Activities

We spent the whole weekend celebrating Jared's birthday. Friday night was the birthday party, which extended to the next morning as the Kennedy's let us bunk in their guestroom for the night. Saturday we toured the town looking for new "for sale" signs and saw zero prospects. We enjoyed a few trips window shopping at the bike store and at academy and we visited the planetarium where we saw SonicVision. If you like U2, Coldplay, etc., this is a really great thing to see and so out of the ordinary movie going experience. We really enjoyed it.

Sunday we went to church at the Chapel on Campus and then did a little more house hunting. Can you believe we are desperate enough to move into an 1000 sq. foot condo? No yard, third floor, glorified apartment? We are really looking for the dogs benefit, as you can tell, this would be the perfect spot for them. After house hunting a second time, we were depressed as usual and needed a little cheering up. Woody Allen was just the man to do it - so we went to see Scoop. We very much enjoyed it.

Back to the house to eat burgers and finally relax. Another year older for Jared - still no house.

The Birthday....

Jared's birthday was Friday night. Our friends Ben and Lori hosted a great party for him. We had about twenty friends, from all walks of life, mingling together. We had several different activities, including "amish horseshoes" and poker. Jill Holland was kind enough to give Jared this tattoo for the evening...Below are more pictures from the evening. I think 28 looks pretty good on him. Should be a fun year!

Watching Fishing...

As I am typing this, Jared is watching fishing on TV. For the Maynard's, you can all laugh now. He is watching two guys on a boat, talking about a motor, and kite fishing. In honor of Jared, I thought I'd post some of his recent fishing trips for your viewing pleasure.

We didn't eat the shark...

The Championship

To keep from being bored on a Sunday, we challenged Richard and Michelle to a tennis match. Surprisingly - they were excited about the idea as well. So today we headed out to the courts, accessorized in visors and wristbands, and the Hall's kicked our butts.

I've never played a game of tennis before. Unfortunately for Jared, he was naturally on my team and we didn't do so well. I need to practice my serve apparently. All in all, we had a great time and I think we will make this a once a month activity.

Similarities

Kelly sent Jared and I some pictures of the kids at Casa Rebeca fishing. This picture of Levi reminded me of my own little fisherman sans the coke bottle glasses...

I think they will get along well.

Allyson

It's Allyson's birthday today and we spent the evening fattening ourselves up at CheeBurger CheeBurger. Milkshakes, Frings basket (half fries, half onion rings), CherryCola, and big, huge burgers. We haven't eaten like this in a while.

Thanks for the opportunity Allyson and happy birthday!

The Ultimate Project

Could this be our first house? This would be the ultimate project for Jared...

My husband has many loves and they always seem to take on new diminsions around his birthday. His latest hobbie is cycling and I have looked at more "fixed gear bicyles" than I care to mention. He made a remarkable discovery on Monday night, finding an old bicycle under his father's shed. I would say, this bike has been there, in the dirt for about 13 years. From this shot, you can't tell how much abuse this bike has seen. However, upon closer inspection you can see years of built on rust, an animal eaten seat, and tires are rotted green.
I love my husband and married him because he always sees life as a project; something to be taken and reconstructed, painted or polished. In the end, he is always right about his hidden treasures. Maybe this bike is something special too.

Back Home

It is hard to imagine that only one week has past since Jared drove us from our world travels to Baton Rouge. My body has finally adjusted to the time difference and I am settling in at work with 5 days under my belt.

In the back of my mind, I can't get the kids out of my head. It is times like these that the focus of your life is not inward but searching for a ways to love and serve others. Livada's organization is doing amazing things for these children and now, I am trying to find my place in the mix.

In the meantime, the kids at Casa Rebeca should look forward to lots of hand written notes, pictures and packages from Abby and I.

Vasi

We met this little boy Vasi the first day at the baby hospital. Vasi was one of the most easy to remember at the hospital. He would follow us from room to room as we played with the babies asking to be held and wanting all the attention.

Abby and I found out on Sunday that a terrible accident happened at the baby hospital and Vasi died. The baby floor is about 4 or 5 flights up and he fell from a window. My heart sunk with this news and the effects this has on the nurses and ministry for Livada. Kelly posted a lot of information on her blog about this and I hope that everyone has a chance to read this post, www.lovethelittlechildren.com

Lots of prayer is needed, please keep this on your heart.

3am

We are leaving shortly to depart for Cluj. Our flight is at 6:50am and we make four stops before arriving in Houston at 8pm today. It will certainly be a long day of traveling.

Although you might not tell it from the picture above, this was taken right after and before a sob fest with the kids from Casa Rebeca. Abby and I knew that it would be hard for us to say goodbye, but we were not expecting the kids to be emotional at all.

Lots of crying, packing, and two hours of sleep later - we are ready to go home. We will have posts above the rest of our trip when we get back to America. Pray for safe travel. We will miss the babies and the kids at Casa Rebeca terribly but we will be back again soon.