Back To Life

...Back to reality. Back to the here and now, yeah. Sing it with me now.

Has it really been almost 2 weeks since I last posted?!?!?!? WOW! That's never happened. But, it was a combo of things really...
1. Joel was gone, I was a single parent...that is reason enough, but there were other things...
2. Ariel and Gillian were here and when I usually have time to blog (when the kids are down for the night), I had other things to do instead...mostly fun movie nights, but also looking at old pictures and talking into the wee hours of the morning...every single night.
3. We also traveled a couple of days (just day trips) while Joel was gone...I got a sitter and me, Gillian, Ariel, and Cass went to see a couple of the sights.
4. We were totally and completely without internet for about 5-6 days (at least) of that, so of course that would hinder posting, now wouldn't it?
5. Joel got back Sunday morning. Gillian, Ariel, Cass, and I left Monday to go on a little girl vacation. We got back yesterday afternoon.

So, as you can see, it's been a full 2 weeks. I will gradually fill you in on it all and show pictures of our time.

My cousins left this morning. (insert boo hoo hoo here) It was SO GREAT to have them both here. Gillian was here for a total of 9 weeks...it was SUCH a special time. We will (do) miss her so much. Ariel was able to come for 2 weeks...such a fun time. It was so great to have them both here...did I already say that? :) Anyway, I know that they are going to be glad to be back home...esp. when they bite into their beloved IHOP meal tonight. I'm a little jealous of IHOP with friends and family. :) I'll be OK. (sniff sniff) :)

Seriously, onto another subject but kind of related I guess...we are back to routines and schedules and normal life, but also back to healthy living. I'll be posting about it soon on my other blog, so stay tuned if you are interested. I basically took a 2 month break from my weight-losing, but am back in full force soon. Like I said, more on that later.

Joel came back Sunday. Seriously, I always say this after Joel has been gone for any amount of time (whether it's 3 days or 2 weeks), but HATS OFF to all those single parents out there...I completely despise it. Enough said. Joel had a great trip and more on that later too. Thanks for praying.

Eliane is doing much better (last post...motorcycle wreck). Thanks for praying for her. She had to go to the burn hospital all last week every day to get her road rash cleaned, but she is back to work this week. She has bandages on her arm, but is doing just fine.

Pray for my cousins as they are in flight as I type. They will arrive in Louisiana around 10pm tonight. Thanks.

Taken Sunday night after church...me, Gillian, Ariel.
Being complete travel dorks. Taken about 5am this morning...we had stayed up all night.
What tourists!
One last girl pic for the road.

Randoms From June and Prayer Requests

I have a few prayer requests before I get to the pictures:
1. Eliane - She is our house helper. She left our house early yesterday to go run some errands. We were gone on a little day trip with Gillian. We got back and I needed to call her for something. Her sister answered her phone and told us that she'd had a motorcycle accident yesterday afternoon after swerving to miss a child in the road. It's nothing super serious...she is home and not in the hospital or anything. But, they did ambulance her to the hospital. She is in pain...her back was bothering her and she had some road rash. Eliane can't not work for very long...they need the money. So, just pray for her...and her 2 daughters (her husband died 2-3 years ago). She is really very special to us.
2. Ariel - My cousin, Ariel, is now en route to us!! She is on a plane as I type this, flying over the big blue thing we call an ocean. Woohoo! We are so excited to pick her up this evening. But, just pray that all will go smoothly during her remaining layover (in Rio...remember, she's traveling alone and doesn't speak Portuguese), that she arrives safely and on time, and that all the luggage arrives safely with her. She arrives here around 5pm (3pm Central Time Zone).
3. And last but not least, Joel - Joel will be leaving today. He is going to be traveling with a big group (2-3 hundred people) from Asas and all over Brazil going to northeast Brazil. This is the big yearly mission trip that Asas puts on and they will be reaching out to 5 different very impoverished communities. They travel 12 hours by bus. They leave at 3:30 this afternoon (that's 1:30 Central Time Zone). He will return on the 27th. Please pray for safety for him and the team, for the hearts of the people they will encounter, and for just the outpouring of the Holy Spirit everywhere they go. I know he is going to have a great time. I'm excited for him.

Also pray for us. I HATE it when Joel is gone. It's so hard being a single parent. I will have Gillian and Ariel here to help (thank God!!!!), but even with people here, when your spouse/co-parent is gone, it's still kind of like single parenting. So, just pray for safety and health for us...that everything would just run smoothly, nothing would break, we would have very uneventful days and nights (as in nobody will fall and break something...you know, that sort of thing), and we would have fun even without Daddy here. :)

O.K., I think that's it. Thanks so much for your prayers. Truly, what a gift they are to us. Now...

Just some random pictures from June...

Joel relaxing on a weekend afternoon.

What a cutie!
Getting some help with her passy from big sister.

She had the cow and was treating it like her baby.



Everyone had a flower behind their ear after a walk one day. They brought Cass one back and I think it was Eissa that actually did the honors of placing it behind her ear.
My little cowboy.
My little cowboy with his sister tagging along.





I caught Cass having a little funny chat with Gillian.

These pajamas are OLD. Can you tell we believe in wearing something until it is literally falling apart? And even then, you just might be able to make it cool.
Yep, the collar came off and there you go...a nice headband for the super hero to wear for a while before going to bed.
LOVE this little dress our friend sent her. Thanks ENNA!! (aka, Anna)
FYI, the little booties were given to me by someone else...here in Brasil.
Her curls were esp. tight that night, so I grabbed a few shots.
She wasn't very happy about it...she just wanted to eat.

Look at that cuddly bug. So sweet.
Such the helper these days. Every time someone is doing dishes, she pushes a chair up there and joins in.

Randoms From May 2008...+ More

Just some random pictures from May that were never posted. Plus, after the pics, there are a couple of cute videos. Check them out.








They had both been crying about something or other.
But then we started having fun again.
Granny (my mom) had sent them these cute PJs...Dora ones.
Awweee.









Dancing to the Amigo de Deus (Friend of God) DVD.

Hadley the Grouch.
Nothing a little joking around couldn't cure.







Awwweeee. Sweet sisters.

This was captured about a week ago.

Yesterday Gillian was holding Cass and playing with her. It was so funny. Gillian was in tears from laughing so much. Apparantly it really got Cass's belly to do that...or she just liked it. Either way...super cute.