John's 1st Halloween

Halloween is really not a favorite holiday of mine. I especially detest all the horror that is celebrated on this day and can't understand why people like it. However, this year I did delight in dressing baby John up in a Giraffe costume that made him even more adorable if that's even possible!

We went to our ward Halloween Party on Saturday night. John was only in his costume for a couple minutes because it was SO hot in the gym.

But he did get another opportunity to wear his costume. All day long, in fact. The Sandy storm came through Cleveland on Monday. There was a lot of rain, a little flooding and 50 mph winds. I had a hard time sleeping because it sounded so scary outside.

Monday night we lost power, which also means our heating went out. I realized that I really need to get on the ball to be better prepared for emergencies, and I need to start - this week. We were ok in the morning. We stayed under a lot of blankets for a while. Seth couldn't get into work, so he studied from home.

The heat started to drop, so we put John in his snow suit. He really hated it. But he had to stay warm. So what did we do? Put him in the Giraffe suit. He loved it. Well, we loved it, and he didn't mind, and he stayed very warm.

Our wonderful neighbor, Bob Winder, let us come over to his side of the duplex and use his gas stove and fireplace. Seth got some wood, and we stayed in front of the fire for the rest of the day and most of the evening. We had our head lamp flashlights on. I tried to change John's messy diaper with just my head lamp. It was much more difficult. I felt more and more grateful for the modern conveniences that I so easily take for granted, and my hat went off to all the mothers in the world in all eras who had to change baby's diapers in the dark and cook dinner in the fireplace.

By 10:00pm our house was getting pretty cold, in the low 50's. Now, Seth and I could certainly be fine in the low 50's, but I was worried about our little baby John. We were so thankful to all our kind friends who offered to take us in. We ended up staying over at the Foutz' home. They were so hospitable to us and provided us with everything we needed. John was nice and warm, and so were we, and I was able to work (online) all day today and care for John in a very comfortable environment. I was very grateful.

Through this experience I have been helped to see how much more grateful I should be for the blessings I have, especially that my family is safe and dry and warm. My testimony that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was strengthened. I saw that our ward was immediately mobilized to help each one in need. Visiting Teachers and Home Teachers acted to watch over those over whom they have stewardship to make sure they are ok. We had no less that 4 offers of shelter and were even asked if we'd like to borrow a generator. I felt so thankful to know that even when the disasters get much worse than this, we are in good hands, the hands of those who love the Lord and serve His children.

 My heart and prayers go out to all the people who have not been so fortunate in this hurricane/storm.