GO AEP!!

So as you all know, we got hit pretty hard by Hurricane Dolly last week (it was no Katrina BUT it was still bad). My Dad works for the local electric company and those guys have been busting their butts since Thursday - with no days off I might add. My Dad has been going into work at 5AM and not getting home until about midnight. Brenna and I felt that they all deserved some sort of recognition so we made poster board signs and went and hung them at the service station on their fence. Brendon took a little time off work and came to help me, which was wonderful because it would have been really hard by myself.

Brenna and I made a total of 12 signs with all different stuff on them. Some of them were:

"THANK YOU For All Your Hard Work!"

"We Appreciate You!"

"You Are In Our Prayers"

"God said, "Let There Be Light" Then He Created Linemen to Distribute It" (my favorite)

"Long Hours + No Days Off = Hard Workin Men"

"We Are Grateful For You"

"Thank You to all of the Out-of-Town Helpers"

Brenna made her very own sign that said, "Thank you Grandpa and all your friends! Love, Brenna"

It made me feel really good to do that. And guess what??!! My signs are going to be in the paper! I will post the link if they have it on their website.

(BTW - You should be able to click on the pictures and it will make them bigger. Please excuse the mess on Brenna's face in the picture of her!! We just finished eating spaghetti for dinner! LOL)

Survived the Hurricane!

Well Dolly delivered a stronger punch then anyone expected I think. We did fine though and were very prepared. We got tons of rain and the city flooded pretty bad in some parts. In fact, there are still people with water in their houses and some who don't have power yet. I guess we were pretty lucky and only went a day and a half without electricity.
After it was all said and done we had a lot of cleaning up to do in the yard and lost quite a few big branches. The water came close to the house and we were a little nervous but as soon as the rain let up it started draining real quick.
Brenna did great and never got scared. She did better then Brendon and I did actually. LOL The winds were vicious and blowing about 85mph I think for a couple hours. I took quite a few pictures to kinda document everything. The link is at the bottom. I wanted to take pictures when we went driving around town but I forgot my camera. It was so weird seeing hand written 'CLOSED' signs on all the convenience stores and all the damage everywhere. When the power slowly started coming back on people were lined up into the street for gas as well as fast food. The drive thru line at one of the Whataburger's was all the way into the street and down about a block.

For us life has pretty much returned to normal but for a lot of people it will take a while. The local paper today had lots of stories and pictures of people still dealing with the aftermath and it's very sad. I really would like to do something to help but so far no information has been given as to what others could do right now.
We did have one of Brendon's co-workers, his wife and two kids stay with us last night because they still did not have power. We gave them Brenna's room and said that they could stay as long as they needed but thankfully for them their power was restored today.

Well here's the link to the pictures I took.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v23/raving_butterfly/Hurricane%20Dolly/

Life Experiences

So Brenna had her very first experience with losing a pet today. Her cute little hamster, Darthee, passed away and she was pretty heartbroken. Brendon and I found him last night and we told Brenna this morning. She actually took it pretty well when Brendon broke the news to her. I had put Darthee in a little box last night and Brenna and I had a nice funeral for him today (headstone and all). When we buried him though that's when Brenna cried. It was so sad and I even cried too seeing my little girl so hurt.
She eventually decided that she would like to get another hamster and did not want to wait. She really was such a good little owner and did a wonderful job taking care of Darthee and I think she would have really missed not having something to care for.
So has hasty as it may seem, we went and picked out another hamster for her today. We ended up getting a very sweet dwarf hamster (Darthee was a full-size hamster) and he is very cute and really gentle. The first one Brenna picked out tried to bite the guy who was getting him for us so I immediately said "No way! Not that one!" Eventually he found a pretty docile one that Brenna liked and she was a proud hamster owner again. She named him Dexter.
I never did post any pictures of Darthee but I will try and get some on here of Brenna and Dexter.

How Time is Flying!

Yes, this summer is going by "speedy quick", as Junie B. Jones would say. Ok, so not everyone has a 6 year old so I will enlighten you - Junie B. is a character is these chapter books that Brenna and I love to read. She is a very witty and funny 1st grader and her books are VERY cute. Think Judy Blume with a little sarcastic twist...

Anyways! It's been a while since I last posted. Nothing really life-changing has happened. Just going through our day-to-day stuff. This past weekend WAS pretty eventful though. Almost my entire family on my Dad's side was down for the holiday weekend. For those who don't realize what a big deal that is -- my family on that side is HUGE and it is a pretty rare thing for all of us to get together. My Grandma had six children and only about every three years or so they are all in one spot, at one time. You can imagine all the pictures that are taken. haha!

We had such a great time and spent all weekend at Arroyo City and ate sooo much good food! Brenna was an absolute DOLL and was so good and so polite and really kept everyone entertained - especially the teenagers (all my teenage cousins brought friends and boyfriends/girlfriends). They just adored her and thought she was the coolest little kid they ever met. LOL :) It was pretty darn cute the way they hung out with her (and especially the way she fit in!!). My cousin even made a comment and said that she thought it was really neat that Brenna could hang out with all the "adults" and fit in so well and make such great conversation.

She was a great help too and took it upon herself to go around and pick up everyone's dirty plates after dinner one night. My Grandpa asked her if she was working for tips and she just smiled and said, "No Papa, I'm just trying to be a good person." Everyone 'ooo-ed' and 'ahhh-ed' and thought she was so cute. Yes, I was a very proud Mama. :) We did get a couple pictures - first one is of Brenna and me at dinner one night. Second is of of a rainbow that we were blessed to see after it rained (Brenna took the picture of it - it was quite spectacular and the only time that Brenna remembers seeing a rainbow).

So since Brenna is finished with her swimming lessons Brendon and I got a membership to the Elk's Lodge and we now have a pool pass. Too bad it's been raining for five straight days!!!!! So yes, we need the rain (BADLY!) but poor Brenna just wants to go swimming! Hopefully the skies will clear and little Miss Brenna will be able to show off her swimming skills soon. :) I try to remember my camera and get some pictures to post.