Blustery Blizzard 2009

We survived another one! On Monday March 23rd Mother Nature had her way with us, and the wind didn't get under 45-50 mph until last night. The house feels quiet without the wind zipping through. We started preparing quite a few days before this storm hit, and it was great to be prepared with the cattle and with power outage supplies in the house. We spent Friday afternoon bringing pairs in from the pastures, and getting all the livestock situated. I was completely exhausted. Saturday came, and more sorting, and situating went on. Nathan was gone for the morning due to work, but that afternoon we helped out. Since Nathan was leaving on Sunday for Mitchell, my brother Evan was coming from Iowa to stay with me and help out where needed-Thank Goodness! Sunday was beautiful, and it sounded and looked crazy that we were preparing for a horrible blizzard! The weather was an amazing 70 degrees and our cheeks got sun burnt, we stayed outside as long as possible that day, which I'm glad we did because the next few days weren't going to be fun.

Nathan got gone on Sunday, and on Monday Evan and I were on fourwheelers by 6:30 gathering cows and calves, along with two of Painters hired men, trying to get everything where it needed to be, and to get them all fed. Around 10:00 Monday morning, the storm hit. I wanted to cry, with wind gusts at 60-70 mph it just sounded miserable out there. We were prepared with water in the tub, coolers and ice ready to go, flashlights and lanterns in every room, candles and lighters, and I had layers of blankets on the beds. The extension cords were ready to be plugged in to the generator, all the vehicles were gassed up, fourwheelers ready to go, shovels and ice melt for the cleanup, and this storm was hitting! All Monday we kept power, amazing. Monday night came along, and I was positive our power would be out, so I dressed warm for the night. I woke up yesterday morning to electricity! The hired men had been checking all through the night, and so far there wasn't any loss of calves or cows-Thank Goodness. Everything was going as good as it could in a situation like this. All I could keep thinking was Thank You God for letting me get pregnant in July and NOT in June, because I would be due right now!

On Tuesday afternoon we actually saw some hope, the SUN came out and shined on all of our faces. It gave us that perk we needed to know that there is an end in site, hang in there. I'm telling you, just having power made this storm go so much more smoothly than last Springs storm when we were out of power for 10 days! The wind did slow down, and Evan and I ventured out, along with the girls, to take pictures of the enormous drifts that were as high and over our vehicles! It makes it ten times harder to walk, and with me being 5 weeks away from having this baby, I get worn out pretty easy!

Evan is going to try and take off for Iowa tomorrow, while Nathan will be heading home tomorrow afternoon. The roads aren't in very good shape until you get to the Hills, so with another bit of snow coming tonight, we're hoping he's not stuck here. Today we'll be digging vehicles out and seeing what this storm really did!

I'll add some pictures of the storm prep, and of the blizzard and drifts!

The first picture we are gathering pairs to take them to a more protected area.

The other picture is Nathan and Rex, he likes to nudge the calves to get them moving!

Here is Evan standing on the drift that goes right over his pickup, 2 Fourwheelers, my Explorer, and Nathan's pickup! Pretty crazy! On Friday it's Nathan's 26th birthday! If weather permits, we'll be heading to the Hills on Friday for my 35 week checkup that was rescheduled from Tuesday to Friday, and hopefully go somewhere special to eat. This weekend will be cleanup from the storm, and hopefully a little relaxing together!

We hope everyone is surviving whatever crazy weather Mother Nature is throwing at you! From blizzards West River, to flooding East River, and tornadoes going through we wish everyone the best!