McKinney Falls

Since the weather has been so nice, we decided to take the kids camping on Friday night - and they had a blast!

We roasted hot dogs

and ate s'mores

while Peter tried to taste every rock in the camp, so he spent a lot of time in his playpen

which got old pretty fast...

but the favorite activity turned out to be sleeping in the tent.

In the morning we went exploring...

saw some of the local wildlife

and made leaf rubbings at the visitor's center.

The kids had a great time (so did the adults, although I don't think we got nearly as good a night's sleep as they did), so we'll definitely have to do it again soon - maybe we'll even make this a family tradition - the first camping trip of the season taken the first weekend the weather breaks.

He Walks!

... sideways! I always forget that I can't take video this way since my low tech mind has no idea how to turn it... but it's cute nonetheless. Everyday he pushes himself to walk a little farther and gets a little more confident - then he gets a little too eager and leans forward toward his goal and the weight of that noggin just takes him down. My favorite is when he gets the Frankenstein arms going - he's not really doing it so much in the video, but trust me - it's cute.

On a side note, thanks to all of you who have expressed concern for our families who live in Houston and Galveston. Thankfully, all are safe and sound if somewhat inconvenienced. Andrew's dad and his family left early Thursday and ended up in Mississippi. When it became apparent that they wouldn't be going home anytime soon, they went on to Kentucky to visit Andrew's brother Ben. They know from satellite photos that their house and trees are still standing, but have no idea of the condition everything is in...

My parents and brother weathered the storm well in Houston, with my brother only losing one tree (which ended up mostly on the neighbor's garage - oops!). My parents are still without power, but they do have a generator so they're managing well. My sister posted some before and after pics of their street on her blog if you want to take a look.

Of Hurricanes...

The wind came back with triple fury, and put out the light for the last time. They sat in company with the others in other shanties, their eyes straining against crude walls and their souls asking if He meant to measure their puny might against His. They seemed to be staring at the dark, but their eyes were watching God.

-Zora Neale Hurston

[top: storm surge around memorial of 1900 storm,

bottom: debris of Balinese room and Murdock's Pier along the seawall]

Hurricane Alicia

[Pictures of Galveston after Alicia]

Yes, you heard that right... I was trying to frame a point of reference for the strength of the coming storm (Hurricane Ike is headed straight for Houston and Galveston) and it turns out that the last time Houston weathered a Category 3 storm was Hurricane Alicia which hit when I was about 8 - the first since Hurricane Carla back in 61. So it seems that Houston is destined to get a heavy hit about every 20-someodd years. At any rate, I have very vivid memories of Hurricane Alicia and the week that followed. In fact, I think a tornado went right through our neighborhood. We were without power or water for several days and I remember my dad making the rounds of the neighborhood with his lone chainsaw helping everyone with their downed trees and then rinsing off in the rain at night. Of course, being 8 meant it was all a grand adventure, esp. since school was cancelled for a week afterwards.

Now, my one thought is to pray for the safety of all those in the path of the storm.

Resolver Dudas

Or "Resolving Concerns" for those of you who didn't serve Spanish speaking missions - when you learn thing in Spanish the first time, it's hard to think of them any other way. One of the things you do as a missionary is attempt resolve the concerns of people who are learning about the gospel. Everyone always told me that I would use the skills I learned on the mission throughout my life... they just didn't tell me I'd be using them for potty training...