Black out Springfield

In light of everything going on in Japan, this recent inconvenience hardly seems worth talking about...but it did make for an interesting Sunday. At about 2:00 in the afternoon on Sunday, we got a massive windstorm. We knew it was bad because the rain was coming down sideways. The lights began to flicker and then, they were gone. We didn't think too much of it until 2 hours later, the power was still out. So, we went on a drive to explore.

Casey (in his single days) used to live in this little trailer park. This is a Mercedes, smashed in 2 by a giant tree. In other parts of Springfield, 100 year old trees had come crashing down. See, the problem with Oregon is that trees don't have to grow their roots very far to find water. As a result, they are pretty weak when heavy winds start to blow. I think there's a Gospel metaphor in there right? Grow your roots deep in the Gospel so that you can withstand the winds of the adversary? See...Family home evening lesson, right there!

(So glad no one was inside that car)

We had Chicken and dumplings half cooked in the crockpot when we lost power. So, I threw that crockpot in the fridge and we had soup, sandwiches and cold cereal for dinner. (we have a gas stove so we can still use it without electricity) The girls were strangely excited about the whole thing. They especially liked playing games by lantern. The lights came on about 9:00 that evening. Unfortunately, we forgot to go turn the lights off after the power went out so when they came on, all the bedroom lights roared to life as the kids were sleeping. :)

Seven hours without power helped us to remember the extreme suffering going on in Japan. I can't imagine what they are going through over there.

Anyway, here's our last week of excitement!