An Earthquake, a hurricane, a tornado watch, and some great new friends!

As we were preparing to leave Atlantic City, a hurricane was approaching. We joked about it initially because while we had been there, the east coast actually experienced an earthquake centered down near Washington DC. We were up on the 32nd floor when it happened. The lights started to sway and we all kind of looked at each other like...."What is happening?" We originally thought that it was because it was windy outside and we were so high in the building, but when we looked outside there was no wind. We kind of joked that it was an earthquake, but then when someone turned on the TV about an hour later there were all kinds of reports on CNN about the quake. It was a very strange sensation.
So as we headed home from the shore, we were laughing about the fact that we were going to go through an earthquake and a hurricane in one week. But it was clear from the forecast, that the storm headed our way was a major one. Our stake mobilized to offer housing to any members down at the shore who might need a place to go. We offered our home and mentioned that we could certainly take Spanish people since Steve speaks Spanish. We actually ended up getting two groups of people. They wanted to stay together so we said as long as some of them didn't mind sleeping on the floor or couches, they could all stay. As it turned out, they all stayed in the basement and most slept on the floor. They were so kind and very grateful for the hospitality. One of the fathers spoke English very well and all of them could understand a little. It was a little tight, and I am sure that there were moments of confusion or frustration, but overall we had a fun time. They were here for two days and we even had a little sacrament meeting with them here after getting permission from our bishop. One night I made a bunch of pizzas and the next day, the two ladies made some great rice and other things. We all huddled together in the basement for several hours the night that the hurricane came through, because the forecast was calling for tornadoes. (yes, the third natural disaster in a week) The storm ended up being much less severe in our area than originally forecast. We never even lost power at our home, although many (including Steve's mom in Medford) lost it for several days. Janelle and her family in Boston lost if for a number of hours, and there were other areas that suffered devastating flooding, but in this area we were very blessed.
Here are some of the photos I snapped of our new friends.

The kids loved Ginny and wanted to take photos with her before they left.

They wanted to have me in one of the pictures, too. You can see that Ginny was way into it. :)