A typical evening at our house goes something like this

You are going to be so jealous when you see these videos. You are going to want to get on a plane right now and come see these babies. They are SO much fun!! First video is just some honest fun...tickling. I should have kept the camera going because right when I stopped it, they both crawled/walked over to the "tickle mat" and laid on their back so they could both be tickled. It was pretty funny.

And the second one is just some more walking. This a great video showing what most of our days are like now. They just want to walk back and forth...sometimes with help. As you can tell, they love it and we are very willing participants in their shenanigans.

Lots more is going on right now outside of Anchorage. As many of you know, lots of my family and many of our friends reside in the Houston area. Houston kinda had a hurricane last weekend. What you may not have heard since that weekend is most of Houston is still without power and won't be for quite some time. There was extensive damage around Houston but my family and as far as we know, our friends all escaped with only minor damage (I could be wrong but that's how we understand it).

After almost a week, I finally talked to my brother and he explained what all was going on. It's insane to think it's like that right now in the nations 4th biggest city. No power. Grocery stores were closed but finally opening with very limited supplies. Gas is at a premium. What gas stations are open will have 30 to 60 cars waiting in line. Cell phone coverage is very limited...he said he had to drive to the freeway to get a signal. Just a really bad situation all the way around.

In addition, we've had a couple scares in the family. My cousin's wife went into labor and after a loooong delivery, finally gave birth last night to a healthy baby girl. She is a little early so she's having some difficulty breathing and sustaining her temperature so she'll be in the NICU for a while. We certainly know what that is like and will be praying for a fast discharge. Congrats Josh and Bethany! And by the way, those two pictures were taken by the new father after Ike came through in my Aunt and Uncles neigborhood.

And a tragic...my nephew (brothers oldest son) caught the tip of his middle finger in a door jam. My brother sewed it up himself and he said it took 45 minutes...it was pretty bad. I haven't seen pictures yet but it sounds awful. I know he's still in a lot of pain and worrying about his baseball future. Austin is certainly in our prayers too.

So we feel a little guilty having so much fun up here with our new walkers while everyone down there is going through some difficult times. Hang in there. These videos are dedicated to you to bring you some smiles.

24 hours later.....

and Katy's walking on her own!!! We knew it wouldn't take long but...wow! Here are the girls just a few hours ago walking up and down the hall. It is getting to be a lot of fun at this household.

We have our first WALKER!!!!!

So I wanted to share all these pictures and videos of the girls these last couple of weeks since we've been home from our vacation. Well that was the plan this weekend until they started WALKING yesterday.

This first video is the morning of. Katy has been very vocal this week so I got out the camera to do a quick video of her new story telling...ended up being a pretty funny moment at the end.

Then...a little bit later it just clicked. Alyssa started walking without our help. It was amazing!! She was giggling and having a blast. It was so hilarious.

Katy, who has been behind Alyssa on everything by a couple weeks seemed to catch on too. Suddenly it was a game for her to want to be walked around holding our fingers. It's been a fun 2 days of bending over and walking them around the house.

Today, Katy started letting go of our fingers and walking. Katy has walked on her own about 10 feet. Alyssa is walking down the hallway, turning around and coming back. SHE HAS IT DOWN!!

This last video is earlier today when Katy started letting go for the first time. It was just an hour ago tonight when she walked about 10 feet. Who knows what tomorrow is going to bring us!!??

Texas vacation: part 2

I pick up our last installment of Vacation 2008 as Lisa and I travelled with the girls to College Station, home to Texas A&M University. What a beautiful campus! The tall building to the left is the Eller Building where all my meteorology classes were...on the top floor. I love that place. I spent SOOO many hours there. We had to get some pictures in the flag room at the student center. We thought we'd be able to let the girls play around quietly....yeah, that didn't happen. We couldn't put them down so we just took a couple pictures of us holding them. What else could we do? We also wanted to take some pictures of us with the girls on their first trip so we can compare on future trips.





The Century Tree. I believe it was planted in 1876 when the university was founded. Many, many, many Aggies have gotten engaged under this tree.
We didn't get engaged under the tree...but we may have shared a kiss or two....or three.

What a beautiful tree!
Lisa's psychology building.
My dorm...second story right next to the tree in the picture. What's crazy about this is back in the day (wasn't too long ago I suppose), this dorm was the only remaining UN air conditioned dorm. That's right...I survived 2 long and hot semesters living in an un air conditioned dorm in southeast Texas. NOW THEY HAVE AIR CONDITIONERS!!!! Oh, come on!
A funny car we saw in the parking garage.

Many memories were made at these two fields. We LOVED going to our baseball games!
One more thing before we left College Station...a Route 44 Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper. That's 44 ounces of sugar, carbonated water, some other ingredients, and deliciousness!
Andy: "Lisa, what do YOU want to do before we leave Texas."

