New post...mostly old stuff!

These pictures and events are old, but I am finally getting around to them! Most of them took place early in the summer.

Morgan and Katie (middle) went to camp together this year. It was the first time for both to go for a two week session. This girl on the left is a friend they made at camp. It's funny because her mom and Katie's uncle dated in high school - small world, huh! I love this picture because it shows how tall Katie is. She is only 9 months older than Morgan and the same age as the girl on the left! Perhaps we will see her in the WNBA one day! Her dad told me the other day that she is 5'10" (and she'll be in 7th grade this year).

Here is Morgan's counselor. Morgan and her are about the same height!

After picking Morgan up from camp on Friday, we spent the night at Mark's dad's house in Mesquite and got to go to tour his plant at work. We didn't get to see any important government planes (like Air Force 1), but we did get to see what Pop Pop does. He is much cooler than I once thought he was. After touring the plant, we went to our favorite restaurant of all times - Ta Molly's. Here is a picture of our sweet nephew Jack. If you want to know what Mark looked like as a kid, just look at Jack. This is Mark's sisters son.

Our niece Lauren had these cool "Mr. Potato Head" classes. Jacob loved them.




This picture is funny - cousins, but very different! They have the same hair cut, the same blue eyes, the same freckles (well, let's be honest, does anyone have as many freckles as my sweet Haleigh). But...they don't really look like cousins, do they?

How to know when Haleigh is sick...

How to know when Haleigh is feeling much better...

Haleigh is quite the character. I told her it was a good thing that she was wearing bloomers so that I could take her picture like this. Why was my child wearing bloomers anyway? Only Haleigh! Jacob thought this was quite hysterical - he came running in the house laughing so hard and yelling "you have to come look at Haleigh", so I grabbed my camera because I knew it would be good!

We are headed to Lake Texoma for our annual church trip! Can't wait to spend three days outside during the hottest weekend of the summer so far :)

Oh, and in case you're wondering, I am now officially a grand juror for Wise County for the next 6 months. It is not easy to get out of that one! Interesting stuff...but of course, I cannot tell you anything!!!!

Restlessness

Sometimes I feel like a complete failure in life. I have to take a step back and ask myself questions that I just don't like to ask. Sometimes I have conversations with myself (in my brain, not out loud). My brain is a scary place. Sometimes I try to be still...not an easy task for me. The other night I was so restless, so I tried to lay in bed and just breathe and try to clear my mind - it didn't work. Here are some of the questions I find myself asking myself...

• Am I a good wife to Mark? Do I think about his feelings and his needs and try to meet them? Am I being a good example of a what a wife should be like for my children? Are we being a good example of a marriage to our children?


• Am I a good mom to Morgan, Haleigh, and Jacob? Do I yell at them too much, do I spend enough time with them? Do I really know them like I should?
  
• Am I a good disciple of Christ? Do I spend enough time in prayer and study? Do I live my life selflessly life Christ did - putting God's will above my own?
  
• Am I a good friend? Do I listen more than I talk when I am trying to help a friend? (NO). Do I give good advice that is biblical and useful?
  
• Am I going to be a good teacher? Am I ready for a full time job? Am I ready to deal with sixth graders, or should I have kept looking for something in elementary?
  
• Am I making the right choices for my family? Am I raising them right? Am I making good choices for their future? Are my children going to be productive members of society when they leave my house?

There are so many questions in my brain. I feel like the questions are just floating around in there waiting to be answered. Why can't I make them right? My pride, my stubbornness, my own desires. My prayer today is that I will choose my actions so that I can be the best wife, the best mom, the best friend, the best teacher, the best christian, and the best leader that I can be. Notice that I didn't say the best in the world - just the best I can be and give. I am sick and tired of wanting to be those things and not taking the action to become those things. So...I will pray for the desire and the ability to become those things. Maybe (soon) my brain can be at rest.

Great News

I have been praying for a long time for the right job to come around - well, I finally got a job! I will be teaching 6th grade reading and language arts at Boyd Intermediate School. I am so excited to have gotten a job, and I really feel great about it. I really like the principal, and it seems like they have really great programs there. So, I just wanted to share the news. Thanks for your prayers!

