Lazy Days

While we were in Ecuador, my Mom and Dad doggysat our first born. Dad gave her a really good haircut. I love how big her nose looks without all that hair hiding it.

Poor thing has been sick, though. She was sick all over the carpet, which took renting a steam cleaner to fully clean it up. She was REALLY sick all over the carpet.

I mentioned the deliciousness of Dessert Trio in my last post, but it is so good, it deserves some repeat attention. After getting back home, we went through one half gallon, and are currently working through the second.

What happens when we finish our current half gallon? There is a back-up ready to go already in the freezer. And I say "we" but I really mean that "I" will have eaten three cartons of this in about 2.5 weeks.
This is our friend KR at her swim meet. She is so cute!

And don't forget about the BDP Giveaway! E-mail me at bettydonnephotography@gmail.com for a chance to win a gift certificate for your own blog design!
CDM Designs
Click on CDM Designs to see some of her previous work.

I love it.

There are two new things in my life that are making me SO HAPPY:

1. Blue Bell's "Dessert Trio" (brownie, cookie, and cake all mixed in together... I know!!!!)

2. The new blog design by Catherine Moore of CDM Designs!!!!

Want to make a few changes to your blog too? Cat's prices are so great, and she was wonderful to work with. I think she has psychic powers. Head on over the my photography blog and enter the giveaway to help you get started on a blog re-do of your own.

Click on the cute BD logo she made for me (it's on the right) and e-mail me at bettydonnephotography@gmail.com to sign up for the BDP mailing list. This way you can be kept up-to-date on upcoming Family Day Photo Sessions (just in time for Christmas Card pics)!

When you e-mail me, you'll be entered to win a gift certificate to design your own blog.

And thank you to everyone for all the encouragement you've thrown my way the past three years. I am the most shocked of all that my little photo business has done ok. I know there are a lot of photographers you could choose to take your family's picture, and I really do appreciate that many of you ask me to do that for you. So, thank you!!!!!

...all the children of the world...

Oh Ecuador... I love it so.
This year's International World Changers project in Ecuador was amazing, and God moved in the lives of the participants as well as the people we ministered to.

Here's the entire group which includes 32 IWC participants, 8 Ecuadorian participants, staff, and translators. I think we are pretty lovely!
One aspect about this project that was better than last year was that Caleb got to come with me! Here we are with the rest of the staff on the equator.

One of the fun things you can try to do on the equator is balance an egg on a nail. If you succeed, they give you an "Egg Master" diploma.
I am an Egg Master
Caleb is not.

Here is trying to psyche out one of the girls while she tried to balance the egg:

Some landscape shots.... all travelers have to bore their audience with at least a few landscape pics, haha. This area would be considered pretty nice.

Contrast that with this next shot of one of our ministry sites, Las Marias. This is a squatter community and it is just a really desperate place.

I would like to share something, if you are still reading. I hope it encourages you!

Two summers ago, an IWC participant witnessed to a man who sells homemade guitars. He accepted Christ and immediately told his wife about the Lord. Her name is Inez, and with help from local missionaries, they began to use their home in a village called Cumbaya for a church plant.

Last summer, I was able to meet Inez, and we put on a VBS at their home. I say home, but please picture in your mind 50 precious children piled into a shelter like what you see in the last picture. Inez's daughter, Cristina, decided to start spending her Saturdays working with kids in Las Marias.

So now this summer, a team of 19 people helped Cristina for a week by encouraging her, putting on a VBS, and offering free family portraits (these families have never had that before!... I of course LOVED doing this).

A woman from the community was so touched by all she saw this week, that she is offering her home for a new church plant in the Las Marias area.

Isn't it amazing to look back and see how God orchestrated all this?????

Two summers ago: a father accepts Christ and a family is transformed. A new church gathers.
Last summer: their house is used as a VBS in which 50 kids heard the gospel everyday
This week: their daughter's sacrificial work is honored by God and a new church begins.

Such precious faces.

Sometimes, I like hanging out with the translators more than the IWC kids. They are so great! They are right there to help you when you get stuck in your spanish, but they are also just so fun to hang out with. Here is me with Filipe, mi pequeno hermano.

