Ecuador Part 2

 The highlight, getting to visit Palm Beach for 5 missionaries, Nate Saint and Jim Elliot among them, were martyred. We took a long bus trip into the mountains and arrived at the Saint home.

Then we loaded up in small airplanes (Cessna) that flew into the jungle along the Amazon River to get to the Woaodani people at Tonampade.

New we hiked down into the jungle...

to get to these long canoe to take us down the river to Palm Beach. It is their tradition to save their baptisms for when visitors come to show how God is continuing to work because of the sacrifice of these men to share the love of God with them. It was neat to hear the multiple translations it took to get to English so we could understand what was being said.

The whole experience was very surreal. We then turned around and made the trek back to the village and spent the rest of the day with the people as they shared moments of their culture with us. Because of all it takes to get to this particular village we were told to pack our bag with the intention of maybe needing to spend the night if weather didn't permit us to get back out. The weather held out, although there was a plane mix-up and we ended up taking a nap on the floor of the church building, but we made it out that day. Wow, what a day it was!

Ecuador Part 1

 Josh and I had the once-in-a-lifetime invitation to go on a trip to Ecuador on a vision trip with Compassion International. We will NEVER forget this trip. We got the see how this ministry empowers the local churches to serve their communities and how to thrive by teaching them self-sustaining occupations and skills. Their documentation and layers of accountability were amazing and refreshing. The kids we danced with, the mother's we hugged and the homes we visited have left an imprint on our lives for the better. 

August

 The entire month of August was a complete blur. The transition of Cai back into the public school system was brutal. Not necessarily academically, but just the learning curve. Teachers, systems, technology, apps, communication, sports...everything. It took us a good couple of months to get to the point of feeling like the new normal wasn't going to kill us. Cai has done a phenomenal job through it all. He also turned 14, we can't forget the birthday!

While all the older kids were at camp we had a rare hang with the Mayhugh's. Life has pulled us in different circles where we rarely get to see each other so it was good to connect with them for an evening.

I also had a 24 hour getaway with a few close friends at the beach. Pam was house sitting and invited Martha, Magan and I to join for an evening. To just breathe and be. It was BEAUTIFUL!

A few months back Rainy came and asked if she and Harper could take a roadtrip up north. I mean, you only live once. And those girls are much braver than I ever was. Piper and I lived vicariously through their adventures as we followed them from state to state via Life 360. They budgeted, they planned, the camped in their car, they went to concerts, they traveled to 13 different states and came back exhausted, refreshed and full of stories.

And while Rainy was away we added a new family member who could FINALLY spend the night and hang with the boys since Rainy was out of the house, haha!

Uganda Via's Come For A Visit

 When Josh's brother called to see if we could keep their six kids for a couple of weeks in August of COURSE we said yes! And we managed to keep all 11 kids, 2 adults, 21 chickens, 1 dog and a fish alive the entire time, without even a trip to the ER. We did have a massive storm that took our power out for a couple of days (which was surprisingly a shock to these third culture kids, lol. I suppose because we don't have a generator that kicks the power back on?) Anyway, we had a good time just being present with them.