Derecho Aftermath

In keeping with the theme of "anything goes in 2020", the storm that we had last week was apparently a derecho, also known as an inland hurricane.  

We're about as inland as you can get, but we still experienced this 'line of intense, widespread, and fast-moving windstorms and sometimes thunderstorms that moves across a great distance and is characterized by damaging winds.'

This storm was nothing like we've experienced before, and there is proof of that all over Iowa.   I don't think we'll ever forget that weird line of low clouds that came charging toward us while we were at the park, running into Homemakers, and thankfully kept safe and protected from. 

Trees are snapped on every street, roofs are gone, corn is flattened, barns are crumpled, fences are toothpicks.  It's just a mess.

Four days after the storm a tree fell on the power lines and we were without power. I didn't panic, but our Ankeny friends were without power for over 100 hours- five days!- and I wasn't about to suffer through that.  Time to buy that generator we've been talking about!

Adam promptly made this sign when the power went out, and we listened to our friend's advice to take showers before the hot water disappeared and take the ice out of the fridge before it melted- smart!

There were some to choose from locally, but we decided a day with 90 degrees in the forecast and nothing on the calendar would be a perfect day to head south to Kansas City (which wasn't hit at all). 

That way we were able to hit up IKEA and Fritzies, too!

Somewhat ironically, we were planning to go to Kansas City in March for spring break, but then the world shut down and there was no such option.  Now, five months later we had the restaurant entirely to ourselves with a masked server and an owner who seemed very grateful that we were there.

And Noah, who was so sad that he didn't remember the last time we were there (understandably, he was only 18 months old!), gave this place two thumbs up! The kids all loved ordering their meals via the table phone and watching their food arrive at the table by way of a speedy little train!

It was a great and quick trip, and a perfect way to spend a day without electricity, which was back on by the time we got home to a pup who was very happy to see us. 

And since then, we've been dealing with the damage.  A quick drive our old house last week told me that the roof will have to be replaced, and the biggest maple, the honeycrisp apple tree and one of the buckthorns didn't survive the storm. So sad, but strangely not our problem anymore at all. 

At our new house we've been working on slowly chopping down, hauling and burning the trees a little bit every day.  We're learning the meaning of work around here like we never could have in Ankeny!

And the sun continues to rise and set and we keep moving forward.

And we're feeling the same sense of community and strength that we felt two years ago after the flood.  Work and meetings and church have been cancelled so that we can all help each other dig out from the latest Midwest force of nature.  Also, Iowans are amazing.

We are blessed, and we are thankful for it!

Be Mine

In the middle of this long and cold month, we had a great time celebrating our love for each other on Valentines Day!

I mustache you a question...

 Will you be

 my Valentine??

Nevermind expensive flowers and crowded restaurants, real love means mid-day snuggles (one of the best parts of winter!) 

 recaulking the kitchen backsplash, 

 a one-on-one date-

 in this case a bike ride in the rain to the grocery store.  What a big kid adventure!  The nervous face is because it was raining pretty good when they got out- Daddy to the rescue!

True love is twirling around with your Prince. 

 It's even a good puppy snuggle- she rested her head on me like a baby!

We are rich with love in this family!  And felt even more love with the Valentines sent over from our two favorite grandmas!  

Skiing in Utah

There was no way we could resist the chance to ski while we were in Utah this winter!  

Grandma was kind enough to take care of the pup for us so we could spend the whole day on the mountain.  Pictures really don't do any justice to the beauty of the Rocky Mountains up close.

Jason and I had been promising/threatening to take the whole family skiing while we were there, and for a while I really thought that only Adam (the best of the bunch last year) would join us.  There is plenty of fun to be had at Grandma's house without "suffering" through a day of falling down a mountain, but in the end, Leah, Emma, and Noah all decided that they wanted to give skiing another try.

And, spoiler alert, they ALL did AMAZING!  We chose to go to Brighton because they had a great deal on a beginner lift ticket and the gentle slopes were a perfect fit for our second-year beginners!

Emma, having forgotten how slippery skis are and how exactly to control them, was super nervous the first time down but quickly realized that she was the boss of the mountain.  By the end of the day she was skiing down the mountain with her arms in the victory pose, and Emma and Leah were racing up and down and up and down the mountain while the rest of us tried to keep up!

Leah realized that she had grown a full year older and more confident since the "it's my first day" skin instructor fail of 2018 and she owned her skis this year.  Brighton had a perfect beginner lift that we spent most of the day on, and she had a great time actually enjoying skiing this year, rather than getting hurt and feeling afraid like last year.  Also, when Adam, Emma, and Noah were in tears/panic the first run down because they forgot what to do, Leah enjoyed stepping up and reminding them how it's done.  I appreciated that too!

Noah, sweet little Noah, spent his day in between Daddy's skis.  So three cheers for Daddy's big muscles that took many trips down the mountain with four skis, two poles, and one very trusting buddy.  They only had one big fall, and thankfully neither of them got hurt.  

And Adam enjoyed a second-year ski adventure with plenty of runs and turns and minimal falls.  He was sweet to wait for his siblings to catch up at several points of each run, and always encouraged everyone to go a little farther and have fun!  Skiing is his thing!

 

 And ski lift selfies aren't really anyone's thing, but they're fun to take anyway!

 

 

 Photo bomber!

 Ready for another run! 

 The kids were doing so great on the beginner slopes that we decided to take on a green/blue trail after lunch.  It surely couldn't have been that much harder than the green trail we spent the morning on.... but the steep incline at the end of the long lift ride up made me wonder what exactly was waiting for us at the top of the mountain.

It turns out what was waiting for us was the real ski slopes- the kind I probably started skiing as a teenager, but certainly not as a child- complete with dark snowy clouds, a trail map that had to be studied, a path to be decided on, black diamonds to be avoided, and panicked kids and a husband that all looked at me and asked how the heck we were going to get down this mountain.  One turn at a time, I said, but it wasn't quite enough to convince anyone that this was a good idea.  Including me.  

Eventually we made our way down the long winding trail- this was where Jason and Noah had their big fall- and Emma was pretty much done at this point, so it was a slow moving effort but they did it!  It was a hard thing, but Morales's do hard things and we made it!  Complete with bones intact and bragging rights to boot.  After another dozen runs down the true beginner trail to restore their confidence and a frozen Emma, Leah, and Noah retired to the lodge while Jason, Adam and I tackled the big slopes one more time.  

I wanted to take more videos and pictures of the whole day, but it was so cold- 2 degrees!- and I didn't have my tech gloves on.  But I did take one video of my ski buddy!

He stuck with me all the way to the last run of the day,  

when we made our way down the now super icy green-ish, blue-ish trail one more time.  There is nothing quite like skiing in the quiet of the mountains. 

 And all of our goals were exceeded for the day- everyone had fun, everyone felt proud of their efforts, no one got hurt or quit, and we got to spend a great day together making memories on the mountain!