Day 17: our house

I am thankful for our house.

(I think I need to take an updated picture. Our yard looks much better now, 2 years later.)

 A big thunderstorm came through our city today, and there were tornados nearby. We didn't get hit too hard at our house, but we were a little nervous for a bit. We had just gotten home from church/choir practice and finished eating some lunch. It was getting pretty windy outside. And then it started raining hard and we could see lightning. And then it got REALLY windy and I could barely see out of our windows. It almost reminded me of the time there was a small tornado by our house in St. Louis. When the sirens came on, Mckay and I looked at each other and we knew it was time to run for the shelter of our bathroom. Having no basement here, the bathroom is our safest choice. We've recently put together some 72 hour emergency kits, so I knew right where the flashlights and other important things were. I reluctantly grabbed the sleeping Connor from his bed and met Dallin and Mckay in the bathtub. Dallin was confused about what we were doing and was a little nervous. (Remember, he's good at sensing people's emotions.) I very calmly told him that there was a big storm outside with lots of rain and wind, so we were being extra careful and hanging out in the bathroom for a while because it was safe in there. Mckay told him that as long as we were all together we would be fine.

The rain and wind left almost as quickly as it had come. And we left the bathroom after 10 minutes. The sun was already coming out and there was no visible damage outside, no fallen trees. Other places in town were not so lucky. A Middle School had the walls blown off the gymnasium. The Elementary School where Dallin attends preschool (which is right next door to that Middle School) has some roof damage and broken windows. As a result, school is cancelled tomorrow. The Subaru Plant (which provides a large chunk of the jobs here) had some damage and has cancelled some shifts for Monday. Some nearby roads (like 2-3 miles away) are closed because of debris. Many of our friends were without power for some time.

This is a picture that a local man took from downtown today. This was about 5 miles from our house.

I am very grateful that we did not get any damage to our house. I'm grateful that we have a wonderful home to shelter us and keep us safe.

 Some cities a few hours away sustained a lot more damage and homes were destroyed. I can't imagine how difficult that would be. Beyond the obvious difficulty of not having your house to live in anymore, I would be devastated to loose everything inside our house.

I love the home that we've built here. I'm so grateful that we get to live in it. I'm grateful that we were protected during the storm yesterday.