The Lights Are On and We Are Home . . .

  It was six days without power at home and I'm happy to announce we have power again! I can't even begin to thank my family for all the help and support they gave us through this week. My dad came over twice a day and fed and watered our goats, while fueling up the generators that were running our refrigerator and freezer. And my mom is always the best help with the kids. Also a great big thanks to my brother who put up with all of us for two of the nights. We are all safe and sound at home now, laundry is going and kids are napping in their own beds :) I can't wait to sleep in my own bed tonight. The floor was not good to me. I'm still paying for it with my back.

It's always an adventure with the Petersen's. But that's how we like it (I think).

The Power of Power. . .

 Oh my goodness where do I begin... Saturday at about 4 pm our power went out due to the ice storm we had. So I packed up all our stuff and traveled over to my brothers who had power and a wood stove. My parents and Grandma had also lost power so they were there as well. Along with all of our dogs:) 5 adults, 2 kids, 4 dogs. A house full to say the least. Almost forgot to mention one dog had diarrhea. Fun, fun, fun. Austyn was so so excited to have a slumber party at Cha Cha's (Chad). So we settled in and made the best of it. In the morning my Grandma moved up to my Aunts since they had power and we stayed at my brothers all day. My parents power came on in the evening so we moved down to their house for the night. The next day we spent playing and hanging out at my parents like usual and right before dinner, their power went out again:( So once  again, I packed all of our stuff up and moved it back down to my brothers house. During the night the power was restored at my parents and confirmed it was restored by the power company. So Tuesday morning I re-packed our stuff (that's four times if you've lost count) and went back to my parents. We have been doing the every other night thing between my brother and my parents. Did I mention we have had to move our stuff four times, and the amount of crap kids require is amazing. But I'm doing it with a smile on my face. And all the while Jordan was on a ice fishing trip and then at work. Needless to say, he got to miss out on ALL THE FUN we've been having. Tuesday has been the first day he's been home since Thursday. So that has been our living situation. And now for the events that came along with the chaos.

Here we are at my brothers house eating breakfast. 

  First thing that happened was the snow was getting too deep for our goats so I moved them up to my  Grandmas barnyard. Shortly after their house caved in from the snow. Then the ice storm began which started all the trees and limbs falling. So as the kids napped on Saturday I had to watch all our beautiful trees falling all over our property. The best tree on all of my families 100 acres split in half and fell right I front of the house. I wanted to cry. So so sad. It was very scary. We were barely able to make it down my parents driveway due to all the trees and limbs falling. They were just falling like the leaves in the fall. Everywhere you looked you could watch trees and limbs explode on the icy snow beneath them. And trying to sleep through it knowing that all of our buildings, houses, barns, shops are all surrounded by trees. I was just praying that our structures would make it.  And to our surprise they did!!! The tree mess will probably take about a month to clean up. It looks like a hurricane came through. It's just amazing the damage the ice caused. Pretty devastating.  

This is the big tree in front of our house

The end out our driveway

This is my parents driveway after hours of clearing just to make it passable

Behind our house

 In our slew behind our pump house

Another picture of the tree in front of the house 

  The picture don't even begin to show the amount of disaster to our properties. I wish we would have taken pictures the night of and morning after. But no one was really in the mood. I'm sure you can understand. 

