- Be Bold. And Courageous. God is on your side.
- Every kid is good inside.
- Give.
- You are never too young.
- You are never too old.
- Never lose hope. Not ever. No matter what.
- Nothing is too difficult for Him.
- Some things matter very much. Some things don’t matter at all. Know the difference.

Sorry you can’t bring Rita logs but I understand the airlines could not appreciate how special that would make your 30th birthday, Andi. Virg and Don will get some extra authentic Illinois logs ready to add to the big bonfire pile Virg has ready. Can’t wait to see everyone on the 15th….
Donna

Born in 1969!

… we do have a lot of Rita logs, but I can assure you we will not be driving to Illinois. Not ever ever again. That’s 22 hours of your life you can never get back. Pretty sure they won’t let us bring them on the plane! However, my Grandma Eileen said she’s got some logs, so I bet we can grab some at her place.

Hi Frieden Family,
I had to have a quick email instruction sheet from Andi to get up and running, and I now plan to be in touch periodically.

Virg and I are looking forward to Oct 15 when we see all of you at the 30th Birthday Bonfire here at our place. Don plans to help Virg get a few more logs for the fire, but if Joe wants to bring some Rita logs that would be great too- ha. We have a fairly big pile of wood, but Virg likes to have some to throw on during the evening to keep it burning pretty.

See you all soon.

Donna

Born in 1987!

we are back in Houston… all is well here… other than some big tree limbs, everything is as it was… praise God. Livingston (where Joe’s family is) took a harder hit. You can click here to see pics. They are still without power up there… thanks for the prayers. obviously they worked.
love ya,
andi

Hey everyone, I just got off the phone with Andi and she said to tell everyone what is going on. The storm has finally passed and everyone in Livingston is fine. They lost all the barns but all the horses and cattle are ok and the houses are fine. The traffic is very bad on the way back to Houston so they seem to be stuck in Livingston until things get a little better. I think that is about it.

We are safe at Joe’s Granny’s in Livingston. We came across a ton of traffic… people saying they had been on the road since last night… but we never got stuck in the traffic… we kept finding back roads, and dirt roads, and all sorts of crazy roads, and it only took us 3 hours to get where it has taken others 12 to 21 hours in the traffic… God is clearly with us. Thanks for your prayers. Keep ‘em coming.
Love ya!
~a

joe asks that the family pray for the following: that our big pecan tree next to the house is strong, and has strong roots, will stand strong and weather the storm. also, he’s big on prayer that the doors stay shut (hence the couches in front of them); and finally, that no harm comes to our house while we’re gone… cuz we are outta here. Love you! thanks for the prayers!