When we moved up here to the North Pole we were told it doesn't snow once May hits. As the end of April was approaching we were getting excited to not have any more snow. Haha we were so disappointed.
It all started on April 29th with a down pour of rain. We all went to bed with the sound of rain outside. At around 4:30 in the morning I woke up to the wind whipping outside and realized the power was out. Turkey woke up around 5 am because of the wind making the tree in our backyard hit her window and her night lights being out. She climbed into bed with us. After asking a million questions about why I couldn't make the power turn back on, why I couldn't make the wind stop, and every other why question she could come up with James decided she needed to go back to her own bed. He carried her in and I went to look out her window. James got Turkey into bed after tons of tears then joined me at the window. The tree is technically in the neighbors yard and a little ways from the house. The wind was blowing so hard it was hitting her window. James picked Turkey back out of bed and decided she was sleeping with us. It was kind of scary how hard the wind was blowing. I am pretty sure James went back to sleep I however did not. I was convinced we were going to have a tornado hit the house and we were gonna die. We have an AC unit in our bedroom and it was shaking with the wind, I was waiting for it to get ripped out. I am kind of a sissy lala when it comes to bad storms.
The alarms went off on our phones at 6 am and James called his boss man who said not to come in it was to dangerous to get there and there was no power and that he would be in touch. We all went back to bed. After awhile we went to look out the window and everything was white, we couldn't even see out the windows. We went downstairs and opened the door and there was a snow drift halfway up the door. Every time anyone open the door the wind would blow tons of snow into the house. Our windows were packed with snow so we would bang on them to get the snow to fall off so we could see. Not being able to look out the windows adds some panic to the situation. Everyone in our house slept and was lazy for most of the day. We kept taking turns with our neighbor to shovel out our doors in case we needed to get out of our house. James brought the grill through the house and put it in the garage so we could cook food. James grilled hot dogs, boiled water for Ramen noodles, grilled cheese sandwiches, heated up left over Chinese food and all sorts of things for lunch and dinner. I am very glad I brought our grill up here with me. James went for an adventure in the afternoon to see what was going on and if anyone had power. He made it all the way around town and got stuck down the street from our house. Turkey and me were in need of a bath so we figured we might as well take advantage of the hot water left in the water heater. I have constantly bitched that our water is way to hot, I officially take that back. We still had boiling hot water! We took baths by flashlight! I told James that was probably the most relaxing bath I have ever taken.
Sunday morning when we woke up the storm had stopped and it was beautiful outside. We checked on our neighbors and found one of our neighbors a few house town was completely snowed in. She had snow drifts covering her front door and we found out once the boys got her dug out that both her doors were snow packed and she had been trapped inside. Once every ones doors were dug out, we started on breakfast. I had some pancake mix and found some bacon in the fridge that needed to be cooked. My grandfather had given me the coolest crepe pan when I went home in April. It is one of those great pans that is solid metal and really old but great quality. We used it on the grill to cook the pancakes and the bacon. We shared some with the neighbors who didn't have any food to eat. No one was prepared for this storm. The weather had said rain and a possibility of 1-3 inches of snow. No one expected this blizzard. James built Turkey a penguin slide from the huge snow drift in our front yard. We made stairs up to it so she could go on it all by herself. It was great fun. We had a converter that hooks up to the car battery and you can plug in stuff. We were able to charge our phones and the computer. After everything was charged we checked our messages. I had messages about places that were open and updates on the electricity. The power lines that brought in power for the whole city were snapped in half by the storm and there was no estimated time that the power would be back on. A lot of our neighbors took off to Montana, we decided that it was a waste of money. We decided after awhile playing outside that we were gonna go see the damage in town and try and get gas. We were shocked with how much snow there was and how many trees were turned over and fences that had been blown away. We ended up going down to the river to go fishing with my cousin. There was no snow by the river. It was seriously only us who was hit by this freak blizzard. After a while by the river we decided be better go get gas before they run out. We waited in line for about an hour to get gas. Turkey and me went inside to go potty and get some food while we waited. The gas station was serving hot food! We got some chicken strips and pizza. I think it was the best pizza I have ever eaten! The shelves were bare in the store. People were buying whatever they could get. After getting gas we took off into town to see what supplies we could get. We had noticed that one of the grocery stores was open but had heard there was 6 hour wait to get in the door. We pulled in and the line was maybe 5 people long. They were only letting one person per household in, you could only get 10 items and they had to be non-perishables. Since I can not carry that much James went in and Turkey and me sat in the car. James came out with bread, tuna, mayo, chips, and a few other things. He said it reminded him of those zombie movies where the world is ending and people are running around the store in the dark grabbing whatever they can. He said there was a sense of panic in the store. After we left there we went on a search for more propane. A gas station on the north end of town was open so we were gonna head there. As we were pulling in we noticed Walmart was open. We were able to get a propane tank there. It was an interesting day. As we were driving home we noticed that someone had broken out the window at the gas station down the street from our house. I am very surprised not more places were broken into. Some people were very freaked out by the storm and not having power. We just acted like we were camping.
