Brazil Trip Day 10

Dear Daddy,

We are SO excited that you are coming home TOMORROW!!! Mommy said that she got a text from you tonight from brazil saying you were getting ready to board the plane and that you loved us and couldn't wait to see us. That made mommy's day!

This morning we got up and got ready for church. I got to hang out in the nursery while mommy went in big church. The nursery worker said that this morning I kept asking where mommy was. Mommy says I'm becoming much more conscious about when she's not around.
Then we came home and Tara and Bailey came over. They were in town visiting anthony's family so they got to make a short stop to see us. I loved Bailey - babies are so cute! I wasn't too sure of Tara but eventually warmed up some to her.Then mommy took me back over to church after the late service so I could see my bf Abby. I was very excited to see her for a little bit. We had lunch at the house and then I took a nap.

While I was napping, grandpa helped mommy clear out the garage. It was a lot of work but it looks great now!Mommy also cut the grass because it really needed it and she didn't want you to have to cut it when you got back. Wasn't that sweet of her? She said it was VERY exhausting!! The grass looks great though!Then we headed over to grandma and grandpa's house so mommy could work on your body pillow she is making you. The cover is made out of an original 1984 transformers sheet - just like the one you had when you were a kid! It turned out great! We hope you love it.Grandma got me a bike to ride at her house. I love it! I'm not too good with the pedaling yet but I love to sit on it and get pushed around.Finally we came home, had a bath, and then mommy put me to bed. We prayed that God would give you a safe trip back home to us! Mommy said she's going to clean out the closet tonight and organize all your stuff.

We love you and miss you SO much daddy. We can't wait to see you tomorrow!!!

Love,
Lily

Brazil Trip Day 9

Dear Daddy,

I can't believe that today is your last full day and night in Brazil! Tomorrow night at this time you'll be getting ready to board the plane to come home! Only 2 more days until we get to see you again and we are so excited!

Today turned out to be a more "eventful" day than planned. But I'll start from the beginning. As usual we got up and had breakfast and lazied around the house. We weren't going anywhere since mommy and I were planning to leave right after lunch. I had fun playing with Ava, Cecilia, and Owen as usual. The first thing I've asked for when I wake up in the morning at Aunt Dawn's is "the babies." I love having them around! I've even mastered saying "aunt dawn." Mommy says that it sounds like I have a southern drawl when I say it.Mommy was sad that she had to leave her fun sister week 2009. She's really enjoyed getting to spend quality time with Aunt Dawn, especially since they don't get to do that very much. Mommy told me that she's so glad she has aunt dawn as her sister and best friend. I hope that I have that someday with my sibling(s).Mommy had packed all of our stuff up in the car, said goodbyes, and then went out to start the car so it would cool down a bit. She turns the key and the car starts to turn over but then shuts off. Mommy thought "oh no!" Luckily uncle chris is very handy with cars and was more than willing to help her out. He pulled out his battery charger and it started after he left that on there for a few minutes. He was pretty positive it was just that I needed a new battery but didn't feel quite comfortable sending me and mommy on the road with the car like that. So mommy and uncle chris went up to advance auto and sure enough, it was the battery. There went $80 but at least it was an easy fix.

Mommy and I were then finally able to get on the road around 1:30. I was VERY tired as it was past my naptime so as soon as we got in the car I konked out! I even slept 2 hours in the car for mommy. She was very happy! Then the other hour I spent eating my snack and watching yo gabba gabba.We got home and I helped mommy unpack all of our stuff. She said she has a lot of things she wants to accomplish before you get home on monday. As there wasn't much food in the house and it was later, mommy got us mcdonalds for dinner. Yummy! Then we watched wheel of fortune before it was time for bed.

Even though I loved staying with aunt dawn, it was nice to be back in my own bed tonight. In 2 nights from now you'll be here too daddy!!

By the way, mommy said to tell you that she knows you are VERY glad that she never made you watch mamma mia with her. Her and aunt dawn had fun watching and joking it last night but all in all it was a fun girls night and they got to sing along to all the wonderful ABBA songs!

We love you daddy and miss you so much! We were so happy to get an email today letting us know that everyone was doing good but tired and that you've had over 1100 decisions made now! That's just incredible! We can't wait to hear all about it.

Love,
Lily

P.S. - As you can see our camera is fixed and back to normal now. Yay! Mommy doesn't have to buy another one!

