Home for the Hurricane...

We got to escape Long Island, and fly home to Utah until our power was restored at our home.  I have to say - we had a blast!  Riding horses with the DeHarts, bowling with the Kringlens, Jungle Jim's and Hire's with the Batemans, walks and lunch with my mom and sisters, dinner with the "other Lindsay", lunch with high school friends, a fresh foot of snow, and lots and lots of cousin time!  It was heaven.  I missed my man, who was camping out in our cold, dark house, and was anxious to get home, despite all our fun.  Utah never disappoints, and we were so fortunate to be able to flee to such a great state to spend time with such amazing people.

 Finnley and Carter

My crazy mom and sisters. 

"Lindsay's" 

Warm bath for the Remm-ster. 

 Dieter rockin' Finn's old pink snow outfit, and Finnley rockin' my old snow outfit. 

Can you say 80's!?

Since we came into town, my mom quickly got all the grandkids together for a pictures.  With the fresh snow, it was the perfect picture.  Love this group!

Sandy...

We started hearing rumors of a hurricane several days before it hit.  I picked up extra propane, batteries, water, food and other supplies on Friday, and by Saturday the shelves were bare.  The wind started picking up Sunday and schools and hospitals were closed in anticipation of "Superstorm Sandy".  We really didn't know what to expect.  We weren't nervous, but more excited about the oncoming storm.  Monday, we made or final preparations and started to feel the storm hit.  We were outside for a bit surveying the storm surge (we live on the Long Island Sound) and started to hear branches breaking and figured we'd better stay inside from then on.  We lost power at about 3pm on Monday and didn't get it back for 10 days!  We are on a well, so that meant no water either.  Bummer.  We had to fill up our bath tub ahead of time, so we could use that water to flush the toilet.  We used our 5 gallon jugs to cook, brush teeth, etc.  It was inconvenient, but, to be honest, the whole thing was a memorable adventure that I actually enjoyed.  

The day the storm hit, Monday, we had planned on carving pumpkins for Family Home Evening.  Since we had no power, we pulled out the candles and carved by candle light.  The kids loved it.  They actually thought the whole experience was quite a party!  Fires every morning and night, cooking on the camp stove, all sleeping together in the family room with the rest of the house blocked off with blankets, wearing layers and layers of clothing, showering at the gym or friend's homes that had generators...it was one awesome indoor week of camping as far as they were concerned.  

It wasn't until the temperatures started dropping the following weekend, and word of another storm, a NorEaster, that we started to get concerned...especially for our little Remmy.  She wouldn't sleep in my sleeping bag, and she was so chilly all alone in her pack n' play.  I had her layered up so much that she couldn't bend her arm to put her thumb in her mouth.  Pretty funny, but sad at the same time. 

 Our friends, the Hughes, stopped by Tuesday morning to make sure we were okay.  We ventured out with them to survey some of the damage.  There were trees down all over the place, but luckily, none around our home had fallen. Next, we jumped in our car and drove around - where we could - and took pictures of the damage.  The pictures don't do it justice.  The trees that had fallen were huge, old trees, and they were all laying on our power lines.  No wonder it took them so long to get everyone their power back.  Our area didn't get the flooding that the South shore got, which was a huge blessing.  

Halloween, which was two days after the storm hit, was cancelled which was such a bummer.  I got my kids dressed up and sat them on our stairs and took some pictures.  It was pretty uneventful, but memorable in it's own right.

Well, long story short, after a week without power and word of another storm, my dad saved the day by flying me and my three kids out to Utah.  The flights were empty, since nobody was flying into New York, and we were able to get a flight out the next day.  Mitch had to stay for work, and I felt so bad knowing he was all alone in that cold, dark, house.  

Below are a few pictures we took on our one street.

So, that was our experience with Superstorm Sandy in a nutshell.  Glad we experienced it, glad we were okay.

Trunk-or-Treat...

This year, Halloween was one we won't soon forget.  Due to Hurricane Sandy, most of the Halloween festivities were cancelled.  Due to trees and power lines down in the streets, it was too dangerous (and dark) to trick-or-treat.  Thank goodness our ward decided to have the Trunk-or-Treat a few days before Halloween.  It was pretty much the only Halloween our kids had this year.

Finnley dressed up as Princess Jasmine, Dieter was a Dragon (for the night, a Tiger for the rest of the festivities), and Remmy Ruth was the cutest little Octopus.

We had fun going from room to room with our kids and their ward friends, enjoying soups, and homemade root beer.  Happy Halloween!