Merry Merry

We are happily back into our home after our ordeal with the "massive" ice storm that knocked out our power not once but twice. The second time was because of the tree limb that fell on our power line during the original storm. It didn't pull the line all the way out, but it pulled it out just enough to create a "backfeed" and eventually the transformer blew and sent a huge surge of electricity into our home. I woke up last Tuesday to the sound of my clock radio popping. Several of our lightbulbs popped and eventually the only thing that turned on in the house was one light in the basement. We weren't sure at first what was wrong but we knew our furnace was out and that things didn't look good. Isaac's piano teacher who is also a member of our church congregation offered to let us stay at her house while she and her husband went to Utah for three weeks. They live just a short distance from our house and Isaac's school, plus they have many comfortable beds and other amenities that made our stay very pleasant. On Sunday our power was restored but unfortunately our furnace was a casualty of the surge. But... a very talented man from our ward came over and rebuilt something in the furnace and it worked! It was 34 degrees in the house on Sunday, so we stayed one more night at our friends' and moved back home on Monday when the house had reached 67 degrees. Also lost to the surge were two tvs, my clock radio and our oven. Thankfully my computer did not fry. I was afraid because there was a burning smell in that corner. The surge did burn right through the cable outside so we lost Internet. It has since been restored.
Now we are safe and warm and back home. The boys happily opened their toys this morning and we spent last night with friends and watched a very cute nativity put on by all the children.
I hope you are all enjoying your day with family and friends close by.