More Pictures

Our good friend Allan Schuler captured these.

Not Just a Day in the Park

Some moms put together a thing at the park on Wednesday mornings that we just went to this morning. It is a time for the kids to play together and have a snack and for the moms to hang out. Well during our time there, a helicopter kept flying over, and the kids were all excited to see it. And since there have been fires in the distant area, we figured it was for those. The kids were having a great time playing in the sand, sliding, swinging and just being kids. What we didn't know was that just a little while before, Hume had gotten a call from the Buckrock lookout that there was a fire in Wildwood, they thought it looked like someone had lit the needledump. Oh, did I mention the Joshua students are staying at Wildwood this week. So when one of the maintenance guys rushed by Rich to the needledump, Rich followed, well, no fire there. So they continued around the camp to see if there were any firepits with fires in them, nope, but that's when they saw it, just over the hill. So Rich and Kirk ran to it to start clearing brush with their hands until more help could come. The students were out in the woods having solo time, and when one ran up to him, Rich's first question was, "did you start this?" and the kid was like, "no". Then after several minutes of clearing, the kid said "is this going to be out of control?" and Rich was like "maybe" and the kid was like "I might have started it." The fire crews were there, the helicopter was there within like 10 or so minutes to dump water from overhead. It turns out that during the students extended solo time last night, this one kid had decided to build a little fire, of course he insisted that he had put it all out. Well, apparently it was not ALL out, because now he has had to be investigated and will probably be very heavily fined. Well by lunch time, when I was mosying to the dining hall, I got some strange comments, like, "busy morning, huh, well they just have some mopping to do" I was like, "what are you talking about" Then I was told that there was a fire right outside of Wildwood. Then I was told that Rich was the first one there and had been fighting it all morning, but that it was under control now. My heart was pounding with this strange mixture of anxiety and relief. So after lunch we drove up to Wildwood, only to find Rich in the high ropes course, carrying on with business as usual. Figures! In a couple days we can probably go out to the site and hopefully take some pictures, but here are a few that someone got. So as Ellie was going to bed tonight, I whispered to tell her daddy, "goodnight hero" and she translated that as "Super, super job dad". Get it, super hero, she's crazy! But really, it's kinda funny, but he really is a hero, and really did do a super job, and we love him! His favorite part by the way, was when all the other fire fighters were like ,"duck" and he and Dallas looked up to see the water being dropped from the helicopter and it was so awesome and surreal, only to be followed by gallons of water dumping on them.

All Dolled Up

Tonight was the Etiquette Dinner for the Joshua students. It is a semi-formal banquet to teach the students etiquette for formal and everyday use. Some Hume friends came and decorated the dining room all shnazzy, everyone dressed up and all the students had "dates". Rich was helping serve with the rest of the staff, so he was not as decked out, but he was able to join us to eat occasionally. Our good friend Cliff Carey worked with a company that taught etiquette and dance to well to do people. (Some pretty famous people's kids, actually, but we won't name names.) So he runs the evening every year, showing them how to walk your date, seat her, how to eat and cut and which silverware to use and all that good stuff. One thing that they teach is that when a lady leaves or comes to the table the gentlemen are to stand up. This is something they encourage the guys to do all year long. This year, Rich actually gave the kids a heads up on this one and they have already started. I still have to remind him to do it, but I think this is the year he's going to learn it. Hee Hee. Well, all to say, it went off beautifully and was quite fun. And the kids looked stinkin' adorable!

The Last of the Blue Tape

So I finally picked up the blue paint to fill in those rectangles in Jaron's room. So the lovely blue tape is finally down, yeah! We are also making quite a bit of progress on the deck, I am so looking forward to that. (not neccessarily shoveling it when the snow comes, but it will be worth it to enter on the side of our house to our laundry/mud room) Don't worry I still have those dreaded two last boxes that I really need to open and orginanize, then it will really feel like we are moved in. Oh, the lack of motivation that is so prevalent in my life. I mean, who wouldn't want to play with these cute kids instead of doing almost anything? Of course I have been itching to go on a motorcycle ride, so that my happen before those boxes get opened, but we'll see. Hee Hee! So, the jacuzzi very excitingly made it's way over, and today is the day to start rebuilding that deck, yeah for projects! But you should have seen it, 29 brand new Joshua boys all carrying the jacuzzi first and then most of the deck, it was quite a sight! Thank goodness for free labor, (lol). Okay, well, that's all for today, Ellie should be waking up soon.

