Vacation post 1 of ???

We made it back around 1 am Monday morning. We are all very tired and trying to get back into our routine. Sallie was up during the night last night throwing up so that does not help. We did have a wonderful trip to AL and as usual it was just not long enough! I took around 400 pics and am sorting through them as I have time. You know I like to share a lot of pics so bear with me. Here is the first installment of many!

We made our first stop at Nanna and Grandy's to spend a couple of days. Mrs. Abbey, Aunt Ang and Garrett were there also and we had a lot of fun. Nanna always has lots of help in the kitchen when the kids are there! As you can tell, she doesn't mind! This is a regular occurence as well! So thankful for a Nanna that plays with the girls!
Nanna with her babies

Garrett and Elleigh
Millie hanging out on the deck at Grandmama and Pappa's
Sittin' in the back of Zach's truck (wanting to be inside the truck!)

Zach in his element...
Millie reminds us often that she is the baby and she is! She can hang with the big kids but she does take advantage of being the baby as well and she is catered to a lot. Here Lizzie is feeding her bacon!
Not sure this tricycle is made for 2 but they do look cute!Playing on the slip and slideAnd again...

How cool is she???Zach taking care of the little ones
I love this!
2 prisses!
Maggie and Elleigh who are not supposed to have grown up so quickly!

If Zach is around he has at least one of the little girls with him!
Shrimp boil-it took lots of hands peeling shrimp to keep Lizzie and Millie satisfied. They loved them!
Millie is SO much fun!
Lizzie turned 3 while we were in AL. We had a combined b-day party for she and Millie but this was her with her Barbie cake on her actual birthday. She loved it!

Still to come-our beach trip, Lizzie and Millie's b-day party, and our second trip to Nanna and Grandy's!

Family of 6 for a few hours!

This has been a strange summer. First Aaron and Elleigh were gone and then Elleigh was gone again. She returned this afternoon and we were able to spend a few hours together and now A is headed to Red Springs and the girls and I head out for AL tomorrow morning. So, we have not been a family of 6 very much lately. A will join us on the last few days of our AL trip and then things should be back to normal.

Elleigh had a wonderful week on their mission trip! 70 individuals made professions of faith during!!! Praise God!!!

I'll be back blogging in a couple of weeks! We are very excited about seeing our family and friends, eating our favorite foods both homecooked and at our favorite restaurants and we will visit the beach for a few days! Hope you all have a great rest of the summer!

At last!

The last 2 slideshows of Africa and my favorite picture of A from the trip. This was given to him by one of the other team members and we scanned it so the quality is not great but this is him preaching while in Namibia. This was the day that 7 came to know Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour!!!

Neglected!

I feel I have neglected my blog! I have been posting but just not the usual and I am behind and it drives me crazy! I know that if I ever get behind I will get very overwhelmed and then just stop and I don't want that. So, I work really hard to keep it updated. I know there are certain people who need to see some pics of a few girls so this post is going to be some random things and a little bit of a catch up!

Hopefully I will get the VBS cd this weekend but for now I thought I would share the few pics I was able to retrieve. The girls walking to church on the first night of VBS. How much can I say about this picture??? I wish she had been looking at me. The kids took cans each night for the food bank and they loved doing this. They made sure every night that we had 2 cans each before we left for church! Each night a boy and girl were chosen from each class based on their participation in music and they got to come up front to lead the music in the closing worship service. This was Sallie's night! Proud girl!!!Little Millie with her buddy Mrs. Denise. Whatever Millie wants, Millie gets!
Lizzie dancing in music

Just a random pic that Elleigh took of her and Sallie but I love it! After A got back from Africa we celebrated my b-day and Father's Day at where else but Texas de Brazil! You can't beat meat that good and eating free for your b-day!
This was the morning of Sallie's tests. We did not have to be there until 11 which made it difficult because she could not eat. So, A took her out to Starbucks for water becaue she could have water until 9 and you know everything taste better at Starbucks! They then ran errands which kept her distracted and the other girls could eat without eating in front of her. We don't do that-never have never will!
I promise she is not in pain. She is just trying to wake up! Her daddy is trying to rush that along so that we can go home. He is good at that. I fall in love all over everytime I see him take care of her. Her test results were as expected. There has been no change to her hearing which is better than it being worse. In case I have never said this here before and you might think it is strange that I take pics of her at times like this, I do this because this is a major part of her life. There was a time when I could not do this. I did not want memories of these times but I wish now that I could go back and change my thinking. Does it make me happy to look back at these times-no, but like I said it is part of her life and our journey!
At home and resting with the puppy she was given (she does not like dogs!) and an American Girl magazine just happened to come that day and so she was set!

