Severe Weather Alert

After all the excitement of Daddy & Rocky's return home, we were all ready to settle in for a good night's rest. But, it was not meant to be! It was a very hot night, so we had all the windows open in anticipation of the expected temperature drop in the middle of the night. Around midnight, we awoke to thunder and lightning and rain. The winds gradually picked up and it started to look like a pretty big thunderstorm. As the wind became more intense, Jordan & I got up to check on things and start shutting windows. About that time, the hail started. It got so loud in here (our house is only one story) that we had to shout to talk to each other. As we were finishing shutting windows, I heard Serena on the baby monitor starting to stir from her sleep. With how scary the wind and hail and claps of thunder sounded, I thought I should go get her before she woke up all the way in case she would be frightened. I picked her up and I could tell she was still mostly asleep, so I sat down in the rocking chair (by the window), thinking I would just rock her until the storm blew over. Just as I was getting settled in, I thought I heard glass breaking. At first, I tried to dismiss it in my mind (surely it wasn't the window??). I've never been in a storm that severe before! Then, I heard it again, and as I looked over at the window, I could see the blanket that I had covered it with moving! It should not have been moving, since the window had been shut at the beginning of the night! So, Serena and I got out of there and I brought her into our room. When the storm finally passed, we could hear some of our neighbors outside talking, so Jordan decided to go out and survey the damage and see how everyone was doing. When he came back in, he told me that he'd gotten us a full-size trampoline. I was like, "WHAT? I don't get it." Finally, he told me that the trampoline in our neighbor's back yard across the street was now in our front yard. It had to clear the neighbor's 6' fence, the street, and an SUV to get there! Crazy! Just about every house in the whole development has at least one broken window. The hail damage to the roofs, gutters, fences, and garage doors warrants replacement by insurance, so we've had contractors walking the streets (I guess some are getting around in golf carts and segways!) trying to sell their services. We have quite a collection of business cards. I finally put up a sign asking for no solicitation because I was tired of the doorbell waking kids up from naps and getting the dogs riled up! :P So, we'll be getting a new roof in the next couple weeks. The gutters and garage door will also be replaced, I think. I'm not sure yet what the prognosis is for the fence...it's polka-dotted right now and looks pretty funny, but structurally I think it's still fine. The outside pane of the skylight is also broken, so it will need to be replaced asap. Some men came by today and patched up the window in Serena's room. (Hurray, she can sleep in her own room again instead of camping out in the pack-n-play in the spare room!) Our car is most likely totaled, although we won't know for sure until Saturday when the adjuster comes to look at it. He told Jordan to go ahead and start looking for a replacement, though, so I think it's pretty certain the car is totaled.

The trampoline out front on Monday morning. It's still there today, and we haven't heard when it's going to be taken care of!

Serena's window from the inside

Serena's window

Outside view of Serena's window

It was a pretty crazy storm, and we are so thankful that everyone is okay! Lots of people from our church sustained a lot of damage as well. We're also thankful that we're only renting this house, haha! ;) We won't be forgetting this storm anytime soon!