Glimpses of October

Our first football season was a blast! Danny played center on offense, d-back on d-fense. He had a fun 1st season with a great team and had an interception.

Rebekah brought home 'snowball' from Iowa, and then daddy thought he needed a friend. Danny's cat's name is 'Sammy'.

I had the priviledge of babysitting these wonderful kids. I wish I had good pictures of them all. We had a very fun day together!

...And this was just TOO cute! This little guy walked all around the yard with his helmet and light saber, being followed everywhere by the kitten.

Rebekah won the limbo contest at SK8 Away.

Flying to New Orleans

A boat on the bayou - still sitting there since Katrina (5 yrs.) just waiting for its owner to claim it.
I couldn't believe the devastation that we saw - houses still torn in two by trees, or still with painted symbols on them from body counts by rescue teams... It looked in places like a war zone in a 3rd world country. There are beautiful houses that have been restored surrounded by houses that have never been touched since the storm; rat infested, sitting empty, being looted, horrible eyesores to the neighborhoods that will just sit there. The people aren't coming back. Rows of businesses closed down, all the windows smashed out, etc... I read blogs and see pictures of people visiting impoverished nations, and I think - we have that places in America too. It took a full year to take 3,000 homeless children to find their parents again - if they survived the storm. Can you imagine?

A home rebuilt on the bayou.

Learning to sail!

Lake Ponchatrain

Our fabulous group touring New Orleans. (the nice parts :0) We were with Bob and JoAnn Brown (who we stayed with), George and Kathy Abbas (who provided music for the conference - loved it! Lots of scripture songs they write themselves), and Brooke Ford (missionary to Tanzania)

Beignets at Cafe Du Monde! A New Orleans tradition!

This is Oscar! He designs jewelry and is a friend of Bob's, and he gave us a great deal! Lots of famous actresses will buy his stuff. I love my Oscars! Rebekah has a pair of his earrings on here.

Love these guys! Bob and JoAnn are missionaries in LA - they also run a christian school there. Wonderful people!

Beautiful Live Oaks that survived the storm!