the rain in spain...

The rain in Spain may fall gently on the plain...but not here in Texas. This is a pretty ominous looking cloud. We had a pretty severe super cell thunderstorm roll through last night.

We were under a Tornado Warning, so Val and Will took cover in our "bunker." It is our closet. They had story time and cookies.

I on the other hand was watching the storm. We had pretty strong wind and rain and intense hail. Fortunately, the hail was not as big as just a little bit west of here. In Mineral Wells, pretty much anything that was exposed got demolished by tennis to baseball size hail. The report is that all of the skylights at the Walmart were knocked out. Also, every car in the parking lot was totaled. There was also pictures of the hail from Weatherford. The hail was so thick that it looked like it had snowed.

Camp photos...

Fairview Baptist @ Camp Copass

The recent rains has really raised the lake levels at Camp. These crosses used to be about 30 feet from the shore.

Wild Wild West (Weather)...

Well, I think the drought in Texas is officially over. We've been having strong storms about every 3 days for last 3 weeks.

Tonight, we had perhaps the worst weather at our house. We had very strong winds and exceptionally heavy winds. There was also perhaps the worst street flooding yet.

We ended up losing power for a few hours. Thankfully it came back just at bed time. It looks like I won't have to sweat tonight.

Deep in the Heart of Texas...

The blue bonnets are blooming.

It's a Snow Day!...

This morning started out with us waking up a little late. Valerie ran and jumped in the shower. I ran to the kitchen to make Will a bottle. On my way to kitchen, I stopped to turn on the TV to have the news on in the background. It was then that I heard the newslady say, "If you are just now waking up, take a look outside. Also, check the school closings scroll across the bottom of the screen; the top of which is Arlington and Fort Worth ISDs are closed."

So, I immediately made Will's bottle and proceeded to peek out our front door. I was surprised to find everything covered in snow! It was my first real snow day! I then went to the back and told Valerie that we were not in quite the hurry that we thought we were in anymore because of the snow. She said, "Yippee! I get another day home with Will!"

So here are some pictures of our little North Texas winter wonderland and our very first snow day.

p.s., Will likes the snow.

More of the Nebraska/Kansas Ice Storm...

Here is another shot from the Ice Storm over New Year's in Kansas and Nebraska.

How I lost my passenger-side mirror...

Any questions? If so, please feel free to ask Valerie or Michelle. :o)

Snow Days...

We've had snow days here in DFW for the last two days. On Wednesday it was 79 degrees, but shortly after sundown and "Arctic Blast" occurred. Within an hour the temperature dropped some 45 degrees! It really did get really cold really fast. Nevertheless, we also ended up getting some rain then sleet then freezing rain then snow.

Having spent a winter in Nebraska, I know that wintry weather is not really as bad as people expect. And given the amount of snow and ice visible in the above photo, you may wonder as to why we got out of not just one day, but two days of school...
1. This is north Texas...
2. People don't know how to drive in wintry weather...
3. There are a lot of interstates around here...
4. These interstates have large elevated bridges that become treacherous rather quickly...
5. See #2... (rinse and repeat)

Anyway, I'm hoping for a few more good ice storms this winter. :o)

(BTW, you can check out my posts about the ice storm from this time last year here, or by just clicking on the label below called weather.)

Allright! Snow!...

It is still a magical feeling to me, to wake up and find everything covered in snow! We had about 2 inches this morning. It was all gone by the afternoon, but it was fun while it lasted.

let it snow, err, ice...

We had a little bit of an ice storm here in Fort Worth today and yesteday. It was enough to get the schools to close early on Wednesday and stay closed all of Thursday. It gave Valerie and I a little bit of extra time together before our families arrive for graduation on Friday.