Winter Storm Ulysses: A White "Christmas" in March

Yay! My internet is finally back up! Things seem to be getting back in order around my neck of the woods...literally. I say this with all sincerity and compassion to my friends and neighbors who lost many, many trees and electrical power for what must have seemed like endless days (some are still without) due to Ulysses, a crazy ice storm that hit our area in North Carolina last Friday.  Fortunately for us, we were at our cabin in Fancy Gap, VA. It seems as though we are not quite finished with winter yet!



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For those of you who read my last post about the baby doll, you might remember that we had our Birthdays/ Christmas/Valentine's/Easter get together with our son and his sweet family who live near Nashville this past weekend. We often meet at the cabin since it is a short drive for us and saves them about 2 hours on their trip. We knew they were forecasting a wintry mix for our area and were concerned about it interfering with our plans. We were traveling towards the northwest...and the storm was coming from the southwest and we literally criss-crossed it on our way and made it to the cabin just in time to see a light snow starting to fall. The Nashville Bunch were enroute but still a few hours away. I had a feeling that they may be taking a midnight hike. I was right. The sound of spinning tires woke me up as I sat dozing in the chair awaiting their arrival. After giving it that old college try, my determined son gave up, gathered up his crew and everything they could carry and made their way up two steep inclines, otherwise known as the "driveway from h---".

It snowed all that night and all day on Friday...about six inches of soft, fluffy snow gently fell out of the sky. Although it was unexpected, the kiddos (including the big ones) were thrilled! It was the perfect snow for the perfect white Christmas that we didn't have on December 25th! Bring on the hot cocoa and cider! I even made another batch of snow cream, something that none of them had ever tasted. They loved it! I know that everyone is sick of snow but please just humor me...one more time :)

So, while enjoying our winter wonderland, we became aware through phone calls...no TV or internet available except for my son's iphone (I still have a dumb phone)— that our neighborhood looked like a war zone. It seemed Ulysses dumped a ton of freezing rain, snapping trees and power lines leaving thousands upon thousands without power. We had five trees fall across our cul-de-sac and a few more across the driveway. We were very happy to be where we were but I have to admit a part of my heart was suffering along with our friends and neighbors.

So...celebrate we did! The kiddos were thrilled with their gifts. Parker thought he had died and gone to heaven with the Erector Set we gave him...

...and you should have seen Olivia's eyes light up when she saw the baby doll. Right away, she named her "Joey". Well...Joey can be a girl's name too, right?

Both she and her mommy fell in love with her...I think I should have gotten one for her too! I think Olivia's mommy is going to be pretty protective over Baby Joey! Everyone got in on the bonding...even her daddy :)

Saturday we handed out Valentine's goodies and most of snow had melted by the late afternoon. Sunday was another spring-like day melting any leftover snow and we had an Easter egg hunt! You might as well get in all you can, when you can, right? Crazy, crazy weather! I was so busy with the egg hunt, I failed to have my camera handy...I could just kick myself!

Knowing that we would be returning to a dark, cold house was not how we had intended on ending our weekend....but you know what? We only had to suffer through one night since our power was restored on Monday afternoon. Many people are still without and I feel blessed but am praying that everyone's will soon be restored. All in all, God is good and it was a super fun weekend!

Have a great rest of the week!