I haven't posted much over the last month, it has been a little crazy.
For one, there was a series of strong storms/tornadoes that came through the state of Alabama on April 27th that killed over 200 people. We were only out power 8 hours that day but some were without for 2 weeks. I can not expressed how blessed we feel to still be alive and to only have dealt with a few down tree limbs. We knew that it was going to be a bad weather day. That morning around 5:30a.m. we went down in the basement for what sounded like alot of commotion outside. It was very powerful straight line winds that did the most damage for areas of that state that were not later affected by the tornado. I didn't realize those winds had done so much damage until I was driving around one afternoon trying to get Kate to go to sleep. Then is when I realized how many HUGE trees with Massive trunks were knocked over. Many roofs still have tarps over them. But what made that day a "Red Letter" day in Alabama history is the many many tornadoes that came through the area, one being a EF-5. The strongest most powerful of all tornadoes. It went through Hackleburg, AL which is not near where I live. There was a EF-4 that went through very close to our house. It was a mile wide and had gone through Tuscaloosa. My husband works in Tuscaloosa and if had not been for his employer releasing their employees at 3pm that day, Don would have been right in the line of the storm. It went through T-town between 5 and 5:30 and it left behind massive devastation. I am talking about homes knocked flat, people thrown 100s of yards, people trapped in debris, and obviously loss of life. The thing is I really had no idea it was really as bad as it was until the next day and all of the missing people reports and death tolls. We were listening to our tv and scarfing down some dinner. We were saying to each other, we will need to get down in basement in 20 minutes, then 10 minutes. Then we hurriedly carried the kids downstairs along with our dog. We put hard hats and bicycle helmets on, we knew it was bad. Thankfully we dodged those deadly tornadoes. Normally if a storm hits in Tuscaloosa, it will follow the interstate up to our house which is about 40 minutes away. That day, the storms went north and south of us. The Tuscaloosa storm hit Concord, AL and Pleasant Grove, AL. That was probably the closest to us. I think they were saying it has been 70 years since that deadly of tornados had passed through Alabama. I hope things never get that bad again. Please keep continual prayers for my state, those people that lost people they love, those people that lost all those material possessions, and the rebuilding process.
A few days after the storm, the kids and I headed up to my parents. I was needing to do some painting that weekend and so mom was going to keep Kate a Friday night. Well I drove up Thursday night so we could get up early the next morning and watch Prince William and Catherine Middleton get married. Mom tells me all the time that she was 8 months pregnant with me shelling beans when Prince Charles and Diana got married. So I was the first up with the babe (4:45a.m.) and I was able to see Princess Kate get in her car and ride to Westminster Abbey. I also saw her walk the aisle. I personally think she made wonderful choices on her dress and hair and makeup. She looked stunning. Mom and my Kate woke up a little bit later and mom made us some ham and cheese croissants along with sliced strawberries and sparkling grape juice. :) My aunt Melanie and cousin Rachel stopped by later to watch because they were still without cable. It was a fun morning.
On another note, we just got back from vacation to beautiful Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. We stayed at the Sea Pines Resort which had just hosted a PGA tournament roughly 3 weeks earlier. We went with Heath and Ashley Hill. Heath and Don are golf buddies and have known each other since college. Ashley and I actually know each other from college too. We arrived there on a Saturday night after driving 7.5+ hours. Sunday and Monday the guys golfed at high end golf courses while the girls and babies checked out the beach. It was easy to say that the Gulf Coast Beaches are prettier then the Atlantic Coast. The Gulf Coast has that deep, white sand while the Atlantic looks more muddy so it has a grayish tint. However I will say that with the Atlantic Beaches have very packed sand which makes riding bikes on it easy. There is something really neat about being able to ride a bike near the water and having the water and wind hit you in your face. Don and I tried to rent some bikes to ride around the resort on Tuesday but due to Sea Pines telling us the little trailers are really not ideal for children under 1 (even though we were going to put Luke in his car seat too), we decided against it this trip. However, when we go back, we are definitely renting bikes! The resort was ABSOLUTELY beautiful. It had everything. There were gators in several areas of water. We actually saw one in a pond when we were taking a little hike in the Forest Preserve. It wasn't long after that I suggested we get back in the car and do the driving part of the Forest Preserve. Yikes! It was a great trip! Wasn't long enough though...we drove back Tuesday night (arrived home around 1:30am) after stopping in Savannah, GA for dinner. Tuesday was Don and I's 8th wedding anniversary. Yay!
Anyway, today, Kate is at her mawmaw and pawpaw's house for the weekend. Don and I are about to do our finishing touches getting this house ready to put on the market. We are so tired of having that hang over our head every weekend. I will be glad when this transistion is over.
