We're not in Kansas anymore...at least that's what I thought!

Sunday afternoon we drove away from home leisurely, leaving plenty of time to get to Iowa City for our 6 pm engagement. Little did we know a storm was brewing on the horizon (no, Jake hadn't checked the weather before we left...you can all be very surprised back home!). We chatted over the giggles and rivalry ongoing in the back seat until we left West Liberty. At this point we turned towards I-80 and were probably 3 miles from the interstate when I noticed the sky to the south west was getting darker and darker and a wall cloud had formed. My phone rang and our friends who were meeting us in Iowa City had taken a different route and were stuck hiding out in a gas station in Nichols where the Tornado sirens were going off. We got on the interstate and as we drove the longest 15 miles of our lives the wind blew hard and the dark clouds carrying hard rain and hail billowed overhead. By this time the kids caught on to what was happening. Alex was freaking out in the third seat while Jake was amused that he may actually get to SEE a tornado in real life. Beth and Lucy were crippled with fear in the 2nd seat awaiting mommy's instructions (maybe I shouldn't have warned them that if we stop the car quickly I wanted everyone to hit the ditch as fast as possible). We saw the big wall clouds gathering speed around us and as Eric drove I attentively watched the clouds for signs of rotation. Eric was concerned, which rarely happens, and commented that the tornado usually comes out of the tale of the storm. I was praying out loud. The storm kept moving north east and we never saw a tornado. We made it to our destination...our friends made it safely too. I'm remembering a blog last week when I said I was glad to be in Iowa because at least I didn't have to worry about the Kansas tornadoes! I'm eating my words! But...it was a good experience for the kids to see God getting us through a scary situation.