I finally found the cable for the camera!!

Okay...I haven't been looking too hard...sorry! This week has been NUTS NUTS NUTS!!! Aly has been coughing her guts up with allergies, I now have a sinus infection, the house is in total disarray, I can't find my desk...I'm typing on a mound of papers, Aly has been begging me to do schoolwork and I finally was able to scrounge up some stuff for her to do yesterday. It was more busy work than anythings else...just to get her off my back so i could continue to attempt to get this place back on some sort of even keep! WHEW!!!

This is the week for me to get my act together and start getting this place into a working, functioning home!!! I am going to sit down later today and come up with a game plan and a set some time frames up for what I want/need to get done. We are officially starting homeschooling in September, so it MUST be done by then!!!

I must say that it has been nice this past week to not have the WEIGHT OF THE WORLD on our shoulders any more!!! Don't get me wrong, we still have a good ways to go to dig out of all of this, but PRAISE GOD...it actually seems doable now!!

---

I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall.
I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me.
Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:
Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for
his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him."

---

Okay...how about some pictures of the beautiful babies???

Aly helping Aunt Babs blow out her birthday candles

UMMMMM...birthday cake is finger licking good!!

On Sunday we went to Henry's parents house for lunch. After a wonderful meal, we went out on the back porch and let the girls run their little tooshies off in the back yard. We all had such a wonderful day!!

Do you see that tiny blue dot just to the right and up from center? That would be Lili on her way back from visiting with the cows farther off. She wasn't scared, she just ran right up to them.

Poor thing was so far away from us that she got all disoriented and was running all over trying to find us. Uncle Henry and Aly went after her after she took off around the other side of the house next door!! :-)




Explorer Lili coming home after her exciting adventure...thanks Uncle Henry!!

Lili stuck kind of close to Aly after that!!


Gotta love the love!!!

Portrait with the Lili's...unfortnately there was NO WAY they would open their eyes into the sunshine!!! Smiles...YEP Eyes...FORGET IT!!

I thought Aly would pass out from all of her running around, but Lili was the one who was down for the count. She was totally wiped out!! Babs rocked her for about two seconds before she passed out. Poor Babs...I know she had better things to do that to sit and rock Lili for the better part of two hours, but she never complained!! Yeah...right...I challenge any of you to have gotten her out of Babs arms without losing an arm of your own!!! :-)

The absolute highlight of the trip for Aly was getting to see her precious friend Allie Loos. Aly and Allie were both born in China. They are 9 months apart in age and were adopted one year apart. They both have really missed each other since we moved from TN and the one thing that Aly wanted to do on this trip was to get to see Allie Loos. They are so funny...neither one calls the other by their first name. They call each other "Allie Loos" and "Aly Swindler".

It was so precious when we came in the house and Allie came around the corner. They just stood and stared at each other for a moment and then said in their adorable little squeaky voices, "Allie Loos!" and "Aly Swindler" and then they just walked toward each other and hugged. Such a special moment!! Oh how I hope these two can stay close as they grow up!!!

Lili passed out in my bed at the hotel in Columbia

This was hilarious...I came in the living room at the hotel and found Aly in the recliner watching tv like this. She's definately a wierdee!!

Okay...speaking of "WEIRDEE" This wasn't on our trip, it was just yesterday evening. David had been swimming with the girls and when they came in their hair was nearly dry, but I still needed to put their conditioner on them. They, especially Aly, have coarse hair that turns to straw if not conditioned well. So, I have this WONDERFUL thick creme conditioner that I use and I just slathered it on them for a little while and then rinsed them out in the sink. This was Lili running around with the goop in her hair!! I just love this pic...it is so Lili's personality...a little monkey!!!!

Hope you enjoyed the week in pictures!!!!

Til next time....

In His Mighty Grip

Shelley