First week in Houston

The pics went in backwards, you'd think I'd have it figured out by now... so head on down to the bottom and start from there!!


We asked our neighbors about flooding and hurricanes up in Northeast Houston, where we are, and they said they boarded their windows and doors up, and headed up to Dallas when it got bad last year. Some even said they were without power for 15 days... it brings a new meaning to being prepared and having a good food storage. My new ward has a website and an organization for emergency prep and food storage! NICE! Because of the heat and humidity, we already have everything stored in tubs and airtight containers. I had potatoes out that started going bad after only one day...

The blue line on this building shows how high the water got in buildings closer to the sea wall. If you look closely you can see the back of someones arm as he's going through the door into the building. The line goes to his shoulder... wow! In the pic above, my Mom and the kiddies are standing on the seawall. You can see the beach behind them. It's hard to tell, but the seawall is about 10 feet higher than the sand below. Now add that to the shoulder level water, and the 4.5 foot water more inland... I couldn't believe it, but there it was!!
The Mardi Gras Arch. There were also a bunch of houses and apartments all lined up along the street that looked like New Orleans, really fun with BRIGHT colors, wow!
Farther into town, the flood waters got up to 4.5 feet. See pic below.
They passed a new law that homes had to be on 13 foot high stilts, up from 8 feet. Homes that lost their stilts or had major flood damage were quarantined and abandoned, like this one.
It was crazy how some places got completely wiped out while others were left untouched. This huge restaurant on the bayou was undamaged while all around homes and boats were thrashed.
People still living in trailors while things get rebuilt.
Houses got completely knocked off their stilts. There is a lot of repairing being done. My Mom got a lot of cool pictures of homes with total destruction, sometime I'll put those up.
The Duck was nicknamed Miss Michelle. I thought that was neat. Galveston is only a few hours from New Orleans so they get a lot of their culture from them and the french quarter.
We saw a ton of shrimp boats out in the Gulf of Mexico. They are only allowed to go out once each year so this season is the best time to go, the shrimp are about the size of my hand, right out there off the coast, amazing!
One interesting thing we were told was that when people are buried, they have separate cemeteries, depending on your religion. Even in death, they want to be separated. I took a few pics of some cemeteries, but they are a little morbid to post up! The other thing about the dead was that you are put to rest in a completely sealed concrete box so that during flooding, your body will stay down below... ick!
My Mom came out this week to help us get the house set up and do some sightseeing. We were able to head down to Galveston on Friday and WOW, what a sight! Last year in September, Hurricane IKE showed up. Galveston is still picking themselves up from the devastation, so it was surprising how much they have accomplished in less than a year! We rode the Duck Tour which took us all over town while telling us about everything we were seeing, plus, we went out into the bayou where there were alligators... yikes!!




Just down the street is this awesome BIG splash park. Everything in Texas is BIG, but this is a nice thing to do when you're trying to beat the heat!

I only have a pic of the front of the house so far... the inside is a work in progress, and just not quite picture-worthy yet... maybe after this weekend!! We have a backyard with shade trees in it, a garage, and a third bedroom, all new experiences for us, so life is good!

This little fast food place is EVERYWHERE!! I've never heard of it! We also have Jack in the Box and Chick-Fil-A on just about every corner... NICE!

Here's the practice. It's REALLY nice on the inside!
Cam officially started his first week as a dentist this past Monday! He loved it and got settled in pretty quickly! Pretty overwhelming after not doing any dentistry for a few months, but it's getting better!