Snow Days!!!

I couldn't sleep on Wednesday night, so I got up about 3:30 and decided to just get up for the day.  I was on the couch reading scriptures a few hours later when I started hearing some shrieking outside.  When I looked out the window I couldn't believe my eyes!!  SNOW!!  From what we heard, it has never snowed like this in Louisiana.  About 3-4 inches accumulated in some areas, forcing many bridges to shut down because they didn't have the equipment handy to de-ice the bridges.  The city of Baton Rouge was really paralyzed by the storm.  School was cancelled for 2 days because there were so many power outages...it was so fun to get some unexpected time off to play, especially since Tristan was home!

I haven't gotten to make and throw a snowball in a couple of years...so much fun!

It was so fun to be out playing in the snow together!  It was the perfect snow for building a snowman!

Here we are getting ready to go run some errands.  We aren't even used to having to scrape ice off of our windshields, let alone snow!

Winter scenery around Baton Rouge.

Fall is in the air--even in Louisiana!!

With fall comes Halloween and what else?  Football!!  Tristan and I decided we couldn't live in Louisiana and never have attended an LSU game.  Here we are all decked out in our LSU garb with our pumpkins (mine is the elephant, of course!!)  Don't worry, we aren't being completely disloyal to our Washington Huskies--at least it's the same colors!!  Besides, if you don't wear LSU colors, they assume you're with the other guys, which can be dangerous.
We made it!!  It was so crazy to see how seriously people take tailgating around here.  There were tents, t.v.s, couches and alcohol set up outside all over the campus where people had made camp to prep for the game. I guess people rent a spot for tailgating!! We even got to watch them try to load up their mascot (a live tiger) from his habitat on campus--must have been too cold for him, too.  Or maybe he had a feeling how bad the game was going to be!!  Our seats are behind us at the very top of the addition to the stadium.
Don't even think this is the craziest of the fans...the big story down here after a game the week before was that a man shot his friend and his friend's wife over a dispute over LSU tickets...they take their football seriously down here!
For awhile there we though half-time was going to be the highlight of the game!!  It was so amazing to watch all of the formations.  LSU's band is truly amazing.  They did a tribute to Aerosmith, so the music was upbeat and fun!!
I can't remember the last time I was this cold!!  I think I had on like 4 layers and two blankets and I was still freezing.  It definitely felt like home that night.  Here Becky and I try to help each other out with body heat.  Rio and Eric do the same.  Oh by the way, that is the very top of the stadium in case you were wondering...not the best seats, but it was still fun.
It wasn't pretty, but the Tigers scored 33 points in the 4th quarter to win it!!  I'm so glad we didn't sit through that freezing cold game for a loss!!

Becky using our camp stove to cook spaghetti.  Yum! Thanks for the stove Sean and Brenna!!

All ready for the hurricane to arrive.

Tristan and I making the best of the situation and enjoying a candle-lit meal.

Surviving Gustav

Well, I guess that a week without power makes one appreciate the modern technologies available to us.  To celebrate, I decided I better start our blog like I've been promising everyone!!  Just bear with me, I'm not that technologically savvy!!  That's Tristan's job.  One week after Hurricane Gustav hit our home of Denham Springs, Louisiana, we finally have power restored.  We managed to survive our first hurricane very well.  I was so thankful that Tristan made it in from flying and evacuating workers in the Gulf to ride out the storm with me.  Fortunately, our friends are living in Canada right now and allowed us, along with some buddies to camp out at their home (we weren't sure how our little apartment would fare...).  I have to say that we have very little to complain about.  After all, we ate very well out of our freezer (steaks, shrimp, pizza, chicken stir-fry) and had many fun, late nights playing Mexican Train, our latest addiction in the board game world.  Our friend, Becky, had power restored to her apartment on Tuesday evening, so she has been so gracious in letting us shower, sleep and do laundry in her home.  After seeing the massive damage in the surrounding neighborhoods and numerous houses with trees through them, we are thankful that we had no damage to our home or cars.  The biggest inconvenience has been trying to keep our refrigerated foods cold with the shortages on ice at the few stores that have been open.  Tristan and I finally ventured out on Wednesday and had to wait in line just to get into Wal-Mart.  Then we had to get ice vouchers and drive around to the back of the store for them to load the ice into our car...we fully realize all of the things we take for granted!  Pictures to be posted soon!!