Hi what's new.......?

Hi! It has been awhile since I have posted because Mica posted all our latest news so what's left for me.........we'll get to that later, anyways Nicole just got here TODAY!!!! She is staying until Friday or Saturday, and we are all excited! That is all I have for now since I do not have any news worth telling or receiving. But that's ok; I shall for sure have plenty before this week is out.

Caro :)

Excellent quote

"He who knows Christ in a proper manner beholds him earnestly,
embraces him with the warmest affection, is absorbed in the contemplation of him,
and desires no other object."

~John Calvin

Ike pictures

This is a cloud that was over us. It was so neat to see the sky so blue, as if it hadn't a care in the world and then see the dark, menacing cloud.

More clouds circling over us...

After the storm was pretty much over...our poor neighbor's lost both of their front yard trees

My dad, helping take down the trees

Damages we got...actually we like the fence gone; it makes our yard look big

This area was completely dry before the hurricane

Some people's trees in our subdivision

Thank the Lord for His provision!

In Christ, Micaela

Safe and sound

Whew! I never knew the power of hurricanes until two weeks ago when Ike came our way. My dad had the day off on Friday, when the hurricane hit. We spent the day putting away outdoor furniture, flowers, and the trampoline. As the sun was setting, you could see the dark, sinister clouds swirling around the beautiful sunset. It began to grow dark, and strangely still. Even though it was nighttime, you could still see the clouds moving around in an eerie sort of way.

The power went out at 2:40am--I know this because Elena and I had stayed up to watch a movie while we still could :). I went to bed right after the power went out but Caro decided to wake me up at 5am because the neighbor's tree had fallen, blocking the road. As all of us were looking at it, their second tree also fell and almost hit a car! That was pretty cool to watch. The wind blew so hard and it rained like crazy. Once everything had died down, around mid-morning, we went outside to survey the damage. Our side fence had fallen down in the backyard, we had a small lake, and lots of big branches had fallen in the front yard. Since we didn't have much damage to speak of, we got together with some of our neighbors and cleaned up each others yards. That was a very tiring day where everyone got really wet and sticky.

Saturday night was definitely the worst night without AC (the words "sizzling" and "sticky" come to mind). However, the Lord gave us cool weather Sunday through Friday. It was so nice to sleep and do school on those days (we made sure to leave all the windows open). The AC soon became the least of our troubles; the first, being our fridge started to become an oven instead and our cell phones wanted to die. We ended up cooking a lot of food on our grill and going to the Baucham's for various reasons is always a treat :). We were so thankful when my uncle offered his generator to us! We made the fridge cold again and the cell phones were saved. Looking back, it wasn't so bad without electricity; no distractions, eating outside, and lots of fellowship. On Friday, the Houston weather was back but the Baucham's graciously invited us to stay with them and we did. We had a great time! While we were there, Nicole called us on Saturday with her news. A few minutes later, my mom called to say our house had just gotten electricity! We were only one week without power. The Lord is so good to us.

The End

This story would be loads better with pictures but we haven't uploaded them yet. Ha ha I guess you'll just have to wait for that.

In Christ,

Micaela

Ike

We have upload all of our "Hurricane photos" at last :) Here is a glimpse of what we were doing that day...

While Mica and I were clearing the outside we found this cicada emerging from it's shell.

This butterfly was airing out its wings before its first flight!

Yes, I am aware that these pictures have nothing to do with "Ike" but those have not been uploaded yet :)

Me and my wisdom teeth, or lack thereof...

So yesterday I had all four of my wisdom teeth extracted as well as a frenectomy (sp?). It was quite an experience as a was "Put under" during the surgery. The nurse said I should not talk afterwards because of the six stitches that might come loose in my mouth; this made communication difficult, especially since I am not fluent in ASL or any tribal grunting languages. The worst part was that I really had to use the ladies room, but since I couldn't verbalize that I give Mica my best "Get me into that restroom if you value your life" look. Thankfully it proved to be quite effective. Besides that the other inconvenient thing was my inability to feel the lower half of my face, which made putting on my crack-I mean chap stick quite an ordeal.

Afterwards My Mommy bought me a lime slushy from Sonic (I was supposed to have cold things that day), gold star for her. Really everyone in my family has been so sweet and compassionate, even though I do look like a squirrel with my winter supply in my mouth! I feel so thankful and blessed.

This post may sound self-absorbed or something but what else do you expect from someone who has never had any reason to go the hospital (Excluding the time when I was dropped and craked my skull, but that was an "accident"). In any case, thank you for being so patient :)

We Just Found Out

So, we just found out today that we are pregnant again! We are all very "biscited" ( a word Sophia uses for excited). It is very early in my pregnancy. But if my calculations are correct, we should be expecting a bundle of joy around the first of June. I had been praying for a new baby for a while. God is good.

