I bet you thought I fell off the earth? Nope! Not yet anyway. Just staying busy. I guess the hurricanes threw us a few curve balls. But things seem to be getting back to normal (whatever that is). So, what can I say about the hurricane? Hurricane Gustav left things a bit shaken up for all of us. But we were prepared and that made things easier. But we weren’t prepared for Williams’s abrupt departure. He was called out super early! The National Guard is supposed to activate the guardsmen 72 hours before a storm is predicted to hit. They called William out 5 days prior! It was insane. We had a ton of things that needed done around the house to prepare for the storm and William had no time to do any of it. Thank goodness for my willing family members who were able to come over and help me out. Thanks Josh and Erica!
We were without electricity for 6 days. After the first 24 hours, I had a decision to make. Do I chase down ice to keep our food cold everyday with 3 kids in tow? Or do I stay with my mom and Mr. Wayne who have a generator? Yep, I packed our stuff and headed over to my mom’s. The kids and I were very comfortable there. Thanks mom and Mr. Wayne!!!
I don’t think I’ve ever seen sooo many trees down in my life. Everywhere you looked there was a downed tree. And of course that meant downed power lines too. Here are a few pictures that I took while we were riding around looking at all of the damage.
It was a mess. But on a brighter note, we were blessed with several opportunities to go see William during his off time. And staying at my mom's made that very convenient too because she lives right down the street from where William was stationed.  On one of those visits to see William, Elijah and Rachel were able to climb in one of those huge military helicopters. Check this out:
Turns out, that was a General's helicopter too.  The kids loved it ~ especially Elijah! He wanted to fly in it.
While at mom's, we had a lot of down time. One thing that Elijah did to pass the time was make a beaver dam in my mom's back yard. We had been studying beavers recently and I guess it was fresh on his mind. On one of our walks in the neighborhood, the kids collected a ton of acorns. He placed them in his dam (see pile).
Now, I thought I took a picture of his much LARGER beaver dam that he built at our house. But I can't find it. UGH!!!
God was merciful! We only received a little roof and shingle damage. William was able to fix everything himself. And I am soooo glad to finally have him home again!
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