76 hours later.......

Hurray! After more than 76 hours, we finally have our power back on!

The Power is Out!!!

Friday was an incredible weather day here in Omaha. Wind was up to 100 miles per hour, and the hail was marble size. Our cars and home came away unscathed, but some of our neighbors weren't so lucky. Here in Village Green, there were a lot of branches down, and at least six very large trees. As of this moment, our house has been without power for about 46 hours. The other side of our street had their power back yesterday, and a neighbor was kind enough to let us run an extension cord from their house to ours. So our fridge is plugged in, and Dave ran a cord downstairs for temporary computer use. We are a little worried about blowing the fuse, and also don't want to take advantage of our kind neighbors, so we are using it minimally. I was grateful to be able to flat iron my hair for church(last night by candlelight), and especially to have the fridge running. After the storm hit, Dave ran to a service station for large bags of ice that kept our food cold for the first 24 hours. We are really hoping to have power in the next day or two. At the peak of the storm OPPD (our power company) had 126,000 customers without power, and by yesterday afternoon they were down to around 67,000 (the numbers could be higher as lots of people hadn't reported theirs yet, us included). All they told everyone yesterday is that it could be days not hours until everyone had their power back on. There is a cable down in the building next to ours, that runs to our building, so we know it will be a while. There are blessings in all of this, like no one was injured. Our cars didn't get dented. Our home wasn't touched. The temperature has been unseasonably cool the last couple of days (especially important without the AC working). We felt prepared even in case of something greater. Here are some pictures. I have to note that I didn't take these pictures. I had to borrow them from my friends blogs.

Some of the hail

A pine tree at the playground

Assessing some of the damage More trees down After the storm it seemed as though everyone was out, walking about, surveying the damage.

LeAnn's Booties

I am not crafty what-so-ever, so I have to show off the talents of others. These cute little booties were made by my sister-in-law LeAnn. They are absolutely beautiful. Doesn't Grace look adorable in them? Here is a close up. I just love them!!! Thanks so much LeAnn!!!!

Catching up......

Just thought I would mention that I am getting caught up on my posting this week as I am supposed to be taking it easy. My posts are a little out of order, and I will sort them chronologically in a few days. I figured I should leave the current ones on the front page to make it easier to see them.

The love of my life.....

I meant to have this up for Father's Day, but didn't quite succeed.

Dave is the love of my life. He is really my favorite person in the whole world. Dave is the person that I enjoy being around more than anyone else. Being far from family has really helped us depend on each other more, and grow closer as a couple.

Dave is the most self-disciplined person I know. If he sets a goal, he accomplishes it. He is extremely motivated and determined. One examples of following through and accomplishing is his excellence in school. In his entire life he has turned in every single homework assignment on time. Never missed one. Not a single one. To my family, this is absolutely stunning (Except for April, the Evans' are an intelligent family of procrastinating academic slackers). He takes all of his responsibilities seriously, and does what needs to be done when it needs to be done.

Dave couldn't be a better Dad. When Dave and I began dating seriously, Mitchell was only 6 months old and was not sleeping through the night. To help me out, and I think just because he thought Mitchell was adorable, Dave started taking Mitchell home for the night every Friday night. Dave loves to play with his kids. When the Dental school had an early day last year Dave and a friend were at the playground setting up a zipline and giving all the kids turns. Most Saturdays he is out helping the kids ride bikes, scooters, rollerblades, or playing frisbee. Besides playing, he is the bike fixer for all the neighbor kids(well, fixer of everything for lots of adults too). Dave is the only unicycle rider here in Village Green, which makes him the Official Coolest Dad on the Block to the kids. As my neighbor says, her boys think Dave poops gold (that is taking it a little far). I love that Dave still has so much boy left in him. Besides being a fun dad, he is a great helper to me. I remember a few Mother's Days when I was so overwhelmed with gratitude to him. Dave really co-parents in every way, which makes mothering so much easier and more enjoyable to me. People ask me all the time how I do it with 5 kids. Dave is the secret. Without him, I couldn't do it. He changes diapers, even poopy ones; puts the boys to beds most nights; makes dinner a few nights a week......

It might sound like he is perfect, which he is, for me anyway. I love you Dave!

Here are some of the few pictures we have of Dave through the years....

It appears that the bumps on my kids heads are inevitable. It just runs in the family.

Dave's family: Lynne, Mark, Kathryn, Russ, Christine and Dave.

Dave's dad Ralph, Dave, and his brother Russ.

Showing off his rythm

The Taylor family: Dave, Christine, Ralph, Georgie, Lynne, Mark, Kathryn, Russ

Lauritzen Gardens Kid's Structure

The Lauritzen Gardens are right next to our townhouses. We have had a membership for nearly a year and haven't really taken advantage of it the way we should. This summer they opened a special temporary exhibit called the Kid's Structure. Our friends, the Rasmussen's, came with us and we went down the day of Mitchell's class field trip. We met his class at the Kid's Structure.

Isaac and Riley

Isaac, Mitchell and Riley

Isaac pretending to be a BeeIsaac, Ben, Mom and Riley Isaac, Sadie and Riley

Sadie, Parker, Bonnie, Isaac, Ben, Mindy and Riley Sadie, Bonnie and Parker (who is ready for a nap now).

We love Grandma! Grandma Ginger came to visit and help with the kids and Baby Gracie. Riley got to help her husk the corn. He's quite the helper! Grandma Ginger, Gracie and Ben having lunch outside. Gracie in the blanket that I(Mindy) came home from the hospital in.

Grandma and Gracie. I love the furrowed brow.

Gracie, one week.

Mitchell and Gracie