Lisa: "Fuddruckers"

I teased Lisa for wanting to go so bad...I was wrong. That was one delicious burger.
More time with family. This is the girls spending some quality time with their cousin, Tyler. Tyler was fitted for a helmet that is going to help shape his head. He didn't mind it at all...didn't slow him down one bit.
Andy: "Hey everyone, can you watch the girls for one night? Lisa and I really want to have a date night. Where'd you like to go Lisa?"

Lisa: "Babins"
I know we live in a state known for the best seafood in the world but Babins is unique to Houston and was our favorite place to go. It did not disappoint. We ate and drank our hearts content. This is a before and after of Lisa's favorite drink....the Fall Off the Porch Ice Tea. MMMM, so good.
Look how happy she is.
And my choice of drink? Shiner Bock on tap....MMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!
Friends, friends, friends. Time to go see all of our friends. Actually, we didn't get to see nearly enough of our friends and wasn't able to see everyone. The folks we were able to meet up with were amazing. What a blast. It reminded us why it was so hard to leave that place (besides family of course). What wonderful, wonderful people.





Back at ground zero...I mean Scott's house, the girls fell in love with Tyler's rocking chair. We are definitely going to have to get EACH one of them one of those. They could not wait to have their turn.
One more meeting with friends at...where else in Houston but a Mexican Restaurant.

Some wonderful people in this picture. I didn't realize this until afterward but after Lisa left, many of these people got different jobs and also moved to different parts of Houston. This was truly a reunion. Lisa was moved to tears when we had to say goodbye. She really does love every one of you!



A picture of me enjoying a fish bowl sized margarita. MMMMMMM again!

One last night with family. My other cousin Josh and his 31 week pregnant wife, Bethany.
Uncle Cary and Austin having fun.
Katy really got into the Olympics.
Final visit with Mammaw. Too many emotions to share here again but.... it was very hard to say goodbye. Really difficult moment for us.
So there you go! Vacation 2008 is complete. I can't say it enough but thank you everyone who put up with us during our trip. We are sincerely sorry we couldn't spend more time with...well, everyone! We love you all!

Let's finish up our vacation...

...so we can catch you up on all of our adventures since we got home.

We left Ohio on the 6th of August and headed back to Texas. Those of you who don't know, most of my extended family live in Texas and it's where Lisa and I went to college (90 miles from Houston at Texas A&M) and spent the first 4.5 years of our marriage before moving to Alaska. So there's a lot of family, friends, and history in Houston. We were going to try and squeeze it all in 10 days....right!!

My brother's 9 month old son, Tyler.

First on the list of things to do...see my grandmother (Mammaw) who's health is declining. .... I've been writing about how it felt to see Mammaw in her condition but just don't feel like sharing here. Just know that it was very hard. I love Mammaw with all my heart and hope we'll see her again soon.

Wasn't long before kisses were being handed out.
Aunt Jan!!
Uncle Larry!!!



Next on the list...big family reunion in Baton Rouge, Louisiana or as my niece called it "Red Stick". My sister and her 3 kids (Uncle Tom couldn't come) met us, my brother's family, and my parents in Red Stick (half way between Florida and Houston) for a weekend of firsts. The first time my parents had all of the grand kids together since the girls were born which of course means it was the first time all the cousins have been together. It was great. The girls were troopers...they were still able to take all of their naps and sleep through the nights. They also played great with all the cousins and handled the new environment much better than we would have ever imagined.

Here we see the girls eating one of their meals in the travelling high chairs. Again, it worked out much better than we thought.

So we kind of took over this hotel in Red Stick. Meals became big Brown family reunions with kids running around and lots of laughter.
Oldest nephew Connor. I just thought it was a funny picture.
My brother and I taking on Connor and Austin (Scott's oldest) at a game of Euchre. If you don't know how to play Euchre...SHAME ON YOU!!! Greatest card game ever. By the way, what is Scott doing??
Another evening in the dining area of the hotel. Not sure what Alison (Scott's wife so my sister-n-law) is doing but it looks like she's yelling at the babies!? Why are you yelling at babies, Alison????
An attempted picture of my parents with all the grand kids. Notice how happy our girls are to be away from us. I told you they got a little clingy while we were on vacation. Back to Houston to see my Uncle Cary! Evidently, he has a problem taking pictures with his eyes open...see exhibit A.

Exhibit A

Lounging around my brothers house watching the Olympics. Pictured is my cousin Jody and his wife Victoria (who we just found out yesterday is pregnant!!!) That's my brother in the foreground picking his toe nails.
I just realized how many more pictures I want to share so I'll have to split up my last vacation post. Sorry...I'll finish up tomorrow. Love all you guys...miss you.