Hurricane Winds

So just as Nate predicted (I'm sure he had a little help with the weather man :)), we were hit with some pretty crazy, hurricane, strong winds this Thursday!!  Who would have thought that WIND (just wind) could do SO MUCH!! 

The kids all woke up early to the blowing.  Especially the boys. Apparently their room is not very well insulated in the window area... they actually had posters that blew off their walls!  (They even have window screens, so I was surprised!)  So they made their way down to my bed pretty early in the morning.  I call it mine because Nate had already moved to the couch thanks to Erika.  

The tiny little window in my room didn't let much of the noise into my room, so it was hardly noticeable.  Nate told me about the wind when he was getting ready to go to work, and THANKFULLY we still had my Mom's car, so I didn't have to either load up all the kids in that crazy wind, so early in the morning, OR have to leave them to freak each other out while I took Nate.... it was a huge blessing.  Nate also informed me that the power was out.  That was a surprise.  I laid there in bed thinking of all the things that would not work, and I assumed since the wind was so strong, it would be a while.  

This is the point where I realized I am not pregnant.  My heart always just sinks.  It was weird this time, because other than a little unusual heartburn, I had very little reason to think I would be.  But being 2 days late I guess just pushed me over the edge of wondering again.  I don't know how that happens.  We haven't been trying long, but I can see why people who do have to try for a long time can get so discouraged!  I remember this every month during the long 9 months it took to get pregnant with Noah.  It's hard for me.  And I'm sure I sound stupid to some people, with my six kids, worrying about getting pregnant.  I don't care though, that's really how I feel.  I know there are more little people waiting to come to our family, and that thought makes me happy.  It feels like time to me, we just have to wait until Heavenly Father and those little spirits are ready.  I can be patient.  I know I can!   But at that moment, I was just sad.

I had been pretty anxious for my day since Thursday is normally my cleaning/laundry day.  It's the day that I recover the house from all my days of sitting around with my Sweetie :).  So the power outage kind of put a damper on all my plans for the day.  It was easy to look at the bright side, sitting around playing games with my kids sounded much more fun than cleaning and laundry.  Not to mention the pain I was in.  I seriously took 3 ibuprofen, and 3 tylenol, together, and they barely touched the pain!  

So I started getting my sights set on relaxing!  I wondered what would happen with the school once I found out that the power was out clear up to my Dad's house.  But we continued getting ready for school.  Not long after it went off, the power came back on.  That was a little bit of a let down, if I may be so bold as to say it.  I was sort of looking forward to my fun day of not doing work.  Course I have to admit, I never really did get my motivation to clean back.  It was pretty much gone all day.

Walking out to the car with everyone was a real treat :).  I couldn't stop laughing.  The wind was blowing SO HARD!!!  I think they said around 84 mph at that point.  Cute, Kelly was carrying Erika and I swear the wind picked them up and carried them over to the car!  But they made it!  Noah was crying pretty hard.  The big kids are awesome in these situations.  They switch into disaster mode :).  That's what I call it.  Where they're all anxious to help, their senses are heightened, seriously, if we're ever in a REAL emergency, I know I can count on them!  They think of EVERYTHING, and say it!  It's a lot like me actually.  I love emergencies :).  But anyway :).

As we got out to the car, Brad's friend Jackson's Mom pulled up.  (sorry, I can't remember her name right now, I'm horrible with my kids' friends' moms' names!)  She was so nice to stop and let us know that she had been up to the school and they were sending people away since the power was out and according to them, it's against Fire Code Regulations to have the kids in the school when the power is out.  I wondered why, since I remembered being at school when the power was out, but I'm ALL for a day off!  So after a little fretting from Kelly, she was going to miss a field trip, we hopped out of the car and went back inside.  

This is always an awkward time for us.  The kids love school so much that staying home is not their favorite.  I, on the other hand, love having my kids home!  So I was happy :).  They made their way downstairs and I thought I'd let them veg for a bit.  The day was pretty interesting from that point on though!

