Happy 8th B-day Livi Lou!

Happy Birthday to my SWEET, SWEET Baby!

Today my baby turns 8 years old...wow! I have pretended to sprinkle her with magic fairy dust so she would stay a baby (a game we like to play) but she did indeed wake up another year older. I remember like it was yesterday giving birth to our "finale" as we liked to call her. I savored every moment of my pregnancy since I knew she would be my last. She was born on a Sunday evening with black hair and dark eyes looking just like her other sisters. She turned into a blue-eyed, blond at about 6 months old! :) She weighed 8lbs 9oz and was an absolutely beautiful baby. Our family was complete!

Olivia has brought a ton of joy to our lives. She is very a funny, tenderhearted child. She would give you the shirt off of her back if she could (actually she gave the shoes right off of her feet on our mission trip). She is a great friend to many and will always include anyone that she feels is being left out.

Olivia absolutely LOVES animals, especially dogs. I honestly think her favorite part of playing soccer is petting all of the spectator's dogs after the game. I am afraid that she will have about 100 dogs when she gets older. I pray for her husband daily! :)

And so Happy Birthday to my sweet baby. We all LOVE you so much and can't imagine our lives without you. I can't wait to see what God has in store for you and what you will become someday. You are a huge blessing in my life. I am so proud to be your Mom! XOXXO

Vacation after the Mission Trip

After we left the Reservation we had planned on staying a couple extra days to see the beautiful sites of South Dakota. Our initial thought was that we were this far we might as well see some stuff...especially Mt. Rushmore since we were only a couple hours away. But after having the experience of the mission trip I was so thankful to have some time as a family before we returned to the "real world". It was nice to be together and "debrief". Honestly, we were so busy doing different things during the week that I don't remember a time when we were all in the same room together except for our nightly team meetings. We all took away a different experience and so it was nice to be able to discuss them as a family. It felt very weird acclimating back to civilization. One night we went out for pizza and Olivia said "The Lakota kids never get to order pizza". It was hard struggling through the "feeling guilty" phase of life off the Reservation. I was so thankful to have these days together and we actually had a blast! Here are a few highlights: Our first stop was through Bear Land. I thought it might be some cheesy, touristy deal but actually it was really cool. You drive through the park and are surrounded by some pretty amazing animals....bear, reindeers, mountain goats, mountain lions (behind a tall fence thankfully!) and buffalo. We thought at one point a bear was going to get ON our car...the screaming probably deterred the poor bear. We even saw one bear stand up to scratch his back. Afterwards, you get to walk around an area where there are a ton of cubs. They were adorable. We watched them play for quite some time. They were pretty rambunctious! We went to Mt. Rushmore the first night we were in Rapid City. It was a very moving event. They play patriotic music and slowly the monument is visible as the lights come on. They called all of the servicemen and women on stage where they gave their name and what branch they were representing. One little girl on stage had a picture of her father who was currently serving. The crowd erupted in applause...it was awesome! We then saw Mt. Rushmore the next day from a hiking trail we were on. I was scared to death that one of the girls was going to fall off the cliff...especially Olivia. She has a hard enough time walking on even pavement! But we made it!

We then went to Custer State Park where the buffalo roam freely and are often in the road...they definitely have the right of way! We even fed some hungry donkeys who came right up to our car window. Jordan found some pretzels but she basically just threw the pretzels at the donkeys where I gently placed them in their nasty mouths. They loved them! We now call pretzels "donkey sticks" in our house. :) We drove through some very narrow tunnels and saw some beautiful sites. Quite amazing!

We were lucky enough to spend more time with the band that played at the reservation, A Rotterdam November. Since they were heading to Rapid City like we were, Aaron told them that we would love to take them to dinner. And low and behold who was outside of our hotel when we arrived? The band! The girls were thrilled since they felt like they had found 4 older brothers! We had a great evening and even went in their tour van to Mt. Rushmore at night. We had so much fun with them! The next day we even caught their concert (along with Casting Crowns...one of my favorites!) at a Christian music festival. After a tearful goodbye we parted ways. They promised to come and play in St. Louis very soon.

We stopped at the World Famous Wall Drug Store in Wall, SD. You almost have to stop because you see about 5,000 signs advertising it on the way. I felt like I was in the movie Vacation...I could totally picture Chevy Chase there trying to tell his kids how cool it was. Much like we were trying to convince Rachel and Madi. :) It is basically a drug store, souvenir shop, donut and coffee bar, jewelry store and part amusement park all rolled into one. Very entertaining. We were happy to escape the store only spending $100 on useless crap!

