Hurricane Ike

By now I know that all of you have seen some of the destruction that Ike left in its path this past weekend. Of course the Texas Gulf Coast, primarily Houston/Gavleston/Beaumont areas were hit first and very hard by the storm. By the looks of things on the news it will take some time before life returns to normal for those people. And while my heart truly goes out to all of those in the Houston area (Davin and I both have family who lives there, I really feel for all the people in the little towns northeast all the to Texarkana who were slammed by this storm too! Lufkin, Dibol, Livingston, and Nacogdoches (to name a few) were destroyed by this storm. My parents, aunt Catherine, and brother have been without power since early Saturday morning. It too two and a half days before my family could leave the house because their cars were blocked by huge power lines that had fallen at the end of the driveway. On house up the street from my parents was COMPLETELY decimated by an enormous oak tree...I mean it is GONE! My parents have huge tree limbs on top of their carport, the electric boxes on their house and their neighbor's house were completely ripped out of the bricks, the roof to one of the oldest buildings in Nacogdoches has been peeled completely back and is resting in the parking lot! Words cannot begin to describe the devastation so I have posted this web site below for you all to look at some of the pictures of what Nacogdoches looks like. Schools may start tomorrow but no one knows for sure yet, and who knows when anyone will get power because the bulk of the elcletric crews have been dispatched to Houston so all of the little towns have to "wait their turn." I think that's just awful! I'm not saying that people in Houston don't need to get up and running quickly too, I just think that we should be better prepared and better equipped to handle situations like this so that if this were to happen again, there would be enough crews to concentrate on EVERY area that has been effected, whether it be an urban area, or rural. Please keep all of those who have been through this storm in your thoughts and prayers and let us all hope that everyone gets power, water, food, shelter, etc. as soon as possible!
Love,
Spencer






http://www.dailysentinel.com/news/content/news/slideshows/ike091408/index.html

Nacogdoches Baby Shower!!!

Hi everyone! The boys and I went to Nacogdoches this weekend to throw a baby shower for my cousin Rachael who is expecting her first child with her husband Aaron..they are having a little boy in a few weeks! We only go to Nac maybe 2-3 times a year because it's a bout a 6 hour drive from here and we both work all week until at least 5:00 so it makes it difficult to get away. My mom, Rachael's sister-in-law, my aunt's best friend, and I all threw Rachael and Aaron a baby shower yesterday and it was a lot of fun! I wanted to share a couple pics with you so I hope you enjoy. We will be traveling to Arkansas to see Davin's family this week, so we'll have lots of pics from that too! Hope you all have a wonderful week!
Love,
S

Mommy-to-be, Mom, my Aunt Catherine and me


Sisters-in-law


"Mommy" and her hostesses


Me, Rachael, Mom

Family Update and a Little Meditation

Hi guys! Well, like most of you I'm sure, my family is now in full-swing for the fall!! Davin just had his annual Texas Deer Association Convention he attended last week and now he has a VERY full schedule through Christmas that will consist of working deer (immunizing them, cutting off antlers, etc.) doing some more consulting, and beginning the artificial insemination appointments he has scheduled for this year. So basically he will be traveling quite a bit over the next 4 months or so. I'm so proud of him and all he has accomplished in such a short time; he has been actively working in the whitetail deer industry for 12+ years now and has made so many contributions to his field and is truly respected by all of his colleagues. He has also spent over 8 years being an awesome partner with me, over 5 years as a wonderful husband, and almost 2 years as the best daddy in the world! (Sorry, but I'm a little bit proud of what a great man he is!) Hayden will start a new curriculum at his day school next week which will be fun! He is already talking in sentences, counting to ten, memorizing books and nursery rhymes that we say together, and his motor skills are off the charts! Davin and I are so very proud of our little man and we can't wait to see what the future holds for him. As for me, my work is in full swing now too. I currently have five different contracts we are negotiating at work (which is VERY exciting), my grad school classes begin on Tuesday, and I can still keep up with both of my boys pretty well! Ha! True, our lives are very busy but honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way. There aren't too many greater feelings than when you feel as though you have accomplished something and you can really only achieve that if you are staying busy and doing something. We have a couple of trips scheduled soon to go spend a weekend with my family and then a weekend with Davin's that will both be fun! I have no idea what we are doing for the holidays this year since they are so far off, but I know it will be that time before we know it! We did Thanksgiving at our house last year, but I'm not sure we will do that again this year so who knows! I can't believe it's already almost SEPTEMBER! Jeez!!! This has been a tough year; one filled with a lot of loss and sadness in my mom's family and loss and sadness in Davin's too, but I think we have handled it all in stride and that we are making through just fine. I sometimes forget that since the age of 24 I was (and am) no longer any one's granddaughter since I only had one grandfather to begin with in my lifetime (Daddy's father was killed when Daddy was 19 and Mom's father died of cancer when I was only 7)and two grandmothers (one of whom I lost when I was just 17--Daddy's mom, and the other whom we all lost almost two years ago---Mamama). It makes me sad that they are all gone and that I also lost the last uncle I had earlier this year (my mom's brother Jimmy)so now I'm down to just two aunts and no uncles when I started out with five aunts and three uncles. Davin's grandmother also lost two of her sisters (great-aunts to Davin) earlier this year and both within just a few eeks of each other!That makes me sad too. One thing gives me comfort about all of this loss though: I see all their smiling faces in my son's eyes every day and I'm so grateful for that. Still though, as I sit back and catch my breath for a minute as my family prepares for a VERY busy time ahead of us, I am reminded that we all need to cherish the time we have together because it is all so very fleeting and I couldn't be more blessed with all of you who touch our lives everyday. Thank you for that and thank you for being our family, regardless of whether or not we are blood-related. I hope you all have a fantastic start to this school year and I hope to hear from you all and see you all very soon!
With love,
Spencer