  So it's now Wednesday night, still no power. We have been hearing 3 or 4 more day:( I'm just thankful we have family close by that has power. The kids have been little trooper through this whole mess. Austyn has loved the excitement and the new and different places to sleep. And Quade is his usual easy going perfect little self. I'm not sure what I've done to deserve such great kids, but I'll take it. Austyn and Quade loved the bath they took at my brothers house. He has a deep sink in his utility room that we bathed them in and they absolutely loved it. It was different and fun, so I'm sure that's why the liked it so much. Not one time has Quade cried or fussed through all the moving and different napping and sleeping places. I just lay him down like usual and out he goes. Austyn has been a little more chatty during bed time, but that's only expected under the circumstances. We made Quade Birthday cupcakes for his Birthday tomorrow. And Austyn has a Valentine party at school tomorrow too. So life as they know it hasn't changed. Just can't get over how great they are.
   I can't complain much about not having power. Some people don't have a place to go or families to help. And it's out of my control anyways, so there's not much I can do. No need to gripe about something that I can't fix. At least it's making memories we will never forget. We have been fortunate enough to keep a generator going for our refrigerator and freezer. Our house is colder inside than it is outside. Our windows are fogged from the outside, it's so cold in there. The one thing that I will complain about through this whole thing is our (Jordan and I) sleeping arrangement. We are use to a king bed and sleeping on a double is a bit of an adjustment to say it nicely. I'm not much of a snuggler, but you don't have much of a choice in a double bed :) I'm a little lacking of sleep, but nothing I haven't dealt with before. Hope everyone is faring well through all of this. Now for the flooding. What's with this weather.

Companions . . .

  We have been looking for another goat or two for Fern, since Phil passed away. And we finally found some. They are 8 month old does (females)both are Boers just like Fern. They are so cute. Jordan and my Dad had to de-horn them and give them some shots :( But even after that traumatic experience they were pretty friendly. They went right to eating and exploring with Fern. Austyn named them of course, and they are Frankie and Phillis(in memory of Phil). She did this all on her own. I was very impressed. She kept saying we need to get Fern a new Phil. And that we did! Two new Phils :) I feel much better now that Fern has a companion again.

That's Fern in the front and Frankie and Phillis are 

behind her.

I'm not sure which one is which. I'll have to ask

Austyn :)

We decided to take a walk and get out of the house. 

She was a fashion statement for sure.

Here she is again, another fashion

statement. We were watching this herd

of Elk pass through our field and she was

too excited to get dressed.

30 some Elk in our field. It was amazing to see them so 

close and on our property. I hope they make it a regular

trail.

  Austyn is still enjoying George. I have figured out that her attention span is about 20 or 30 minutes. And that's ok, I just need to keep it in mind and remember that she is 3. George had really bad teeth when we got him. We got them floated and even had to pull one of them. So needless to say he is feeling like a new horse. I've been having to lunge him before I put Austyn on. I can't wait for this summer when it is nice outside and we can go play horse together :)

  Quade is doing great. He is growing up way way way too fast. He is almost 1! It makes me want to cry :( He is only getting 1 bottle at night now, which is so sad. He can stand by himself forever and even catch himself when he starts leaning to one side or another. It wont be long before that boy is walking. He is ALL boy too. He will make truck sounds as he plays with his trucks and crash them into things. He is so rough compared to what Austyn ever was. I love to see the differences.

  Jordan is now starting to take classes and prepare for his Officer Development Program. Which I think starts in a couple years. Ya gotta love his drive, motivation, and stamina. Or otherwise known as CRAZY! I do admire him for knowing his dreams and goals and achieving them not matter what stands in his way. He is definitely a go getter. And I love him for that. I hope our kids get that from him. Come to think of it, I don't think there is anything I wouldn't want Jordan to pass along to our kids. Besides his volume control problem, but Austyn has already been cursed with that. Yay, for me!!!!

  I can proudly say, I have lost 5 pounds and over 5 inches so far. I think it's been 4 weeks. I'm very pumped about that. I was trying to lose the rest of Austyn and Quade by the time he turned 1, so I have about 8 or 9 more pounds to go by the 13th of February. I think that's pushing it a little, but I'll get close.

  I hope everyone has enjoyed the rain break. I know we have. This is going to be the best summer yet (I know it's still a ways off). Quade will be toddling and being at our new place is going to be great.. I'm so excited!! Hope all is well with everyone.

George...

