A Look At 3402

Jane & Bill went by our house to check out the damages and to make sure that there were no issues in need of immediate attention. We lost several sections of fence around the yard & 11 sections of our kiddie fence around the pool. The new playhouse took a nose dive, but other than that...there is very little to report...HOORAY! We feel very blessed to have such little damage. One of the biggest blessings was that our area received very little flooding...what a relief. Please continue to pray for those families who received more substantial damage to the homes and communities.

My friend Mary Hinkel went into our house yesterday afternoon and cleaned out both refridgeraters...thank you Mary! Brad & I plan to drive back either late tonight or tomorrow morning in order to catch our Tuesday evening flight from Houston to Munich so that he will be able to start treatment on the 18th.

Our plan is for the children to stay here in Kerrville until the power is back up in our home and my parents home. Then the kiddos will head back to our house for the remainder of our trip. In hopes to help provide stability & consistency in Zeke's life, last week we enrolled Zeke in school with Deer Park ISD. We decided, after lots of consideration, to let him join a Pre-K Inclusion program with the Deer Park Early Childhood Learning Center. He will be given the opportunity to learn along side of both general education students & students with special needs. The Early Childhood Center is a brand-new facility with lots of parent/teacher support. After visiting several times to the campus I was very impressed with the program. So, all that being said...Zeke will be headed back to school this week once DP schools re-open.

Escaping Hurricane Ike

I just thought I would let everyone know what The Wims' fam is up to while hurricane Ike batters the Houston coastline. Brad & I (with the help of Sandra & David) prepped the house on Thursday & headed out of town by noon that day. S & D headed back to Granbury while the 4 of us went to Kerrville. As we picked Zeke up from school at noon, we had everything loaded in the car ready to go. When he left home that morning we hadn't finished packing and he was unaware of our departure plans. As Zeke climbed into the car he said, "where are we going?"
J:Kerrville
Z: Hooray! Why are we leaving?
J: Well, there is a hurricane coming so we want to be safe & comfortable, so we are going to Kerrville to get out of the way of the bad weather.
Z: You mean the big swirl that is in the water where the skarks are? The one that is coming soon to where the people are?
J: Yes, did you see the big swirl on tv?
Z: Yes, we were watching it in our room today at school. I'm glad we are going to Kerrville. Poor Mr. Kerry is going to be stuck in that bad hurricane. (I thought it was so funny that Mr. Kerry was the first thing that popped into his head when he thought about the hurricane coming to our house. Mr. Kerry is a very kind man down the street...Zeke loves to go down on his scooter to say "Hi" to he and his family)

We will share more Kerrville stories and pictures soon. We should have updates on damages to our area some time tomorrow. Thank you for your prayers!

Miracles For Fun Success

This past Saturday our friends hosted a benefit for our family to help raise funds for Brad's medical treatments. Brian Carnes, Chris & Rebecca Jones, Chris Gammons, & James McAdams spent the last three months pouring over plans to make the event a huge success. We were absolutely overwhelmed at the response from our community of friends.

The morning started at 5:00am as volunteers set up tables, tents, chairs, and made preparations at Battleground Golf Course. The team of organizers had thought of everything and every detail was quickly put into place to allow quick & easy check-in for the 144 golfers that attended.

With temperatures in the low 70's to start the day, God gave us the most memorable gift of excellent weather. It truly was the perfect day to spend outdoors: cool, breezy & clear. Some of the women were even complaining of being cold! Cold, in September...can you believe it?

The day was a huge success! Everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves and by the end, the event had raised over $40,000 in funds! It truly was unbelievable! I continue to be in awe of the awesome power of God & His ability to provide for ALL of our needs. The event was so successful due in part to the overwhelming support from our church, our friends, wonderful corporate sponsors, and numerous volunteers. Your love for Christ & His work is so apparent. We are blessed to know each of you.

Praises To Be Shared!
Thank you God for laying your hands on The Miracles For Fun Benefit to ensure its amazing success. Thank you for providing for our family in our time of need. Thank you for putting wonderful friends in our lives who care enough for us to plan & be a part of such an event. Thank you for our wonderful church, the sponsers, supporters & golfers who gave of their time & money to be a part of this special day. Thank you for all the kind volunteers who were so willing to dovote hours & hours to plan the event & help during the day. Thank you Lord for interveining in our lives. Thank you for working to stop the growth of tumors in Brad's body. We are so richly blessed.

Zeke Laughs At Himself

There is nothing funnier than watching yourself nearly crack your own skull against your Uncle's skull. Zeke always finds his own videos funnier than just about anyone.

Pool Stunts

WARNING! Do not try this at home. What you are about to see has been performed by trained professionals. Do not attempt to repeat any of the stunts that you are about to witness.
*Disclaimer: If you watch the video and think, "Did she just say...?" The answer is no. I am a frequent user of the phase "shiesh-tees"....I know, where the video was cut off...it kind of sounds bad. But there were many witnesses & no extreme language was used after witnessing the near-skull cracking stunt.

Playing for The Cure

We were pleasantly surprised by a phone call this morning from Scott Simonds, the head volleyball coach at Clear Creek High School. Scott was calling to ask us to come attend the Girls Volleyball game against Deer Park to be hosted tonight at Clear Creek. Brad was honored during the game as funds were collected to be given to our family to help pay for Brad's medical treatment. The ladies on both sides wore pink jerseys in honor of the event. We were so touched by their efforts and it was a wonderful opportunity for Brad to go back on campus at Creek to see some of the teachers and students who have been so prayerful for our family.

The only major injury during the event was when Kaelyn fell down flat on her face. Her new teeth bit right through her upper lip and it bled everywhere. Fortunately it stopped bleeding fairly quickly and she calmed down pretty fast. This injury only took second to Brad's injury earlier that day. At 8 this morning Brad was on his scooter outside. He somehow managed to run the scooter into the gate and in the process cut off the entire toenail on his second toe (left foot). That was a lot bloodier. To be honest...it was a pretty messy day.

Thank you so much to Scott, the players, the students and all those who supported the event. It truly meant so much to our family. You are so kind to help us in such a generous way!

The Houston Chronicle wrote a very nice article about Clear Creek's event. To read the article click here

Here are a few pictures from the event.

Strength In Numbers

Life at our house in the mornings in always busy...especially Sunday mornings. On Saturday night I always go through and lay everyone's clothes out ahead of time so that we have one less decision to make during the "crunch time."

Brad always helps me out by getting the kids dressed Sunday morning so that I can do other things to get us all ready and out the door. Last Sunday, after they got dressed, Brad came in to tell me that Zeke had come up to him to say, "Daddy, let's tell Mommy that we want to pick out our own clothes." I guess he knew there would be strength in numbers and if the two of them ganged up on me then I would cave and let them decide. HA! Zeke has strong preference about his clothing selection and for some reason I don't approve of his Spiderman pajama top selection for Sunday morning attire.

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This morning Zeke came into my office where I was working and said, "I was Ar-ganizinig my drawers and I found some some clothes that I have never weared! Really Mom...never!" I usually shop at the end of one season for next year's season, so in his "ar-ganizing," Zeke had stumbled upon clothes for this upcoming fall/winter that he hadn't seen before. Of course now he is begging to wear camo sweat pants this morning in our 90 degree heat. Yuck..hot!