Post Ike

I thought I should share a little about our experience with Ike. For a few days leading up to Ike's landfall we were being told it might hit closer to us and leave San Antonio without power, fallen trees, flooding...Outcome-We didn't see a single drop of rain. The homes in South Houston that sat within 1 mile from any body of water sustained substantial flood damage. A lot of homes also suffered minor structural damage due to trees simply falling over or being whirled about and crashing into roofs and siding.
Last Friday night at about 8pm I received a phone call from our Elder's Quorum President asking if I could sacrifice my Saturday to go down to Houston and help clean up some of these damaged homes. To be honest I was really ready for some R&R, but because I couldn't find a justifiable reason to stay home I volunteered. We left Saturday morning at 6am and made the drive down. (For those in Utah the drive from San Antonio to Houston is about the same as driving from Salt Lake to Cedar City) We were sent by the LDS church to League City which is about 25 miles south of Houston. We reported to the Stake Center where assignments were being given out. All of the requests submitted by members of the church had already been completed so we (The 5 guys that drove down together from our ward) were given a 7 block area to cover and were told to just drive up and down the streets asking anyone and everyone if they could use our help cleaning up.
We were able to find enough work to keep us busy all day and got back to San Antonio around 10 that night. I learned a lot about emergency preparedness and heading warnings. I feel lucky to have been able to learn from this disaster without being a victim and sincerely hope Houston never has to return the favor.
These pictures are borrowed from the web. I did not take my camera because I didn't want it to get ruined. I just wanted to point out that when the water gets this high everything gets this high. (sewage, sea creatures, snakes, gators...)

The water levels inside these homes is equal to the water levels on the outside. Some homes sit higher and only suffered damage up to the baseboards, others were cutting everything from shoulder height down. When this much water just sits stagnant day after day, mold begins to develop very quickly. Add Houston's humidity to that and the chance of it just drying out is non existent.

As we drove around we saw boats that landed in the middle of the road, cars that were washed into the bay, and homes that previously stood on pylons that now sat across the street and even a few that were carried out into the bay.

Sorry this image is so small but it is the only image I could find that captured what we were doing. Just about everything the water touches has to be torn out. We tore up carpet and padding, cut out drywall, ripped up wood floors, threw out furniture and appliances. It was terrible to see all the materials these families had worked to purchase just go to the curb to be picked up by a front end loader and taken to the dump in the back of a bubba truck.

Best News Ever!

We are so excited about our terrific news! We were going to try and keep it a secret for as long as possible, but I can't hold it in any longer! We are coming to Utah for Christmas!! YAY! Cory and Sheryl offered to buy us airline tickets for our Christmas present. We are ecstatic. I can't wait to see everyone. Tyler is still working out some kinks with his office and time off; not enough space on our blog to go into details. I will be flying out with Bella on December 17th. Tyler offered to drive Alyse Cutler's car to Utah (she is going to finish her senior year at Alta and her parents, the mission presidents of San Antonio, were trying to find a way to get her car back home), he will be leaving the 23rd. We will be in town until the 4th of January. Although Tyler says he will be snowboarding the entire two weeks of his vacation, we look forward to our visit with friends and family!

Nothing New

We lead a boring life. Nothing new and exciting happened this week. So here are some cute pictures instead.

My newest silly face

Exploring my toy cupboard

Always a cutie

Hanging out with daddy

Austin

What an awesome weekend! Tyler recently learned of a new arrival to Texas; his mission companion Rob. We excitedly scheduled a day with Rob and his wife Lindsay in Austin. Although we had to drive an hour and a half to see our friends, it was definitely worth it! Bella did great in the car and was awesome for the rest of the trip. We got up to Austin and decided to go out to Austin Lake for lunch. We ate at Hula Hut, on the water, and had delicious food!! We then took a quick tour of the city and learned some interesting facts about Austin. Reluctantly we headed back to San Antonio. We are thrilled to have some friends close by, even though it is not as close as we would prefer.
Tyler and I will be spending three days watching the Cutler family in our ward. They have six children, plus Bella makes seven! I am so excited to be around the noise and chaos of a large family. Coming from a large family myself, I have missed the fun of a noisy house. Wish us luck!!

Monkey Business

Bella has added a new capability to her list. Although still unable to sit up on her own, she can pull herself up to a standing position. Instead of sitting, she kneels. From that position she grabs onto anything and pulls herself up. She is still very wobbly and hasn't figured out that she has to continue holding on unless she wants to fall. During nap-time yesterday she was screaming and throwing a fit (normal for Bella), and I peeked around the corner to see what she was doing. She had pulled herself up and was clinging to her mobile. Is it bad that it was funny to see the bewilderment in her face?
She also thinks she is an expert climber. Whether it's the couch, a chair, or someones fireplace, she is all over it!

Another can-do that has been added to her list is funny faces. I don't know where she got this from (I will let you be the judge of that) but it is darling.