Last week was our first week of daycamps for the summer.  Kerri brought a group of nine people total from her church in Austin to help out for the week.  It was an awesome week, but definitely full!  We ended a very full and exhausting week on Saturday by going to NYC for the day.  Yesterday Ryan, Judah, and I pretty much crashed after Celebration.  We were having our monthly potluck in the park this time and it was a beautiful day.  I definitely wanted to go, but our bodies were screaming for rest.  So, after already sleeping until 9:30 that morning, we took a long afternoon nap.  Then, I got at least 9 hours of sleep last night, so I'm feeling good.  This week will definitely be boring without the group here.  They were such an encouragment to us--doing work projects on our house, helping out with the camp, taking us out to dinner and frozen yogurt, praying for and loving our neighbors, etc.  What a joy it is to be a part of the body of Christ!  We only hope that we were able to encourage them like they did to us.  Pray that the kids that came to camp were truly changed by Him and those who are new followers of Him will be discipled well by us.
Judah will be 5 months old on Friday which is just crazy.  Time goes by so fast, so I really have to treasure every moment with him.  He has rolled over twice and continues to love to stand up (with support, of course) and suck his thumb.  He laughed for the first time officially this past week, thanks to Aunt Kerri's kisses. :)  He is also figuring out how to move his arms, wrists, and fingers, so will put his arms out to his side and just kind of rotate his wrists and wiggle his fingers.  It's so funny to watch.  Everyone thinks he is waving to them, so they like that.  This week he is down to eating 4 times a day and therefore staying awake and sleeping for longer periods at one time.  Today is only the second day of that, so we'll see how he contines to respond to that.
Next week is the second week of daycamps, so I am working on some of the details for that this week.  Please pray that we'd have enough helpers.  Two of the groups that I have talked with are bringing several less than they had originally told us.  I am tempted to worry, but I choose not to.  God, you are big enough to handle this and are not surprised at all.  Let us trust you!  Thank you to those of you who allow me to have a paycheck this week!  Ryan only has 4 days of work this week because of the 4th of July, so he is really looking forward to that.  Hope everyone has a great 4th of July weekend celebrating our country's independance.  Thank you God for freedom from sin so we can serve you!
Some pictures from the week:
Ryan works on putting up drywall in the new bathroom.  Things are coming along, but slowly.  It will be worth the wait I'm sure!

The arts side gets ready to hit the beachball back over to the sports side at camp.

 

 

Sometimes kissing Juda can be a little risky, as Papa found out!  How does baby throw up taste, Ryan?

Papa and Judah playing on the train to NYC.

 

 

Mommy, Judah, and Aunt Kerri on the train to NYC.

Judah learned to suck on his toes yesterday.  It is so cute!

 We had an awesome day on Saturday and Sunday, too, really.  It was just an awesome weekend overall that God gave us.  Saturday morning we went downtown to run and Ryan convinced us to go the full loop-8.5 miles!  That is the most I have run since before I was pregnant.  We did it, even in the midst of some rain.  Ryan invited our intern over for lunch and then they put in one of the doors in the new bathroom.  It looks so good!  Then we hung out with our neighbors for a while at our block party.  Do our neighbors ever know how to party!  We had two pigs slow roasting out in front of our house all day long.  Check out some pictures:
Here is one of the pigs roasting.  The first one was done already, so people are lined up to get food like rice and beans, macaroni salad, chicken livers and green bananas, and rolls (brought by us).  Kids were wizzing by on scooters with pig skin hanging out of their months.  Kind of like a fatty popsicle. :)  Ryan tried it and said it was much too strong for him.
Here Albert, our next door neighbor, is butchering the pig.  They were just hacking away at it!  They had kept the pigs in their basement overnight and Irving (their four year old son) kept asking Ryan and I on Friday night if we wanted to see them.  No thank you!  But we definitely couldn't avoid seeing them on Saturday.  I actually had a few bites because I want to be as Puerto Rican as I possibly can.  It had a lot of flavor.
Here are Maria and Albert in between bites.  They have three children who live at home with them--Angel (14), who Ryan is starting to get to know and has been to ROCK a few times, Shalia (9), my favorite little girl in the world or my second child as I often call her, and Irving (4), who is so full of energy and opens his front door everytime we open our's to come in or leave so he can talk.  Please pray that they would clearly see Jesus is us and Shalia who is a growing little sister in Christ.  Pray that we would learn Spanish so we are better able to talk to them and show them the love of Christ!
One last picture of Shalia and her friend Sally from NJ who came down for the day to hang out at the block party.
We finished up the day with a birthday party at the youth center for Gina, another one of my Cornerstone girls.  So, we had a second dinner and some cake and listened to High School Musical songs all night.  It was fun to get to meet some more of her family.  I really love her mom, Bobbie.  She is a sweet sister and it is so great to know that Gina is being raised in a Christian home with two parents who love Jesus.  Family makes such a difference!
Yesterday we had celebration and then Ryan and I got to have a relaxing afternoon together since there is no Kingdom Kids again until September.  I love Kingdom Kids, but it is nice for a break.  We did some drywall together and then dropped Judah off at the sitters so we could go to the gym for a little bit.  Ryan had a great night watching the Lakers win the championship last night and I am thankful for some earlier nights to go to bed this week! 
We get ready for camps this week and especially for Kerri and her group to come on Sunday, so I know it will be a fast week.  Please pray that we would take the time we need for quiet times with God so that we are focused on the goal.  We do not want to get distracted or give Satan any chance for victory.  We are His ambassadors who want to proclaim boldly to the world his message of "come back to God!"