WHEW!!

Holy smokes, we're already half way through July! We have been busy!! We had a family adventure that was amazing! Let's see, where to begin....

For those of you that don't know, I'm the youth minister at our church. Whether Nelson wanted to or not, he has become my partner and we are basically the youth team. Technically, the paycheck is in my name, but they're basically getting 2 of us for the price of 1. Plus, a cute mascot to boot, as we never are without Miss Kalaya, who our youth just adore : )

About 8 months ago, our youth group started brainstorming activities for this school year. The idea of doing a mission trip came up. Now, we are a VERY small church, with a small youth group. If we have 7 youth on a Sunday, that's a great day. We maybe have 150 members on a busy Sunday in church. But, we love it and we work with what we have!! Our youth wanted to do something big, such as going abroad for a mission. We looked into it and ruled that out pretty quickly. Too many things to worry about and too much money to raise, if we wanted to go on a trip this summer. We also knew that it wasn't likely that I would be taking the group, since there was no way I was going to leave Kalaya for a whole week. Nelson agreed to be the leader along with another woman from our church who helps with youth group a LOT.

We started working with an organization called Youth Works, which connects churches with mission sites around the US. We narrowed the possibilities down to a Native American reservation in Wyoming and another location in San Diego. Surprisingly, our kids voted for Wyoming (I thought they'd want to go to California!), mainly because of the dates we would be going,

We did a LOT of fundraising this year. Our little church just kept giving and giving! They bought insane amounts of baked goods, donated to various cook offs, gave any extra made at fundraisers for other groups and just wrote checks! They were awesome! At one point during the year, I mentioned to Nelson, "Wait a minute, Aunt Patti lives near a reservation in Wyoming, I wonder if it's the same on we're going to??" One quick phone call confirmed that it was and a couple of months later, she generously offered to fly Kalaya and I out for the week to be near the team and visit with her. WONDERFUL!!! It worked out perfectly.

We went last week. We sent the youth off Saturday (the 3rd) morning and then Kalaya and I flew out later that day. It was a bit of an adventure to fly with a 14 month old alone, especially with a 3 hour layover, but we did it! I packed bunch of never-before-seen toys and snacks and of course used the secret method of breastfeeding when all else failed. I am sooooo grateful we have not forced this child to wean, it has helped her sleep in the most convenient locations!!!

The week went so well. Nelson and the kids worked on the reservation during the day on various projects, while we spent time with my aunt. Then, in the evenings we met up for activities such as dinner, cultural activities, "club" time (worship and prayer) and team meetings. It worked out so amazingly, the people in charge were so understanding and supportive of us coming to visit and it was mainly in thanks to the charming Miss Kalaya, who absolutely loved all of the attention of everyone! She was giving high fives, fist bumps and huge grins and hugs all over the place! One very special even took place right in front of everyone; she took her first steps!!! It was such a special moment, the kids were so excited to be a part of it. : )