Our last stop before heading home was to the Badlands. It was spectacular! We couldn't take enough pictures. Rachel had us pull the car over every few seconds to take another picture. Needless to say the 40 mile drive took WAY longer than we anticipated but we had a blast. I was a little concerned when we saw the "Beware of Rattlesnakes" sign. We quickly got back into the car!

We made it to Kansas City about midnight where Grandma and Grandpa graciously had our beds all ready for us. We slept like babies in a real bed! And then made it home to St. Louis the next day. This is what we came home to after our 10 day adventure...a clean house, a very spoiled dog and even a cookie cake! Thank you Grammy and Papa who had their own mission trip right here in St. Louis! :)

And so we ended our 2000 mile journey by logging more than 40 hours in the car! I must say it couldn't have been any better....we served people, met wonderful new friends and even had a family vacation at the end of the journey. This summer will hold a very special place in my heart!

Emotional Farewell

With many tears we are leaving the Reservation. Tears for the children we are leaving, tears for the friends we have made, tears for the injustices of this world and tears for a God that was so clearly present this week. We have truly bonded with the kids of Cheyenne River and will miss them dearly. Here are a few last pics of our time on the Reservation:

This is a perfect example of kids raising kids. Everyday at the Youth Center this 9 year old girl would bring her siblings to the playground. They ranged from 6 to 2 months old and there were 6 of them! She would stay for many hours and push her baby brother around in a stroller. This particular evening she took the baby out of the stroller and said "Here, watch him. You look old enough." This would never happen in "our" world.

This picture was taken during the concert on Thursday night. This is Lindsey and she loved my camera and followed me around for most of the week. I taught her how to take pictures and how to videotape so she became my little shadow. She was at my feet as I was taking pictures during the concert and when I looked down this is what I saw...so sweet!

One evening I walked some kids home and came across this tiny little girl standing on top of a car. I stood there for awhile not believing what I was seeing and waited for an adult that never came. These chidren are essentially on their own with no supervision.

This little girl came up to the Youth Center as we were leaving to tell Emma goodbye. It was so painful to watch this little girl cry and cling to someone she has only known a short time. Needless to say, we were all in tears!

And so our time on the Reservation is complete and it is time to pack up and try to acclimate back to our "normal" lives. I will be forever grateful that our family was able to share this amazing experience together. My prayer is that we won't slip back into our lives full of entitlement and greed and that we will keep the faces of these children forever in our hearts. What a life-changing experience!

Keiley's Shoes

Keiley's new shoes....

A few days ago I talked about a little girl that walks to the youth center everyday with no shoes. I also mentioned that we walked her home one night and the path that she takes everyday is covered in glass. Well, we have fallen in love with this little girl named Keiley and her brother Gavin. Yesterday I couldn't take it anymore so I decided to break out my first aid kit and doctor up those feet. I brought her a rice krispie treat to distract her which worked like a charm. Afterwards I gave her a pair of Livi's flip flops...she loved them and was so proud showing everyone her new shoes. A little while later I told Livi that I gave Keiley her shoes because she didn't have any...she then proceeded to kick off the shoes she was wearing and said "she can have these too." She ran inside and started grabbing all of her other shoes and we quickly reminded her that she had to have shoes to go home. What a sweet heart my baby has...

Her poor feet were a mess...blisters and cuts everywhere.

Keiley's new and improved feet.

New buddies...the shoes on Livi's feet were next to go.

There are tons and tons of stories just like this...more to come.

Carnival Day

Our team getting ready for the big day.

Liv was a trooper in the dunking booth...that water was cold!

Rachel and Madi found twins!

This little girl came up to me before the carnival started and asked me where Rachel was. I brought her down to the area where Rachel was and she put her little fingers through the fence to hold her hands...awwwww.

The line went all the way around the building...a very long way.

Look at my cute JJ

Yesterday was carnival day and it was a huge success. The carnival started at 3pm and kids started lining up at 10am! The highlights were the "royal flush" which is a poor man's dunking booth, the bounce house (yes, we brought a bounce house all the way from St. Louis) and the cotton candy. I am exhausted and going to bed but needless to say this was the day that I pretty much lost it....the poverty, neglect, abuse have penetrated my heart in a way that I can't even explain. I saw things today that I can't even believe. But in all of the despair great things are happening...great things in our group, great things with the Lakota children, and great things with my family.