When I was home I got some shelf stable milk from the cheese factory! It was fantastic for Turkey to be able to have milk since we couldn't buy any! I ended up talking to a neighbor who didn't have any milk for her kids so we traded a bag of milk boxes for some meat. We ended up making steak and fettuccine alfredo for dinner that night. Our neighbor right next store had only been eating little bits of food all day so we made him up a plate and shared. We believe in helping out our neighbors and sharing!
We ran an extension cord from the car to the house so we could have a lamp after the sun set. Once we put Turkey to bed we all sat down and played some cards and had a great time. Sunday night was a lot colder then Saturday. There was a lot of moisture in the air. Monday morning James had to go to work. The oil field doesn't ever stop. It was nice to have him home for those two days. He left for work early then called me from Walmart because the guys had stopped there and he wanted us to come so he could help us get some supplies. We spent the rest of the day outside and Turkey played in the snow. For dinner we made tin foil dinners! It was perfect because I have been craving them! When James got home he had to take a shower. My poor husband. He took an ice cold shower. I am surprised he didn't come out of there blue! After dinner we all curled up on the couch and watched a movie on the computer. James and me went into the kitchen and was just looking out the window chatting when we realized the neighbors a block up had power. We had original heard we wouldn't have power until Wednesday at the soonest some people said we wouldn't have it for another week. We were very excited once our power popped on. The neighbors a block up went out once ours came on. We had power surges for the next few hours but we had power! Turkey looked up from where she was laying on the couch and all she could say was "Whoa" it was pretty funny. James kicked himself later for not waiting to shower. It was quite the adventure and a weekend we will probably always remember. By Thursday we had no more snow and were playing at the park in 60 degree weather. Go figure! There is lakes of water everywhere and things are finally turning green.
Here are the photos from the weekend:
The boys getting ready to grill!
The essentials for making sandwiches
The snow drift forming outside our window
The snow that was building up at our front door
Our snow drift :)
Turkey checking out the snow piled at the front door
Snow covered streets. This was taken Sunday afternoon when the snow was melting
Some of the neighbors snow drifts. They ended up digging a tunnel to get to their front door
The snow drift that was blocking one of the roads to our house. It was a lot higher before the sun melted it. It was crazy!
Turkey playing in the snow drifts
Turkey playing with the worms for fishing
James playing in the dirt (notice no snow)
Turkey was very proud of her worms
Bruce and Turkey best buddies!
Playing with the worms!
The tunnel of snow we had to drive through to get home. A tractor had to come dig out the road because the drifts were so high and the snow was so heavy.
Turkey and Bruce with the fish he caught
Turkey freaking out cause the fish moved
Bruce showing Turkey how to clean a fish
She was very interested in learning all about it!
"Is that blood?"
Moms a dang good cook on the grill! I made ravioli and pancakes for lunch.
I am ready to go camping this summer!
My pancakes and a pot filled with snow so I could clean it out
Dinner! Tin foil dinners and corn!
Those look like bushes in front of that house but no those are trees that once stood tall. They were ripped out of the ground from the storm. There are tons all over town.
I don't think I ever posted what I got for Mother's Day. James got me an automatic garage door opener. If James takes the Jeep to work then my car is held hostage in the garage because I can't open the garage door because it is too heavy. James would open the garage before he would go to work but then I couldn't get it closed and we worried about people stealing our stuff. I am very excited about my new garage door opener. I just wanna go push the button to get it to open. I am easily pleased with the simple things in life. 
