Hurricane Season

I just got off the oilrig today. I did not get evacuated for Hurricane Dean but there were 18,000 oilfield men and women evacuated that worked out in the Gulf of Mexico. I work on a land rig about 50 miles from the coast but if it heads toward Texas then we go home. The trailers and buildings we live and work in are not tied down. You may not know this but you do not want to be in a trailer house that is not tied down in a hurricane! It is so nice to come home to a clean house and mowed lawn. Kudos to Laura! I mentioned above that there are women that work in the oilfield, their only qualification is they have to be cheap and easy. Just joking ladies. I am looking forward to my next time home because we are going to Chattanooga, TN. I love studying history and actually visiting the places. The last few years since I got married and moved to MS I have become fascinated with the Civil War Era. After I have learned everything about that there is always another thing I will get interested in.

Update on Bella and 2nd Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina

First- thanks to those comments and concerns about Bella. We were suppose to see her on Sunday--her mother said that she would meet us and we could see her--we waited all day and she never called. I called her at 8pm--(I did not want to upset her or make her mad). She said that she was tired and we would have to try for another day. I work Tues and Wed so I told her Monday--and she said fine. Well--Monday came and went and we still have not heard from her or talked to her--or more importantly...seen Bella. I am to the point now that I can not deal with this emotionally. It is really hard on me, I am sure that it is on everyone else as well. We try not to think about it to much but it is hard when you live in a small town--I mean people know EVERYTHING about you before you do. Anyway just wanted to give everyone an update......

NOW!!!! I have a few words to write on this day--the anniversary of Katrina. This time 2 years ago I was trying to get to town to find Robert. He had worked at the mental home with the guys and I had packed the house up and stayed with my parents. At 10am we lost all communication with everyone. As the day went on my parents house started flying away--literally. We watched all the shingles and black paper and eventually the siding off of the porch. The posts that are on the porch were twisted side ways and we were pushing water out the front door. It was quite the sight. We had my parents, my sister, her husband and 4 children and me in the house. The kids were in the hallway the whole day--not good memories for anyone. Now-I know that I have digressed from the original topic of finding Robert but I will get back there--at about 6pm the rain and wind let up-we all(9 of us) loaded in my dads truck and started to town to find Robert. We got to him and all was well with him. There was no damage to the building they were staying in-there was damage to there house that they live in. A tree went through the roof of the house. When it was over we just felt lucky to all be alive and had what we needed. We did not blame anyone and have anger towards anyone. On the Sunday before the hurricane-- at church they sent us home and said to prepare for at least 3 days of no water and electricity--and we did. Everyone was told this--including NEW ORLEANS MAYOR AND RESIDENTS. I am having a BIG issue with there belly aching and drama that they continue to keep going. We all were given the same information--some prepared--some didn't. It is not the federal governments responsibility to help those that did not help themselves. There were many things they could have done to get out of there----THE MAYOR BEING the first to do his job would have helped--instead he left and went to higher ground. FURTHERMORE--the hurricane is not the cause of NEW ORLEANS problems--the levees are. That is the state government issue--they should have done there jobs and been checking up on things. I lived there 20 years ago--they knew then that the levees were bad--so why not fix them--I KNOW WHY--it is easier to blame the president and the federal government--than to step up, come together and do what you have to do to get all back to normal. The Mississippi Gulf Coast was hit the hardest as far as I am concerned--there is not one building that survived the storm. You have heard NOTHING from the Gulf Coast-except thanks and what a good job the government did in the response--WE WERE ALL TOLD TO HAVE 3 DAYS OF SUPPLIES--in and out of the church--that was enough time for relief to get to us. If you heeded the warning you were fine--if you didn't you suffered and blamed everyone else for your problems. Well now that I have vented--that feels better--it is a day in my life that I will never forget--and hopefully will not have to go through another one. Just a bit of information--my parents house is brick home about 5 years old. It just got hammered. Since the hurricane my parents have moved to Oklahoma--do not want to go through that again. Well--I tell you this so you will know that not all was as bad as NEW ORLEANS AND MAYOR NAGIN make it out to be.

New Orleans Pictures!

Robert at the TABASCO plant--he loves the stuff!
The Schuckmans'--I look like I have something wrong with my neck--I can not take good pictures! UGH!
The Blockers' on a carriage rideHere we are in front of St. Louis Cathedral. We had a great weekend in New Orleans and the city is ALOT nicer since the hurricane.

