Ok, finally home and I can tell you that I missed the blogging world a little toooooo much. It is strange how you find that you become attatched to some of the people you blog with. Thank you all for the prayers and heartfelt sympathies you left on the posts. I guess I waste web space and give you some details of our "LITTLE" trip north.

We began our sequence of events on Sunday night a week ago. We frantically packed up many of our treasured possessions and boxed up all photos and pictures (frames and all) and many items I didn't want to loose. Paul then loaded them all into our camping trailer and around noon Monday afternoon, he left with the trailer and Kaylee, following his mom who was pulling a very large horse trailer with 3 adult horses and one filly, to go to Tyler (well Lindale which is just a few minutes north of Tyler) and arrived there around 6 pm. He parked the trailer at his mom and dads new home and then after an early to bed night, he left at 2 am Tuesday, following his mom home and got here at 7 am Tuesday morning. He slept for a couple of hours and then his mom and two sisters (who had loaded much more of their stuff into their camper and a flat bed trailer), took Kaylee and left again to go back! Whew!!! What a day. Then the dreaded news came that we would have to evacuate as well. I was still up to my eyeballs in the Katrina relief center and had people streaming steadily in all day, when I finally had to put signs on the door and just lock up and leave. I finished packing some more stuff and we loaded the mini van, Paul's truck and my son in law and daughters car, leaving room for Kordell, my dog Roscoe, Kaylee's parakeets "Him and Her", and Kendra's ferret, "Chewy". What a zoo!!! We left at 7:10 am on Thursday morning and could see the traffic already backing up on highway 35 past our house. OK, NOT GOING TO GET A GOOD START! We were in traffic for 4 hours to make a trip that normally takes 25 minutes. Granted, ours was not as bad as those who had to go through Houston but still it was hot and the animals were hot, the baby did really well in only his diaper and I am not sure but I think at one point, Kendra and I began to undress from the heat. It wouldn't have been quite so bad but when the van would sit idle for 10 minutes or more it would begin to over heat so I'd turn off the ac and roll the windows down. It was 106 in the street + heat index. HOT! After a long LONG time we made it to Hwy 59 and from there we took some serious back roads, I was pretty sure that Paul was making them up but we managed to avoid all the major stand stills and only sat in traffic a total of 6 hours out of a 13.5 hour trip. It normally takes us 5 hours to get to Lindale so 13.5 was not all that bad.......considering. We arrived safely and without any major incidents. God is gracious. We set up camp late Thursday nite and spent most of Friday preparing for what was now apparent.....Rita was coming our way! How ironic!! We continually were in touch with all of our family and all were situated and doing well. Some of them were actually partying! Can you believe it?! Here we are stuck in traffic and they are barbequing and frying fish, shopping at walmart and watching tv in the air conditioning! That hurt! Well, anyway, we did just fine and considering we lost power on Saturday morning, we decided to head home on Sunday afternoon so we slept (almost naked) with all the windows open and the rain coming down, (it was actually not so bad to rough it for a bit, but I'm really not sure how we actually did it as kids FOR FUN!). We left Lindale at 10:30 and were home by 5:30 so it was a 7 hour ride home through some of the prettiest country back roads I've ever seen. (the problem here is that I saw some shops I'd really liked to have visited, now I'll never remember where they were! {note to self: one of them was 15 miles north of Columbus on a county road that leads into the city} All was well at our house with lots of tiny limbs and twigs all over to pick up but they can wait! Two limbs on my hibiscus were broken but other than that, nothing! God is AWESOME! I feel so broken hearted for all of those that have again, and anew, lost their homes to the hurricanes. If the pictures alone are not enough to break your heart, the voices of those who have been interviewed should do it. I hate the fact that I am so easy to feel others pain at times like this because I feel that if I could carry some of it I would and it's just tooooooooo much. God is STRONG! I know that He will carry the burdens. Thank you all for your prayers and please continue to pray for all of the families that are now displaced due to Rita as well as Katrina. I am now calling this the "KatrinaRita" chronicles. God bless each one of you and may you continue to know the blessings are from Him alone!