Hurricane adventures

Ok, I know it's been forever since I've posted, but we've been without power at our house for 2 weeks, thanks to Hurricane Ike. So I thought I'd let y'all know what good 'ol Ike put us through.

We slept at my parents' house the night of the hurricane. We were a little worried a tree might fall on ours, so we didn't want to be home just in case. They had 2 trees fall in their backyard, but luckily nothing happened to their house.

We're standing on their front porch. There was water covering the road and some of the yard.

Me, Ethan, and Aaliyah

Rachel and the babies

Ethan and Aaliyah had fun playing together. I think they enjoyed being outside.

Since the power went out the night before, we woke up hot. There wasn't much to do other than sit outside and let the kids play with their shirts off. They liked being free.



Khalil pushed Ethan up and down the driveway. It was so cute! Right here it looks like he's telling Ethan not to worry, it'll be ok.





All day I was trying to think of where we could go, or who we could stay with because we heard power could be out for 2-3 weeks! I was barely surviving one day in that heat. Amazingly, my sister Jill got power at her house in Hemphill that evening, and she invited us and my parents to stay with her. I'm pretty sure it only took me 15 minutes to get packed and ready to go. All I could think about was air conditioning and a shower.



Well, it took about two hours to drive to Jill's house. It was dark and rainy, and the roads were slick. While crossing a bridge, our truck hydroplaned. We started slipping and sliding. Just when it looked like we were going to drive right off it, the truck would slide the opposite way, and I thought we were going over the other side instead. It seemed like I had five whole minutes to think about what was happening. So many thoughts went through my head about if we would survive...if there was water under the bridge...if we would be able to get out...and my poor baby in the back seat. It was probably the scariest thing that's ever happened to me. Somehow Jonathan was able to regain control of the truck, and the only damage was to the back tail light, which hit the side of the bridge. We immediately pulled over to check the damage, calm our nerves, and hold our crying baby. We were so relieved that no one was hurt and the truck was still driveable. We safely made it the rest of the way, but we were still shaken up for a while. I was grateful for my family before this incident, but even more so now. I love my husband and my son so very much, and I never want to think about losing them. I would be lost without them and I'm so glad the angels are watching over our little family.

Well, on a lighter note, Jill and Johnny have a couple horses in their backyard. We got to pet them and feed them carrots. Ethan was definitely interested, but they'll never compare to Little Jerry (his favorite dog in the whole wide world).

I think their horses are named Jim and Jack. Jim's the friendly one on the left.

This is a huge tree next to Jill's house that snapped. It was pretty cool.

I want to make sure Jill and Johnny know how much we appreciate them letting us stay at their house for a few days. They fed us sooo well, and we had the best company. Ethan loved playing with all the kids. Thanks guys! We love y'all!

We are currently staying with Jonathan's parents and it's been great! They're always there to help whenever we need it. Thanks so much! I don't know what we'd do without family.

The party of the century!

Khalil turned 2 years old on May 19th, but he didn't get an official birthday party, so we decided to throw him one today! Better late than never, right? He's really into cars, so that was kind of the theme. I made him a cake with race cars on it and he got lots of great presents! He doesn't really know about birthdays, so it was fun to see the excitement on his face when he got to open his presents (which just kept coming and coming!). I know he had a lot of fun and his daddy wouldn't have wanted him to skip his birthday this year. Thanks to everybody who came and helped make Khalil's birthday the party of the century!

This is Khalil falling asleep after his party. For some reason, he likes feet! So when he gets sleepy, he wants to lay on someone's leg and hold onto their feet. Sounds weird, I know, but whatever works.

Ethan got to experience his first Oreo today (double stuf, of course). As you can see, he loved it. (Jonathan had to experience it with him, like father like son.)

Ethan's driving

Jonathan always lets Ethan sit in the front seat with him before we put him in his car seat, and Ethan loves it! He gets excited and immediately grabs the steering wheel and starts turning it. It's quite adorable. (Don't you love their matching jerseys! They were going to a fantasy football draft, so they had to coordinate their outfits.)