My last Brazil post

The last part of our trip was spent at a retreat with the Brazilian church members. We had a great time. When we arrived, the guys spotted this blue "bull". They had to take a ride - I have never laughed so hard in my whole life. Watching these guys doing stupid stuff is the best entertainment in the world! I almost peed my pants from laughing so hard. Thankfully they didn't get hurt - I'm not sure how they didn't considering that they do such dumb stuff. Here is Kyle giving it a try. And Andrew...
and Preston...
and finally the Brazilians...
they didn't give up quite as easily!

Here the kids are trying to decide whose on whose team for the soccer game. I think what was really happening was that the Brazilians were trying to decide how to spread out the Americans so that their teams don't get ruined by our inexperience on the "football" field. Here is the game in action...they were so nice to allow the girls to play

(not a custom in Brazil, but we had Lindsey Hicks - she's as good as them)!
Here is Bela - one of the members of the church in Aracaju. She was a translator for some of our kids classes - we couldn't have done it without her!
Here is my cabin - deluxe accommodations! The shower is behind the wall - cold shower, that is! It is so humid there too, so I never felt clean during the retreat. Oh, and no A.C. I felt like I was at CDR again! We made it though...this housing was better than the other retreat sight we had two years ago.

Leann with one of the little girls.
They love, love, love the camera...

Sonia with the camera loving crew!

Hal Ray had a little posse that followed him everywhere.
These girls are my favorites - they are cousins, and their families are a big part of the success of the church in Brazil. They have recently moved from Aracaju to a town about 6 hours away and are now working with the church there. They picked these beautiful flowers for me and Deena. We met them 2 years ago, and they have just grown so much. They hold a special place in my heart!
This little girl is the youngest of 12 children - can you believe that?
One night, the kids made these windmills as a craft -they absolutely loved them.

Austa and this little girl were attached at the hip during the entire retreat.
This was so sweet - the kids had their Bibles out during our kids classes - it warms my heart to see them in the word and growing spiritually. It's amazing to see the change in them since two years ago - in their parents too. That was amazing.

These were the girls in our cabin. There were four of us (Americans) and the rest were Brazilians. It was so funny trying to communicate with them. We did...a little, and they were telling us all the things they know in English -

like High School Musical!
Bela and Victor - my favorite Brazilians. They spoke English, and they are an amazing couple - helping to do great work in Aracaju.

Me and Adriano - he is such a big part of the church in Aracaju too. He's great.
Me and Will - he was the exchange student to Decatur I mentioned that lives in Sao Paulo. He was an amazing help as a translator. We were glad to have him with us on this trip, and it was great to get to know him so well. I miss you Will!
This lady in between me and Deena was one of the teachers that brought her kids to VBS. She was baptized at the retreat.
Saying good - bye. We were on the bus waving farewell to our Brazilian friends.
After the retreat, we still had our tourism day. We went to the market, went out to eat, went to the beach, etc. While we were riding around in the bus, the youth sang A LOT. Preston was so funny - he was wanting just a moment of peace and silence. He sounded like a mom! This was Casey getting right in his face to irritate him with his singing! Again, good entertainment for me!

This was at the market - corn, corn, corn.
They celebrate Saint John during the month of June, and one of their traditions is to have a bon fire and roast corn in their front yards on a special day (which happened to be the next day after this picture). This is why there was corn everywhere!
This was a corner market - you can buy pigeons and goats there!

Gas is really expensive there - about $8/gallon. I guess this is cheaper!
It was raining when we were supposed to be going to the beach, so us girls wanted to go to the mall instead. This is our taxi - they are very small economy cars, but we got 5 of us in there. Leann sat in the front with me, Sonia, Shelly, and Deena in the back. Our taxi driver was quite attractive and smelled really good. He spoke no English, but he laughed at us the whole time. Good times!
This was our big dinner at a Churacarissia ( I cannot spell it or say it right). It was yummy.

Our bus driver was saying a few words to us as he was dropping us off at the airport. He was out of work until we arrived, so he was expressing his appreciation for the work and for the good time he had with us. He was great.

Saying good-bye to Adriano at the airport.

A shot of Aracaju as we were leaving. Farewell until next time!

I had an incredible trip to Brazil. It was so great to see it for the 2nd time and to see how much has changed in the church and in the members. It was truly a wonderful experience that I will cherish forever. I can't wait for next time! I hope you enjoyed the pictures - I only posted a small fraction of them.