We Survived Ike!!

Well, thank God -Hurricane Ike is over for the Guntle family - and what feels like a split second, life is suddenly "back to normal". We were spared by this hurricane as it traveled more towards the east than expected. We were impacted by heavy wind and rain by the outer bands, but it still did not create the kind of damage we were anticipating. We never lost power, though Nathan's aunt and uncle who live 1/4 mile behind us lost power and still do not have any!!!

Though we do have some roof damage, we are just so grateful for the prayers that went out on our behalf by all our family and friends! It made a HUGE difference! Here are some photos for you to view:

BEFORE

Our makeshift "Kennel" for our outdoor guard dogs

Jack & Winston - doggie troopers

Mommy & Jonathan checking things out before curfew

Wild wind = wild hair!

AFTER

Jack is done! He wants out!!

Some damage to the roof of our shed

Baby's swing tossed

The inside of our shed - the shingles ripped off and water was leaking in.

Nathan, in the pouring rain, putting a tarp over the hole on the shed.

Our front yard - minor tree limbs down

Over and Out...

It's 11:00 PM on Friday night - the first band of storms are just about to hit us...the rain is coming in sideways and the winds are up to 45-50 mph. Jonathan is so lucky...he is sleeping through everything! The rest of us are awake and will most likely stay up through the worst of it. We appreciate all the emails sent to us praying for us - we could use them right about now...
The eye of this storm is slighty east of us, however, with the massive size of the storm, we have been told that we will still feel wind up to 110 mph!
Pray that our roof holds and that our animals survive and that if power should go out, it would only be a short while. Unfortunately, our water is controlled by our electricity as well...so that is a major concern. We are well prepared for 3-5 days, but that is all.

Again, thank you for your prayers. We will keep you updated, if we can, as we can, through this site, texting and/or Facebook through our cell should power go out.

Much love,

Nathan, Danielle and kids

Hunkering Down...Preparing for Ike!!!

OH NO! It's HURRICANE IKE!!!!



Well, as of 8 AM this morning, Hurricane Ike is headed almost directly for us! Nathan, who is a native Texan, assures me that all will be fine. I trust him; he's been through quite a few hurricanes in his lifetime. So, to take precautionary measures, we've boarded up the house, filled up our cars with gas (and them some more in containers) and bought ice, gallons and gallons of water, as well as canned foods. We've got hurricane lamps, candles, flashlights and of course, UNO! :) We've also stored up about 40 gallons of water in the bathrooms since the water to our home is run on a well, we will lose not only lights, but water usage if power goes out. They are now predicting over 100 mph winds, so we're making sure we are set and ready to go in case of anything.
Funny thing happened this morning. Nathan and his dad boarded up the house into the wee hours of the morning late last night. The rest of us all slept in this morning....there is virtually NO sunlight in our house now...we all thought it was 4 am when really it was 8 am!! Craziness!
Here are a few pics of our preparations...

Jonathan watching the Weather Channel with Mommy

Boarded up and ready for the storm

Water, candles and Cheerios...life's necessities! ;)

Jonathan is ready to use our new hurricane lamp!

Tour Guide Jonathan

Here's a little tour via Jonathan...

Breaking News....

beep-beep-da-beep-beep, beep-beep-da-beep-beep, beep-beep-da-beep-beep.........

This breaking news just in.....

It has been reported that Jonathan Guntle will be a BIG BROTHER sometime in April of 2009. Parents are shocked, but extremely excited. Other siblings, possibly even more excited than the parents!

Accuracy of this report proven through the following pictures:

A few more videos....

Here a few more videos from the last month that will catch you up a little.

This first one is Jonathan and Mommy having a very silly moment!!

Here is Jonathan showing off his drumming skills

And last, but certainly not least, Daddy & Jonathan making music on the acoustic together...

Jonathan at the Beach

Here's a short clip of Jonathan's recent trip to the beach - his first time there as an active WALKER!!

The Guntle's are BACK!!!!

Well, it seems the Guntle family is back on the blog - and it feels GREAT to be back!! There is so much to catch everyone up on... it will take some time to add pics and stories - so for now, I will leave you with a few shots of our family from the last week! More to come....

Daddy teaching Jonathan how to play the guitar

Future Rock Star

This one is hard to explain.... 3 words...Yo Gabba Gabba

Fun in the sun on family vacation!

Garrett doing a front flip off the pier

Jenna jumping for her life!

Wyatt pullin a "Tony Hawk" move

Danielle & Ashlie swimming in the creek
Building a sand castle

Um....who did this to Garrett?

We found the culprits.... :)

Nothin like a stroll on the beach

Jenna

Wyatt


Garrett

Jonathan