What a Week!

My goodness, this for sure goes down as one of the more exciting weeks of my life!  I came through it all with a sense of gratitude, though, for the additional miracles and blessings I was given the last few days.

To recount the week's events, I'll start out where I left off last Thursday.  That evening, we had the great pleasure of welcoming my in-laws, Douglas and Kathy Pulley, to our home.  My mother-in-law had helped us move in when we first arrived, but this was "Grandpa's" first time seeing our new house.  It was so fun for me to have someone come in person and see the progress we've made! (Hint!  Hint!)

The adults and baby Alice went out to dinner that evening with part of the discussion centered around the storm that was about to hit the East Coast.  Maybe you heard about Hurricane Sandy? (Just kidding!)  We rely on electricity and a water pump for our water supply.  So, Dave's parents and Dave felt quite keenly that getting a generator would be more than a good idea.  We put getting a generator on the agenda for the next day's plans and overall enjoyed a nice evening out for a change.  On the way home, we picked up cupcakes for Thomas to give to his class to celebrate his birthday.  The kids were in bed already by the time we got home.  Jonathan has turned out to be a good babysitter.

The next day we sang to Thomas in the morning and he blew out the candles on his chocolate chip pancake squares.  I can't believe he is twelve already!  We sent the kids out the door and Dave went to work painting Thomas and Jonathan's room as part of Thomas' birthday present. 

Boys' Room Before

Boys' Room After

Doug and Kathy came over after Dave finished the painting and I finished working on the rest of the house.  My in-laws had heard on the news that day that there were several stores that had already sold out of generators.  Right when they arrived, we determined that we had better start making phone calls to figure out where we could possibly locate one.  Dave later counted--he phoned twenty places that morning.  All were sold out.  One store, however, was expecting a shipment.  By giving them a credit card number and name, we were able to reserve one for our family.  The store just happened to be next to Costco, which was also on the itinerary.  Kathy and I went to Costco directly while the men picked up the generator.  It ended up being the last one.  Blessings from heaven!  We stocked up on quite a few items and noticed that the stores seemed to be quite a bit busier than usual.

At home, Dave and Doug worked on setting up the generator.  We thought that we would be able to run an extension cord from the well pump to the generator, but that turned out not to be the case since the pump doesn't have a plug to plug into an extension cord!  The water pump is powered directly to the electrical panel.  We were baffled about how to proceed.  It ended up that an electrician we called didn't have time to come see us, but was more than happy to walk my husband through some possible solutions.  We now have a generator that is hooked up to our main circuit breaker.  Another blessing, since we now can selectively turn on and off certain breakers when we are using our generator.  That turned out far better for us that we hoped.  Aren't handy husbands the best?!?

Dave and Doug went to get gas for the generator and the first station they went to was completely out of unleaded gasoline.  I guess that a lot of other people had the same idea!  The gas station across the street had some, though.  Dave also tried to get another gas storage container and those were completely sold out everywhere as well.  That is one thing we will buy the next time they are in stock.  I think people were especially on edge about the storm here because last year, on this very weekend, a huge snow storm rolled through Connecticut and ended up bringing down a large number of trees throughout the area.  The power lines were affected and our neighborhood was left in the dark for eleven long days.  We have heard many horror stories about the event and having another storm on it's way, at the same time of year, sent many into a panic. 

Later that night we went out to dinner to celebrate Thomas' birthday and came home and had Costco cake for dessert.  This is when we revealed that for his present, Thomas would be getting a new iPhone for his birthday!  I don't think he could be more thrilled.


On Saturday, we went to see Thomas play soccer and witness his two goals in the game (the only two for the team that day).  He loves soccer and one of the other parents said, "Thank goodness he joined the team!"  They lost, but Thomas had a lot of fun.

Next, we went back to the Pickin' Patch with Grandma and Grandpa.  Though it wasn't as beautiful as last week, it was still quite picturesque.  I savored being outdoors and being with my family.  We took several photos while there. 

