Dinosaurs, hurricanes and sharks

September 2017

Hurricane Harvey cooled the weather down considerably so we took advantage and had some adventures! We drove up past Austin where there is a dinosaur park! It's a really cool outdoor trail with dinosaur structures along the path to see. Abi loved it!

At the dinosaur park

So scary!

They will shortly be 11 months old!

Their Sunday best

I see you!

Katie sent me this hat for Hyrum as a congrats on graduating from his helmet. Isn't he adorable??

Tiny punk

New haircut

After Hurricane Harvey devastated Houston and other coastal areas, our church asked for volunteers from all over the area to drive in for the weekend and help with cleanup. James went with a group of about 30 men and worked all Saturday and Sunday - they stayed the night in a local high school gym. Haha! What an adventure! He took some amazing and depressing photos of all the damage and destruction as well as incredible photos of the volunteers and the work they got done. I'm a few of my favorites!

He had several pictures of similar signs...

Only in Texas...

James's group primarily helped clear people's yards. The water came up, dragged in and dropped so much plant garbage that it blocked roads into peoples' yards so they couldn't get in or out and until that was somewhat cleaned, the locals couldn't do much else by way of cleanup. So the volunteers chopped up trees, raked, moved logs and branches, dropped gravel over muddy roads, and piled all the garbage along the road.

Cutting up the trees

Here is one yard they worked on for about half a day - two shots of the same space. I wish the pictures were both either portrait or landscape to show the difference a little more clearly but even as it is, you can see how badly these people were affected and how much need there was and probably still is for volunteers.

Before cleanup...

...After cleanup

James said the piles and piles of garbage were overwhelming but there's just too much to be collected anytime soon.

Too much trash to collect

This is a boat storage center. The walls are gone!

It's basically a goner

The amount of garbage but also the variety of what is in the garbage (which used to be all over their yards and the contents of their homes) is amazing to me! Also amazing is how organized even the trash piles have to be in emergency situations like this. Notice the natural trash separated from the man-made trash. So much work to be done in this area!

The variety of trash piles

While James was gone for the weekend, the kids and I played and went to church just like normal... sort of. Haha! Single life with young twins and a demanding four-year-old are always interesting. But don't they look so big!!?!???!?!

Audrianne

Hyrum

That night, while I was husband-less, I saw FAST movement out of the corner of my eye in our kitchen. Turned out to be a tiny lizard!! Augh! I followed that fast baby lizard into our front entry where he tried to hide in our shoe pile. I caught him under a Mason jar and then called James to get further direction and courage. Haha!

Our visitor

Church was different. Many of the men were volunteering so the congregation was smaller and a bit more colorful - hehe - since there were fewer business suits in the audience. These two pictures are a record of my church life at this stage of twin-momming. I was still pumping several times a day including once while at church. Our church building has a mother's room I can use though it's one of the smaller mother's rooms I've seen AND we have about eight nursing mothers just in our congregation (there are two other congregations who meet in our building). Haha! So I managed to get Abi to her primary class and then myself and our big bus of a stroller into the tiny mother's room during a moment when no one else needed it. Miracle since we require the whole room! Haha! But, you can see from the pictures that these babies were not being very patient in waiting for the milk and there's not a lot you can do to console two children while hooked to a machine. So, I just listened to them whine while I pumped. Relaxing... :) Haha! Just proof that life is better with the help and support of our hubby/daddy who usually keeps the babies in class while I pump. I know, a lot of explanation for two not-so-amazing pictures, but to me, these say, "Super-mom" and some days, I need this reminder. :)

My day in the mother's room

Both unhappy

James took these funny pictures on his way home Sunday afternoon... I guess the hurricane dropped more than just plant parts and garbage... Haha! Watch out!

What the hurricane left

Sharknado!