One Year Ago Today

Saturday arrived a little earlier than expected. The stomach bug ended our week in full force early that morning. :( We all ended up getting up and getting ready to leave. Once we got on the bus and finally left, I was honestly worried we would not get to our flight in time and our friend was VERY sick, so we did not need to miss it. Well, God was in control of our trip all week and He didn't fail us that morning. Because we had a sick friend who needed a wheelchair we got bumped up to the front of the extremely long line to check in to our flight. We slowly made our way through security, etc. and made it to our gate as they were boarding. Our flight was uneventful - thankfully - and we made it to Atlanta. Unfortunately our next flight was delayed due to storms. We did finally board only to be delayed. I may or may not have almost cried. We did finally leave and landed safely! :) We did not have it is bad as the youth group who was rerouted due to storms and missed their connecting flight. They had to rent vans and travel a little ways to wait on the church bus to come get them - I think they made it home around 8 or 9 the next morning. :( While our travel home was not as smooth as we would have liked, we made it home in one piece and for that I am thankful!!! I have never been so happy to see the Memphis airport in my life! 

Happy to be in the USA! 

One Year Ago Today

Friday morning our Sunday School Class had a pancake breakfast for the college and career students at Casa. We could not keep up with them/make eggs and pancakes fast enough for them, so I guess they enjoyed the breakfast! :)

After the breakfast we had a little bit of cleaning to do...

Then had some time with the kids after lunch. :)

Spent time with the older kids before going to the baby dorm one more time. 

Too funny! 

:)

That night we had one of the dorms over for dinner and to give them shoes that a local school raised money to send each boy a pair of shoes. They were beyond excited about their shoes and cheered for each boy as he went up to get his pair. They all waited to open them at the same time - more cheers and smiles. 

I think everyone had to put on their new shoes. :)

They all danced around - did the "worm" and other fun moves in celebration.

Our group with the boys and their new shoes. :)

After that it was time to pack and get ready to fly home. Our class was leaving VERY EARLY the next morning and the youth group had a few extra hours to sleep. 

Many from our group had had the stomach virus that week, so we were kind of ready to get on a plane and head home at that point. It was an amazing week - one I will never forget. Maybe one day I will have the opportunity to go back. 

One Year Ago Today

On Thursday we had a day of fun in Antigua. Anytime we traveled we took one bus and two vans. I tried to get on a van whenever possible and am so glad I did. On the way the bus had a little bit of trouble getting around the curves on the mountain. 

This sign should have been our first clue of what was to come. 

The bus could not navigate this turn, so everyone had to get off. 

The bus was stuck at this point. :/ 

With the help of a truck that happened to be behind our van, they were able to get the bus back on the road. Needless to say the group walked down the mountain and got on the bus once it was down. I happened to get all of this on video - too large to post it all but definitely a good bit of video footage from the trip. 

Once we got to Antigua and got money exchanged we spent the day shopping followed by a fun and good meal in the city. 

Our Sunday school class

After a fun day in Antigua we headed back - on a different and much safer road! 

One Year Ago Today

Wednesday morning we started the day with projects around the orphanage. Some from the team painting and many did yard work or weed pulling. :/ My group was sent to a field of weeds to pull weeds. I think we got 1/16 of it completed in 3 hours. No one went back to that project the next day. :) 

After lunch we spent time with the children there. 

 Some kids at our church made little goodie bags to give out while we were there. It was fun seeing pictures of kids I knew. This one was of a co worker's son who did the day camp at our church. 

All the kids had fun with any electronics they could get their hands on.

That night we divided up and had bonfire's for the girls and boys. They had a lot of fun making s'mores! After that our girls in the youth played them in soccer. I have no idea who won but they had fun and built relationships that night. It was really neat watching the interaction on the "soccer field" as well as during the bonfire. 

One Year Ago Today

On Tuesday we went back to the school to do one more day of VBS. This day we knew more of what to expect and went into it more prepared. Here are some pictures from the day.

Bus ride after VBS fun!