Hurricane Ike

For those of you who read this blog and don't live in Houston, Hurricane Ike has struck! My family was to the west of the eye but still received punishing winds and heavy rain. Their power has been out since about 2am. Please pray for the people of Houston, Galveston, and surrounding areas. I know many people did not heed the mandatory evacuation. Please also pray for our officials in charge of helping clean up and rescue. I am sure as soon as the power returns, that my sisters will be posting a harrowing account of the storm along with footage. Thank you and God bless!-N

About Me

Hello everyone, this is Nicole Webb. I am the oldest sibling of the Marques clan. I apologize for not posting anything sooner. I am the wife of Chris Webb and mother to Sophia and Mia Webb. I am a stay at home mom and recently a homeschooling mom. I also take care of one of our friend's little girl. Needless to say, I typically stay pretty busy. I honestly have never really posted a blog before, so therfore have no idea what to write. I think I will just stop at my introduction and hopefully will have time later to express my opinions. Ciao-N

Austin pictures

I was planning on posting about our trip with words but Caro beat me to it. Since she didn't put up any pictures, I'll do that instead.

On the road to Austin...

Sophia doing the hula hoop at her house

Us girls at the baby shower

Lots of people who were at the baby shower...

Sophia and Mia playing with the hose :)

The huge TV in our hotel room that we didn't even watch...

Wild Mia!

Elena, Sophia, and Caro lounging on the huge couch

Nicole and the crazy Mia (she was attacking Nicole from behind)

A little more laid-back but I still love the wildness

A cool looking house downtown

Everyone's shoes (some new and others old)

A COOL storm cloud!

I just so happened to get the squirrel story from Sophia on my voice recorder so I'll be posting that very soon! She changed the story ever so slightly but it's still very...interesting :).

In Christ,

Micaela

A Real Simple to add to your hope chest...

For a while I have been reading RealSimple magazine and it is a truly practical, interesting magazine with plenty of helpful tips and advice for home and gardening. I highly recommend it for aspiring homemakers or ladies who already manage a home. Their homeorganizing checklists and forms are very helpful; on more than one occasion I have consulted my Aunt Amparo on different stains and she keeps a Real Simple checklist on the inside of her laundry room cabinet! She is the one who introduced my Mother and I to the magazine; now whenever we are in Half-Price Books we look for it in their magazine section.

Home Again...

Yes, we are home and yes, we had a great time. And for those of you who did not know we were even gone, I'll just tell you since I do not want to turn this into a guessing game. So, if you did not already know we went to Austin for four days, we went there...
1. To go to my aunt's baby shower
2. Because my dad had some business in Austin
3. To see my sister (Nicole) and my niece's (Sophia and Mia).
4. To see my aunt Amparo and her family
5. To see my aunt Gaby and her family
6. To see and have dinner with are friends, the Eberle's (our tenants)
7. To............ (ran out of reasons)........
So, we have six good reasons why we went to Austin. Oh, and sorry about all the "to's"and "my". Anyways we left late afternoon on Friday and we went straight to the Eberle's (well besides picking up Sophia on the way) and Mrs. Eberle fixed us a Greek meal by which we all agreed was delicious! The interesting part is since the Eberle's are living in our old house (if you didn't know we used to live in Austin for ten years) it is weird that now we are the visitors. It was interesting to see my old room (which at one point had be painted green). When we had left their house it was 11:00pm!!! Sophia was kind of getting silly; that's what happens when she's tired. Elena and I stayed with my aunt Amparo and while we were there, we got her hooked on "North and South" so by the time we got to bed it was 12:30am and if you do not already know, all her children (including Abby) are EARLY risers! Like 5-6am early risers and we actually were able to sleep in till 7:00 or 8:00; I don't quite remember. Anyhow we met up with the rest of the family (meaning my aunt Gaby, Nicole, my cousin Estella, my great aunt maria, and (secretly) my grandma (phew a lot of names to type) all who had come down to go to the baby shower. You should have seen us at "Babies 'R' us"; we were like a mob in the store with little kids running around while the moms are looking at the strollers while other people are looking at us strangely. For lunch we went to La Madeline and I am afraid those types of restaurants aren't designed for large groups (like us). From Austin to Burnet (that's where my aunt Gaby lives) is 1 hour to get there (unless you're my mom then it takes 45 min's but mom wasn't driving).....and most of you who know us know that we are always late, sometimes fashionably late and sometimes beyond fashionably late. But we still had lots of fun! We played this game where you are holding a baby while talking on the phone and pinning up clothes to dry and you have to do this in 30 seconds or less! Only 4 people did it: cousin Estella, great aunt Maria, my grandma, one of of my aunt's friends. After the baby shower ALL (yes I said ALL)of us went to my aunt Gaby's house and hung out and we didn't get back to bed till 12:30 (again), But this time we woke up at 6:00am to go have breakfast with the entire family (a total of 20 people) at village inn ( it's like an IHOP). After our breakfast we said our goodbye to everyone who was from out of town and after that, everyone who wasn't from out of town went to aunt Amparo's house and had our own "church" and sang a few songs and read out of 2 Samuel and Acts. When we finished that, we just hung out and played Nertz and laughed a lot. Later that afternoon, we packed up and stayed at the Hyatt hotel because if you remember, I told you one of the reasons(reason 2) we went to Austin was because daddy had some business, so his company was going to pay for hotel SO we checked into the hotel (which was VERY nice)and we went swimming. That was interesting because Sophia hates dunking her head under water so she was mad because mom threw her in the pool. But she lived. We went to our room (which was very chic) and for dinner we had PIZZA! You see, we rarely order pizza (mom usually makes it) and we played Nertz, by 9pm we exhausted. Mom and dad slept on the king size bed with feather stuffed pillow while the girls on the pull out queen size sofa sleeper and me on about 4 foot by 1 1/2 foot little area (you see, the sofa was an L shaped sofa and can you guess who got the smallest end???). It was still fun.....sort of.......well it wasn't very fun at 6am when I had to go to mom and dad's bed because I was freezing and boy, did they have a nice bed! At 8:30 am we were downstairs eating breakfast and it was a very nice eating area; all the dishware was white (except the cups and utensils) and squared, the breakfast was Continental breakfast and they had all the Tazo tea's! So all in all, the Hyatt is a good place to go whenever you're in Austin. We still had our morning to get on with so we went to Wholefoods downtown, REI, Anthropologie, and this one herb store. We had lunch at Nicole's house, and after that we just sat around talking. Around dinner time we picked up daddy and headed to a Mexican restaurant,we ate a fattening Mexican meal; with hugs and kisses, we said goodbye. We left at 7:40pm, picked up ice cream in brenham, and we were home before 10. And now, with tired fingers, I have told you about our trip to Austin!

