Not so fast...

Apparently, we were a bit quick in announcing our good fortune in surviving Ike. Another friend (and neighbor) offered to go check out our house again this morning, after hearing that our street had experienced some flooding. And unfortunately, our house did indeed flood. I guess a huge storm passed through after Ike (yesterday, then?), and dumped a ton of rain. So while we were celebrating our good fortune from surviving Ike with no troubles minus a bit of inconvenience, our house was filling up with water. I don't know exactly how much it flooded. Sounds like at one point there were several inches of water - but now it's not actually standing water - but the carpets, etc are saturated - including everything on the floor (right now I'm saddest about all of Ben's glorious board books - how this child loves to read)...

We have the most amazing friends - we just received a call from our fourth friend who has headed over to help start cleaning things up. We are frustrated and worried being so far away from what is happening, but also so incredibly humbled by the love our friends have shown us by jumping to our aid over the last few hours.

It sounds like power may still be days (I'm afraid to say weeks) away, so Benjamin and I are jumping on a flight this evening to visit my parents in Oregon until all this gets sorted out. Mark is driving back to Houston tommorrow morning to assess the scene and figure out what needs to be done to get our house liveable again.

Please send him good thoughts and prayers as he works over the next few days in what is likely to be an uncomfortable situation - and that the current cool front that will make it so much more bearable lasts...

Thank you Dan, Robyn, Josh and Nathan for being such gracious hosts, and allowing us to share your home with no notice for several days. You guys are awesome, and we had such a fun time visiting with you...