The Freeze

Before I journal on these photos, I must comment on my title.... After we had this historic freezing cold front hit Texas in mid-February, I found it very entertaining to hear the various monikers people attached to this event. Some common references included Snow-mageddon, Snow-pocalypse, the Arctic Blast, the Texas Ice Storm, and the Historic Winter Outbreak. Considering we only got a dusting of snow measuring less than an inch, I found the Snowmageddon title especially amusing.

Now that we're several months removed, however, most people simply say, "The Freeze," when referring to our crazy Valentine's Week storm. Now, don't get me wrong-- this storm genuinely was very chilly and particularly rough to handle, especially since our poor state wasn't built for frigid temps. But, after living in Montana for 8 years, and going through winters where the actual temperature would hardly ever climb above freezing for weeks, even months, on end, it does make me chuckle that we can refer to our storm in the singular-- The Freeze-- and everyone knows exactly which winter week is meant!

Anyway, Jason and I were very thankful that we had returned from our Asheville trip only a few days prior to this storm developing. The temperatures dropped significantly and the snow fell on a Sunday evening. The boys had off school on Monday anyway, due to President's Day, but they ended up getting off the full week after the storm as well. Just like many Houstonians, we lost our power through the night on Sunday and woke up to temperatures outside in the teens, snow on the ground, and a home that was gradually feeling colder and colder!

We made our children wait several hours before they played outside, as we were hoping our power would come back on, and warming up would be easier. Unfortunately, by mid-morning the status of our power still wasn't looking good, but we decided to let our kids play in the snow anyway. Our Texas kids were thrilled!! Even without actual snow boots or snow pants, all three kids didn't hesitate to enjoy the snow full-on.

Even though the temps were colder than anything the kids had felt in years (or the coldest ever temps for Adley!), they didn't complain about the chill outside. They bundled up and had a blast attempting to throw powdery snowballs at one another. Of course, here in Texas, our family doesn't own a sled any longer, so we created a makeshift Rubbermaid sled of our own! Jason took the lion's share of this job, but we both had a turn pulling the kids across the icy ground. It wasn't easy, but the kids sure had a wonderful time!

After 13 hours of being without electricity (and no heat!!), our power finally came back on around 3:00 in the afternoon. We had started to wear multiple layers, gloves, and even stocking hats inside, so it was a wonderful relief to have our heat return. Our home thermostat registered at 58 degrees when the power was restored. Brrr!!! We were put on rolling power outages for the next 24 hours or so, but thankfully we were only without power for 2-3 hours at a time.

In addition to losing power, our neighborhood also was without water. We all learned the hard way that Texas infrastructures are definitely not designed for this kind of weather! For FIVE full days, our family had to get creative with our lack of water. We boiled snow and collected rainwater for flushing toilets, and we brought in coolers full of water from CLHS and my parents' home for cooking, washing dishes, and for drinking. My parents also graciously allowed us to stop over for baths and showers and eventually for doing laundry. They served us dinner on a couple different nights as well. What a gift!

As power and water slowly started to be restored to various neighborhoods in our area, and as the temperatures started to rise above freezing again, we all breathed a sigh of relief. Unfortunately, an even more serious problem arose for many Texans-- busted water pipes caused terrible flooding and water damage throughout people's homes. There were so many issues with broken pipes that plumbing companies and hardware stores quickly started running out of the supplies needed to repair the pipes!

Sadly, my sister Kim and her family had trouble with a busted pipe in their kitchen-- one that gushed water through the ceiling right over their kitchen table. What an awful experience for so many! Thankfully, we didn't experience any busted pipes, though we nervously held buckets around our home as we finally turned our water back on for the first time.

This cold snap was definitely a historic time in Texas and a very crazy event for us all. Other than the annoyance of no water for that stretch of time, though, our family felt very blessed to make it through "the freeze" without too much trouble. The kids enjoyed their days playing in the snow and (of course) were thrilled with the extra days off school! We were thankful for the Lord's protection and certainly became more appreciative of our modern conveniences of heat, electricity, and running water. These will definitely be days that we will always remember!