And I'll leave you with a shot of our dinner one night... before their hair was burned off and they were cooked to a crisp. Yes, friends... guinea pig:)

(they taste like chicken that is too chewy and a little slimy)

5 Whole Years!

In a time when nothing is more certain than change,
the commitment of two people to one another has become difficult and rare.
Yet, by its scarcity,
the beauty and value of this exchange have only been enhanced.
~Robert Sexton

Happy 5 years to us!

Passing through Mobile

Caleb's Uncle Josh and Aunt Kimlee made a pitstop in Mobile on their grand adventure out West. They are moving to California and decided to make a roadtrip out of it, and lucky for us, Mobile was their first stop.
We are usually working or studying, so we didn't really know what to do for fun (yes, we are that lame), but we surprised ourselves with all the fun things we happened upon.

We started out by eating dinner at the Original Oyster House and saw the sun set over the bay. Then I remembered that it was the Second Friday of the month, which means downtown is the Art Walk. So we walked through all the art exhibits and felt very cultural.
Then we rode by the Bay Bears baseball stadium and they were in the 7th inning, so we walked in for free, enjoyed the last part of the game (they were playing the Mississippi Braves), then after the game they had a huge fireworks display.

So all in all, we had a really fun evening with the Perigos and we're so glad they stopped by on their way to Cali. Hopefully, we can visit them sooner or later!

On to the Lake.

Three days after the beach, we drove 6 hours to Lake Sinclair with PJ Joey in the backseat. My Aunt Patsy and Uncle Conrad recently bought and fixed up a lake house and it. is. awesome. They have an awesome house, pontoon boat, jet skis, you name it. Lots of fun toys.

This first picture sums up the experience of Caleb and me riding on a jet ski. Our expressions are all you need to know. Fyi, Caleb is really good at water stuff and I do not like to get water on me.

Next up is me, my mom, and my Aunt Patsy on the pontoon boat. Caleb is creeping in the background, ha! Riding around the lake in the boat was my favorite part of being at the lake house. You just feel like you're in an episode of "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous."

Mom and I on the dock while fishing.

Me with the huge catfish I caught! I ate it for dinner the next day. That is the freshest seafood I have ever eaten!

This is one of EIGHT trays of meat. We had a lot of food.

Now we're back in Mobile. It's been a whirlwind of water vacations with family. So wonderful.

Between Trips

Between our trip to the beach and then the lake, we had three days of nothingness. I am, of course, homefree for the summer. For the past three years of Medical School, Caleb has been either in class, at the hospital, or studying. Now that he is a FOURTH YEAR (and the world rejoices at the sound of "fourth year"), he is on a 4 week vacation. Thus, a trip to the beach, a trip to the lake, and next week a trip with me to Ecuador!

At first, it was kind of weird because I'm used to ultimate control over the TV remote (he's always gone or studying) and other things like that. But now we are really getting used to the idea of being bums. Stay up late and sleep in. We've seen a lot of movies at the theater during the $5 hour. We've been eating lunch out A LOT. It's been grand. The real world is really going to kick us when his 4 week vacation is over!
PJ Joey has been enjoying the sweet life too. No blog post is good without a snapshot of her.

Caleb has cooked me pancakes several times. There are white chocolate chips in there....
Huge, fresh gulf shrimp for dinner with veggies. YUM.
And two men showed up in THIS vehicle to cut down some limbs that were about to fall on our house/cars. It is an ICE CREAM TRUCK. Yes, that is creepy. Would you let your child go up to that van to purchase ice cream? This is an SVU episode in the making. They were actually super nice guys, so I really shouldn't say such things about them.

Oh the beach...

Every part of me loves Destin, FL.

Thanks Caleb for snapping this lovely pic of me. As you can see, I refuse to blow dry my hair in the summertime. Or apparently do anything that might help in the Looks Department.

Caleb's wonderful Aunt Michelle and Uncle Tim, Andy, Keila, Jeremiah and Alyssa ainvited us to join them at a beach house in Destin last week. THANK YOU GUYS!!!!! I flew in from St. Louis and the next day was laying out on the beach... it was just what I needed after cleaning up vomit, unlocking showers at 5:40am, and staying up WAY past my bedtime every night (I just made it sound like I had a terrible time..... I didn't. The St. Louis trip was one of the best weeks of my life!).

We really did enjoy the Shultz's at the beach so much! They are always so good to us. I hate I don't have a single picture of people, but we spent all our time in the water.

Anybody want to move to Destin and be a bum with me? We could eat at the Red Bar every night. Anyone?