Day 59...

C - O - L - D!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rodney got up this morning to discover that our pipes were frozen...no water. He went under the house (poor guy, it was only about 6 outside!) with my hairdryer....not sure how I am going to clean it. Anyway, with no success of thawing the pipes, he called his dad to borrow his pipe thawer thing. The bathroom has copper pipes and they are right on the outside walls. This is an older house so the insulation is not the best...especially in the bathroom and utility room.

As they began to thaw the pipe...they realized that water was running out the back of the house. They weren't real happy with that discovery. So Rodney and his dad spent their morning putting in some new pipe in the place of the busted one.

After Rodney's dad left, and we had water again, I was cleaning the kitchen and went to turn on the washer...they forgot to thaw the pipes in the utility room. So, Rodney's poor dad came back out with the very scary contraption and they thawed those pipes. It is only scary to me because anything that is very "electrical" is frightening to me. I don't like messing with fuse/breaker boxes, anything to do with car batteries, or electric fences (remember I live in the country and electric fences are everywhere). I am not sure where my fear of getting shocked actually came from, but my guess is electric fences. I have been shocked more than once and if there are sparks or potential sparks....I don't wanna mess with it.

So tonight, we are taking some extra precautions to prevent a repeat of this morning. It isn't suppose to get as cold as last night, but freezing temperatures are freezing temperatures. The colder it gets the more I want to hibernate until spring! I like winter to a point. But when you get so cold outside that you shiver uncontrollably - that's just painful.

Getting Elli's pictures from her birthday party was wonderful, but you pick apart all the details in the picture. After the initial excitement of the pictures, it doesn't take long until you start to dissect the scene. There were a ton of thoughts and questions that went through my mind, one being, "Why is she wearing a coat inside?" You can't help but wonder if they have adequate heat. All the kids have on coats, as do the adults. There is no doubt that she is in a good orphanage...knowing that Half the Sky is involved, makes it even more comforting, BUT, she isn't here. I hope she is warm and cozy today as she is waking up...and if she needs a coat inside, I hope they button it up to the top.

Sending love & hugs - warm love & hugs to Elli,

Rodney, Marcy, Carter, Jacob, Parker & Anna