We also saw another family (from Bountiful) who showed us all the geodes they had found. As we were walking into the pit, we literally couldn't take a step without stepping on geodes or geode pieces. We were so excited! We all had fun digging and trying to find whole geodes, finding geode pieces, and even smashing geodes on rocks to see what was inside - Kiera even found a geode with pink (rose) crystals inside! After a few hours of digging and "treasure hunting," we lugged home a 5-gallon bucket and a 2-gallon bucket full of geodes. We're excited to cut some with a tile cutter and polish some with our rock polisher!





In the pit with the other family

Close-up of embedded geodes

Late

Last week we were running a little late for school and arrived just after the first bell rang (the tardy bell rings 5 minutes after that.) Kasidee exclaimed, "Yay! We're the first ones that are late!!"

Fernwood Park

For a couple of weeks now, we've been wanting to go on a "Leaf Drive" to see the brilliant Fall trees! Today was free after our Stake Conference, so we took a little drive up to Fernwood Park in Layton. The sun disappeared by the time we got there, but it was fun to see the pretty leaves and take a small hike. I love Fall!

Gardner Village

Friday after school we met Nikki & kids, Mischelle & kids, Barbara and Shlenae at Gardner Village. Nikki began this annual tradition when Kiera and Marina were just little. We like to go out in the Fall, enjoy the good weather and a yummy cookie from Aunt Nikki, maybe look at a few shops, and try to get a few pictures of the kids. So fun!

Big 5-0

Our bishop (we just love him and his whole family!) turned 50 a little over a week ago. The girls wanted to do something special for him, but I was stumped for ideas. One day we walked down the candy aisle at the store and had a brainstorm. We had so much fun making - and delivering this - as a family!

Happy Thoughts

you can't buy happiness
but you can buy potato chips
which is pretty much the same thing

Countdown

The girls ask me every day how many days until Halloween - they can't wait to wear their costumes! But today we'll be doing a "trial run" at Gardner Village, plus tonight the girls are going to a birthday party where they can wear their costumes. Kasidee squealed, "I'm just so excited! I feel like I can't wait in my tummy!"

Miss Librarian

It just occurred to me that libraries have 3 things that I love: books, organization, and quiet. Maybe I'll be a librarian (oooh, I'd love to be the storyteller during the children's storytime) when I grow up!

Crafty Girl

Lately Kasidee has been fascinated with tape and scissors and paper. She has finally figured out how to tear the tape off the roll (safely!) and she just loves cutting out and decorating her own cards - with matching envelopes that have tape all over. It's so cute!

She also likes ripping up a piece of paper and then taping it back together in a different way.

The other day she spent an hour - yes a whole hour, non-stop - cutting up a box that was in the recycling bin. She cut a hole in the middle, colored it all over and taped it everywhere. Then she stuck her body through the hole and said she had made an airplane! (I'll have to post a pic soon.)

Today while she was working on her art project, I noticed she had used up nearly a whole roll of tape. I said, "Kasidee, I just can't keep up with you and all of your tape!" And she responded, "Tape is healthy - it's good for your body!" and then she laughed and laughed!

Quack

After General Conference on Sunday, we decided we needed to get away from the TV and stretch our legs. So we went to Barnes Park in Kaysville to feed the ducks. I love this pic of Makenna - she's our little animal lover!

Welcome Home

Though I'm not sure I'm very good at it, I love home decorating and design. I prefer simplicity, but I enjoy "analyzing" how a room looks and feels by what furniture and textiles and decor are in it, as well as how they're arranged. {sigh}

But the garage - that whole space has always stumped me. To me, a garage is a "man's space" with tools and greasy car stuff and small machinery. There's nothing real pretty about a garage.

But I've been intrigued and inspired lately by some blogs - and neighbors! - I've noticed. Their garages are spotless, painted clean white.... I'm wondering where their cobwebs and masses of dead gnats and piles of dry leaves are. And I'm also wondering where their STUFF is. I've seen garages with 2 cars, a rake, a shovel, and an extension cord in it. That's it. Where's all their junk?

Besides that, I've also noticed some garages that have been "prettied up." I'm in love with the shiny black door to the entrance of the house idea, and I love the idea of having shelves with matching storage bins, all in a row.

Well, even though we tried to "de-junk" our garage last spring, it's still millions of miles away from being pretty and organized like I would like. However, I'm happy to say I made a step in the right direction.

Last weekend when the girls and I visited Just A Thought in Bountiful, we got to pick out a vinyl lettering thing just for coming in - for free! I found this one and thought, "How cute would that be on the door coming in from the garage?" So that was that. It seems like we almost always come in the house from the garage, so this is perfect!

Hola!

So...our school is offering a Spanish class a couple of times a week before school. I have asked Kiera 4 years in a row if she is interested - big no. But this year Makenna said she wanted to do it, but only if Kiera did it. I think Kiera has been a little overwhelmed with fourth grade this year and was concerned that a Spanish class would be one more thing to do and one more thing to learn and one more thing to remember. But, well, we sort of made Kiera and Makenna sign up for the Spanish class. And they are loving it! Even though they have to get up almost an hour earlier a couple of times a week, they usually bound out of bed when they realize it's for their class. Yay!

Funnies

* Kasidee exclaimed: "Makenna teached me so I knowed!"

* The girls sometimes get their "energy clothes" on so they can "do energy." (exercise)

Girls Night Out

When the girls found out that Quentin, his brothers and cousin were going to attend the Priesthood session of General Conference last night, they were so excited. In their cute little voices, they squealed, "That means we can have a girls night out with Mommy!" So...that's what we did! Each girl got to pick something to do: My choice was to go to the sale at "Just a Thought," one of my favorite stores; Kiera wanted to go to the library but changed her mind and wanted to do a craft (we made magnets and necklaces out of some tokens we found at the store; Makenna wanted to get ice cream cones; and Kasidee wanted to come home and do yoga! Silly girls - but it's so fun setting aside some "real" time to just be with my girls!