Nothing makes you appreciate home more than being away for more than a few days. So we left Conroe Friday (Sept. 12) afternoon before Ike hit Early Saturday morning. BYU was playing a game on Saturday and Mike really didn't want to miss it so up to Oklahoma we went. (BYU played UCLA and won 56-0 and I had a very happy Mike.) Our power was out and we had a neighbor check on our house for us. We were very blessed and our apartment sustained no damage. At first they were estimating the power to be out for 3-4 weeks but it started coming on fairly quickly. On Wednesday the 16th we got a call from my neighbor who had checked on our place saying that the power was back on. We were currently in Tyler TX so that Mike could go out to an oil rig to watch some drilling for work and since it was only 3 1/2 hours from home, me and the kids went home the next day while Mike worked to clean out the fridge.
Next time there is a possibility there wil be a power outage and we won't be at home, all my meat is going to be thrown out. But since I wasn't smart enough to think about it, all the meat that was sitting in our freezer had nearly a week to sit and thaw and produce a horrendous smell. You know, it's much faster and easier to clean out a fridge when you don't have to put the food back in. So when we got home, there was no power. The houses in our backyard, which are part of a different neighborhood, had power along with their entire neighborhood but our neighborhood didn't so on Friday we drove back up to Oklahoma.
Mike talked to his boss this last Monday, who said that his sister had a generator that we could borrow. In other words they wanted Mike back at work. so we pack up and drive home thinking that we are going to have to deal with no air conditioner and limited electricity but to our great surprise and pleasure we drove up to the house around 3:30 am and our lights were on!!!! So yesterday I spent time washing ALL the clothes we had taken in the hopes of getting rid of any ticks that had hitched a ride home with us, unpacking and doing grocery shopping. Pickings at the grocery stores were rather thin but we'll all get back to normal soon.
I feel very blessed that our home was undamaged. There were others in our town that weren't so lucky.
While in Oklahoma we did have lots of fun and Daniel and Emily enjoyed spending time with grandparents. We make a trip to the zoo and also to an elementary school fundraiser where kids got to see all kinds of big trucks such as fire engines, ambulances, a backhoe, etc. and to clomb in them. I also found out that our car is faster than the dodge chargers that many cops are now using!!
We are now all very happy to be home and getting back to normal. Emily is especially happy to have her bed back and not have to listen to daddy's snoring!!
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Friday, September 12, 2008
Hurricane Ike
As Ike moves ever closer to Houston TX, we are preparing for our first hurricane. As we live nearly 100 miles off of the coast we won't (or shouldn't) have the full damaging force of Ike. We have no idea what to expect and I'm kind of worried but at the same time it's kind of exciting.
I completely forgot that yesterday was Sept. 11 because of all the preparations for the storm going on. I went and filled up my car with gas and all of the gas stations were busy. There were long lined at the station that I went to and people were even trying to form one line going two ways. Luckily people were able to keep things running rather smoothly. I really wish that I had had my camera with me. I don't think that I've seen anything like it before. Some people were driving around crazy and I was almost hit a few times while sitting in line. There was even a news helicopter flying around over the gas station.
Next we went to get some shopping done. I had wanted to go in the evening when Mike would be home and watch the kids but I'm really glad that I went in the early afternoon instead. The shelves were so depleted, especially of some of the more "staple" items such as chips, crackers, hotdogs, bread, alcohol... It was kind of funny to see all the people who had mostly alcohol of some sort filling their shopping carts instead of something else like bread or other nonperishable food. I guess everyone has their own ideas of what is necessary to have when facing an emergency. I listened to some of the conversations taking place in the store. One woman said to her husband "I don't want to survive on just ramen noodles!" To which he replied "It's food and it will get us through the next 3 or 4 days." It seems to be a general concensus that we will be stuck inside for 3-4 days. So far we are not in an evacuation zone so we plan to stay where we are but that could easily change especially if we lose power. Even if we just lose water we are set to survive here. We'll be filling up one of our bathtubs with water and we are filling other containers as well.
