Tuesday night we were graced with one of Mother Nature's furious temper tantrums. Ethan and I were watching television and heard the storm sirens go off about 8:15pm. We checked the local weather and they had issued a tornado warning for our area. I hate storms...no really...I HATE STORMS. So, I ran upstairs to grab my purse and ran back downstairs and told Ethan that I was headed to the basement. He was annoyed...I was over-reacting. Whatever. We went downstairs and I was glued to my phone for weather updates while Ethan watched some Netflix to pass the time. At about 9:15pm we pretty much figured that the storm was over and were about to head upstairs when the power went out. Great. Ethan ran and grabbed a couple flashlights but hoped that the power would come back on soon. I suggested a game and we agreed on just reading the trivia cards from Trivial Pursuit 90's edition. I quickly learned that I do not store the kind of information that was on these cards, however, Ethan was a pro. The amount of knowledge he had for such random questions was astounding to me! After about an hour of no power, we headed up to bed in hopes that the electricity would soon return. I woke up at 5am on Wednesday, still without power. I couldn't fall back asleep so I headed out to drive around and see just what kind of damage this storm did.
By one of the parks.
Assuming that this caused the power outage. Power line down across the road.
Ethan woke up about 530am and gave me a call to come and get him. By this time, I had already woken my mom up with a frantic call about getting the food out of the freezer/fridge and getting on the road back to Iowa. We went and picked up some Styrofoam coolers and ice, headed back to the house, and packed up the food as fast as we could. We hopped in the car and were off to Iowa.
What a week we have had. Unfortunately, Ethan's grandfather passed away a week ago. He was 90 years old and had been battling some health issues for the last couple months. What an amazing life he lead!
Ethan comes from a VERY large family. On his dads side, his grandparents had 11 kids (10 boys and 1 girl). It's always so impressive when we get together to see how close these siblings are and how much camaraderie there is between them all. It's also a great testament to their upbringing at how successful, humble, generous, and family oriented they are. Grandpa and Grandma Muench were extremely blessed in terms of family - 11 Kids, 30 Grandkids (not to mention spouses), and 17 (and counting - 3 more due this year!) great grandkids! What a treat it is for everyone to get together. Likewise, Ethan's mom comes from a similarly large family. 9 kids (including Ethan's mom) made up the Blocker clan. Ethan and his cousins (on both sides) always say that they had "Built In Friends" growing up. They lived close enough and got to see each other enough that their family relationship turned into strong friendships. I love being a part of this family...wouldn't trade it for the world.
So, while we traveled to Iowa with heavy hearts, we were reminded of the joy and excitement that comes with getting together with the whole family. It was therapeutic to be around everyone and in some small way, Grandpa Muench gave us that blessing.
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