A Christmas to remember!

It started out as a blizzard, then the snow melted because the rain started, and then the real snow storm for our area came in. During that time we had a wonderful Christmas morning opening presents, eating breakfast, figuring out new gadgets. About 3:30 the electricity went out and Brook and I decided to take a nap. As we woke up 2 hours later we realized that the power was going to be out for a long while.
So the real excitement started. We gathered flashlights, lanterns, candles, our heater, blankets, and sleeping bags. It pays to be prepared! What was wonderful about the power outage was the fact that it brought us together as a family. After everything was gathered and socks and sweat shirts were put on we came together at the kitchen table. We took turns (with the talking stick Stephen suggested we use which was a glow stick) talking about favorite Christmas memories, traditions, presents, and food (of course). Then we let the kids watch a movie on the laptop. We had just enough power for one movie and to check weather reports. We broke out the dice phase ten and Stephen's Pokemon cards. We munched and played games. At last around 10:30 we snuggled in to keep warm and fell asleep. We were suddenly woken up at 1:30 am with all kinds of appliances.
We are so grateful for the men and women that worked all day on Christmas and through the night to restore power.
What a blessing it was to put to good use those things we have been preparing for and realizing where we are lacking.
Lastly the blessing that it brought us the best gift ever and that is each other. We sometimes find ourselves in the same house but so far apart. The outage brought us together and feeling a little closer. We may have to fake some power outages to bring us back to the table to spend more time with no distraction.
We love and miss our family and friends that are far away. Our hope and prayer is that all of our family and friends are kept safe and healthy.