Then it was back home to clean up a bit and get ready for the Trunk-or-Treat at the church.  Dave, Doug, Jonathan and Thomas went off to the mall to look around and get new phones for the family.  We are going to be paying $40.00 less per month while getting three new phones (all free!), plus a $230.00 credit for turning in my old iPhone 4S.  I love it when birthday presents save you money!

I took my two princesses, witch and butterfly fairy to the Trunk-or-Treat on my own since the men weren't quite back yet, Kathy having decided to wait for them at our house.  We made it in time to get a lot of candy and pass some out as well.  Next it was dinnertime inside the church.  I really enjoyed my meal and was glad that we brought a salad since there weren't many people who brought any side dishes. 

Sunday was a delight for me.  It was sweet to see Thomas sustained as the newest deacon in the ward.  He looked so handsome in his new suit and took to his new responsibilities quite well.  I am so proud of him!

The rest of the day went well, other than having the toilet overflow.  It was then that the fact that I was under some stress due to the storm became apparent to me.  I reacted more negatively than I normally would.  I usually do not do laundry on Sundays, but I did on this day, as we were anticipating not having power with the impending hurricane headed our way. 

Doug and Kathy made arrangements to leave Connecticut sooner than originally planned and were now going to be leaving their hotel at 3:30 AM Monday morning.  Though they wouldn't be getting much sleep that night, they still had time to read some scriptures with us before they left.  We read, per Grandpa's suggestion, in 3 Nephi 8:5:  ". . .there arose a great storm, such an one as never had been known in all the land."  We all talked about how it is our Savior who will see us through the storms of life.

Our guests said their goodbyes and we anxiously await their next scheduled visit.  We went to bed that night knowing that school had already been cancelled for Monday and waited for the STORM.

The morning wasn't too bad.  Thinking that the power could go off at any time, I decided to get going on a hearty breakfast while I could still use the stove and oven.  We had some delicious pumpkin pie baked oatmeal that I made up along with some sausage.  Delicious, if I do say so myself.  I then got started on cooking some fresh ground beef we had recently purchased.  I ended up freezing most of it, but used a good portion to put together a stew, again while I still had power.  As things wound down toward the evening, we still had power, so we made a fire in the fireplace downstairs and had a dance party.  It was so fun and a good way to use some pent up energy since we didn't dare go outside.  That night we had all of the kids except Alice sleep in the basement, just in case, and Dave, the baby and I stayed in the guest bedroom on the main floor.  I asked Dave to leave the blinds open during the night so I could see what was happening outside.  

All day, we had had wind.  Off and on, there was some rain.  A few times, our lights flickered on and off, but remained on.  The next day, all seemed clear.  

We had survived and we had power!  

I wondered if this storm maybe wasn't as big of a deal as it had been predicted to be, but then I quickly had a thought enter my mind.  It was, "No.  You have been blessed."  Later on, I read about and saw the great degree of destruction Hurricane Sandy inflicted upon so many here in the North East.  My heart aches for them and I am all the more thankful for the good outcome we had here.  I didn't know at first that many of the residents in my own city were left without power here as well.  School was cancelled for Tuesday and then Wednesday as crews worked to restore power to the city.  Unfortunately, Dave still had to go to work.  We made the most of our time off by carving pumpkins and stripping wall paper in the hallway upstairs (the kids especially loved that one!).  Even with a generator, I know things would have been difficult.  Again, I am still praying for those who suffered and are still suffering more greatly than we.  I know prayers work, because throughout that experience, I could literally feel the power of the prayers uttered in our behalf by our friends and family.  Thank you!

 The best part of all of this is that the kids still got to go trick-or-treating on Halloween.  That was a special treat for the rest of the residents here because Halloween was cancelled last year.  We sure had a good time.  Even Alice enjoyed herself!

It has taken me longer to post today than usual, but there was a lot going on the last few days that I wanted to remember!  Thanks for reading and I hope each of you is safe and happy and had a wonderful Halloween, too!