I found myself sitting and watching the wind a LOT!  It was SO WINDY!!  We noticed our neighbor's HUGE pine tree had fallen over.  Then we looked up the street and saw ambulances and police cars.  It was pretty strange!  I was so worried that some of our old trees would fall and possibly hit the house.  

We had the radio on most of the day and listened to all the disaster that was happening around our small little county.  Port-a-potties blowing away, semis tipping over on the freeway, shingles from Davis High impaling vehicles in the parking lot, a UofU student being picked up and dropped, Trampolines on the freeway!  It was all so crazy!!  Exciting too, in a way (since we weren't the ones dealing with all the torment I guess).  

Later in the morning my Dad called to see if he could come down and use our internet.  His power was still out and so was most of Davis County.  Most of our friends, even in the ward, close by here, were still without power!  They kept saying on the news that it could be 48 hours before the power would come back on.  I was SO grateful that we still had power and said several prayers of gratitude.  I kept wanting to help everyone who didn't have power!  It was so frustrating to me that it was difficult to communicate with them.  

The kids had a blast playing with Grandpa Hatch and then shortly after that, Sarah and her boys came over too.  They had been without power all morning and were frozen little popsicles by the time they got here.  

We all just kept busy all day.  Played some games (since I'd gotten my heart set on it ;) ).  I still feel kinda bad that I wasn't a better hostess at the time.  I was dealing with so much pain, it was rediculous.  I kept thinking, 'when it blows, it pours'.... yeah, that's kind of disgusting, sorry.  TMI.  But I really was hurting. 

I wish I'd taken more pictures and documented more, but I did get some when things settle down a little....

Later on in the day, after Nate came home, we started making plans with several people to have them overnight.  My Mom and Simon were planning on coming over.  The Holleys in our ward.  We secretly hoped that Brent and Sarah would change their minds and just stay :) and Grandpa and Steve.... I got started on dinner. 

And then just minutes after I pulled the dinner out of the oven.... our power went out.  UGH.  As much as I like emergencies and disaster situations, I was slightly bummed that it would happen then.  Right when I am finally able to help someone. It was however, a HUGE blessing that it didn't happen until AFTER the dinner was cooked!  That really couldn't have been better timing.  It's times like those that I KNOW I have a Heavenly Father and that he loves me and knows my needs and wants.  It gives me chills when I think about it.  

So we ate our dinner in the light of our cheap little latern.  And Kelly's flashlight ;).  And then ran around the house like crazy people looking for all of our flashlights and batteries.  I say this everytime we have a power outage, but WHY CAN'T WE JUST KEEP THEM ALL IN ONE PLACE AND NOT PLAY WITH THEM!!!!!  But it never really helps to say that either.  We got some fun in-the-dark-with-flashlights fun in, and then the kids were "bored".  As if they're supposed to be entertained during a power outage!  It was funny.  My Mom and Simon came just after our power went out and spent the time they were here, calling hotels and trying to find a different place to stay.

Sarah and her boys found out that their house might be getting warm before the night was over and wanted to get a head start on their camping trip in the dark, so they left. 

We did make sure to do some strobe light dancing :)  I got pictures, but obviously you can't tell it was even dark....

Not long after that, while we were in the middle of the Polar Express book, the power came back on!  I have to admit I was very relieved.  It's funny how hard it is to put kids to bed when the power is out.  I never like doing that.  I probably would have let them stay up listening to books all night.

The power being on wasn't convincing enough to my Mom, she insisted that she go to a Hotel.  Charity was SO bummed.  She tried so hard to convince Grandma to stay.  The kids had been through several ideas of several different people POSSIBLY staying the night and I think she saw this as her last chance.  I don't blame her.  I hate the calling things off part of life.  Disappointment.  So anyway, they left.  

By then it was really time for bed.  We had scriptures and thanked Heavenly Father for our electricity and our safety.  Then got the kids in bed.

They were all unusually tired!

Friday morning was kind of nice, we knew that school had been cancelled, so we were able to relax.  I let the kids have the day off from jobs, and we all just bummed around.