  Oh man, I'm so excited to be writing about Austyn getting her first horse!!!!!! I know that I'm way more excited than anyone else about this, but Austyn's pretty pumped about it too. After we went to Austyn's first horse show we've been lightly searching for an old broke pony. Well Jordan's mom found him on Facebook over in Lincoln City. He is a white, 25 year old, welch/appy, and is 12 hh. He is the cutest thing there ever was. She named him George. She wanted to call him Austyn, but we wouldn't let her for obvious reasons. So the next best thing was George, since that is what I call her a lot. I can't wait to just play around with this pony and Austyn. Austyn is so excited to get her OWN lead rope and halter for him. Pink of course, he better be secure in his manhood! George use to give people rides along the beach before we got him.  So he will be great with kids. Jordan's mom said that she will haul him to Pony Club and let Austyn ride around in the arena while the big girls actually practice. This way Austyn can think she's doing Pony Club, but actually just dinking around. I'm so excited. I hope she likes it like I do. Her next show is in 2 weeks. Maybe we can have her trotting by then. I can't believe how rusty I've gotten with my horse skills. I'm sure they'll come back in a hurry. Did I mention I'm excited about George!!!!!!!!!
  Jordan, Quade, Austyn, and I are perfect. But did I mention the horse :)


Sorry the pictures are bad, but it was dark and rainy.

Austyn on George. She's riding in our family's

 old kid saddle.

Cousin Shaely and Austyn at Pony Club

Aunt Diane and Austyn 

  So a few days ago we had one of our goats pass away. He died in his sleep during the night :( Very sad. He was a triplet and the last born so he was always quite slow. He kind of had that failure to thrive thing going on, but he was a fine goat for what we needed. His sister is so sad and lonely. She stood where he died all day and cried out at us. She got out of the fence the next day and laid in the garage while Jordan worked on his truck. How sad is this. We are looking for one or two large goats for a companion if anyone knows of some. I told Austyn that Phil had died and went to live in Heaven with the Angels. She asked if he was coming back and I told her he was not. Then she asked if he can poop in Heaven and bite the Angels. She said she wants to get a new Phil for Fern and name him Frank Phil so Fern won't be sad or lonely. Sometimes she leaves me speechless.   REST IN PEACE PHIL !!

Here is Fern in the garage with KODA while 

Jordan works on his truck. KODA is pissed 

she's invading her space. 

A Quick Little Update . . .

  I found some pictures that should have gone with my last post. And I'm adding some recent ones too.

This is from a recent coast trip we too. She loves stripping down

and running up and down the sand dunes

Wildlife Safari trip. This was so much fun. No one

was there and we got to see so many neat animals. 

We will definitely be going again.

Our Sun River trip. 

Best buddies

Back home during the snow. Jordan got a little risky

and decided to play on the froze over slew

Austyn and KODA playing in the snow at home

Picking out our Christmas tree

We went to Bounce in Corvallis for a Birthday party.

It was so much fun.

Austyn and her cousins at Nana and Grandpas for 

Christmas Eve. They all got jammies for presents.

What a neat idea! Then they all had to put them on :)

Quade was napping so Austyn is holding his up.

Our most recent coast trip. It was so beautiful there. 

I love the coast.

Quade is crawling now. And he didn't even eat the 

sand. 

This girl would literally play on the beach all day long

if she could. She just loves it. 

Austyn had her first horse show! She did all the gaming

events and had an absolute blast.

  We have been so busy with so many fun activites lately. Hard to list them all. We totally took advantage of all of Jordans time off. Our poor kids didn't have naps for like 5 days straight. I think we were all ready for Daddy to go back to work so we could get some rest :) We had the best Christmas ever! We spent the morning at our house with my parents and brother. Then went to Jordan's parents for the evening. So laid back and slow paced. Just right for the kids. 

  Quade is full blown crawling. I love it so much. And Austyn is starting to ride horses in some gaming events. It is so cute to watch her bumping around. She really loves it too. Her next one is in February. Can't wait. 

  I think in the next few days we will be going to the Bandon Zoo and then to Charleston to see some really cool Christmas light displays. And then after that, Jordan is taking me Antiquing for my Birthday present. I'm really excited to go. I'm hoping that 2014 will be not as big as 2013 was for us. That was one fast and furious year. Probably one of the best years of my life, but I would like a more slow, relaxed, and just enjoyable year this year. But I'll take whatever is thrown my way, as long as everyone is happy and healthy. 