We'll miss you Uncle Mike!

Hayden's Godfather (and uncle by a VERY long friendship!), Uncle Mike is moving to Dallas this week for his new job and we are all going to miss him so much!! We know it won't be for ever, but we'll sure miss those dinners during the middle where I could catch Davin, Mike and Hayden all watching Cage Fighting even though I have forbidden that to be watched around Hayden (Hayden is a "wee bit" strong so when he watches wrestling, naturally he sees it as a game and then goes to school and tries it out on his buddies who all go down pretty fast since our kid has super-human strength)! Mike is Davin's best friend, my surrogate big brother, and Hayden just ADORES him--so he will definitely be missed dearly at our house. We are so excited for Mike to start this new chapter of his life with a new career move, new friends in Dallas, and a new place to live and wish him nothing but lots of happiness. I know he'll be back for LOTS of fishing and hunting trips with the guys so I bet we don't go for long periods of time without seeing him! :) Good luck Mike and we can't wait to hear all about how you like Dallas and your new job!














We love you Mike!

Happy Birthdays Kinkaids!

We want to wish a Happy Birthday to Aunt Ashley (she turned the big 2-5 yesterday, the 14th) and a Happy 29th Birthday to Uncle John (his Birthday is tomorrow, the 16th)! We love you both very much and hope you have a FABULOUS Birthday Weekend!

Fish, Deer, and a Cheeseball!

Ok here are some pics of the boys' fishing trip last weekend and a couple of recent Hayden pics! Enjoy!

Davin's 1st Sailfish!!!


John reeling in a big one!


Pat with his Dolphin Fish!


Whooo hoooo, fish on Mike!!


All the boys and some of their catch!


Hayden with his 1st fawn!


He's not quite sure what to do....


I just LOVE this picture; this IS Hayden and his personality!

A Fishing Trip and Some Tonsillitis, Please!

Hello! Well we have had a busy weekend!! Davin took Mike, John, and Pat on a deep sea fishing trip off of Port Aransas this past weekend, and BOY did they have a BLAST! I'm so glad the weather was nice for them and they caught a TON of fish: some amberjack, some dolphin fish, and Davin caught a HUGE SAILFISH!!!! Of course a sailfish and a marlin are the two fish that I have been DYING to catch everytime we go, so I suppose it's fitting that he caught it while fishing with the boys! Ha! I will try to get the pictures from him to download for you guys later tonight!

While Davin was fishing, I was at home all weekend with Tonsillitis! Yes, I am an adult who still has her tonsils...there are still a few of us who still have them: Denisha, Ashley, me to name a few. I started feeling weird last Tuesday and when I went to the doctor at my work on Wednesday it had turned into full-blown tonsillitis. I made it through the day at work on Wednesday and even somehow on Thursday, but Friday I was OUT! Davin took Hayden to daycare so I could rest, but those of you who know me, know that I spent the entire day cleaning the house and doing laundry. All in all Hayden and I had a pretty fun Mommy and Me weekend....as best we could while playing inside the house only.

Two VERY happy occasions ocurred last week: 1.) The birth of Grace Matlock (my cousin Michael and Jennifer's second daughter), and 2.) My brother's 21st birthday! I would have blogged about this last week had I not been so hopped up on Benadryl and pain killers. I have a few pictures of little Grace that I will try to post for your tonight as well. My brother is 21 now! Holy COW!!! That makes me feel old!

This week should be just as busy and exciting as last week since THREE of our friends have birthdays this week!!! Casey's was yesterday (Happy 30th!!!), Ashley's is Thursday (you will be a quarter of a century old!), and John's is Saturday (29...oooo one more year and you join the 30 club with Davin and Casey!).

Also, my brother will be having surgery on his foot this Thursday so everyone please say a little prayer for him.

That's all for now!
Love you!