Tornado or No Tornado?

Early this morning I was awoken by the most vicious winds and rain hitting our house. Tex and Lola (our furry kids) were staring me in the face with looks of panic. It was so bad that Cory even woke up, which is totally unheard of, especially when he hasn't slept in a couple days due to work! It didn't take long for Cory to pass out again, but I stayed wide awake for a while not knowing what exactly was going on outside. I tried to look out the windows but everything was completely dark and the power was out. Of course right before Cory fell asleep he mentioned how we would know when a tornado was coming because it sounds like a train...so, I was wide awake (by myself) straining to hear the possible "train noise", which luckily never came.

My mother called us in the morning to find out if we were okay. I had already opened our blinds, which looks out into the backyard and to my surprise, everything was still in place and no trees had fallen (we have a ton too!). I told Mom that everything was fine until I got up to get ready for the day and peeked out our front windows.....the BIGGEST and most beautiful tree in the front had snapped at the bottom (sniffle, sniffle), which fell onto our mailbox and crossed the street! I got Cory up and we discovered that not only that tree, but one on the side of our house near our cars had also lost some large limbs. How in the world did we not hear this?!?! Some how my car was spared but Cory's work truck now has a huge dent on the hood. We feel very lucky that our house had no damage but the rest of the area unfortunately wasn't that lucky. The news has not confirmed a tornado had done this but it looks pretty obvious to me! I just pray that the veterinarian's office that we use down the street and all the animals inside are safe because the whole roof was torn off and tossed across the highway.

Another blessing is that Lola found 2 baby raccoons (only about a week old with the eyes still closed) laying near our beloved broken tree in the front yard. Cory noticed her acting jumpy and cautious around something and discovered the little furry babies. We scooped them up and took them to a local Wildlife Rehab and Education center. They were so cute and I desperately wanted to keep them, but I knew it wouldn't be fair for them. They will be well taken care of and set free when they are strong and healthy.

I also want to mention how AWESOME Cory's co-workers at Halliburton are!! They came out this morning (about 8-10 of them) to help clean up the big mess. I really don't know what we would have done without them. YOU ROCK HALLIBURTON GUYS!! Things are now semi back to normal (whatever that means...hehe) around here and I am just glad that nobody in the area was hurt. My heart goes out to those near the most damaged areas like Eagle Pass, the Texas Panhandle, and other cities and towns close to these areas.