And Then The Lights Went Out

Hey friends! There has been a lot of stuff going on here. Last weekend was Easter weekend
 We knew things would be different because of the pandemic, but we couldn't have had any idea of the weirdness that was about to take place. First let me set the scene up for you.

I couldn't resist making the kids a little Easter treat, even Caleb got a goodie bag. 

One thing that has helped our sanity is a daily late afternoon walk to the river with my mom and Toby. He hates being on a leash. Makena gets the chore of handling him...he listens to her best! It's nice to get out and release those endorphins. Who couldn't use a little dose of happy at a time like this?!

A sweet church member also put these treats in our mailbox for the kids. 

And this was our Easter picture for 2020.

It was pouring rain all morning long. Our services were moved indoors, despite the pandemic.  There were less than. 30 of us, so we were able to spread out. I wouldn't have normally worn something like this for Easter but it isn't exactly like we could go shopping.  Jesus didn't care what we wore anyway.  It's all about the heart for Him!

Of course my mom got all of the grandkids (and Caleb) Easter treats also. 

Extra is a word that describes her best. 

We also celebrated Caleb's birthday on Easter. He is such a sweetheart and treats Carlie so well and he can talk Harry Potter with Makena, and he puts up with Trey calling him scooter. I'd say he's a keeper 😉  But really, he's a good guy.

Trey and Toby. Double trouble.

Toby was acting strange all morning. We couldn't figure it out. Now we think he was sensing what was coming later that night.

The sun came out and it looked like a nice but chilly afternoon. We tried to take a nap but ended up having some visitors. Caleb left around 8:30 to go home and my mom started blowing up my phone about watching the weather. So we did, and that is why we ended up here:

At my parents house in the shower with the dog. He wouldn't leave my side. I walked out on the sun porch when the electricity went out to put my call in to First Electric (not knowing the scale of the damage) and Toby was right by my side. Carl told me to get back in the house away from the windows before we ended up like Dorothy and Toto.

 We left around 10 pm when the storm subsided.  There was a tree partially over the road to our house and lots of little limbs everywhere but it was dark and we couldn't see the damage...we also had no electricity, house phone (yes we still have one), or cell phone service. We had no idea exactly how bad it was. I am thankful that our house was not damaged and that my family is safe. By Monday we were starting to learn more. Both of the main towns close to us were without electricity and were pretty much shut-down until late Tuesday.  We are running on a generator right now and I am thankful for that. We had to go about 30 miles to get gas for the generator on Tueaday and on Wednesday we went to Little Rock to get some of Carlie's things from the apartment and we had to take a shower. No stanky people here! The good news of the day was that our wifi was back up and so was our house phone service! I was able to wash some clothes and hang them on the line. Honestly, if I had hot water, I'd be alright. I just need to wash dishes and take a shower. Caleb has said we can use his shower (he has electricity now), but I hate to do that unless I have to (and that is still 20 miles away). The meteorologist are saying that we had 80-110 mph. winds (that's hurricane force). There is also more bad weather coming in this weekend. I know things can always be worse. 

We have our basic needs met. Carl has a job. We got our stimulus 😂. 

We are healthy. Reminding myself of my blessings helps. 

Life had already gotten super crazy in a months time. We were bumping along, mildly affected.

 And then the lights went out.

Much Love, 

Beth