AWESOME in ARIZONA!!!

So sorry for the long delay. I can' believe all the travel I've done this summer. Saturday I returned from the YoungLives camp trip in Williams, AZ. It was so great! I hope to have pictures from others soon to post but I did not take a camera myself. There was such a difference between the girls from the first day to the last. We were concerned about division amongst our group (high school stuff) and that was never an issue. I admit that before going I was not embracing the week to be had. I did not know many of the girls and was forecasting a battle with bad attitudes. One of my girls, Jessica, had the biggest transformation in the group. YoungLife did an excellent job with their camp. They are so good at meeting kids where they are and transforming their lives through music, messages, and skits. We had some emotional 'cabin time' meetings when we were able to discuss openly and the girls' walls came down. It was a real pleasure for me to watch them love their kids. Despite what may be the stereotypical thought on young teen moms, they LOVE their kids without question. It is clear that they want the best for them. Their tactics may not always be my choosing but it was a joy to see the closeness between mom and baby. It was also great fun getting to know the girls. They were so fun to be around. We had lots of good laughs and created many memories. There were about 200 campers there and it was so sad to learn of the dysfuncation that many of them come from: molestation, alcoholism, abandonment, rape, drugs, and theft (often from within their own family). Society is quick to blame teen moms for thier situations but the true blame goes to the generation before them that failed to raise them. Many of them to well for what they have to work with. It was a great learning experience for me. I am still recovering from the trip. I will add more later.

1, 2, 3, 4.....18, 19, 20!!

Congratulations to JJ! He has finally reached 20 lbs and we have pimped his ride. He now faces forward in his new car seat and can see where we are going rather than where we have been. He even has a cup holder now! I look at him and can tell he is growing. It's exciting but sad because my little baby is growing up. He's only 15 months!! What am I going to be like when he leaves for college??

Rest in peace Frodo. Our cat Frodo passed away last Wednesday night. He was an old cat and it was just time for him to go. He was not suffering and died naturally on the back porch. I took him in as a stray five years ago and he has had a good life since then. I miss him around the house even though all he did was eat, sleep, and poop. Jimmy is glad to be the only feline ruling the house now and Scout doesn't seem too sad. Next pet purchase will be a playmate for Scout.

JJ and I leave for Oklahoma City tomorrow. We will be there until Thursday. We are going to see my cousin's new baby Blake and visit with friends and family. JJ has changed so much since people last saw him. It will be fun to see what they say about him.

I ran a 5k race tonight in Little Rock. Robert had to leave town on short notice to go to a funeral and so I took JJ with me. He had fun and posed well as my coach. Now, I'm off to bed for our travel day tomorrow. See you soon.

Tiny Traveler

Mark another one down in the books for JJ's travels. We had a great trip to Michigan! JJ did great flying even though not one of our four flights was on time. Since he is mobile now so it was much easier to let him walk around the airport then fight him to stay put in our laps while we waited for flights. It was very entertaining to follow him and see where he went in the airport and who he wanted to visit. He would walk up to strangers and crawl in their laps and put his head on their shoulders. Or he would quickly spot someone his size and try to engage them in playtime. It brought joy to see adults watching him and the smile that JJ would bring to their faces. I think people were refreshed by his presence. He loved the people movers/horizontal escalators. He got very frustrated when he would get going one way and try to go back and was not able to make any ground. People were amused. He did well on the flights and we had no mishaps.

We flew into Detroit and stayed in Flint most of the time. Robert went to school there and lived there for almost 10 years. I know he was refreshed by seeing familiar sites and catching up with old friends. We had a nice time at the wedding and JJ LOVED the dance floor. It was so funny to watch him. He had such a good time walking circles and watching the other children too. Again, he would work the crowd and go up to strangers and try to crawl in their laps. He is beginning a collection of bumps and bruises, however. He gets ahead of himself, or his feet I should say, and runs into things or falls regularly now. He recovers quickly and is very tough. He was so excited to be home yesterday. He especially liked seeing Scout. We too were glad to be back in our own beds.

I have not updated on the garden lately. I am happy to say that it is looking much better. We are getting tomatoes, cucumbers, green onions and okra. The squash plants are doing great as well. There are a few carrots and strawberries from time to time. It is so exciting to see things growing. We have definitely learned some things to do and not to do next year.

Now that we are home it is time to get back in shape. I ran once on the treadmill while I was away but still feel like I am already out of shape. JJ is napping well today and then we will head to the gym to make up for lost time.