It’s been quite a weekend for our family. Fort Worth looked a little bit like Minnesota last week, when we got 12 inches of snow in one day. Practically shut the city down! I wouldn’t have been so bad, but we lost our power. Had it been just Jason and I, we would have piled the blankets on the bed and toughed it out. But it was way too cold for little Miss Maya! So we headed to a hotel Thursday night.

We wish her first night in a hotel had been under better circumstances, but she did pretty well anyway. She was probably a little confused when Jason was trying to pack up with a flashlight! I was at work for the night so I met them at the hotel when I got off, and Maya was already asleep in her pack-and-play.

A little snow does wonders for the beauty of any city, and despite all the downed tree branches, it was fun to see snow covering Fort Worth. It was Maya’s first Texas snow (she got to see plenty in Minnesota over Christmas) and it was Bailey’s first significant snow. He’s been around for dustings, but nothing like 12 inches, and he LOVED it! He was running around in circles as soon as we let him out. He loved chasinng his ball and losing it in the snow. And he’d stick his snout in it and enjoy some for a snack, too.

Finally three days later our power is back. Luckily we had planned to head to Shreveport the weekend for Mardi Gras, so that couldn’t have worked out any better. We were happy to have a place to keep warm!

Yup, that’s our house behind that tree. I guess that’s Texas weather for ya. It was a stormy few days early last week, but just when we thought the worst of it was over (the wind wasn’t even blowing anymore) one of the biggest trees in our yard came crashing down. We’re just happy it fell in front of the house and not on it.

My mom was in town visiting and we were sitting in the living room when the tree fell, so it would have landed on us if it decided to fall the other way. And I was one second from walking out the door right in its path when I thought I heard something smacking against the side of the house. Guess that’s what cracking wood sounds like.

We were left with quite a clean-up project. But we learned how great our neighbors are when it came time to get started. Our next-door neighbor and another from down the street (we had never met him) showed up, chainsaws in hand, and helped us cut the entire tree up. Another neighbor let Jason and I use her small chainsaw… I did most of the cutting of course (wink).

Let’s hope tornado season is over. OK, not a chance, but let’s hope trees continue to fall away from our house if they must fall at all. We’ll miss the shade. It’s already in the 80s, and it’s only April.

More tree photos here.