Prayer Request

The last girl born into our family was 24 years ago when my baby sister was born. Since then there have been 7 straight boys, my brother, 2 nephews, then my 4 boys. My younger sister is expecting her 1st baby in December. It is finally a girl, Bridgett Isabelle. My sister has had high blood pressure for a while, even before she was pregnant. However, it is starting to get to the dangerous level, and because of that she is going weekly now for ultrasounds and non-stress tests (she was 29 weeks yesterday). Last week they discovered a thickening on the wall of the baby's heart that was not there the previous week. She has a specialty appointment with a pediatric cardiologist today to find out what is going on. Thankfully, my mom is able to go with her and her husband today. I would really appreciate prayers to calm her fears and nerves, and that the baby is just fine. Also, please pray that the baby keeps baking for a while (they already told her they wouldn't let her go past 38 weeks).

History

Have you ever sat and looked at pictures of your great-great-great grandparents? Or smiled at a picture of your cherised great grandmother at 8 months old sitting in a patch of wildflowers? Or read a side of your family history traced back to 1790? I was blessed with each of these this weekend. One of my cousins is traveling over the U.S. and interviewing different family members and scanning all the old family pictures. Several of them got together this weekend about an hour away to scan some more pictures, and I went. I loved looking at all of them, and watching my grandmother and her sisters' expressions as they saw pictures of their loved ones from their youths long gone. Before my great grandmother died she had gone through the pictures with my aunt and written down who each person was. How thankful I am to her that she had the insight to do that, because otherwise all that knowledge would have been gone with her. It brought back tons of wonderful memories of me as an older child sitting with her on her bed and going through pictures. Of course, as a 13 year old I got tired of looking at all these really old pictures after a while. How I would love to sit on that bed with her again and hear her sweet voice as she tells me stories of each person. I wish I had taped those conversations back then, or sat and treasured them a little more. I am thankful for our special time together when we would sit and talk, just the 2 of us and for this weekend that brought all those memories back to me.

Praise God!

2 of my sisters were in Ike's direct path, one in Houston and one in Galveston. The one in Galveston did not leave, but stayed with her mother-in-law in her 2nd story apartment (from what I hear 2 blocks from the Seawall). I have not been able to get a hold of her, but my dad said he was able to text her and she responded that they were ok, no electricity or water, but ok. She lives in a 1 story house 6 blocks from the Seawall, so I have yet to hear the condition of her house. My sister in Houston we were able to talk to, and she is fine as well (no electricity or water either). It was pretty scary this morning not being able to get a hold of the one in Gavleston, but thanks to God they are all ok.

In Honor of Spetember 11th

On September 11th, 2001 we had been married a whole whopping 3 months and were both finishing our last year at A&M. The football game was cancelled that week, and by the following week the student body had planned, organized, and sold shirts for a Red, White, and Blue Out. It was such an amazing thing to be a part of (we were in the blue section). Even the opposing team's fans bought the shirts. It was a very emotional day and to see almost everyone in the stadium unite and show such pride in being Americans was something I will treasure for the rest of my life.

The little section in brown is the Corps of Cadets, and they had to wear their uniforms.

Hurricane Ike

I got this in an email, and I just thought I would pass it on. They are predicting that Ike could still be a level 2 hurricane when it comes through here on Saturday. Thankfully, we are well stocked right now and I just finished washing all of our laundry this morning.

Hurricane Ike Predicted to Hit Texas Shoreline

In lieu of Hurricane Ike approaching the Texas coastline, residents should prepare for the possibility of limited resources in our area and potential high winds and heavy rains. Up to 2,500 evacuees could be in Brazos County as well.
Citizens can take steps to prepare for emergency situations, which includes the possibility of damaging storms. The American Red Cross provides preparedness information at their website (http://www.redcross.org/), and the following are a few preparedness tips:
Preparing Your House
-The most important precaution you can take to reduce wind damage to your home and property is to protect the areas where wind can enter. It’s important to check your windows, shutters, doors, garage doors and gutters.
-Residents should also secure or move items that could blow away in heavy winds. Items such as patio furniture, garbage cans, lawn decorations, potted plants, grills and any other moveable items should be secured or moved indoors.
Preparing Your Family
-Store a 3-day supply of a least 1 gallon daily of drinking water per person.
-Store at least enough food for 3 to 7 days. These should be non-perishable items, in case electricity isn’t available.
-Make sure you have working flashlights and back-up batteries.
-Bring your outside pets indoors.
-Fill all your vehicles with fuel – because supplies could be low after the storm.
-Charge your cell phone batteries.

Birthday Donation Update

Thanks so much for all the wonderful ideas and donations regarding Brandt's birthday. He decided he wanted to help Phoebe's Home, so I called and asked what they needed. I was told they needed Pjs, slippers, etc. in any size. With everyone's wonderful donations he got 19 pjs, 1 pair of slippers, 2 packs of underwear, and 1 brand new pair of shoes to donate. Hopefully, we will be able to take it out there this week. He still received presents from his family so we didn't take all the surprises away from him, but he was truly excited to get to help out other kiddos. He has such a sweet and caring spirit. We'll see how Brayden does with this in April. lol

Brandt's teacher makes a really big deal out of all the kid's birthday and she had a big celebration for him at school last week. He picked out Spiderman cupcakes, and I was lucky enough to get to slip in his class and wish him a happy birthday again before my next class came. Promise no more birthday pictures after this post. lol

1st field trip of the year

We had our 1st field trip of the year today. Both Kindergarten classes went to the Waco Zoo (about 1 1/2 hours away). I got a sub for my class and went with Brandt. We had a great time, and for being the beginning of September in Texas it wasn't too hot until right as we were leaving. For being in a small town, it is a really nice zoo. In fact, I prefer it hands down to the Houston zoo.

Notice the elephant in the background

In a huge snake's mouth