guatemala

copy and paste the link to see more pictures of our trip to guatemala...

http://picasaweb.google.com/moore.robin/Guatemala02?authkey=iui2EYjhKbU#

the storms have passed

what a crazy few weeks, two hurricanes and a trip to new jersey. all is well, we didn't even loose power during or afer gustav. some water came in our second floor apt. through the window doors that go out to the porch, the towles we put down kept the water from going any further. there are still thousands of people with out electricty still, and those right on the gulf of the mississippi suffered the worst with flooding. i had no idea how scary it was to be effected by a hurricane. it is not like the tropical storms we get in new jersey. my dad would take randi and i to the beach to see the waves and stand in the wind. that was fun, hurricanes are not fun they are powerful and very damaging. i now have a small glimps of understanding of what it was like for those during katrina.

going home to new jersey was wonderful, and almost impossible due to gustav, but the airport was open - eventhough i only saw one other plane. to be able to see friends and family was wonderful and it was nice to eat fresh vegetables and fruits again.

as you can see from the pictures below, i visited with my wonderful friend kate, her husband adam and two beautiful sons alix and hudson. i wish i had more time to spend visiting with them and to catch up more but a weekend goes by so quickly.

some photos

pictures of mississippi bridge, maggie, and some flodding and minor damage in ferriday, la

rain rain and more rain

a quick update...
- jake, maggie and i evacuated saturday evening to Ferriday, LA to stay with his grandmother and uncle
- had some great homemade potato salad, and meatloaf
- gusts and rain came yesterday we are fine
- power went out last night
- water not on this morning
- can't return to new orleans until tomorrow most likely, by order of the mayor, roadblocks are set up.
- have some power left on computers and cell phones are almost dead
- rain hasn't stopped all day
- flushing the toilet with rain water
- maggie hasn't pooped since sunday, she's not complaining
- we are bored out of our minds and don't know where to go
other than that we are fine (we have food and water so we are good!)
love you all thanks for all your emails and prayers i will update again when i can

gustav

i have made it almost a year and a half living in new orleans without a hurricane. i am praying that it continues this way. all weather projections put gustav heading our way, and now with the center of the storm a little to the east, it is even worse because the brunt of the storm would hit new orleans.

people are stocking up water, making plans and nervously looking at the weather. no one expected to be hit this soon again with a CAT 3 hurricane. three years to almost the day of the anniversary of katrina. most pleople who had damage from katrina are just getting finished and getting comfortable living in their new home. the emotions are running high and people are scared and highly concerned for new orleans and the future of new orleans. what will become of new orleans if gustav is anything like katrina, will people come back? will there be money to rebuild, when people are still waiting for money from katrina? these are questions that i and i am sure most people in new orleans don't want to know the answer to.

please pray for new orleans and the path of gustav

rest assure that jake, maggie and i will be evacuating to northeastern louisiana or texas depending on the path of the storm.

running of the rollergirls

an early saturday morning. we took the 7:30 ferry to the french quarter so that we would make it in time for the running of the roller girls that started at 8am. the pictures really help, because i don't know how you could imagine 20-30 roller girls chasing after people of all ages. everyone is dressed in all white with a touch of red running while trying one - not to spill their drink, and two - not to get hit by the rollergirls bats (plastic of course). it was alot of fun and well worth the early morning.
check out the article
http://blog.nola.com/living/2008/07/run_nola_run_beer_not_blood_fl.html

moss lake

about a 3 1/2 hour drive west of new orleans, near the town of Lake Charles is a small lake called moss lake. our friend abbys parents own a camp there, a camp is the same as a lake house. abby invited jake and i to spend 4th of july weekend with her and her family at their camp on moss lake. we had a wonderful time eating and swimming. jake tried to water ski - he almost got up, however he was much better on the tube! that is until he was knocked off. i haven't been water skiing in maybe 10 years, and i got up on the first try! i couldn't believe it. i am feeling it today, putting on a shirt or turning the wheel in the car is not as easy as it used to be.
we ate crabs from the lake that abby's mom caught - boiled them up and then cracked them open - lots of work but so so good. i ate 4 and some of the other sides we had, abby however didn't want to let the crabs go uneaten so she continued to eat until all the crabs were gone - which was 12 crabs later!
jake found a new hobby - cast fishing - he caught some little fish with it, but i think he just enjoyed casting the net