Hello darkness...

The last several days have been challenging. Last Wednesday, tornadoes struck our area, as well as 27 other counties in the State of Alabama. The same tornado that decimated Tuscaloosa, came through Madison Wednesday afternoon flattening over 250 homes. Fortunately, we only suffered the lack of power to our home for almost 5 days.

The worst parts:
...no power
...no hot water, thus no hot showers
...not being able to see coverage of the devastation less than 2 miles from your house
...planning meals based on what will spoil the fastest
...feeling fear
...a refresher course on how to use the shotgun
...knowing that so many geographically close to us lost so much

The best parts:
...testing out our survival/emergency preparedness plans
...more sleep due to earlier bedtimes
...a clean refrigerator
...time to read my Southern Living, Better Homes and Gardens, and Family Handyman magazines.
..."smoritos" over an open flame
...phone calls from loved ones making sure we were ok
...eating by candlelight
...sitting around the firepit together as a family and actually being able to see the stars.
...a brief respite from powerlessness in Birmingham on Sunday, along with some clean laundry and hot showers
...the peaceful spirit at the outdoor sacrament meeting Sunday morning
...knowing that we still have each other, and our home

Through all of the chaos I didn't think to take pictures except for these ...

Thursday morning after our first night with no power, I went out to the grill to make breakfast and saw my peony plant beginning to bloom. All of the rain from the day of tornadoes had given it just enough to quench its thirst and bloom.

Like a breath of fresh air after the storms.



And by Friday, we were starting to feel icky. Cliff was brave enough to take a cold shower, since he had to go to work. Just the sound of his reaction to the cold was enough to deter me from EVER doing that. He sounded like he was being stabbed repeatedly. I heated up some water on the grill and then made a luke warm bath for CJ in the sink. Then the girls and I each took our little bit of warm water for sponge baths.



Easter pictures for Grandma.









Feeling grateful to be alive with my family and my home intact. Praying for those who weren't as fortunate.