The next few days should be interesting and we are praying for those that will and have been more effected by the storm. When Ike is gone and over I'll post our experiences of our first hurricane.
I completely forgot that yesterday was Sept. 11 because of all the preparations for the storm going on. I went and filled up my car with gas and all of the gas stations were busy. There were long lined at the station that I went to and people were even trying to form one line going two ways. Luckily people were able to keep things running rather smoothly. I really wish that I had had my camera with me. I don't think that I've seen anything like it before. Some people were driving around crazy and I was almost hit a few times while sitting in line. There was even a news helicopter flying around over the gas station.
Next we went to get some shopping done. I had wanted to go in the evening when Mike would be home and watch the kids but I'm really glad that I went in the early afternoon instead. The shelves were so depleted, especially of some of the more "staple" items such as chips, crackers, hotdogs, bread, alcohol... It was kind of funny to see all the people who had mostly alcohol of some sort filling their shopping carts instead of something else like bread or other nonperishable food. I guess everyone has their own ideas of what is necessary to have when facing an emergency. I listened to some of the conversations taking place in the store. One woman said to her husband "I don't want to survive on just ramen noodles!" To which he replied "It's food and it will get us through the next 3 or 4 days." It seems to be a general concensus that we will be stuck inside for 3-4 days. So far we are not in an evacuation zone so we plan to stay where we are but that could easily change especially if we lose power. Even if we just lose water we are set to survive here. We'll be filling up one of our bathtubs with water and we are filling other containers as well.
The next few days should be interesting and we are praying for those that will and have been more effected by the storm. When Ike is gone and over I'll post our experiences of our first hurricane.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Ticks, Shots, and yucky medicine
For labor day weekend we went up to Oklahoma to visit Mike's family. It was a great weekend to go because Mike's brothers KC and Jeremiah were home for a visit as well and we were able to get family pictures done. Mike's parents live out in the country and so they have a LOT of ticks there. Well, yesterday morning as Mike was getting ready to go to work, Mike and Daniel came in to wake me up and tell me that Daniel had a tick and I needed to take it out. We got it out, hopefully the head too, and it was swollen and red but nothing too bad especially since all of Daniel's bug bites swell up really big. We also have no idea how long it was in but I think that the tick stowed away in our stuff home and bit Daniel Monday night. This morning I looked at the bite and it had swollen to more than twice its original size and more bumps appeared. We went to the doctors and it's infected so Daniel had to have a shot. I think that this was his first shot ever and he was so brave. He didn't make a sound when they gave him the shot!!! Now he has to be on antibiotics for 10 days and hopefully the bite will go away. It has actually gotten worse since this morning and is now blistering all over the redness. Here is the end result for today:
Freedom!!!!!
Our house has stairs in it and Emily enjoys climbing up these stairs every chance she gets. She also likes to put anything that she can into her mouth (refer to the previous bug post). Because of this I block the little walkway into our living room in an attempt to keep her in one spot that I can easily control. First she figured out how to push the basket out of the way enough for her to get through the space, which resulted in me putting more weight into the basket so that she could no longer do that. Then she started falling head first into the backet and she would be rescued just to try it again at a later time. Then she learned to climb!! I was in the kitchen taking care of some things and I looked over to the living roome to see a little head much closer than it should have been. There she was sitting in the basket trying to figure out how exactly to get out of the basket. She has done that a few times now so we put a bigger plastic tub in the way. She's already trying to find ways to escape.
She is also standing on her own. She is really steady and can stand for minutes at a time. She stands pretty much any chance she gets and I expect that I'll be seeing her walking any day now. It's amazing how fast she's learning and growning. She is also such a joy and blessing to our lives. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father knew better than me and gave me a little girl to love. We love to see her smiling and laughing and I love to hear her little voice trying to be louder than the vaccuum (In which attempt she usually succeeds). We love you so much little Emily!
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