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.