Concert on the Patio

We had some good friends over the other night and all of our kids put on a concert for us. It was my favorite part of the evening and only lasted 2.5 minutes.

**Speaking of our patio, it is our project for the summer. Maybe I should get your ideas. What color should we stain the concrete? Jay and I are thinking Espresso. **

It's Like Having A 4th Child

Lack of sleep. More time to get out the door. Crying at night. Potty training. Getting him used to loud noises...

Sweet puppy smell. Cuddly. The center of attention. Lots of new toys. Stolen hearts...

Welcome to the family, little guy.

Last Game of the Season

Isaac had such a blast playing flag football this year. He had some great coaches and a really sweet team. He made some awesome touchdowns and pulled several flags. We are very proud of him!

Isaac making the extra point.

a proud smile to the sidelines

Olivia doing what she does best...making new (older) friends

bored brother

some of the Sharks

Rwanda

It has taken awhile to get back into a normal routine since Jay got back from Rwanda. But I thought you might like to see some pictures from his trip and from his return home. I'd love to tell you some stories, but I figure that's something he could do a lot better than I. Jay inserted some captions to fill you in on some of the adventures.

Here is our Rwanda team. Seven of us came from the states and Manik, front left, met us from Bangkok, Thailand.

Here I am greeting James. I was commenting about the lack of social space awareness in East Africa, and Amy referenced this picture to remind me of a similar deficiency in my own life.

This is Bishop John Rucyahana who helped form the Anglican Mission in the Americas. This was a great sermon despite my interesting face (see far left).

The crowd at the East Africa Revival Conference. This year marks the 75th Anniversary of the East Africa revival, and this conference is one of the main reasons we went to Rwanda.

Ah, sunset over Lake Muhazi. This was the view off of our front porch at the Bishop's House, a guest house for the Gahini Diocese. This lake runs for some thirty miles back to the west.

Good times. Here Ross (standing), Evan (wielder of the bamboo), and me, are learning about fire and bamboo. Evan, a remarkable guy and student at Eastern University, is demonstrating for Berta the un-pictured South African doctor how to fire bamboo and make furniture and other decor.

Yes. I looked and looked at the market for something for the boys. And then I saw these little gems. Jackpot.

This nifty little bag was made by some of the ladies of Gahini where we stayed. The proceeds from their sales go to the Children's Rehabilitation Center in Gahini. I knew the elephant bag would be perfect for Olivia because the elephant was one of the first animal sounds she made.

That pretty much describes my first week home. When 9:00 pm rolled around, I would just crash. This particular episode is after two straight days of travel from Rwanda to Jacksonville. Sweet dreams.

Sweet Dreams

Our boys do share a room, but I've never found them in the same bed before. I don't know how or why Isaac ended up on Josiah's bed, but I'll have to ask him tomorrow. He looks cold.

And then I wish I could have taken a picture of Olivia when I went to check on her tonight. She opened her eyes and smiled so big at me. Then she took her two babies (one in each arm) and lifted them just a little as if to say, "Look, my babies are so happy with me."

I love to watch my kids sleep.