Lounging with the cousins at the beach.
Jackson, Daddy, and Jonathan at Big Kahuna's.
Grammie, Aunt Nancy, Aunt Gail, and Julie (no, I am not pregnant).
Uncle Steve and Jonathan.
Jonathan and Grammie playing with bubbles on Grammie's back porch.
Jonathan loves riding on everyone's back these days.
Jackson and his friend, Ashby at our house.
Joshua, Jackson, Jonathan, and Hannah. Hannah and Joshua's mom, Emily, and I grew up together.
I looked up our blog to see when last I posted and I was shocked to discover it has been seven weeks! Sorry about that. I know you all are just dying to know what our family has been up to! Ha!
We spent the second week of June thankful that Jackson recovered from his tonsilectomy. Our ENT had told us that when patients of the DS persuasion have their adenoids removed, their speech can actually become more high-pitched. That had been on the brain so after Jackson's tonsils were gone, we started noticing his voice had become higher pitched. Not only that, but he had acquired a northern accent.:) I am not kidding. As he continued healing, his voice returned back to normal - I guess he was compensating because of his pain.
It was hard keeping Jackson down. After the first day, he told me he was tired of movies and ice cream. I thought surely that novelty would last a week. I was wrong. He was pitiful because he did not enjoy laying around as we thought he might. The pain worsened with each day but he did not complain much. He awoke crying each night. Once he quit doing that (around day nine), we knew things were looking up.
We went to the beach with Jamie's family the third week of June. By then, Jackson was jumping into the pool and ocean and yelling. Going on vacation with family is stressful for me because we are all in the same place and Jonathan and Jackson are early risers. While everyone says "Oh, we don't mind" when the boys are yelling/screeching/screaming at 7am, I am on pins and needles. Frankly, it is because I would mind. If my kids were good sleepers and my nephews were going crazy, I would have a hard time not feeling mildly hostile that my vacation sleep was interrupted.
By the third or fourth morning, we figured out we should leave the house. The next morning, I left Jonathan in bed and he was fine. The yelling starts when he is around everyone else and cannot contain his excitement. Once he starts talking more, I am sure the noisemaking will lessen.
We left the beach early to attend my brother's wedding. Jamie was a groomsman, I read scripture, and the boys were ring bearers - I was on edge again because we were all in the wedding and I was afraid the boys would steal the show by pulling some stunt. The boys both wore tuxes and Jackson basically pulled Jonathan down the aisle. Once the arrived at the end of the aisle, I grabbed Jonathan and handed him off the Jamie's parents. They did not see much of the wedding, I am afraid, but I was so grateful that Jonathan's "comments" were not distracting for the guests.
I think I have mentioned this before... Jonathan is a bit of a music nazi. When he wants to listen to music, he signs "music." When he is tired of the current song and wants a new one, he furiously signs "music" again. If you don't catch the hint, he gets loud. We were at the reception and music was playing. Both boys started dancing because we had several of the songs on our iPods at home that were played on the dancefloor. Jamie walked over and said, "Wouldn't it be funny if Jonathan approached the DJ signing "music" if he didn't like the song?" We wouldn't put it past the little guy.
Upon our return home, Jackson attended Art Camp. It was held at his preschool and he was confused. "I thought I was going to elementary school next, Mom," he said. He had graduated from preschool, we had made a big to-do about it, and then he didn't understand why he went back. Oh, well. It was something he could do this summer that got him out of the house, time away, and I felt like he was in a safe place.
In July, my mom and Betsy came to stay with the boys while Jamie and I went to Mexico with our small group from church. We went to Mexico City with a group of 12 people. Our contact was a man who used to live in Birmingham that recommitted his life to Christ while here but who returned to Mexico to work in the field of education and to serve his church. He put in extra hours before we came so he could work with us while we were there.
We spent the week trying to communicate with the locals. We had one member of our team who spoke Spanish fairly well. However, he wasn't with us in the mornings. Jamie had two years of Spanish in high school and two years in college. Jamie acclimates well to new surroundings, and, just like I thought he would, he became our main interpreter. The rest of us smiled a lot and tried our best.
We typically did some sort of construction in the mornings and then conducted carnivals in the afternoon for children and the community. We had face painting, nail painting, tatoos, a trampoline, an inflatable, jumprope, and then a gospel presentation at the conclusion. Basically, we were the draw - the Americans. The Mexicans had a great program and just let us be a part.
My experience this year in Mexico was the same as last year in Venezuela in that I was served more that I served and I was amazed at these people's hearts. They have so little and gave so much. They were so kind to us and sacrificed their time by spending it with us.
One thing that I won't forget is the way they prayed for us. They would encircle us and all pray for us at the same time, knowing God would hear their individual prayers. So, as we stood there, tears streamed down my cheeks each time as a whole host of voices prayed over us. I kept thinking, "This must be what heaven will be like - all of us speaking in our own language."
We arrived home on our eleventh wedding anniversary, July 19. Mom and Betsy kept the boys safe and occupied and were exhausted. They served by taking care of the boys so we could go.
Last week we caught up.
This week we are doing Back Yard Bible Clubs - our church's version of Vacation Bible School. I am helping with food - I am not teaching.
I will post some pix from Mexico later... Here is some video...
Julie
juliewarren73@charter.net
Jonathan told me he wasn't hungry and then I found him like this...
We were all in the kitchen. I had my back turned, cooking. Jamie was helping Jackson. I heard spoon against glass, turned around, and saw this...
Dancing cousins...
Uncle Ryan throwing Jonathan up in the air.
Jackson dancing to "Bullet Train."