For the 4th (will get to the rest of that later) I made 2 pies that I had never made before and they were SO good! A loves key lime and Ell doesn't so I did key lime and chocolate peanut butter. Both were Pioneer Woman recipes. The links are below. Neither were difficult.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/files/2009/06/key-lime-pie.pdf

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/files/2009/06/chocolate-peanut-butter-pie.pdf

That's all for now. Ell is packing for her mission trip with the church to Kerville, TX. They leave Sat. and come back next Sat. then the girls and I are headed to AL! A will join us on our last weekend there. We are celebrating Lizzie and Millie's b-days while in AL! Are they really turning 3 and 2??? Lizzie asks every day if it is time for her day party!

Last but not least the second slideshow from Africa. I still have several to go!

Africa Slide Show Part 1

There will probably be several of these slideshows because it will only allow me to download 50 at a time so here's the first. Enjoy!

Not just another kid!

I still have to do the Africa posts and VBS and 4th of July! I am just not with it! I have to wait on a copy of the VBS pics since mine were erased and I forgot to take my camera with us on the 4th and Elleigh had hers but it was dead and she did not have the right cord to charge it. So, I ended up going to the dollar store to get a disposable and I am sure the pictures are not very good but better than nothing! However, I left that camera in Red Springs so more waiting!

I do have something funny to share:

Lizzie to Aaron: "Daddy, Millie has her thumb in her mouth. Tell her to get it out. It's nasty!"

A (laughing) to Lizzie: "Lizzie I don't think I need you to tell me what to do with the other kids"

Lizzie (not laughing): "Daddy, it's not just another kid, IT'S MILLIE!"

Sweet and Funny!!!

We appreciate your prayers tomorrow. Sallie will be having some hearing tests. There is nothing invasive but she will be under general anesthesia so please pray she has no complications. Also, pray that we get good solid results from the testing and as usual for her anxiety level while waiting to be sedated. Thank you!

The first of many!

I plan to eventually post ALL the Africa pics probably in slideshows and there are a couple of videos but for now I will post some of my favorites to get started. They also have some stories to share. So, this is the first of many Africa posts and the first of many mission trips for our family. This was not A's first mission trip but his first with another family member so we are looking forward to many more of those. Elleigh is already looking for somewhere else to go!

This is the one of the planes that they flew in while they were in Africa. It was a small plane as you can see and Ell said it was a rough ride! They said there are bars everywhere which of course leads to lots of alcoholism.
The clothing in the market

The African women making those clothes
I am thinking I would have had to bring one of these home with me! A and Ell said they can take care of themselves basically. I am thinking I would have had to take care of them!A and Ell in front of a boubou tree. The center is cut out and as you will see in some other pictures later it is like a room inside.
Elleigh and Macy with the some of the school kids. Look at the guy looking at Macy (she is the 14 yr old who went on the trip-her dad is one of the other pastor's in the association). They said the young men and older men alike were really into Macy and Elleigh. A said he did not let her out of his sight! Look at the girl hanging on Ell. She said they kept touching her hair!

A and Ell outside the offices of the Regional Council. They met with them to get permission for what they were doing, etc.
Outside the office of the chief before meeting with him
The kids playing with tires and obviously very happy! Very humbling.
The kids at their fence looking at "the white people"Looking at Macy's pictures on her camera. This was part of the Omblantu Heritage Festival. They got some really good video of this that I will post later. Aaron gave this guy his Bible and here he is looking at itThese are some kids that Elleigh and Macy gave their Bibles to and here they are talking to them.Waterfall separating Angola and NamibiaElleigh and Macy in the riverI love this! What a wonderful opportunity for these girls at such a young age to experience something like this! I pray they never forget this time!Ell said they gave these kids their food and they were beyond excited!Elleigh pounding the grain that eventually becomes meal. She had a sun burned head so she had to wear A's hat!The last couple of days after their work on the field was done for this trip they were able to play a little. They stayed at a wildlife reserve and they said it was beautiful and they got to see lots of animals. You will see a lot more in the slideshows but here are a few.This is a picture at night at the watering holeThey said it was really amazing to see these animals in their natural setting