Hurricane Ike update

Just a quick note to let all of you know that we're doing well after Ike. Nat and I decided to ride out the storm at home. We live in a fairly high area and didn't expect any flooding. While the house was OK, let me tell you that the wind was one of the scariest things I have ever heard! Granted, I slept through most of it, but I did wake up occasionally to the sound of a Mack truck driving through the back yard (not literally thank goodness).

We lost power about 11:00pm on Friday the 12th and on Saturday afternoon we decided to leave to spend the weekend with Natalie's parents. About an hour after we got to David and Deanna's, our sweet little 86 year old neighbor called to tell us that power had been restored to the neighborhood. So we headed back to Houston to prepare for a long day of cleanup.

Natalie and I are very thankful that we managed to dodge a bullet... instead of scooping leaves out of the pool we could have been shoveling mud and water out of our house. There are people that are just 5 miles from us that have no electricity or water and may not have those services restored for many many days. We count our blessings every time we turn on the TV.

We hope that all of you who read this will take some time to volunteer or donate to a charitable organization that is assisting those displaced by hurricane Ike. A quick drive around North West Houston shows that there are MANY people in need of a helping hand right now... I can't even begin to imagine what life is like on the southern side of town or closer to Galveston.

Because I always like to include a picture, here is a shot taken just hours before the hurricane hit... it is the eerily beautiful "calm before the storm".

-Brady