Storms

We were prepared for Irene.  We had a week's notice to "batten down the hatches," so to speak.  We were ready, and the storm really wasn't that bad, but bad enough to leave us without power for 5 days.  Sunday--day one--was an exciting adventure, filled with lots of board games and family together time.  After that, it kind of went down hill, but the days were pleasant and mild, and we survived.  Dennis spent his birthday in the dark, but the day we fed the missionaries, our power returned mid-meal.  They seem to be good luck!

The Nor'Easter on October 28th was another matter.  We were not prepared.  In the years we've lived here, we've found that people tend to get worked up over oncoming snowstorms, and we have never bought into this philosophy.  However, it would have served us well this time!  Chiara had a Portfolio Day in West Hartford so she and I spent all day there, and drove home in a blizzard.  Dennis and the other kids spent the day getting ready for our ward's Trunk or Treat so no one worried about getting prepared for the storm.  Who Knew?! Thirty minutes after Chi and I arrived home the  power went out and stayed out for 9 more days!  It was a marathon of no power, no water.  Sheesh!  Cardon and I both spent our birthdays in the dark, (I did get a generator as a gift--the best present ever!)and our power came back on while we were cooking a meal for the missionaries!  Always invite the missionaries to dinner while you are in the middle of a days' long power outage.

This is our only (really bad) photo from Irene.  This is Sunday when we were having fun!

We awoke the morning after the Nor'Easter to trees down all around us.  We felt very blessed because there was a perfect circle of destruction around the house, but everything broke and fell straight down, bent in half, or fell away from the house.

We always judge a snow storm by how much snow is on the deck railing and grill.  

This was a crazy October storm! Can you say climate change?

The first day was fun.  After that, not so much.
Notice the power line hanging near the kids' heads!

We drove under this tree for 7 days!

Having a well is just ridiculous without power.  We had a 55 gallon barrel of water in the garage, and our kiddie swimming pool under the deck was full of rain water.  Chiara and Cardon got the honor of filling pitchers of water from the swimming pool to flush the toilets.  Yummy!
Hint:  Stock up on Clorox wipes, hand sanitizer and plastic utensils/paper plates. 
Heating water to wash and clean gets to be a big pain really quickly.

We spent a lot of time in front of the big front window. We are all better chess players, and I don't want to play Uno Attack again any time soon!On the plus side, we did grow closer together as a family--how can you not when you all sleep together in the same room to be near the fire?! We read our scriptures every day without fail--what was our excuse?! And we learned that you can do hard things!

First Day of School

My babies started another year of school.  I can never get over how fast it goes by!  They were supposed to start on August 31st but the Hurricane delayed the start until September 5th so everyone was really ready.

Cardon started 7th grade

Sis started her junior year

Emmy is a first grader!

Sox was bored with the whole thing!

Block Island

We always camp in Vermont over Labor Day Weekend but Hurricane Irene ruined our plans.  Vermont was devastated by flooding and all of the roads to Barnard were washed out so we had to go to Plan B.  The first winter we lived here I saw a commercial on tv for Block Island, a little island 12 miles off the coast of Rhode Island. I've wanted to go there since then but we never seem to find the time.  Now was the time and it was worth the wait.  We had a spectacular day. 

We rented bikes and rode around the island.  Em road on a tag-along behind Dennis's bike. 

I'm glad he got that job because I could barely pedal myself up and down the hills!

Dennis did have to take frequent breaks to check the USU/Auburn score.  

Right at this photo, the Aggies were about to give up their lead in the last 4 seconds of the game! (I'm not sure what I'm doing in the background?!)

We rode out to this very pretty lighthouse.

There were ice cream shops about every 50 feet and as you can see below, they were yummy!

This was right as we were returning the bikes, and as you can see, Em was tired! 

A late summer sunset in New England--beautiful!

Cardon taking in the view on the ferry ride back.  A great day!

The End of Summer

With just a few days until school would begin--or so we thought.  Hurricane Irene had other ideas! We took a trip down to Rocky Neck State Park with the Tibbitts, a family in our ward.  It was raining in Tolland so we didn't have high hopes for the day but it turned out great. It was cool and overcast and empty!  It's always a good day at the beach.

Em

Em and Jessica.  

 (I don't have any photos of the boys because they spent all day on the rock jetty catching crabs.)

 I left my camera home so these are Chiara's photos. 

The posed photo of sandals in the sand should be your first clue that I didn't take these!

Em

My cute girls

After the beach, we went to Mystic to eat ice cream and watch the drawbridge go up.

The ice cream on Cardon's face is a nice touch!

Mystic---I love you!

Summer Fun

Of course it wouldn't be summer without a month-long trip to Utah to catch up with family and friends and all of the Utah things we miss!

Bear Lake.  One of my favorite places on the planet. 
We spent time here with the Elwoods and the Griffins.

We stayed in a cabin near the lake for an Elwood family reunion.
This night we had just returned from seeing the play, "Who Shot Juanito Bandito?"
The Bandito mustaches were a hit!

Waiting for a tour of Minnentonka Cave

A group shot inside the cave.

We also rented a condo with the Griffins and spent another few days of fun!

Morgan and Em on the Waverunner

Baby Isaac was adopted by my sister Chantel in May. 
Isn't he delicious?!

Cardon felt the need for speed this year!

A majority of the Griffin cousins--one absent and two sleeping!

Indian Paintbrush---I love you!

We hiked up to the Limber Pine in Logan Canyon.

Siggghhhhh.  If anyone asked me to describe my home, this would be it!

A trip to Cache Valley wouldn't be complete without visiting the pigs!

Nothing is better in life than Cardon getting to go shoot critters with his cousin Nate. 
(Sorry, that's kind of  a gross photo!)

A trip to the Cache County Fair Rodeo. 
Good burgers and amateur cowboys--it doesn't get any better than that!

Van packed to the top and a mixture of smiles and frowns=the journey back to CT has begun!

A Return to the Blogging World

Well, last May I didn't have any intentions of giving up on blogging for one half of the year, but it seems as if I have!  Between  a stint as a Youth Conference cook, a trip to Utah, a new calling and 2 natural disasters within an eight-week time period, blogging has fallen way down my to-do list.  In fact, I haven't even read anyone's blogs in the same amount of time! (I hope you are all well!)
My kids keep asking me when I'm going to get back at it because they like to see themselves--so here I go.  I have a lot of catching up to do!
The first week in July I returned from Youth Conference, we sent Chiara off to Utah to play travel softball, and Dennis and Cardon went to Scout Camp for the week.  Here are some highlights:
Cardon's camp was in Narrowsburg, NY, and it was an all LDS camp from troops all over the Northeast, which was a great experience.

 Cardon, Matthew and Vincent with their favorite counselor ever! He is from a Native American tribe--which one escapes me at the moment--and his Indian name is Eeniemeeniedessaweenie!  Oh, my.  The boys loved that!

 When Dennis and Cardon entered the Mess Hall the first night, Dennis's old mission companion, who lives in Schenectady was there with his son!  Small world.  As you can see, it was REALLY rainy for the first 2 days!

 Bud spent a lot of time at the lake fishing and playing.

I LOVE this photo of my 2 favorite boys in the whole world!

Sis had an awesome season playing for the Cache Valley Vengeance.  She really got a lot of experience and made some super cute new friends.

Love this photo!

To be continued...Soon!