Mom & Dad's trip to Honduras

Click here to see the pictures from Mom and Dad's trip to Honduras.

Once they landed they headed about 1.5 hours southeast of Tegucigalpa. Nuevo Paraiso is the name of the settlement for orphaned Honduran children. There are about 105 kids there today. It had been 4 years since Mom was there and it had changed quite a bit.

Mom job was to videotape, interview, and document what has been done, by our church over the last ten years. She plans to make a long and short version of the film so she can share both with our church members. While mom was busy documenting, Dad helped build a community park. He mixed cement by hand and dug & set post holes.

The other women in the group were a part of an education team that went to the elementary schools & churches to basically hold a vacation bible school for the kids.

Click here to see the pictures from their adventure.

Day 3 & 4

Things are still going well in NJ. Yesterday there was some time spent with GG and a Target run for some last minute beach items.

Today, Terry took Millie into her work and she got to meet all the people who have been hearing stories of Millie's adventures. We webcamed this evening and Joann & Mitchell were at the Tainows, all watching Millie "perform". She seemed very happy cruising around the living room, banging on the computer and stealing the webcam from Grandpa T. Good times!

After traveling all day, my parents arrived at the Columbus airport from Tegucigalpa. I can't wait to hear the details about their adventures. What a time for them to be there with all the unrest! We are happy they are safe. They (and we) are happy to be home.

Pictures from Wednesday - Friday and videos

Wednesday Pictures

Thursday Pictures

Friday Pictures

Videos

Day 2

From the report we got, it sounded like Day 2 was another fun filled day. Terry had to go into the office for a bit so Auntie Caroline was there to help. Millie slept in and took a big nap. GPC (Grandparent Camp) is tough stuff! In the afternoon the headed over to GG's house to hang out and meet the fabulously wonderful Bunny Feldman!

Mat and I got to webchat before our sushi date and Millie was laughing and having a good ole time.

Mat spent the day working while I did some alone shopping. It was so strange not to have to worry about having enough food, packing all the Millie gear up, wondering who was going to pick her up from daycare, etc. It was nice just to focus on myself! I didn't get much but it was a lovely afternoon. That evening Mat and I went on a date with Angel. We went to a new sushi place, RA, and had a great time and fabulous food! Our favorite roll was the Viva Las Vegas roll. It was filled with kani kama and cream cheese, is fried tempura style and topped with crab and a sliced lotus root. The lotus root is sweet and light and perfectly complements the spicy tuna and tempura batter. YUM!

Little ole me

I was trying to find a picture of Millie and I to post but after looking around, I realize I have hardly any! That stinks! Mat, can you do something about that? These pictures from last year will have to do.

Soooo, on to what I was really going to post about...After 3 months of bootcamp I can definitely tell a change in my body. I don't know how it is that I am still sore after every workout! And I can tell you that I haven't worked-out this hard in all my life. It is tough every.single.morning. But I keep going. I have to give big props to Mat for working late and waking early for Millie so I can do this each morning. I will continue with bootcamp until I am done with overnights (Sept 4) and then maybe keep going depending on my new work hours.

In the mean time, I signed up for the Columbus 1/2 Marathon again in October. Anyone want to do it with me? Mom, Cindy, Katie, Kari and I walked it last year. It was lots of fun. This year, I want to try and run it! I don't know if I will be able to but hopefully, with the proper training, I can make it!

Thanks for all of your continued support!

Day 1

Looks like a great time in NJ! Millie did well on the plane ride. She took a big nap and ate some Chinese food with the family!

Back in Atlanta, Mat and I went to brunch, did some errands, took a nap, and went to the movies for the first time in a long time! Too bad the movie was bad! We have all of Monday off together too! Can't wait! Enjoy the pictures!

We are back! (Sun-Tues)

It's been so long, I don't even know where to begin! We are back after 1 week of Millie at Grandparent Camp. And 1 week at the Jersey Shore! It was fabulous, fabulous, fabulous! Millie did great and loved the time with her family and friends. Vacation was wonderful and we loved every day!

I don't have the time or the energy to post my favorite pictures from each day. So I am just going to post the links to the pictures. Maybe soon I will pick and post my favorites. No promises! I will try and break them up so it's not so many at one time!

Sunday Pictures

Monday Pictures

Tuesday Pictures

And she's off!

Terry flew in on Friday and swept Millie up on Sunday. We had a nice weekend and even got to hang out with Jeevan. Click here to see those pictures. Terry and Millie left Sunday morning and landed safely in New Jersey. They had a nice evening with Andy & Jo Ellen, Dan & Caroline, Grandpa & Grandma T, and GG (Great Grandma Francis). Looks to be a great week for what we are now calling "Grand Parent Camp". They have promised me pictures so I can't wait to see what they have been up to!

In your thoughts

If you can take a little time to think about my parents this week. They are leaving this morning for Honduras on a mission trip with their church. They are going to be staying about an hour outside of Tegucigalpa. This will be the second trip for my mom but the first for my dad. My mom will be documenting the trip with her video camera. She is spending the week creating some sort of highlight reel of the churches accomplishments over the past 10 years. My dad will be doing some sort of manual labor along with all the others on the trip.

Have a great time guys and can't wait to see you when you return!