Caro :)

Pastor Voddie on CNN yesterday

In case you hadn't heard, Dr. Voddie Baucham (one of the elders at GfBC) was on CNN yesterday about some things he had stated on his blog, regarding John McCain's choice of Sarah Palin not being pro-family. Praise the Lord for giving pastor Voddie the words to proclaim His truth and patience with the people on CNN!

To watch the video on Youtube, click here.
To view pastor Voddie's blog, click here.

Abby!

This is Abby! She is a cutie and especially since she is now starting to walk. This morning I got up and went to my Aunt and uncle's room (that's where the kids were), and Abby was throwing herself onto the pillow's and laughing, she was making herself laugh.

Psalm 18

This past month I was reading in the psalms and I came across a very encouraging passage:

Psalm 18: 1-19 and 30

I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.

The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of destruction assailed me; the cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me. In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears. Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations also of the mountains trembled and quaked, because he was angry. Smoke went up from his nostrils, and devouring fire from his mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from him. He bowed the heavens and came down; thick darkness was under his feet. He rode on a cherub and flew; he came swiftly on the wings of the wind. He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him, thick clouds dark with water. Out of the brightness before him hailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds. The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered his voice, hailstones and coals of fire. And he sent out his arrows and scattered them; he flashed forth lightnings and routed them. Then the channels of the sea were seen, and the foundations of the world were laid bare at your rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils. He sent from on high, he took me; he drew me out of many waters. He rescued me from my strong enemy and from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me. They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my support. He brought me out into a broad place; he rescued me, because he delighted in me.

This was so awe-inspiring for me! I could just picture everything happening and I came to a greater realizaition of His great love for me! How He cares for us and comes to our aid because He delights in us! After reading this section it made me go back to the first verses, loving Him deeper! And when you read further you will see (V:30)

This God his way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.

This was special for me because there are times when it feels like I have already read all of scripture before ("Same song, second verse"); when I feel too familiar with the things in scripture. I suppose that comes from growing up in a Christian home, I really have heard the major portions (Creation, Noah's ark, Jonah etc..) over and over, I am prone to miss the truly amazing things that the Lord has done and to find wonder in them. So when I come to passages like these I feel that sweet awe of my Savior that I didn't before!

I pray that the Lord will continue to bring His word to my mind in such a wonderful way.

Also I highly encourage you to read the rest of the chapter!

An update on Sophia

Isn't she so sweet and cute?

*sigh*

We'll get to see her when we visit Austin this weekend for a baby shower.

Nicole has been homeschooling her this past year and is teaching her how to read right now (Nicole is more excited than Sophia, I think). For a while there, Sophia was struggling to recognize numbers 6-10. She could easily write them and count up to them but couldn't identify them. She has since moved on and can effortlessly tell you all about them :).

For those of you who know Sophia, you are familiar with, among other things, her comical way of talking and her imaginary friend named Lisa. For those of you who aren't acquainted with my little 5 year old niece, you're in for quite a ride.

As a preface to the upcoming story, "Lisa" owns a squirrel that likes to bite unsuspecting victims.

However, this story is best told by Sophia but since she doesn't know how to type, I'm going to record her telling the story. Of course, that means you'll have to wait for another post while I record her this weekend and then try to clip it on here next time.

Until next time,

Micaela