Tomorrow, Levi and I will leave for Guatemala on a mission trip until Aug. 2. We are so excited to be a part of some amazing things God is doing down there. This will be my second and Levi's third trip. We will stay at an orphanage the first half of the trip and work with some other missions in Huehue the second half of the trip, including Zona Juvenile (working to keep teenage boys on the streets out of gangs) and a special needs home. We also get to spend one day at the zoo meeting and getting to hang out with our Compassion Sponsor child. This is the kid we send $32 a month to so he can go to school and get his basic needs met. It's great to actually see him and see that he gets the money! Levi has met him once, but this will be my first time to meet him.

Three really special things about this trip:

One, Levi and I were asked to "lead" the trip. Mainly, this just means preparing the team over the last several months through a series of meetings, get togethers, informationals, prayer, etc. This last week has been pretty crazy. We all have "team" bags that bring down items for the orphanage. So, we have been making sure all those get packed and filled and also making sure we cover everything with the members (passports, emergency contact numbers, consent forms, travel info, questions answered, etc.). But, once we get there, there are several people that take over and know the ropes!

Two, my sister is getting to go on this trip. I am so excited to be with her as she experiences this for the first time. She has a passion for kids already and will be great with all of the kids we are going to come in contact with. I am so proud of her for going!

Third, I will actually get to use some of my professional skills. On our team we have several teachers, a preschool ministry worker, 2 occupational therapists and 2 speech pathologists. We thought this was interesting and just made comments that we would have great arts and crafts and VBS activities for the kids! During the middle of our trip planning we changed orphanages that we will be serving at. We knew there were some painting and building projects for us to do. But they also have a great need for educational and teaching ideas. So, we are bringing down some curriculum and other activities and our teachers are going to come in very handy. Levi then got an email 2 days ago asking if we specifically had any speech paths or OTs! So, I spent some time today at Teacher Tools and Kid to Kid rounding up some flashcards and other material and going through handouts to take down there. We will have some interpreters, so that will help with the language barriers.

Of course in all of my excitement I am experiencing TONS of anxiety about leaving and being away from Noah. When first asked about this trip, my immediate response was "no, I need to stay here and care for Noah." Then, after thinking about it, praying about it, and being asked again, I knew that if this is what God was leading me to do, then Noah would be cared for whether I was here or not. But, giving up that control can be hard, and a huge step in faith. Wordly ideas and Godly ideas are so different and conflicting at times.

SO, that being said, our family would love for you to keep us in your thoughts and prayers for the next 11 days. Safe departures, safe returns, a safe little boy and for God's will do be done through us while we are in Guatemala.

Thanks!

Oh yeah, I did it last time and I will do it again. I will hit up all you bloggers and take this time to plug Compassion International (www.compassion.com). It is an amazing and legit organization. You can choose from kids all around the world and actually see the change and difference you can make in their lives.

The other night, Noah was not tired and it was time for bed. Hudson let us borrow a pair of his shoes that squeak. Noah loves them. We don't wear them during the day because it is so hot outside, so usually has sandals on. And, I would probably go crazy if he walked around and squeaked all day. Since it was getting late and we saw no signs of sleep behind those eyes, we strapped on the squeak shoes and let him run around the house for about 30 minutes. He had a blast and went down without a peep. I took a short video, but it doesn't capture how fast he was going or how excited he was.

On Tuesday, Chad and Shelley welcomed Madison Grace into the world. She is a cutie pie and weighed 8.1 lbs. I wouldn't normally say that was a big baby, but it was a big baby for the teeny tiny little thing that birthed her! Mom and Dad and baby are all doing great and Madison even made a debut tonight at a pool party!

Madison Grace Rakestraw

Noah giving Madison some sugar

Twins

On Thursday, Marcy and I hit the road at 7am to make the drive to Houston to visit Whitney and her twins, Savannah and Tate. They are 5 weeks old and we were so excited to meet them. We spent the day a little like this: feed baby, burp baby, change baby, rock baby, repeat with baby number 2, repeat with baby number 1, repeat with baby number 2...you get the idea. And of course nothing goes completely as planned in baby world, so you have your occasional poop episode and needed bath on top of all that. Whitney is a pro at all of this and makes it look so easy. We did convince her to take a nap and let us take over for a little while. We were so glad she did and was able to get a some rest. The babies are great, and it's so fun to see the different personalities. Once Chad got home, he took over baby duty (yes, all by himself. He is so great with them, too). Whitney, Marcy and I met Jill, Christina and Kile for dinner before we headed out. It was good to see them and catch up. I finally arrived back home around 1:45am. It was a long day, but well worth it.

Whitney with Tate

Savannah sleeping

Marcy has Savannah and I have Tate

Dinner with the girls
Kile, Jill and Christina

Swimming

On Wednesday, Noah and I went down to Arlington to swim with some friends. We didn't get to stay too long, but it was fun to see everyone.

Nicole with Claire and Noah

Lisa and Me with Addyson and Noah

All the kids eating lunch

Trampoline Fun

I see a little boy down the street for speech. His mom is awesome. She is always giving me Hunter's toys that he has outgrown. She has given us a great wooden push toy that has all kinds of activities on it (sorting, shapes, colors, magnets, little flippy faces, etc.). I think Brooks, Hudson and Noah have all used it while learning to walk. She also gave us a train table and recently a little trampoline. While I was watching Brooks the other day, they decided to jump on the trampoline. They were too cute together. Brooks wanted Noah, I mean Noey, right next to him while they were jumping. Brooks is bigger, so when he would jump, Noah would bounce high. He was laughing so hard at this and having so much fun. They spent at least 30-40 minutes (with some wrestling breaks in between) jumping.

Noah taking a break to eat the trampoline

Keeping Busy

Wow, I looked at someone's blog and under The Dillon Family it showed that I had not posted in 2 weeks. I didn't realize it had been that long. We have been staying busy and trying to stay cool. Levi and I are helping lead a group of 20 on a trip to Guatemala in less than 2 weeks, so we have been busy preparing and planning for that, too. I'm trying to spend lots of time with Noah. I know it will be hard to be away from him for that long (12 days), but he will be in good hands and have fun while we are gone. Here are some recent pics from what we have been up to lately:

Fourth of July at the lake

the dogs were pooped out, too
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helping my mom organize her cabinets

working on eating with a spoon

perfecting my spoon skills

(while my mom patiently takes deep breaths,

she knows this is an important motor skill I need to learn)

entertaining mom with some beautiful tunes while she cooks

Mowing like his Dad, no shoes and no pants :)


Got a new do

Met up with some friends at Hawaiin Falls

Addyson didn't want to hang with the boys!

And in the middle of all of that I actually got away for a girl's night!