I don't like IKE part 1

Life has been pretty crazy for us the last month or so. It has taken me until give you all an update on our "IKE" experience. On Wednesday evvening before the storm we decided that it would be best if we evacuated. Our children get a little nervous in a regular thunder and lightning storm so we didn't want to make them suffer through the storm. So we boarded up our windows and packed up some clothes, food, etc. and headed to Conroe, Texas. We stayed in an LDS church there. We were assigned a classroom where we all slept together as a family. I don't reccommend sleeping in a church---at least in Texas anyway!! The air conditioners are set so low that we were freezing.

Taylor, Carter, and Carly thought it was great to "live" in the church. They loved running around in the gym and playing in the nursery all day Friday. Meanwhile, Scott, Spencer and I were glued to the TV watching the news as the storm got closer and closer. We met some new people while there and learned a lot.

(This is what our house looked like all boarded up as we left on Thursday)

IKE hit Conroe about 5:30 am on Sat. Luckily the church is a very sturdy building, the windows were small and the kids were asleep. Scott and I would probably slept through it but Spencer had woken up to eat and so then we lay in bed and watched the blue flashes out the window as the transformers blew. Even though Conroe is about 40 miles north of downtown Houston it still experienced Cat. 1 force winds. Across the stree from the church is a good size apartment complex that had 30 foot tall pine trees on the roof. There were tons of branches everywhere.

The power went out as the storm passed over and so we spent a hot and muggy day inside the very dark church on Saturday. When it came time for dinner we had some meat we needed to use that was thawing so Scott pulled out the camp stove (the stoves int the church are electric) and cooked for us. Sshhh.....don't tell that is one of the rolling carts from the kitchen that we took outsided and put the stove on. Carly and Carter had a great time helping. They are Food Network fans and so they said that Scott was Bobby Flay, Carly was Rachel Ray and Carter was Alton Brown and they were having a throwdown!! I dare you Bobby Flay to make better hot dogs and sloppy joes! And yes, Carly is wearing a dress-up. Before we left we told the kids to each go and get one toy to take with us. Carly chose a dress-up and the boys each took their lightsabers.

Okay, this whole experience is going to take a few posts because it is time to go to the bus and get the boys. Stay tuned for the next installment of "IKE-the J family's experience".