Inspiration

I feel more inspired than ever and I am eager to see how God will work through me while I serve the people of Haiti. It really is amazing how things line up and I know it was not just an coincidence. I randomly came across these cute dresses on a blog and I wanted to get one for Josie. So I did some digging to find out a woman in Nashville was starting a ministry in Haiti making these dresses (hhhmmm that is interesting). So I sent her, Inga, an e-mail about how to order still just wanting a dress and to support a good cause. Well, she was still in the beginning stages of getting things off the ground, but the when I found out more about her ministry I felt quite intrigued. She is helping mother's in Haiti learn how to make the dresses so they can earn money to support their families. The seamstress in Haiti makes 2 identical dress, sells one in the states and one goes to a child in need and the seamstress can feed her family - genius! Well, today http://www.3seams.com/ goes live with their on-line store. If you get a chance check it out because the dresses really are super cute and reversible! See picture below from Inga's first trip to Haiti and the first batch of dresses handed out to the local children....but my story doesn't end there.

Inga works with http://www.apparentproject.org/ which helps lots of parents in Haiti learn a trade so they can earn money to support their families. This is something that Haiti seriously lacks...jobs. Nearly half the orphans in Haiti have living parents, but they have no way to support them. The ApParent Project helps parents keep their children. What is the saying, give a man a fish he will eat for a day, teach a man to fish he will eat for life. As I did more research into the lives of Corrigan and Shelley who run the ApParent Project I became in Awe and moved by what these two have done and how they live their lives.......now back to that whole part of things lining up. During our last Haiti meeting they handed out our agenda and to my surprise we are going to meet with the ApParent Project. I was ecstatic, I e-mailed Inga to tell her we were coming and she said she was coming to, but not until the 25 so we would miss each other. The next day she said it looked like her flights were going to change....now she is scheduled to be there at the same time as me! These people I have never met who I have great admiration for are being lined up for me to meet and I didn't even tell anyone on my Haiti team about them....well knowing this must be a Godly turn of events I had to share my story with my team. Our leader was touched by my story and loved learning of Inga's ministry. Now we are bringing supplies to the seamstress and supporting both the ApParent Project and 3seams. I am also am looking into hosting a jewelry party to support some of the artist who work for ApParent Project. While I was starting to get really nervous about our trip I am now really excited.

First Day of School

Well it happened. The kids got older and moved into the next grade level. Part of me loves seeing them grow and part of me wants to freeze time or maybe even reverse it. Sigh.

Sam on his way to 3rd grade.

Josie starting Pre-K.

Visiting Elvis's Home

My sister happens to live in the town of the Elvis's birth, so we had to go check it out.

In the gift shop.

Elvis's childhood home.

Statue of Elvis at 13 years old.

They moved the church he attended to the same property.

and last Elvis's throne.

Heather gets Hitched 8-7-2010

A beautiful day, filled with family and friends celebrating the love of 2 special people. Today we witnessed an intimate wedding, at a gorgeous home with unbelievable views of the country side. Simply breathless, where the bride and grooms love kept smiles on our faces and tears in our eyes. A glorious day.

Me, Mom and Heather

Getting Ready.

Almost time.

Beautiful.

The bride with Josie and Sam.

Is it time yet?

One last kiss before...

Eric serenades as they make their entrance.

I do.

Heather thanking Josie for holding her bouquet during the ceremony.

Introducing Heather and Ricky Queen.

Hugging her new Uncle Ricky.

A toast to a wonderful life together.

Mom loving her daughter on her special day.

The family with a new "Queen"

Daddy and Josie

Me and my beautiful sister.

Taking a rest together.

And they are off in Heather's new car to start a new journey ...Congratulations to the Queen's.....The End

Water play, a large moth & ducks in Tupelo

A local park has a nice water feature to cool off in. We also discovered that Tupelo has very large bugs and lots of toads, but we were quite curious about the large Moth. Heather mentioned that there are few mosquitoes thanks to the tons of toads in the area. We also fed the ducks at a pond. We had an awesome visit!

Josie squirting Sammy.

You can't get me.

Ahhhhhh.

Misting.

A very large moth visiting with Josie

Resting on Sam.

Almost as big as Josie's face.

A little too close, this one nipped Josie.

Surrounded.

Update on us

You would think with one child gone for 10 days leaving me with only 1 child to look after I would have more time on my hands....however it didn't work out that way. Josie and I spent a lot of one on one time doing girly things which was a lot of fun. Sam had a wonderful trip, but was glad to be home. For those who have been wondering, I have lost 25 lbs so far and we have reached the $2400 needed for our Haiti trip. Which we leave in 7 weeks so we busy getting ready for that. We leave for my sister's wedding in 2 days and school starts the day after we come back...so I will posting with pictures soon.