eeek it's IKE!!!

This is gonna be a long one....As all of you know, Ike hit Galveston and Houston with a vengeance and caused quite a bit of damage causing millions to lose power, thousands to have flooding and hundreds to lose their houses. Luckily, we weathered the storm pretty well and haven't had to endure more than we could handle. ThAnK GOodNeSS! Anyway, I think the best way to do this blog to keep it organized in thought and keep it from getting too long and rambly is to break it down by day.... SOOooooo....

~some seriously strong winds!~

:FriDaY: 

I (Danielle) had to work, as usual, I had to close the store which meant Ididn't get out of work until almost 11p.m. Ryan had to do a little business in Houston and the evacuation traffic had started to build and it took him 3 1/2 hours to get home when it normally only takes 1 1/2  hours. BUT a couple friend of ours was having a hurricane party in their garage to watch the storm come in which Ryan was able to enjoy. I made an appearance after I got off but was tired and ready to relax at our own home. Once we got home I changed into my comfy clothes, settled on the couch and watched the t.v. document every inch that IKE made closer to Galveston. THEN THE WIND STARTED! At about 1:30 AM the wind started to howl like it does in the scary movies! it was creepy! So, of course, we went outside to play in the creepy weather watching the wind blow and the rain come down. Finally, at 4:30 in the morning we got tired of that and finally went to bed. 

~watching the storm come in~

:SaTUrDay:

I had to work during the HURRICANE, but it's ok at least it was worth it.....NOT!! As you can guess no one was in the store. AnYWaY, while I was at work Ryan went into Houston to see his family and make sure they were ok and to assess the damage done to the city, everyone at that point was still out of power and water. Once they were all done at the house Ryan made his way back to college station with Jenny and her two dogs, Emma and Austin. We were glad to have them at the house and happy to open our home to them! I know Harley and sawyer definitely loved the company! After I got off work I came home and all of us had another little hurricane party with some steak, corn and potatoes, a good southern meal!  YummY! With a full tummy we just sat on the couch, watched some football and then soon went to bed. Dinner was great, THANKS HONEY! :) 

~our hurricane dinner~

~shirley's front yard~

:sUnDAy:

After two days without power and water, Shirley (Ryan's mom) decided it would be nice to shower and sit in a cool house, so she came up to join the rest of us with her two dogs. With everyone in the house it was quite a circus! 4 adults and 6 dogs. And these dogs aren't small, they are all over 60 lbs! At least they all LOVE each other and get along very well. After I got home from work Ryan and I decided it would benice to take Jenny and Shirley out to Lake Bryan, our fave spot and eat dinner. It was nice, cool and reminiscent of fall weather we never get to experience. After our nice dinner we came home to all the pups played with them for a little while and then went to bed.

~ALL THE PUPS~

~clockwise starting with ryan, sawyer, harley, emma, sugar, barkley and hiding in the back is austin~

:MoNDAy:

I finally had a day off so we got up outta bed and kinda just hung around the house. Jenny and Shirley were a little antsy to get back to houston so we decided we would go down to houston as well and see some of the damage in person. We grabbed some lunch here at a GREAT restaurant called Koppe Bridge, amazing food! After lunch we loaded up all the dogs, filled up our tanks and headed down south. Once we finally arrived in houston, dropped off the ladies, Ryan and I went driving around to see what houston looked like. It was very weird. I can't really find a better word for it. Houston is a place that both Ryan and I have spent a lot of time in and it was just very strange seeing the places, roads, restuarants you frequented so often under so much stress. Some of the roads were still flooded and trees were EVERYWHERE. Downtown Houston also had quite a bit of damage to the buildings. The JPMorgan Chase building was the most effected. Glass was everywhwere and almost every window on one side of the building was blown out. We got a video of the workermen busting out the rest of the glass. Creepy. Anyway, after we were done with downtown we went to one of our fave restaurants that had a major fire the night the hurricane hit. Brennan's was where we had our wedding reception in houston and we loved eating there, they have the best turtle soup! YUM! but, it now stands with the roof caved in and the windows busted out. :(  However, a family friend of ryan's said that they are already looking to repair and get back in to business! yay! After seeing all of that, ryan and I decided we should hurry up and eat and get on the road before the houston curfew came. So we grabbed a bite to eat on got on down the road. 

                                  ~out for lunch~

~brennans all gone~

~one of the trees, reaches all the way to their porch!~

~ouch~

~the chase building missing all it's windows~~construction worker breaking out the glass~

Today, thursday sept. 18th, shirley and jenny still don't have power and most of the school districts are also without power. I know the road to recovery will be a long one for not only houston but especially galveston. We are just glad that all of our friends and family made it through safely. God was definately watching over us.