Around 10:30, Bradley, Kelly, Erika and I left to take my Mom to the Doctor.  And after that, we drove around looking at the wreckage from the day before.  It really was incredible to see how much 90 mph winds can do to a city!!  

I wanted to post some of the pictures I took, not to seem insensitive, but just to document it all.  It's really sad to me that some of these trees were standing during the pioneer times, and some of them were trees that people grew up with and got very attached to.  I personally do not have a tree like that in my life, but I can imagine it would be a huge let down.  It really is crazy to me how fragile our world is.  And how easily it can be disturbed.  We really do need to put our trust, and faith in our Father and Heaven and know that He is in charge.  He holds all the cards!  I'm glad he does.  So anyway, here are some of the things we saw.

our neighbors down the street- lost their siding!

Street light blew off!

My Dad's house.  But now we know why there's always so many hornets nests up there!  He has holes in his house!

This was my "favorite"... the tree is almost as big as the house!!!

here's the side view of it

And teh other sideview

That really is just INCREDIBLE to me!  

And even more amazing was how much of it they had chopped up by the time we drove home from my Mom's not even 2 hours later!  In fact a LOT of the trees we saw had already been taken care of, and it was just the stump and roots left, or the hole in the ground.

one of the few non-pine trees we saw.

Lots of store signs took a toll.

our poor little Common Cents Station!

Now that would just stink.  Thankfully most people have Home Owners Insurance I guess.... ugh.

Now that would just be strange!  What do you do with a tree like that!

  

We still need to get a picture of the few trees in our yard that did break, not blow over, but I haven't  yet.  

It wasn't all wreckage though!!  We actually had some really funny things happen in the wind.... 

1. our leaves in the front yard.... the ones that had been COVERING our front lawn for the last week or so.... the ones we had been putting off raking for days.... were gone :).  So nice.  (I try not to think about where they ended up :).... but they weren't our problem anymore ;))

and

2.  the patio in the back yard.

it's a little hard to see in this picture with the sun shining, but the wind swept our patio into a nice little pile!  And if you could see it in person you'd see just how cleanly swept it was!!!  I really was amazed :)  And delighted to see it!   

It wasn't all bad.  For us anyway.

More business for the Tooth Fairy! YAY for Kelly!

No, that big space in Kelly's mouth was not a result of our hurricane strong winds, those pictures will be in our next post...

Kelly had some teeth growing in BEHIND her top teeth, so she had to have them all pulled!

She was so brave at the Dentist.  Excited almost!  Something about catching up with Brad....  her little brother had lost six teeth and she only two, so this was a huge accomplishment, FOUR IN ONE DAY!!

I was so worried that she was going to be hurting and in so much pain after, but she insisted that she go back to school so that she could show her class.  Nate and I even stalled a little by getting lunch at Wingers and then stopping at the store for some things.  But the pain never really started, and she went back to school with a wave of her hand and a cheerful smile.  Crazy little girl.  I had to call her teacher to make sure she would let her call me if anything started to hurt.  She was just as surprised as me to hear that she wanted to come back.... But that's just how Kelly rolls...

Congratulations Kelly!  

The Tooth Fairy must have had to break her piggy bank open because she paid Kelly a WHOPPING $5.00 for those four teeth!  Kelly says she got more because she had to pull them at the Dentist..... I wish the Tooth Fairy would have given ME the extra money so that I could use it to pay the Dentist!  HA!  Just kidding.  

Good times.  Good job, Kelz!  You're my hero!

