Monday, October 13, 2008

Dewberry Farms

Last weekend we went to Dewberry Farms for a day of fun! They had a huge corn maze which had the faces of Obama and McCain carved into it. The kids enjoyed all the rides and picking out a pumpkin.



Picking the perfect pumpkin.



On the hayride back to farm.





On the corn train.





The giant hamster wheel!





The corn maze.



Racing rubber duckies!



Robby won...





Holding on to sand bags.







There were lots of animals in the petting zoo, including goats, horses, baby chicks, rabbits, pigs, and cows.





Thursday, October 2, 2008

Update on Ike

Here are the pictures of some of the damage from the hurricane. We are happy to say that we had our adjuster come out on Monday and they did a very thorough job. They paid attention to all the detail, which is what we wanted.

We are getting our roof replaced next Friday. Once that is done, we plan on starting on the inside. Hopefully it will go quickly. In the mean time, I am having fun trying to decide how to decorate the kids' rooms. Noah wants Star Wars and Sophie wants monkeys...big surprise. =)



Where's Sophie's bed?

Looking from the attic into Sophie's room

Trash in front of our house...which is still there.

Neighbor's trash...also still there.


The hole in Sophie's ceiling


Her bed was covered in insulation and sheetrock

My hibiscus! Robby was able to save it.

Our neighbors house and yard. The kids love having the fence down!

Monday, September 15, 2008

Hurricane IKE

Well, as I am sure you have heard, we were hit by Hurricane Ike early on Saturday morning. We boarded up our windows, grabbed our important documents and left town on Thursday morning, before there was a lot of traffic. We came to San Antonio to stay with Heidi's parents, who graciously opened there home to us.

On Saturday morning, we spoke with several of our neighbors who rode out the storm. They said the hurricane was worse than they expected and did quite a bit of damage to their homes. Unfortunately, we hadn't given them a key to check the damage inside our house so we didn't know until Robby drove back into town on Sunday what had happened. The news was not so good. Sophie's entire ceiling collapsed, Noah's was water damaged, our fences were down, the garage had extensive water damage, the roof was missing many shingles, and our chimney looked twisted. Most of our neighbors had similar damage. We think that there might have been a tornado on our street because it got hit so hard. But I guess we will never know...

The good news is, we left and are safe. There still isn't power at our house and we really can't live in it under the current conditions. Robby cleaned up what he could, tore up the carpet, and put tarps on the roof to prevent further damage, but we basically just have to wait for the insurance company to come by and access the damage. If you are thinking of us, please pray that everything goes smoothly with estimates and insurance coverage. Dealing with insurance companies can sometimes be a pain, so we just want things to go as quickly as possible. Obviously, there are a lot of people in need just like us, so we know we will have to wait, but just pray for patience and wisdom to know when we should go back. Thanks so much!

P.S. If you read this, please leave a comment. We would love to hear from you! =)

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Gators!

Yesterday, we finally went to Brazos Bend Park to see the alligators that everyone has told us about. That was quite an experience! A little scary actually...We hiked around a marsh and saw alligators everywhere! We were about 10 feet from a baby gator that was on shore with its mouth open and then later, while we were walking (I was up ahead a little), I turned and saw a huge alligator staring right at me! He was probably 10 feet long! Needless to say, we kept the kids close by at all times.


On a huge tree stump

A "tower" overlooking the marsh

Noah and Sophie are prepared with their walking sticks

The biggest spider I have ever seen! (Besides a trantula) It was bigger than my hand!


At the entrance

On the pier

The first alligator we saw under us while out on the pier

The baby alligator

The monster staring at me!

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

First Grade!

I can't believe Noah is in First Grade! Time flies. We met his teacher on Friday last week and he really liked her, so he was very excited for school to start. He enjoyed his first day and has some kids from his Kindergarten class in his class this year. Much easier (for me) this time. Dropping him off for Kindergarten was very hard because everything was so new, but now that we have done it before, it is a little easier letting go this time.





Last Week of Summer

Here are some fun pictures from our last week of summer...


Noah at Sports Camp

Looking up to big brother

Be all you can be in the Army

Sophie drew this picture of Yonga (so cute!)

Monday, August 25, 2008

Pop! Goes My Heart

I had to put this song on my playlist because I think it is hilarious! It is from the movie Music and Lyrics with Hugh Grant. He actually sings this song for the movie and I think it's great...the song and the movie. Sorry if you don't like 80's. Just turn your sound off. =)

Sunday, August 10, 2008

What's Your Flavor?

I found this quiz on my friends blog. Thought it might be fun. Here's what it said about me:

You're Vanilla.

You're as popular and relaxing as vanilla ice cream. You go with the flow, and get along with all sorts of people. You appreciate peace and simplicity, so you sometimes find crowds and loud noises overwhelming. You are a chilled-out, calming influence on the people in your life, and your friends appreciate how supportive and flexible you are.

Take it for yourself!


Saturday, August 9, 2008

Just To Let You Know

Just wanted y'all to know that I have made it so that anyone can post a comment on our blog, you don't have to sign up now. If you visit the blog, leave a little note so that I know you have seen pictures, and it will encourage me to post more. Thanks!

Friday, August 8, 2008

A Fish Story!

On Friday, Robby took the day off to go fishing with Noah and our neighbor, Jeremy, down in Galveston. They had a great time and saw lots of wildlife...dolphins, jellyfish, a sea turtle, and sting rays. Noah even got to touch a squid. But, the most memorable moment of the trip for everyone (including strangers down at the pier) was when Noah caught a black tipped shark. Yes, our amazing fisherman has done it again! My Opa would be so proud of him.


Just getting started...

Robby's big catch!

On the pier with the shark

And there it is!