sometimes unanswered prayers are okay :)

JESUS SAVE THE TREES was my last blog entry before hurricane ike decided he was going to get to know us on a personal level.


the trees were NOT saved, but THE LEES were and THAT is something we are so incredibly grateful for!


thank you for all your prayers for our family...before, during & after the storm. they mean the world to us.


it's been an emotional week for so many reasons, and while we HAVE suffered some loss, we are also very aware that there are many, many who are suffering in ways we can't possibly begin to fathom, and our prayers go out to them during this time.


our power finally came back on day FIVE of the storm and i have to say that a BATTERY OPERATED FLAT IRON is a must-have for your hurricane preparation kit :) just a little tip from someone who knows :) not that i actually HAD one...just realized it sure would have been NICE TO HAVE lol.

and so, without further ado, the photos you've been waiting for...


our home, friday night before the storm:

and saturday morning, AFTER the storm:

and a picture of the back of the house, BEFORE:

and a picture of the backyard, AFTER:

our beloved beanstalk crashed into the house @ approximately 5 a.m. after a long, nail-biting night of watching the trees in the backyard bend back and forth as the wind howled outside.

the boys (all three) were SOUND asleep in the bedroom upstairs, just to the right of the 'beanstalk' (lovingly referred to as the beanstalk, it was actually an enormous oak tree). uncle mark, alexis and jordan were not sleeping well & had relocated to the dining room which is in the middle section of the downstairs of the house.

as bobby and i watched out our bedroom window, there was a HUGE gust (gust seems not be a strong enough word) and then an enormous force hit the house & we heard what we THOUGHT was shattered glass. in fact, it was the chimney being obliterated. it shattered into a gazillion pieces.

this was enough to wake the boys. when we figured out that it was the tree, we then weren't really sure how much longer before it could fall through the ceiling and so i went to the kitchen to call 911 to see if we could get help making our way to the local shelter. as i spoke with the dispatcher, i realized it felt like i was being rained on. in those few short moments, water was already coming into the kitchen.

meanwhile, bobby called our neighbors, tyler & katie. a policeman & tyler both arrived at the same time & we decided it would be best to weather out the rest of the storm at the neighbors house rather than risk making it to the shelter.

we watched as the tree in their front yard rocked it's roots loose until it was barely hanging on.

when the storm was fully past, we went home to survey the damage. that's when we realized that there was a pine tree in our front yard that had also begun to come loose at the roots and was leaning toward the house.

our friend jason, who lives in the neighborhood, made a couple trips to take us all back to his house. the kids played, we all had lunch and then bobby and i headed back to the house. in that short amount of time, tyler & katies tree fell, and our pine tree fell and landed on the house, choosing a very precarious place to lay it's body...

here's the neighbors' tree:

and another shot of ours:

i have so many more photos to share but we've spent today cleaning up debris (inside and out) and so i'm stopping here. i'll update again tomorrow with more pics & details.

once more, THANK YOU for your LOVE & SUPPORT during this time. we have felt your prayers and are so thankful for the friends HERE that have opened their homes to us, and our family & friends THERE (that's you...wherever you are) that carry us in your hearts & thoughts.

much love for now, many photos tomorrow.

xoxo.