Wondering Where We've Been?

Well, we are back from Puerto Rico, been back for over a month now! I know I haven't blogged since April. Thanks for pointing that out Holly! So, I figure before it gets to be 3 months in between posts, I should update on a few things.

(the sunset at camp)

(Our Youth)

Puerto Rico was AH-MAZING!!!! There is no other way to describe it. Steve and I fell in love with the people. They are so open hearted, sweet, and giving. There are so many things to share about the trip, there is no way to put them all in one update. I'll try to do several updates on the trip and how God worked through us during the week. It was very difficult to leave the house we were building. See, we were the first crew to come in, so we got the foundation started, installed what we would call the sub-floor, and added most of the walls. Then there would be 2 more weeks of crews coming to finish the job. So, we didn't get to see the finished product, and that was really hard.

(What we started with)

(Steve hammering away)

(Floors are down)

(Walls are starting to go up)

(look - I'm helping too!)

(The homeowner - she was so excited to see the walls go up!!)

All of our crew cried the last night because we didn't want to leave each other. Our group really bonded and loved each other by the end of the week. It was amazing to watch these kids really learn about each other and open their hearts and allow someone new come in. We had two Puerto Ricans on our crew, Abner and Niaomi. All of us wanted to pack them up in our suitcase and bring them home. The awesome thing is we are able to keep up with each other on Facebook - LOVE IT!!! One of the sweet girls wrote me a note and said thank you for being my temporary mommy. Brought a tear to my eye!

(Knots Heads!!!! aka: our crew)

Since we've been back there's been a lot going on at Casa de Barrios, so I have lots to catch up on. Here's a list of things to blog about: (this is more for me to keep up with what I'm thinking, than for you)

1. Updates on Puerto Rico (I have over 300 pictures, so I have to decide exactly what I want to share)

2. 4th of July

3. Emily's Birthday

4. Some house projects I'm working on

5. My new toy Steve bought me (this goes along with #4)