A few pics of mom/dad's house

The front of their house- doesn't look too bad. Mom lost her car because the water was up to the console on the inside.



This boat is not supposed to be there.



These boats were thrown/floated onto the highway on the way onto the island



One of the spare bedrooms, you can see the water line on the bedspread



This is my old room. The chest was turned over, and you can see the water line again. The floors are covered with mud and dad said they are buckled in many areas as well.


This is a blurry pic of the kitchen, I included it so you could see the amount of mud on the floor


This is a peek of our street.

Dad and grandpa went back down to Galveston today to clean up. They took some of the fallen trees out of the yard and sprayed all of the walls with bleach to help prevent the mold from spreading even further. The insurance adjuster is supposed to come take a look at the house tomorrow morning. Mom and dad will be living in jennifer's apartment until their house is liveable. That's pretty much all the updates for now. We are all taking it one day at a time and putting everything in God's hands.

I can do all things through Christ....even rebuild!

Hurricane Ike has come and gone, but the devastation in Galveston is long-lasting. The pictures that I have seen are engraved in my mind. Every picture and story I hear touches my heart in a different way. To see buildings and houses that have been a part of my life for so long, that are now nothing but a pile of rubble, is hard to comprehend. We have hard several reports on that status of my parents house, but don't know which one is true. According to some, we had at least 1-1/2 feet of water in the house (and maybe my mom's car-which is in the driveway). The mayor suggests that power won't be restored for another month and that the island won't be 'liveable' until Christmastime. The city officials allowed a 'look and leave' today for residents to go to their houses and assess the damage-but they had to leave the island by 6pm. Well, too many residents came to the island and the plan did not go as anticipated. So, now we are back to no one being allowed on the island until further notice. Mom and dad are currently in San Antonio and Jennifer, Abby, and Alley-cat are with Chris and I. I am without words. Jesus, please be with all those who have lost everything-including houses, loved ones, and personal belongings. Please give us all the strength to rebuild and renew. We can do all things only through you, Lord.

Smurfs and Refugees

The weekend is here, and so are the refugees. The family showed up late wednesday night (early thursday morning) to avoid the traffic from the impending hurricane. Hurricane Ike is starting to hit galveston as I am typing. We are all watching the news reports of the water crashing over the seawall. We are constantly praying that everyone will be safe and houses will still be intact come Sunday morning. I have posted some pictures of the aftermath at my house as well as a long awaited picture of my mom with her blue 'smurf' casts. I failed to mention in my blog that my mom fell in the kitchen several weeks ago and broke both of her arms....she has been in double casts ever since. My wonderful aunt sam has been begging me to post a picture of her pretty arms...so without further ado...

Labor Day Weekend in Pictures

The weekend was most definitely full of fun events....but not relaxing. Chris and I started the weekend by tailgating before the UT vs Florida Atlantic game. Then we went to the game...the seats this year should have come with kleenex to wipe our nose bleeds. Mom and Sam would definitely not have been able to sit in our seats...we were about 4 or 5 rows from the top in the highest section. The air was thinner, but the view of the field was actually pretty good! The stadium is even bigger this year because they added another tier in one of the endzones...the total head count was 98,000 people.

Then on Sunday Chris and I along with many old college friends went to an all day outdoor concert. Very fun, but way too hot to be outdoors for 8 hours. Now its back to the grind....working is for the birds!