Birthday Weekend

My parents bought tickets to visit Bryan and I on my birthday weekend, Sept 18-22. Unfortunately, the weekend before Hurricane Ike completely destroyed most of the east coast of Texas. So it was definitely a memorable birthday weekend. Most of the shops were closed because of no electricity or open late/closed early, except Home Depot and Lowes; they were packed! We went shopping at Target in the dark for new clothes. The grocery store shelves were bare. Gas stations were opened during odd hours. Trees and debris were everywhere. We even went to church in the dark. The talks were very appropriate for the circumstance. The speakers talked about getting out of our comfort zone and meeting/serving our neighbors. It is sad that it takes a hurricane to get people out of their homes (away from the tv, video games, or the computer). But it is soo true.
Fortunately the inner city had electricity. We went to the Natural Science Museum. I think lots of people were sick of being at home with no AC and decided to enlighten their minds. We went to the Body Worlds part of the museum. Pretty cool. It is a traveling exhibition of preserved human bodies that are prepared using a technique called plastination to reveal inner anatomical structures. Most of the bodies are shaped as action figures: figure skating, hitting a baseball, skateboarding. If it ever travels to your city, it's a must see.

My mother and I outside the Natural Science museum in Houston, TX.

My parents bought this patio set for Bryan and Rebekah's birthday. We

are still looking for an umbrella holder.

All the flowers and plants were 70% off!

My parents are the best! They definitely came down to Houston at the wrong time, but we were so happy to see them. They helped us clean up our little patio area and bought us pots and plants and patio furniture to fill up the empty space. We love our little area now; it looks better than the inside of our townhouse.

Yup. This is what Bryan has been up to. Don't worry, it should look good by....