Two Days Late

So I know this is early to say anything, and last month I was two days late too, but I'm just so anxious!  I feel like I can't think about anything else.  We've been "trying" for a baby for a couple months now, since we finally both agreed that it felt like the right time.  So not long, but it still kills me every time I am late!  I'm sure it will feel like the end of the world if I do start.  That's okay, I'm pretty used to that.  With most of my pregnancies I have had a "false alarm" of sorts.  Where I am thinking/feeling like I am pregnant, then I'm late, and then I start just when I finally convince myself that I am.  It usually ends in tears.  I am always ready for another baby, and always anxious for them to come in those circumstances.  I have always felt like it was a chance to see just how I really would react to the news.  And at first I thought it was a way for Heavenly Father to know how I really felt, then after the obvious realization, came to the conclusion that it was more about me finding out how I felt myself.  But this last time, it occurred to me that maybe it's so that the sweet little Spirit who is choosing to come can know just how anxious I am.  I like that idea the best :).  I hope that whoever comes next (whether they are on their way or not) knows how anxious I am (and their dad for that matter!  I've never seen Nate this anxious this early on....).  I hope they hear our prayers for them to want to come, and for us to make our home worthy of them.  I love preparing a home for a new baby.  I love all that it entails.  The pregnancy part is not my favorite, but I think it's easier to handle when you think about the way it feels to NOT be pregnant when you want to be.  Ultimately it is up to the Lord.  He decides.  And whether I think it's time for a new baby or not, I need to put it all in the Lord's hands.  We've done our part, and will do our part, He will have to do the rest and it will have to be in His time.  He always knows what's best and things always go better when they happen in His time.  It's just being patient I guess.  So anyway.  My ramblings on the  matter :).

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas at our house!

Monday night was our big put up the Tree FHE.  We LOVE this one.  We did all our usual traditions with a picture of everyone with their ornament from Grandma Hatch.  She's given all the kids a "first Christmas" ornament with their birth year on it, so those are special ones.  I couldn't decide which picture to post.  I always like a few of the kids in one and the other few in another.... too bad I can't just be easy to please :)

This felt like the first time for Erika all over again.  I think she felt that too.  And it was fun that we could decorate the bottom half of our tree again!  She really got into it and acted like such a big girl the whole time.

Noah had a good time too, and felt relatively new at all of this as well.

Charity had fun helping the little ones a lot.  She also took a picture of every ornament she put up with her newly found camera.  That was fun to watch :)  

I liked how well it went this year.  Usually seems lots more chaotic.  Everyone waited their turn for the most part and I was able to unpack all of the ornaments in a relatively orderly fashion.  That is priceless in my opinion.  I was surprised at how few ornaments we had this year.... I mean, I guess I shouldn't say few, we have too many, but it's a lot less than past years.  I think we had a lot more casualties last year than I remembered, being that it was a hard floor and all.... anyway, I guess they can't last forever!

Bradley struggled a little this year, with wanting to be able to do more than I was letting him do.  So I put him in charge of one of the boxes of ornaments and let him pass them out with the hooks.  He did a great job.

Look at this adorable face :)

I let Nate man the camera this year.... he does some fun stuff.  This was my favorite.

This is one of our traditions that just kind of snuck up on us :).  We take turns putting the angel on the top.  It was Noah's turn this year.  I had to go check the blog to be sure, I couldn't remember, but he was so excited, and was very honored.  Charity did a drumroll and videotaped it all with her camera, so it must be special to her too :).  Fun stuff.

This is our other one... the Holiday Specs!  Still just so cool!

Here's our beautiful overdressed tree :)  We love it and that's all that matters :)  I know I'll miss the randomness of this tree one day... I just know it.

It was fun to put our stockings up again this year!  I love them so much more than the old ones!  It looks like so many when they're all strung up like that :)  I love it.  We went in birth month order this year.  Noah, Luke, Charity, Kelly, Nate, Bradley, Erika, and Me.  Fun stuff.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas at the Maynes' house!!!!!  YAY!!!

Luke for Thanksgiving

Usually the Kindergarteners get to have a Thanksgiving feast where they eat all the fixins at school in the cafeteria and it's all cool and they feel all grown up eating at school.  Well, this year they didn't get to do that because of something with SEP conferences (none of it really made sense to me and seemed like a poor excuse, but that's beside the point :) ), so they just had a little snack feast in their classroom instead.  But we were relieved to see that he still got to make the cool little paper headdress and the fun pasta necklace.  

I guess they're going to do the school lunch thing later in the Spring, but anyway, doesn't he look adorable!  I think my favorite thing he was thankful for was his back pack :).  

He's in his pajamas because that was when I finally managed to go through his back pack :)