Cohen in the Snow....Thanks Winter Storm Jonas!

Last weekend Jeff, Cohen and I hunkered down and enjoyed a nice little staycation at home while we watch Winter Storm Jonas bring us A LOT of snow. WE LOVED IT! We are not sure how much snow we got, because the wind was so strong which resulted in some really big snowdrifts. Let's just say Cohen loves snow! He wanted to go out all Saturday, but we didn't let him since it was so windy and there were branches flying everywhere. Now he can identify snow in his books (one of his current favorite books is "Bear Snores On" and as we read, he points and says, "Snow!" on every page).

After the storm was over, Jeff headed out to plow our driveway (luckily most of it was done courtesy of our neighbors). I bundled Cohen up in his new snow suit (thanks Grandma and Grandpa Anderson!) and finally let him out to play. We did really well with keeping the gloves and hat on, but then Jeff pulled a basketball out of the car and Cohen instead on trying to make a basket in the basketball hoop. Clearly the gloves were throwing off his shot, so he insisted (whined) until Jeff took them off. Next, he asked for the hat to be removed as well. Naturally Jeff obliged. Blah! Cohen 2, Mom 0! Well, I guess I do get 1....he did keep his jacket on. :)

SNOW....SNOW....SNOW....SNOWWWWW!

Last night we went to bed with about three inches of snow and woke up to 7.5 inches. Storm Nemo has come and gone, but left us a nice layer of powder for Brie to play in! I'm grateful for all the snow because Jeff has been complaining that we haven't had much of a winter (To Jeff winter = snow). I find his complaining funny since it has already snowed a couple of times this winter. Apparently there is an snow inch requirement in order for it to count (aka...enough for him to use the snowblower). Silly Jeffrey.

We bought a snowblower a couple years ago (after the terrible storms of 2010/2011) and haven't really had the chance to use it. Jeff said when we bought it that we probably wouldn't get another storm. I told him I was fine with that. Sounded like good insurance to me! I was glad that he got to use it this morning. Boys and their toys!

Also, this storm gave us the chance to learn that Brie loves water in . She has been going crazy outside in the snow. She will eat a little snow, then go for a crazy run, then eat a little more snow, and then go jump on Jeff. It's been a good morning for her.

Preparing for the storm....

Yes, another storm is going to be hitting our area. We won't be getting the worse of it, but we should get a few inches of snow.

Here's Brie preparing for the storm. She's such a big helper.

Mormon Helping Hands: Keansburg, NJ

Jeff and I joined a few members of our ward on Saturday and served with Mormon Helping Hands cleaning out some of the houses that were effected by Sandy. We went to Keansburg, NJ which had significant flooding despite being almost a mile from the ocean. We went in and removed sheetrock, insulation, flooring, and kitchen cabinets. It's amazing the damage that water can do!

I walked around the neighborhood to take pictures and couldn't believe all of the possessions that people had to throw out due to water damage. There were several houses that had notices on them stating that they were not safe for occupation and had to be inspected before people could return.

There is just so much work to be done! Our Stake is volunteering with Mormon Helping Hands every Saturday until Christmas and I don't think that will be enough.

While enjoying pizza that the owner of the house we were clearing out gave us for lunch, two guys from the Baptist Association drove up with a big truck. They were from Indiana and were offering the same services we were. They joined us for a slice of pizza and shared a little bit about themselves. They both took off two weeks from work to come out to NJ to help clean up. 

I took the train into NYC on Monday for the first time since the storm. Since the New Jersey Transit Coastline is down and will be for a long time, the train going up central Jersey was packed! I had to stand the whole time (about an hour) in a hot, crowded train. I was totally annoyed and complaining with the other disgruntled passengers, but then realized how lucky I am that my biggest problem is that I have to stand on the train to go to work. There are people that lost their homes and possessions. I can spend the next couple of months standing on the train.

"Sandy my darlin', you hurt me real bad"

Ok, so she didn't hurt me real bad, but I can't believe the damage that Sandy caused on the east coast. There are so many people that lost their homes and family members.

Jeff and I are fine. We had a few tops of trees break off but nothing hit our house or garage. Jeff and I were very blessed that the only problem we had during the storm was loss of power. We lost it early Monday evening and got it back three days later. We fortunately have a fire place and a gas stove so didn't suffer too much, but the house was starting to get very cold by the end of day three. I woke up on Thursday morning and could see my breath. We were about to head over to spend the night at a friends house when the power came back on.

Several people have come over to charge their phones/electronic devices and get warm. The house has been very crazy, but I'm glad we can help out a little.

Now, however, we are facing a new set of problems. There is a serious gas problem with everyone needing to run their generators and drive to work since a lot of the public transit is down. The lines at the gas stations are ridiculously long (a couple of miles) and now they are rationing it off. Also, there are some shortages at the grocery store. Some stores have blocked of the milk section with tape and only store employees can hand it out.

I took these pictures on Tuesday morning.