In case you were all wondering, we got through Hurricane Ike just fine. We actually evacuated Houston at 6 a.m. Friday morning (before the terrible traffic jams started) and weathered the storm at my parent's house near Austin. Thursday afternoon, lines at gas stations stretched into the streets, and there were peole waiting hours for only to find that the gas tanks had run dry. 
Luckily, Matt went out late that night to withdraw some emergency cash from the ATM and right as he was about to leave, an oil truck drove up to make a delivery at the gas station across the street. He was the first in line to fill up his car, then he came home and drove back to fill up my car. We count it as a great blessing to have been in the right place at the right time. So many other people could leave the city just because there was no gas to be had. 
Our trip to Austin was pretty uneventful. It was a nice break from school for Matt, and we enjoyed spending time with family despite wondering what we were going to come back to. We were glued to the news reports all day Saturday as they showed pictures of what was going on back in Houston and Galveston. Actually, the Austin area didn't even get a drop of rain --just a couple of strong wind gusts. Matt's parents and brother Ben came to visity Sunday, so it was nice that we got to visit a little with everyone. 
Matt's classes started up again the following Tuesday, so we drove back Monday afternoon to find that our electricity had come back on just a few hours earlier. Again, we were among the lucky ones. There were people in our ward who just got their power back on last week.--They went 18 days without electricity!!! Besides having to boil our water for the next few days, we really didn't have any problems. Our apartment complex had several trees uprooted, minor roof damage, and water damage from water being blown under window sills. Thankfully, our area was spared major damage, but I did take a few pictures of things within 1/2 mile of us. There were branches and limbs down all over every yard. All in all we were very blessed through the whole ordeal. Our prayers continue to go out to those who suffered greatly! In happier news . . . Michael has finally mastered the art of crawling after spending the past month or so scooting around on his belly. He loves being able to follow me around the house and is becoming an expert at picking things up from the kitchen floor. (I suppose I ought to start sweeping on a regular basis now . . .)
He has also started pulling himself up on furniture, the sides of his crib, and on our knees. The picture is his first success. Matt had put him in the bathtub while he was doing some things in the bathroom and Michael just pulled himself right up. He was very proud!
