Hasta luego...

I think this will be the end of my blog for awhile. When my brother made fun of me for blogging while in Guatemala, I promised him I wouldn't become a blogger who posts about my son's poop schedule or things like that (not to make fun of any of you all who do, because Samuel just started pooping in the potty and it is life-changing!). As a stay-at-home mama right now, I can feel my blog posts headed in that direction, so I figure I better stop! On top of which I have heard a couple of stories of people "stealing" pics off of blogs and using them which pretty much weirds me out. I do post pics pretty regularly to Facebook, so if you can't get enough of Samuelito, you can find us there, too! :)

I'll probably blog again when we go to Guatemala this fall or if we embark in another adoption adventure (although I've had to swear to Jimmy that under no circumstances will I go to another country for an unknown amount of time for any reasons, so I'm sure if we adopt again it will be a much more "normal" story!). All that to say, if you Google Reader people out there leave me be, I'll pop in again in October with some good stories from Guatemala- I promise! Thanks- have a great weekend!

A few closing pics of summer fun!




This is Samuel with his great-grandfather, Papa Jack. Samuel was pretty insistent that his 85-year-old Papa play cars with him!

Finishing, Fathers, Friends and the Farm

Our weekend started out with a Father's Day BBQ at my brother's- yum! Then Saturday I ran a half marathon. All I can say is that I finished. It was HOT, HUMID, SHADELESS and in the country with no spectators. If you're a runner, you understand this is a brutal combination. Probably TMI, but I pulled over and puked on the way home- pretty sure I was dehydrated. If you know me well, you know that puking is one of my special hidden talents (just take a road trip with me!).

Anyways- with that behind me, we headed home and hung out with our friends, Bethany and Robert, who are in town visiting while in the States (they do Young Life in Germany). Then a few hours later, we packed up and headed out to Nickerson, Kansas to visit the Hedrick's Exotic Animal Farm. It was planned as a fun Father's Day road trip. We stayed in the B&B on the farm in the "zebra suite". I think the room had every room decor item possible in zebra print... impressive. The drive was a bit longer than I'd thought, but the farm was great! Good breakfast, tons of animals and lots of time to interact with zebras, camels, giraffes, kangaroos, ostriches, emus and lots of other exotic animals that I couldn't name. Samuel LOVED it! Jimmy was enthralled by the kangaroos and the "pouch". Just ask him about it...

Sunday night we got to hang out with Bethany and Robert again, along with another Trumanite (college friend!), Courtney! It was sooo good to catch up and have adult conversation about things other than toddlers!

Below are a few pics from the weekend. Don't give Jimmy a hard time about the matching Cardinal's shirts- I bought him one to match Samuel for Father's Day... cheesy, I know, but I couldn't resist. This was our first Father's Day all together, so it was special! Another milestone for us as a family!

G-rated Naked Bliss :)

Samuel loves to play outside. He loves water. And he loves being naked. So this was the perfect trifecta moment- playing outside, in the hose, nakey! Don't you just love a good streaker in your yard?

Guatemala Video

Lindsey, one of my housemates in Guatemala, just shared a link to a preview of a Guatemalan documentary. Here's the link . It is a great video- shows lots of the ministry needs in Guatemala. It shows several of the places we are planning to serve while we're there in October. Check it out!

Check these out...

OK, after reading Katie's post, I decided to post a few highly recommended blogs for anyone who is interested. Since I started using Google Reader while in Guatemala, I have a list of blogs that I read pretty consistently... I love staying in touch with people and being challenged and encouraged by others' stories! So anyways- here are three that you should check out!

1) Chasing Cheerios- I think a lot of moms of toddlers have seen this blog, but I mentioned it to a couple people lately who hadn't. Someone sent me her link awhile ago- she posts tons of great activities for little ones. Her daughter is older than Samuel, so I go back in the archives to get age appropriate ideas. Love it!

2) Kevin in Peru - In June of 2007 I went to Peru on a mission trip with my church. The younger brother of my good friend was on the trip. It's a long story, but Kevin got connected with a Peruvian orphanage and has volunteered down there during summer/winter breaks from college. He recently graduated from MU and has moved to Peru for at least a year, if not longer, to work at an orphanage. Talk about taking steps of faith and action!

3) Adopt More - In Guatemala I met Kimberly and Aeson (they came to visit in April!). Kimberly is now in the process of adopting her second little one from Ethiopia and has started Adopt More. She is truly a passionate advocate for adoption (and life in general) and I'm still secretly hoping to recruit her to move to KC!!

Air Fork One

You know you're a mother when you find yourself strategizing ways to get your child to eat vegetables... which is why I'm so excited about a recent gift. Thanks to the Whitley's, Samuel has been introducted to Air Fork One. He LOVES it and has consumed exponentially more green vegetables since it's arrival in our house. I found it on Amazon and it might become my kid birthday gift of choice. If you don't believe me, check out Samuel's testimonial (and try to ignore my annoying commentary!).