2 Hard Days

So I have no pictures with this one, because, there was no time to take pictures, nor would it have been appropriate. Well, Sept 10th started out with me smashing Ellie's finger between her seat and the table when I pushed her in. Then it got better, because we went to her friend Lily's birthday party, yeah for cupcakes and friends and playing at the park. But my body was just tired, I think the 7 months of not getting a good night sleep had just caught up with me. Then we went to Joshua for lunch had naps, played, then went to Joshua for dinner. It was when we were getting ready to leave that we had our sad minute. Ellie had her helmet on, all ready to ride on the motorcycle with daddy. Well, Rich and I were putting Jaron in the car, Ellie climbed on the motorcycle and it fell on her. We both ran so fast to her. Praise Jesus, she had her helmet on and that He protected her from getting seriously injured, because she only had a cut toe a scraped knee a pretty smashed foot, that we at first thought might have been broken, and a couple bruises. It was for sure more scary than anything. We got some ice on it, and took her home. A little neosporin, Elmo band-aid and a good night sleep and all was much better. She limped a little in the morning, but by the afternoon, while we were down the hill shopping, she was hopping and running just like normal. PTL! I say two hard days, because, while the kids did fabulous down the hill with me, it was September 11th, and they kept playing this thing on the radio that would make me almost cry, so by the time we were driving up the hill and Ellie was asleep, but Jaron was screaming, and they played it again, I was in bad shape. I had the worst headache from being all emotional. I think it added to it that Sept 10th was my due date with the baby we lost, so they would have been one years old, and it was just sad to think about. Well, when I got home I realized Jaron had just had really bad gas pains from coming up the mountain and so once he was able to release some of that, he felt much better and actually slept like 7 hours in a row last night, so that was excellent! We are all doing better now. Sorry for such a sad blog, but some days are just like that, hope to have a super fun one next time.

A True Gorbet

So not long ago, I realized the fantastic fact that my Ellie can now pick things up with her toes, just like her old ma. And her grandma and great-grandpa and so on. It made me so proud the first time I saw it, so when she was doing it today, I just had to take a picture.

I also thought I'd add to the blog today, a video, of my dear little chatter-box. Hope you enjoy.

Deck on Pause

Well, we had to take a break on the house and yard because Joshua started yesterday, yeah. I'd love to say that we started with all 56, but we are trying to find a couple last minute replacements due to some very last minute drops. The staff is looking like they will be great. A new girl to Hume named Jen is the women's director. She has done several years with Young Life and is super cool. Keri is the administrative assistant and this is her third year with us. The two RA.s are Dallas, who did Joshua 3 years ago and Rachelle Ferreira, Rich's cousin, who has worked at Hume for the past couple summers. The two cooks, who also help out with the program side of things are Big Paul, who did Joshua two years ago and Hillary who just did Joshua last year. It's a great crew and we are very excited to get to know the students and see how God works in their lives! Please keep the Joshua program in your prayers and check the website often for updates and JoshuaWilderness.org.

Well, we are off to the first meal at the building, we'll be in touch.

Bedtime

Bedtime can be kind of stressful at times, trying to get the kids fed and bathed, changed and actually asleep. And usually this is a solo mission due to Rich's schedule. But sometimes it is just pretty fun, mostly because I have like the cutest kids ever. So these are some pictures of some of the bedtime routine. They take a bath together now, which is cute. Of course I still have to sit and hold Jaron up or he'll inevitably fall over, face first in the water. Ellie's really good though with him and shares her toys. He especially likes to chew on the abc's. Then Jaron gets out and dried first while Ellie plays. And usually I get his diaper and jammies on pretty quick but tonight he really wanted to play naked and was loving it. Then Ellie brushes her teeth, gets her jammies on and goes potty. We read a Bible story or a few actually while Ells drinks her milk, then it is off to bed, to pray and say nigh night. If Ellie prays first she says "Thank you Jesus for our food, our family and then trails off for a minute then says, Amen." If I pray first, she will add more things in her prayer that are more relavent. Like if I pray for a good trip down the hill tomorrow she will pray that daddy does good at the doctor. It's really cute. And of course we always pray that Jaron would sleep well. Hee Hee. Anyways, I just thought I'd give you a little glimpse into my nightly duties as mom.