My favorite thing to do is make my resolutions for the new year. And here are mine for 2014:

• Be the best mother and wife that I can possibly be
• Get myself healthy. As is diet and exercise to some extent 
• Find away to contribute financially in anyway shape or form that fits into my schedule

  There it is. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to achieve at least the first two. But the last one, I'll have to wait and see what happens. And see if any opportunities come my way. I hope everyone has a great New Years. Stay safe.

Christmas Time With the Petersen's . . .

  OK, so I've noticed that we haven't slowed down too much since Jordan came back from Elk hunting. But it's been just enough to be able to enjoy our time.We were able to go to Sun River for a few days over my Birthday this year. We got to go with our best buddies, The Bishops! I was kind of bummed to go when we were supposed to get snow at home, but turns out on my Birthday it started snowing in Sun River too. We ended up with 8 inches or so. We had the best time doing nothing. It was a cool house, it had a fireplace which was awesome to have, a hot tube that we never got in, and season passes to the local activities. We went swimming one day and the kids had a blast. Quade had the most fun of all of them. What a water dog! We all want to go back next year. We also just had our annual Christmas party. Another fun night was had by all. It was fun having it at the new place and having everyone over to see our new house. We were very fortunate through all the cold weather we had that none of our pipes froze. So many people were out of water, with broken pipes. What a mess that would have been. Through the cold snap my poop Dad was in charge of 7 houses to keep unfroze. He managed to keep 6 out of the 7, and if the 1 set of renters would have listened to his advice (keep a faucet dripping in the house, and a heater turned on in the pump house, and unhook and turn off all hoses) they wouldn't have froze up. Some people are just too stupid to help sometimes. Needless to say, he was ready for it to warm up a bit. 

  The kids are doing wonderful. Both are growing like weeds. Austyn is still loving school. Even after her 6 snow days in a row! That's got to be some kind of record. She is so funny and the joy of all of our lives. Quade is still a mommy's boy, but getting a tad better about it. He has started crawling. He isn't too interested in it, he would rather walk with our fingers instead. He is also cruising along things and beginning to stand by himself. He can feed himself and drink from a sippy cup. And to my heartbreaking dismay, beginning to wean himself from the bottle :( I could just cry. By this time with Austyn she was down to just 2 bottles a day, morning and night. But Quade is getting 3 still. I just can't bear to give it up, even though I practically have to force at least on down him a day. MY BABY IS GROWING UP AND I HATE IT!! I hate to admit this too but, I am slowly finding out that Quade might have a bit of a temper. I was hoping that he would be like my brother as a baby, sweet and cuddly and even tempered. But he's showing signs of little temper. Oh well, I'm use to one kid with a spark, might as well have two. 

  Jordan has slowed down a bit. He actually will sit down once and a while and do nothing. He's been able to do a few projects that were needing to be done. And I'm pretty sure he's enjoying the slower pace of things. I can't even think of his next trip/project/job planned. Although, I do know that there is an annual Coyote trip in January. I just haven't heard anything about it yet. 

  And as for me, nothing new here. I am enjoying our house hold not being sick with some kind of ailment. I'd better knock on wood, but I've probably just jinxed myself. Our last experience was head to toe poison oak. Jordan had never been so miserable. He had to go to Urgent Care, and you know if he goes to those he thinks he dying. Poor guy. And I'm not complaining, but I did get it on my thighs too. But nothing compared to him. It was awful. So now that that's over, Austyn and I are now having some of our finger nails fall out because of the hand foot and mouth we had two months ago. They said it might happen, but it would be a while after we had gotten over it. Always somethings. 

  I hope everyone has a wonderfully perfect Christmas and New Years!!! 

Family Pictures . . .

  We finally got our family pictures back! Can't wait to hang them up. I want to do a cluster of pictures on one wall. Hope it turns out well.

These two are my favorite