Introducing...

While Lesley is recovering here are a few pictures to introduce you to our new bundle of joy, Joseph Don Larson.

Ike Pictures

Here is the only damage we had -- a 70' pine bent in half, and lay along the back fence in our yard. It was perfectly paralell to the fence and did not harm a single thing, except several fence panels and one branch on a tree in our neighbors yard.

Phew. Life is almost normal again.

We survived Hurricane Ike. We decided to stay here in Houston during the storm, as well as during those tough days without power thereafter. Thankfully, there was no damage to our home. Phew. We lost one 60 foot pine tree in our backyard, but miraculously, it missed every house it could have hit. Most of our neighbors were not so lucky -- many homes on our street had multiple trees come through the roof, and then had severe water damage when the heavy rains arrived shortly thereafter. A friend showed me these pictures of our area taken immediately following the storm. I think those first 12 pictures are a good representation of what things look like around here.

Lesley had food poisoning through most of the 12 hours of Ike's wind and rain, but the good friends we have staying with us trumped that -- Sarah 'decided' to go be in labor just as the storm hit. Little Andrew arrived perfect and beautiful and healthy though he was 4 weeks early and arrived in the very moment that the eye of the storm was over our neighborhood. We are all thankful that he was born at our local hospital, not here at our house. Double Phew.

We feel that Heavenly Father really protected and watched over us these last two weeks. So much of this could have been far worse. A cold front arrived just days after the storm, and kept us unseasonably cool and comfortable during most of the last 9 days without electricity. Still, poor Ian suffered from the worst case of heat rash I have ever seen.

We got our power back on Monday, September 22. Our Internet connection was restored tonight. Life has seemed almost normal for a day now. I love having cold milk and cheese in the fridge again. However, most of our neighbors are still without power and many stores are still sparsely stocked. And there is still so much more cleanup work to do around here. It has been wonderful to witness neighbor helping neighbor, and I expect the will be months more of that ahead. More details and pictures soon.

Hurricane Ike

A Category 3 Hurricane is headed for Houston and is expected to make landfall late tonight (Friday) or early tomorrow morning. But you probably already knew that. I bet you are here because you are wondering is how the storm affects the Larson family.

Our home is located far enough inland that we aren't concerned about the storm surge. Click here to see where our county is in regards to the coast. We are on the Southernmost side of the county. No evacuations have been issued for our area. In fact, we have been asked to shelter in place so that residents nearer to the coast can make an easier exit.

We are worried about the very high winds and rain that will accompany the storm as it passes our neighborhood. We live in a densely wooded area, with many large trees on our lot, and felled trees may present a problem if the winds are as strong as predicted. Loss of power is very likely, and with 'round the clock heat in the high 90's with very high humidity, I am not sure how long this pregnant woman and toddler will be able to hold out without AC. Our plan is to leave Houston after the storm if power will be out for an extended period of time. That is, if there aren't too many trees blocking our path.

Don't worry too much about us. We will let you know how it all goes. I like to read this blog by the Houston Chronicle. Check it out to see what is going on with us over the next few hours.