Project 365, Week 37

This week we set out on an adventure and an incredible opportunity.  This video helps explain what we are doing:

Shaun is THE sound man for a missionaries conference and also Brent's right hand man.  Please pray for us and the team.  There will be a mountain of logistical and technical issues for Shaun to work through but God has been in it all, so I know He goes before us.

How about a peek at the past seven days?

September 8

This week was pretty incredible weather, including this day.  Aiden spent it flying his airplane that he'd gotten the day before.

 September 9
He also got a belated birthday present...a legos set, which the whole family was quite excited about.

 September 10
He may look like a fierce warrior, but he's actually quite sweet.  :)

 September 11
Thinking the teachers may mention the significance of the day, I talked with the girls about 9/11 on our walk to school.  How do you explain something so unexplainable?  Mommy, why did they want to hurt people?

I also realized that there is now a whole generation that doesn't even remember it happening.  R is 17 and doesn't remember it.  That is amazing to me.

Already emotional from the day, I sat in a training class about how harmful disruptions of placement are to kids in foster care, or really non-foster kids as well, tears streaming down my face.

Right now there are 780,000 kids in foster care!!...of those, 50% will be disrupted, which means leaving their (foster) parents.

This 12 min video is tough to watch, but its also an incredible story.


While I was doing that, Shaun and Aiden went to Nathan's to help him fill in a well hole with sand.  A week ago, Nathan was asking Aiden if he would come help and explained the job to him.  Aiden immediately got excited and suggested his tractor would be perfect for the job.  He was so happy to finally be using it for "real work".

I got the royal treatment...a hair style while being fanned.

 One by one Aiden brought me a bouquet, too.

 September 12
Not something you see every day....a stake out in your yard!  This was looking out a kitchen window.  They waited and waited...

 ....and finally the people returned to the stolen car.  Got him!

 September 13
R was getting home from school just as I was leaving to get the girls, so he walked down with me.  All on his own, he took their backpacks and carried them home.  So sweet.

September 14

I had a photo shoot in NYC and at the last minute asked my sister if she'd go with me.  She's a good driver, even under pressure and is also savvy with a map so Shaun trusts me with her. 

In addition to the escort purpose, it was also a good opportunity to get some real time together.  Almost entirely my fault, but it'd been months and months since we'd even had a real conversation.  We soaked up the time together.  Also, we both LOVE to be in the city and it'd been a year for me, more for her.  Too long!

We joined up my clients at Bethesda Fountain in Central Park.  This was at 9:45 AM...by noon it was buzzing with activity....live music being sung and played by a talented group, a marriage proposal, a flash mob, a couple civil union weddings, many sweating through tough workouts and family after family posing in front of this fountain.

 Once the shoot wrapped up, we walked a bit and found this sweet little restaurant, opting to sit outside, streetside.

 It was a picture-perfect day....the only thing that could have made it better is if we didn't both have nursery duty at church and could have stayed for a Broadway show instead of being at church at 4:30.  Oh well...at least there were no crying babies.  :)