Brandon, Steph, Payton & Payne: Ike's Strike!

Ol' Ike! Against our families wishes and at the request of the City of Houston, we stayed in Cypress during Hurricane Ike. We were preparing for the worst and praying for the best in the days before Ike hit land. Our friends Jimmy & Amy and their girls Natalie & Haley came to stay with us from League City. It had been too long since we'd seen them and we didn't think it would take Ike to get us together :) Amy and I were actually meeting the Thursday before the hurricane to go shopping but plans changed when Ike was coming directly at Galveston and threatening their house. They packed up their belongings and came to stay with us for a few days. We were SO happy to have them here with us and glad we could help. Thursday evening, we went to La Hacienda for dinner and drinks. It was definitely a typical Houston day full of hot air and humidity. That night started our watch-athon of the Ike coverage.

On Friday, Brandon and Jimmy picked up CFA breakfast for us. I was amazed they were open b/c if you go to CFA as often as we do, they close for every holiday, event, etc.... and I thought they'd for sure be closed for a hurricane but they weren't! The girls played all day and the guys went to GSG to pick up supplies to board up our windows. Crystal, Stuart & Sarah came over to play and hang out before the storm hit. The girls played outside and the sky was calm and beautiful before the storm. That evening, we got all the girls bathed and ready for bed. We made them beds in our master closet b/c it was the only room downstairs that wasn't near windows. They were such angels and went right to sleep. Crystal, Stuart & Sarah went back to their house to prep for Ike. Amy & I, being the good mama's that we are, pulled an all nighter while our hubbies & kids slept through most of the storm. Our U-Verse, cable, went out at midnight so from then on, we listened to a radio but we still had power. Thanks to Mark, we knew where the storm was heading b/c he was texting Brandon pictures from his TV showing pictures of the storm so we knew when we'd get the winds and rain. About 4:30-5'ish, our electricity went out and the storm hit. The winds were crazy fast and it was definitely scary! We live 85 miles from Galveston and it didn't seem far enough north. The girls ALL woke up at 5:00 a.m. and Natalie & Haley didn't go back to sleep but I somehow managed to get P back to sleep for a few hours. I was sitting in our Master bedroom listening to the winds, unable to see out b/c of the storm boards, and I heard the beams in our house creaking as if the 2nd floor was about to crash in on us. The winds were clocked by a friend of mine 2 miles away at 91 mph at one point. The sustained winds in our neighborhood were from 55-65 mph with gusts up to 90 mph. We were without electricity until Sunday evening and had 1 tree limb down. Amy & Jimmy's house had no major damage other than Natalie & Haley's 20+ day assembly swing set (just finished at the end of June) went through their bank fence. They got power back on Monday. We are VERY thankful that our house, our friends houses and our family and friends are all ok.

There are many people in Houston, east Texas and other states still without power, running water and many people in the Galveston area & East Texas areas lost their homes and all their belongings. Our office is still without power so we're running off generators until it's back up and running. Brandon and the whole GSG crew have been great throughout the Ike turmoil and have helped many employees, customers and strangers during this time of need. It's amazing how the citizens of Houston, Galveston, Beaumont and other surrounding cities are coming together and helping one another. Ike was a big storm that started miles away and went miles into the U.S. before ending it's destruction. Please continue to pray for the people in need, the volunteers, city workers, medical staff and everyone that was somehow "hit" by Ike. We braved out one bad storm and we're more grateful now for modern conveniences :)