Also, keep Terry in your thoughts as she travels to Atlanta to pick up Millie for what we have named "Grandparent Camp". Terry flies in on Friday and flies out with our Millie on Sunday. Can't wait to see what fun the Tainow's get into in New Jersey! She has so many people to meet while she is there. Hopefully she can show off her walking skills. Caroline is helping out this week as well and Millie is sooooooo excited to get to spend some time with Auntie Caroline! We have the Tainow's set up with a webcam so we can hopefully chat with them and get the daily updates. I am going to secretly tuck a camera into Millie's bag in hopes to get a glimpse of the fun filled week!

New clothes

Grandma Terry sent Millie a package of all kinds of new clothes and here are some of them. This weekend we also bought her a pair of "hard" soled shoes. They have a little grip on the bottom and I think they are really good for learning to walk. Enjoy the pictures!

Also in this set of pictures are some pics of a cake store. Mat's close friend Jay's sister (Jodi) has a cake store in Asheville, NC. I stopped there on the way out of town for some Fathers Day cupcakes. Click here for Jodi's blog. The first entry there is about the coconut cake she was making the day I was there. She is very talented! I love the description of her blog "A blog about cake, Short Street Cakes, the Cake Shop, cupcakes, cake recipes, asheville, child rearing, urban homesteading, social and political justice, and spiritual practice. But mostly just cake." Maybe I need a catchy blog description! If you have any suggestions, please leave a comment!

Sural Wedding

On Friday, after a bit of sleep, I drove myself to Asheville, NC for a weekend away with some girlfriends. My high school friend Alison was getting married and I was so happy to be there. Asheville is such a great city. If you haven't been, you should totally go! It reminds me of Charleston but not on the water.

It was a great weekend with a reception party on Friday night. I knew some of Alison's friends from her later years but it was my high school girls I was most looking forward to seeing. Sonal, Marianne and Katie were there and it was so good to reconnect with each of them. Molly was graduating in AZ on Friday night and so she couldn't make it. And Renee is living in Africa and couldn't make it either. They will sorely missed!

On Saturday we all had breakfast and did a little shopping around the downtown area. We also hit out outdoor pool for a glorious afternoon! That evening we took the provided trolley to the wedding site. It was an outdoor wedding with an outdoor reception. Typical southern style wedding. The dancing was inside this fabulous stone building. It rained for just a bit but we were all under the tent. The wedding was beautiful and Alison was stunning. It was so great to see everyone again and I can't wait to see them all in the fall!

I have to thank some people for making this weekend possible. With no family in town, we have to rely on friends to help us out. On Thursday, our friend Meggan came over to help watch Millie while Mat and I worked. On Friday, Mat picked Millie up from daycare and Amanda came down and took Millie home with her. She had a little sleepover at her Auntie Mandi's house and seem to have a great time! We thank them both so much for helping us out this weekend. Click here to see pictures from the weekend.

Millie's first steps (Video)

the video is in HD so click here to see it:

Father's Day

We really enjoyed the day with Mat on his first Father's Day. Millie got him a couple gifts and herself one too. A little pool! Millie and Mat splashed around and had a great time. But the most precious gift was her first steps! Click here for that blog entry!

In my opinion, Mat is such a great Dad to Millie. He gets up with her each morning. Plays with her. Feeds her breakfast. Gets her dressed. Takes her to daycare. He spends any free time he can with her. He is such a loving and caring Dad. He is protective and wants only the best for his little girl. It makes me so happy to see them together. Millie literally lights up when he comes into the room. I am lucky to have him as a partner.

Millie made Mat a book to read to her. It is filled with pictures of Mat and Millie. Here is the poem that is written in Millie's book.

A little girl needs Daddy
For many, many things:
Like holding her high off the ground
Where the sunlight sings!

Like being the deep music
That tells her all is right
When she awakens frantic with
The terrors of the night.

Like being the great mountain
That rises in her heart
And shows her how she might get home
When all else falls apart.

Like giving her the love
That is her sea and air,
So diving deep or soaring high
She'll always find him there.

To see pictures from the day, click here.

Waiting for Daddy...

After daycare today, we waited for Mat outside in the front yard. Millie played while I watered my beautiful window boxes. We had a good time with the bells from Grandma Terry. I took some pictures that you can see here. But take a look at this progression as she sees Mat pulling up to the house.

Mommy and Me (videos and pictures)

Remember those meetings I went to so long ago? Well we came back to show new Mommy Katie the ropes! Millie got to see all of her friends. Anna, Reece, Nate, Madeline, Sedona, Meagan and Ben were all there! Pluse Katie and Meagan got to see what fun these meetings can be. Here are some videos and click here for pictures.

Mil and Jee

On Saturday we hung out with with the Navarros. Jeevan is getting so big, actually he is heavier than Millie! Jeevan is sitting up really well and is starting to do an army crawl. He is drooling all over the place and cutting some teeth. Look at those lashes!
Click here to see the rest of the pictures.

Caroline

I am kinda going in backwards order of our weekend but on Sunday we got to meet little Caroline Thaiss. She is 6 months old and her parents are good friends of ours. She is a skinny little thing and so tall! I took some precious pictures of her and here are my favorites. If you would like to see the rest of the pictures, click here.

Our little von Trapp girl

Click here to see more pictures from Sunday.

Our country girl goes shopping (2 videos)

Our country bumpkin

On her way to pick up some eggs before she goes to milk the cows!