ATTENTION! IT'S A GIRL

Meredith and Chad are having a girl--the 5th one is going to be Mallorie Claire Blocker!!!
We can not believe it!!! YAHOO!!!

Not sure what to do!

My niece Bella has been around us for almost 3 years--all of her life thus far and now her mother will not let her see us. I know that some people may not have this problem in their families but it is a problem in ours. My brother and Bella's mom had a thing and BAM--here is Bella. They never married and everyone around town said that my brother was not the father--but after a paternity test--which was 99.9% sure he was the father we were thrilled. We have no girl babies in the family and could not wait to get to know Bella. We went to the hospital when she was born-November 9, 2004. In January 2005 we started watching Bella everyday for her mother. She is in nursing school and needed someone to watch her--so it was the least we could do. We paid for everything--the mother had to do nothing--I drove to town every morning and picked Bella up at 6am and would bring her to her at the end of the day--around 3pm or so. In May of that year the mother decided that she did not want us to see Bella so we were not allowed to see her during the summer--it was VERY hard. Then in August '05 when school was starting back up she had no one else to watch the baby so she came to us again--we were thrilled to be a part of her life-- My sisters boys are very attached to her and love her dearly. We have watched her up until May '07 and her mom and my brother got in an argument(which happens off and on all the time) and that was it--she wants my brother to pay for Bella --WHICH HE SHOULD(he wants Bella to have his last name and have visitation to her and the mother does not want that but wants his money)-- she should not punish us when we do everything for Bella. So as it stands now--we have no contact with her--she has changed her phone number so we can not even call her. I saw her at a restaurant in town on Friday night and it just about killed me--I do not know what to do--we all want to see her and we are not allowed. We have done nothing wrong to the mother or Bella. I hope and pray that one day everything will work out for the best. I do not think that Heavenly Father intended for this to happen in the world. I feel like not ONLY are we hurting from this but Bella will to. She has a whole other family that loves her and wants the best for her. I just do not know what to do to make her mother understand we want to do for Bella--you see the mother gave us nothing for watching Bella and we bought all the diapers, clothers and anything else she might need. I just do not understand jerking her away from us. Any suggestion?

Back to the day to day grind!

I just got back from Oklahoma on Sunday evening. I rode there with my sister to pick up the boys from my parents. We got there on Thursday and boy did we have a trip--here it goes
1-my father has a little ford ranger that he left here and they took my sisters vehicle back with the boys 2 weeks ago--so we leave in the "crack wagon" Thursday when I got off of work
2-we have to stop every 150 miles because the gas gauge does not work and we did not know exactly how much gas we had
3-we were going for an hour and Mere had to throw up--she is pregnant--so after that pit stop we were on the road again
4-about an hour later we had to pit or the bathroom
5-hour later we stopped for gas--and the CHECK OIL light came on-
6-in 104 weather I am checking the oil and putting oil in the truck
7-we had to stop for more food at Shreveport-Whataburger was our best option--love some whataburger
8-get into Texas and realize that I REALLY like cowboy hats- um um ummm I called Robert an d told him he needed one-
9-get to Oklahoma about 11pm and we are dead dog tired. The kids are excited to see Mere but are not ready to come home

Okay- the rest of the weekend went well, we went to the rodeos and had a great time with the family. The boys were in the rodeos --so we will have to get pics soon of that! We got to see most everyone in the family. Robert and Chad did not come with us--Chad was at work and Robert was at home. There was not enough room for him--besides he wanted to spent sometime alone anyway.
I missed him and was ready to get back.

Robert left today to go back to work for 6 weeks. He was excited to be going back and getting into the routine again--not sure I can handle the time away--but we will see. We had a great time and I have pictures to post of our trip to THE BIG EASY! We did not have ANY domestics this time--so things are looking up.
Well--this is all for now--write more soon!

Take me out to the BALLGAME!

COLTON

Nanny and Colton
Papaw and Colton
La La and Colton

THE BOYS Clay, Cord, Colton and Festus

THE BIG BOYS Daddy and Papaw Ellis

THE COLUMBIA ALLSTARS!!

(Colton on far right)

I hope you have enjoyed these pictures--Robert and I just got back from a weekend in New Orleans--I will get some pictures up as soon as I can!