Nighty Night

Kasiana is saying "Aunt Jan, Mimis..."

Kasiana picked up this great expression (Nighty Night) from her Great Grandma. The week before Hurricane Ike came, Grandma and Aunt Jan came down for a last minute visit. Mom had scheduled what she called a "simple procedure" that would be outpatient/day surgery to remove some SKIN CANCER. Okay that in itself is scary. It turned out to be a lot worse than she even imagined, and what she thought would be the size of a silver dollar, turned out to be half of her head. Grandma and Aunt Jan came and the family bonded around her for awhile, and it was a really special time for our family. Kasiana would look up at Grandma and say owie, as she pointed to her eyes that were swollen almost shut and her black and blue face.





She looks great now, and is figuring out how to style her hair, since half of it was shaved off. She's got some favorite scarves that she wraps around her head. The good news is all of the staples and stitches are out now. They've been through a rough September, and with Ike their power was out for over a week. They celebrated Friday, that power was restored and things are getting a little more normal.

Ike's Arrival & Aftermath

Playing in the puddles after Ike.

We took a wagon ride to see the war zone.

Ike came through on Friday about 2 am. Our power went out on Friday about midnight. High winds, and debris blew through the air and kept us awake most of the night. We listened to the continuous news coverage on our battery powered radio. Kasiana slept through the whole thing. I finally got to sleep about 6 am, once everyone started waking up to see what the destruction in our neighborhood was. We lost half of one of our trees and the fence in our backyard has to be replaced. Mortar pieces from our chimney shook loose in the storm and came through our fireplace. Our street was filled with tree branches and debris. It's been neat to see everyone working together to help each other. Ruben is exhausted from working so hard at our house and each of the neighbors' houses, cutting down tree branches, etc.

We really fared better than we thought we would have. There are so many that are in worse shape than we are. Our power was restored Saturday around 5:00 pm. I'd say that only about 30 of Houston has had their power restored. We are among those lucky few. Both Ruben's parents and my parents do not have power, and have been staying with us. Mom brought all the food over from the fridge and freezer and we are trying to cook as much as we can before it spoils. Mom and Jerry just found out last night that it would be anywhere from 1-4 more weeks, before they could expect power. Schools are out again for at least today and tomorrow. Kasiana is beside herself, having fun with both sets of grandparents and "working" outside.

The tree that split in front of our house.

This tree was completely uprooted, a couple of housed down.

The boys in the neighborhod making a fort out of downed trees.

The humidity has done great things for Kasiana's curls.

Getting Ready for Ike

Kasiana's bringing in her furniture from outside before Ike gets it.

Well we are hunkering down, ready for Hurricane Ike to make it's landfall. It's a little bit exciting. It's funny, it seems as though our ward has brought up having our 72 hours kits and Emergency Preparedness plan in place in order, more this year than in the past. I think we've got everything. Ruben's parents were going to come over, but it doesn't sound like they will now. Our school district was closed today, so that everyone could make preparations. They're expecting we'll lose power, but we hope not. We'll keep everyone posted. We're just a little excited to spend some much needed time together. Things have been hectic with our jobs and Ruben going to school full time. Right now, winds are high. Ruben and I just went out and cut down a huge part of our neighbors tree that was hanging in our yard and putting weight on the deteriorating fence. Hope the fence stays in one piece. A little while ago, the missionaries were down borrowing our neighbors ladder to board up the windows of a family's house that's in our ward. They also happen to be the host family for the sister missionaries in our ward. There are about six houses on our block that has boarded up. We haven't. Hope we're okay.

Vacationing in Our Very Own City

Finding the pots and pans at the hotel. Boy, that was fun!
Kasiana sitting in her booster seat, looking down at the cars two stories down from the restaraunt.

This summer we decided, since both money and time were tight that we'd be visitors in our own city of Houston. Isaiah was only with us for about three weeks. Ruben's dad got us a great suite at the Marriott downtown, and we made the most out of a great weekend Friday through Sunday. Isaiah and Ruben went and saw the Astros win at Minute Maid Park. We explored the Downtown Aquarium. Kasiana and I even had our very first girl's night. It reminded me of how the g-mates and I would pamper ourselves the night before one of us got married. Kasiana is a little two young still. She actually went to bed after her bath, and let mom paint her own toes.

We rode the Metrorail, and explored the streets of downtown Houston.

Everything was closed about 8:00. After our dinner, we wanted ice cream and found this store to be the only thing open. Notice the name of the store. Hey, for a $1.19... we got our ice cream and went on a shopping spree.

Ruben found these hot sunglasses, but I couldn't convince him to buy them.

In the morning, Kasiana loved to jump on Vago's bed to wake him up.

At the Downtown Aquarium, we got to see all kinds of fishies.

Kasiana with her purse, cruisin' in her wagon.

This summer was a real bonding experience for Vago and Kasiana. Like us, she had a hard time seeing him go.

Even a month later, she still goes into his room calling out "Babo...babo..."