Hole-y Cow!

Hail Damage:

Our little magnolia tree has seen prettier days.

Our side garage door got a little dinged up.

I'm still not sure how water came in our garage. Even in the heaviest of rains hasn't caused water to come in. Thankfully we had moved mostly everything out of our garage already. These were just empty boxes that weren't a big deal to throw away.

My parents poor car. :(

The leaves were everywhere!

We noticed a little breaking along the edge and just thought that was it because of the way it hung off the edge. We still couldn't tell the extent of the damage on the roof.

The actual night of the storm our roof was covered more with leaves. All of the dark spots we kept thinking was just debris. We finally got out a ladder to get a closer look and sure enough there were holes everywhere!

Hence the name of this post!

Oh. My. Goodness.

The house was to close in 5 days.

After the Storm

The storm is over and we walk outside to take a look at everything. I'm fascinated by how you can see the "rings" in the hail balls especially after watching "Magic School Bus Kicks Up a Storm" at school. :) Hail Drifts
Davy loved all the ice treats!

Ray is home at this point. The neighbors start to come out. Typical neighbor with no shoes and camera around his neck.

The fog was so pretty as it came in...the calm after the storm.

All Hail the Power

Ray was out of town and my parents once again offered to help pack. I wanted to put the Pack Master's skills to good use in the kitchen! We had no idea that any storm was coming, and when we noticed it getting darker we didn't think much of it. My dad was watching a race and he told us that scrolling along the bottom of the screen was saying that strong storms with large hail were coming through. So we changed to a channel where they would interrupt with bad weather and sure enough we knew within minutes!

As soon as I saw it start coming down I knew I needed my camera!

It. Was. SO. Loud! The camera didn't really capture the effect of the leaves being torn off the branches. The smell of cut branches/leaves was really strong.

Actually it was a terrible feeling standing in the house listening to it hit, and I was so thankful that I wasn't home alone or I would have probably been freaking out!

No more flowers! :( (There were still in the yard from a previous rain to get water...they don't normally stay there.)

It was a helpless feeling too! My poor dad watching their van get hit. (It was in fact totaled by the insurance company.)

I have no idea how long the storm lasted. It seemed like forever, but it was still pretty amazing at how quickly the hail piled up.

Notice the size of some of the hail balls.

The black spot on the TV shows where hail is hitting. It was a big spot on the radar!

Meet the Pack Master

There is an art to packing, and my father has mastered that art! I only hope to be as great of a packer as he is someday! :) I think he is so willing to help because he knows he can do it better than me.

Since my parents were already over at our house to eat birthday cake, my mom suggested that my dad pack up our books. OK, I had no problem with that!

You have to start with the heaviest books first.

As you put books in the box, they need to be grouped with other like sized books.The object of packing a box is to make sure all empty spaces are filled to prevent shifting.
Newspaper is the perfect stuffing agent. If you have someone to help you that's even better. Good thing mom was there since I was busy taking pictures.

He was kind enough to do another box for me! Hold the box together between your knees to tape the bottom.

Tape the bottom of the box just right!

Thanks Dad! Our packing wouldn't be what it is without you!

Happy Birthday Mom!

I love celebrating my MOM! And I love the tradition of a strawberry cake for her birthday.

He always has to warm up to my dad every time he comes over!

Friends again!

Trip to Ft. Worth

Bridget and I took a trip to see Natalie in Ft. Worth! The more we visit the more of a challenge it is to come up with what we are going to do!

This time we went to Ft. Worth Water Gardens. The sound of this water rushing was incredible!
I was excited to go to the bottom. It is hard to tell, but the water is rushing under the very narrow steps which make you feel dizzy and out of control.



I looked to see that Natalie was ready to turn around! Bridget and I didn't make it much farther and turned around to explore the rest of the gardens.

I love our times together! Even though we don't talk consistently while apart we always have incredible conversations while together. They always range from food and CMT, to politics and the nations. It is refreshing to be known by these girls and have the chance to go deep!