After skipping last year's mission trip with Mimi and Papa's church due to having a newborn AND a 2 year old, we were able to go again this year! I will admit that I really didn't want to go at times b/c of how awful W is when he has to sleep in the same room as us and for those who don't know, all of the families have campers and ours being a pop-up just doesn't allow for much room or separation! I ended up buying a "tent" for W to sleep in and made him sleep in it prior to the trip and he did well. We were still up every night at least once but it wasn't horrible. A big thanks to Mimi and Papa for putting AR up in their camper so that we wouldn't have two waking up each other!
This is the "
tent" we bought and I highly recommend it, but if you use it I suggest letting them get used to it before the actual trip. I spent the last of my gift cards given to us after W's birth... they made it a whole year, though I obviously didn't need as much after baby #2! So with that and a coupon, I didn't pay much out of pocket. I was able to put W on the other bed in the camper and pull down the blinds so that he couldn't see us which made a big difference! If anybody needs to borrow a peapod, hit me up!
Now onto the important stuff - pictures!
We went to help with an addition to a small church in WV. Small as in there wasn't a nursery to put W in on Sunday and you can all probably guess how long that lasted! AR on the other hand did well with just a few times of singing "Shoo Fly" whenever one landed near her.
The men really accomplished a lot during their four days of working and from what I've been told, my husband was a vital part of this mission! Can't say I'm surprised though! :)
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| The mission was apparently to get it done and safety wasn't at the top of the list! |
The campground was not at all what I was expecting... we were pretty much sitting in what used to be a field. The other ones I've been to have always been shaded and more spaced out, but we really had a great time!
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| Part of our view |
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| Our set up looking at it from Mimi and Papa's camper |
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| This child is 100% dog obsessed! He loved the little doggies that came along on the trip! |
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| Teaching this girl to drive was quite stressful so I turned it over to daddy! |
Each night a different group of women cook supper and then we having singing and a devotion. It's always a great time, though William and I missed some here and there due to having to remove our loud 1 year old!
The biggest issue we had during the week, other than no internet or cell phone signal (which was rather nice) were the flies. I cannot even put into words the amount of house flies that were there... better than misquitos I guess!
A church right behind the one we were working one allowed us to use their building to serve lunch. It was a nice break from the heat and flies!
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| Eating pickles and liking them - once again, daddy's genes are dominant! |
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| The church where we ate lunch each day (and a couple suppers) |
On the last night, members from the church fed us and it was a great meal! Once again, this meal was at another church and we had to ride 2.5 miles up a mountain road, but it was very pretty.
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| There was a stream on the other side of the street that we all went to check out |
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| Papa taking his turn at "entertaining" W! |
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| I would hid the camera and then bring it out and this is what I got every time without having to ask! |
A couple pics of our sleeping babes:
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| So lucky that I get to kiss those checks whenever I want... well, not when he's sleeping b/c you don't dare wake this boy! |
We are so grateful for the CBC church family... it's like having a cousin church family and we love it! I know that I am always ministered to by the people there and look forward to the next time I see them. Hopefully, we will make it again on the mission trip next year... but could it maybe not be a 7 hour drive?!?!
