Baby Shower Weekend

I know, I know, I am a total slacker when it comes to updating the blog.  I apologize, life has just been a little busy, but I promise to be better throughout the rest of the year.

In the beginning of November, John and I flew to New Jersey to celebrate the upcoming arrival of Baby Mohs with family and friends.  My mom and sister threw us a wonderful baby shower and given the circumstances, it was even more special.

Let me back up - the baby shower was scheduled for November 3rd and if you were reading or watching the news, you'll know that a little storm named Sandy terrorized the east coast, including the Jersey Shore where my parents live, on October 29th.  My mom and sister, with a little help from some friends, managed to throw a beautiful shower with no heat or electricity.  Friends and family came to celebrate even though they were also without power and dealing with the aftermath.  John and I are truly blessed to have so many people in our lives who care about us so much.  A HUGE thank you to mom, Jenny, Mary and all who helped make this so special for us.  We love you!

I am going to try and give some perspective with my pictures....I wish I had taken a photo of the front of the house - it was like walking into a fancy hotel.  My mom had huge hurricane's with candles in them going up the middle of the stairs and next to the front door.  Actually, there were candles everywhere - in the hallways, bedrooms, bathrooms - aside from it being cold (thank goodness for the gas fireplace), it was very manageable.  We just blew candles out behind us as we went off to bed.

Gathered around the fire

And although blurry, here's what it looks like with a flash

Mom cooking dinner by candlelight - again, the flash is deceiving - if you scroll down two pictures, you'll get a better idea of what it was really like

There we go - cooking and putting together a wonderful meal by candlelight.  This woman is amazing!
Again, thank goodness for a gas stovetop

Little Nora all bundled up.  Jenny, Jared and Nora slept in front of the fire

Beautiful flowers....even Linda, the florist was open and working without power

This kid is going to be set for clothes for a while - I took some close ups of some favorites

Grandpa and Nora playing in front of the fire

She was too cute all weekend and all bundled up to keep her warm 

With Uncle Johnny

Everyone has been asking - can you see the belly??!

With my dear friend Tara - she is quite the trooper.  Tara flew out from Colorado to  go on this adventure with us (after just having been in Bermuda the weekend before!).  I'm sure she froze all weekend long and I'm also sure it got a little old sitting around in the dark at night, but she had a smile on her face all weekend.  You see, it wasn't just Allenhurst that didn't have power, the surrounding area was devastated and without electricity, so nothing was open, there was no going out - let's just say we all caught up on our sleep.  T, thanks for being such an amazing friend!  

 

Hanging with Auntie Mer

The rest of the week was fairly uneventful.  By Sunday night, we managed to find a restaurant nearby that was open, so mom, dad, John and I ventured out.  On Monday we found some stores with power, so we did a little shopping and back to the same restaurant that night.  You see, cooking in the dark isn't so bad, but doing the dishes, well......
On Tuesday, John and I headed to NYC to vote and check out our apartment (all which was perfectly fine).  Then he headed off to a business trip and I did some shopping and visited with friends.  Once we were back in NJ on Thursday, the power and more importantly, heat, had been restored.

Despite the conditions, we had a lovely visit and really got a lot accomplished.  My heart goes out to all of the people who weren't as lucky as my parents.