Hurricane Ike

(I know that this is a little late but here ya go anyway!)

Wow! What a whirl wind of a week!! No pun intented :) Almost two weeks ago the Louisville Metro area experienced a little of what Hurricane Ike had to offer. Ike bringing only the wind, did a real number on all of us! Before we ever left church the power at the church building was out and the winds were beginning to pick up. They were blowing so hard that I couldn't keep the car door open long enough to put Lex in her car seat. I remember that the door hit her in the head, hard. (But she is tough as nails, not one little peep out of her.) Shane had to stay at church since he is an assistant to the clerk and they were hoping to process the tithing, so I came home alone. This all in it's self was a real trial for me.

When Shane and I had first moved to Utah, August 1999, we were caught in down town Salt Lake when a tornado hit. We were sight seeing at temple square, sitting quietly, reflecting as we looked at the statue of Christ, when the sky got darker with a green tint and the winds began to pick up. You could see part of the tents at the convention center blowing past the windows and objects hitting the windows harder and harder. Shane and I were prompted to get up from where we were sitting just as the window behind us shattered. We were lucky enough to get out of the way. Everyone was screaming and running. To this day I associated strong winds with this memory. I always get a little worried, panicked is more like it.

(Here are some statics and photos)

Salt Lake's Largest Tornado

When: 8/11/99 @ 12:41 pm

Tornado Rating: F2

Est. Speed: 113-157 mph

Fatalities: 1

Hospitalized: 15 Treated: 84

Homes Damaged: 387

Est. Cost to City: 3.2 Million

Est. Damage: 170 Million (not including expo)

(So...I think you get my point that I'm not to crazy about a strong breeze a blowin' my way)

So when I got home from church and found that our grill had been blowing around like a feather on the deck I started to panic. I went out and put it back in its place (stupid me, there were 75 mph winds) and covered it again, this clearly did not work because it wasn't 5 minutes before it was slamming up against the rails! I ended up removing the cover and Shane tied it to the deck.

(The wind was blowing so hard it lifted the lid and dropped it!)

That night we had grilled cheese sandwiches by candle light. How romantic! ;) We're very lucky that our stove top is gas. We ate better when the power was off than we do when it is on!

Here's Shane shinning the flashlight up his nose, just like a little kid would do! Lexi's I-Dog provided our entertainment. And unfortunately we didn't have a generator (stupid us...since Lexi HAS to have one. That all in it's self is a story for another time) so we had to sedate her so that she didn't drool as much.

The next morning when we heard that there may not be power for 10-14 days, I became VERY panicked. How was I to keep Alexi alive? Luckily, Shane found a generator in Bowling Green (1hr 45 minutes away) and reserved it for us.

(Isn't she a beaut!)

Nothings looked so beautiful in all my life. Having a way to keep Alexi's machine powered was a real blessing (and the fridge). I love this generator, it's small, easy for me to handle, very user friendly and so quiet that not even our neighbors knew that we had it running 24 hours a day! I would recommend it to anyone looking for a good generator. ANNNNND...I almost forgot...it will run 12-15 hours on 1 gallon of gasoline!

On our way to Bowling Green this is what we found just down the road from our home.There were trees and power lines tangled up for miles.

I'm so grateful for this experience, I've learned so much. It brings me peace that we have a plan in place to be prepared for these types of situations and that we had already begun the process. I felt excited that we were prepared! I'm so thankful for the Church, Visiting Teachers, Home Teachers, the Lord and His guidance and council, the missionary opportunity that it brought and a great Ward Family. When looking back I can't help but remember the over whelming spirit that I felt. He spoke to me. There were so many good conversations, great "belly laughs", real quality time spent with those you love, and such a testimony building experience. I'm so grateful for the friendships that were built and strengthened, the service people provided for one another, the many phone calls and visits that were made to see if we were okay, seeing visiting teaching and home teaching at its best, and the love of the Lord everywhere. We truly live in a fantastic ward! I know that we were lead here to be a part of it. I know it! I feel it!

I was almost sad to see the power come back on, knowing that TV, the Internet and the world in general would slowly creep back in. But, we now have a better idea of the things that we need to focus on for food storage and we are more aware of the pit falls that Satan buts in our paths. There were so many wonderful learning experiences and tips you should check them out Here, Here, Here, Here, Here, and Here.

Thanks to everyone for the phone calls, visits, love and compassion that you showed to our family. We are truly blessed.