Joy comes in the morning ?? (Irene leaves a mark on the eastern shore)

This was the night before Irene moved in... the sky was beautiful and those clouds were already turning... Maybe some very outer bands of little miss hurricane.

The girls stayed in jammies most of the day... I mean there wasn't much to get dressed for :) Apparently the phone was for Ava :) Seriously, these have to be the most adorable kids I've laid eyes on :)

There was a ridiculous amount of water pouring from the sky! The 3rd photo in the middle, those clouds were spinning- it was crazy! The rain was coming down in sheets!

 

Yep, I'm the crazy momma that let her son play in the hurricane. Don't worry,  he had a blast and we came in when the wind started getting so strong that the rain felt like a high pressure blast on our faces :)  We were drenched after about 20 seconds.

And then came MORNING!

Found this little guy in the plant the morning after Irene slammed the east coast- can't believe he didn't blown away!

Blue skies, beautiful temps- absolutely gorgeous day to follow such an ugly storm.

(pic 1) The church was unharmed but beautiful :) (pic 2) The streets were littered with all kinds of leaves and sticks. (pic 3) There's all kinds of fungus growing- Ew. (pic 4) Make sure to thank these hard workers that gave of their time and have been working their BUTTS off to get things back to normal!

Truly, joy does come in the morning. Experiencing Irene was kind of anti-climactic but I think I'd prefer it that way. We did not lose power for more than 10 seconds and were blessed to not have any damage to speak of in our neighborhood. Many in the area and along the east coast were not so... there are roads washed away, food spoiled, homes and cars crushed, lives lost. Thank you, Jesus that Irene was not a category 2 or 3 storm (as was predicted) when it made landfall- the devastation could have been much, much worse.

Little Word of Encouragement:

For us, its mostly back to life as normal but for many this storm has left them homeless, empty and lost. Please keep those who have lost the most in your prayers. Also for those that are working hard, who have sacrificed their time to get things 'back to normal', be gracious. Say, "thank you." Extend a hand of gratitude. Maybe this is easy for me to say- because my food isn't spoiled and I can turn my lights on but I really believe these guys are working hard. Emergency workers were out in this storm working to keep us safe- the least we can do is say thanks :) (for most of us, it could have been worse...)

Okay, off my soap box. Back to your regularly scheduled program :)

Really though, enjoy your day and for those of you still in the dark, I hope you are restored very, very soon! ♥