Brazil Trip Day 8

Dear Daddy,

We can hardly believe that there's only 3 days now until we get to have you home with us again!! We heard from an email that you all have received over 700 decision cards now from the schools you've been going to all this week. How amazing!!! We're so glad that God is using you all to reach so many others. Being without you for 10 days is worth having others come to have a relationship with Jesus!

This morning I decided to wake up early - 7:15AM. I was even up before all my cousins. We had breakfast together before Aunt Dawn took Ava to VBS. Aunt Dawn brought back Biscuitville for her and mommy! Mommy loves the ham biscuits.

Then while the babies were taking their morning nap, mommy decided to take me outside to play for a little while and ride the bike again. We couldn't stay out there long though because it's still SO hot!We picked up Ava from VBS and then went to A&W to pick up burgers and root beer for lunch but their grill was out! So we couldn't get burgers but we did get some delicious root beer! Aunt Dawn also got a car wash which I did NOT like at all!

Mommy put me down for nap and while I was sleeping she took Ava to get some Rita's again! Mommy said she had fun spending some one on one time with her niece. She also taught Ava a new knock knock joke.Mommy also had Ava take a picture of her driving Aunt Dawn's beautiful Honda Odyssey to Rita's. Mommy is hoping that she will be able to get one of these soon. Doesn't she look good driving it daddy?Once I got up from nap, mommy took me and Ava down to the neighborhood pool. Unfortunately we didn't get any good pictures because mommy said it was hard having to watch a 1.5 year old near water plus keep her eye on a 5 year old. I loved jumping off the edge in to mommy's arms!For dinner we went to Chili's. YUMMY! We, of course, had skillet queso. Mommy got her usual delicious fajita quesadillas.Then we came home, had a bath, and got ready for bed! Mommy said that her and aunt dawn are having their final night of movie marathon. They're not sure what movie they are going to watch but possibly Mamma Mia.

We love you SO much daddy and can't wait to see you in just 3 days! We're so excited!!

Love,
Lily

Brazil Trip Day 7

Dear Daddy,

Mommy and I can't believe that we're only 4 days away from seeing you again!! Yay!! Mommy is working on a special surprise for you. She's hoping she can get it done by the time you come home.

Today was a rather normal day around the Mendez household. We got up, had breakfast, and just hung around the house.Aunt Dawn had to take Ava to VBS so mommy took care of me and Cecilia and Owen. Mommy went on a fly hunt. There has been a bunch of flies sneaking in to the house when we open the doors so she decided she wanted to kill them. She got two!We had lunch together and played some more before naptime. Mommy says that getting lunch ready for 4 kids and 2 adults is crazy! Between me, C, and O, we went through one of those huge cans of mandarin oranges!!
Mommy thinks the camera is mostly fixed now but she's not sure. She's letting it dry out a little bit more before she starts taking pictures in it again. Aunt Dawn's got some sinus sickness - stuffy nose, hoarse throat. So we're hoping that me or mommy don't get it.

After naps, we headed to Target again (gotta love super target). Aunt Dawn bought us pizzas for dinner. Then we stopped by Rita's! YUM! Mommy and I shared a cotton candy italian ice and then I had fun running back and forth in the store with Ava.Ava has been such a big helper to me today. She can get me buckled in and out of the car seat in the back and can even lift me down out of the seat to get out! Plus she's been holding my hand when we are walking in to stores. Mommy thinks it's adorable!Mommy and Aunt Dawn are going to continue movie night marathon this week by watching a chick flick once us kids are in bed. She said it's called "he's just not that in to you."

Mommy and I prayed for you again tonight that God would watch over you and keep you safe. Life just isn't the same without you around every day! We love you and miss you! See you in 4 days!

Love,
Lily

P.S. - Some big news that happened today in case you didn't hear: Farrah Faucett AND Michael Jackson died today!

Brazil Trip Day 6

Dear Daddy,

The most exciting news of the day is that you got to call us on the phone!!! Yay!!!!!! We were SO excited to hear your voice - can you tell?! :) We're so glad that things are going well in Brazil and that the team has received a lot of response/commitment cards. And I can't believe that you jumped over 5 people during slam dunk! You're SO great daddy!! Mommy and I love you very much.

We think that Uncle Chris might have fixed the camera. It's working now and the colors seem normal. The only thing is that you can tell there's like a water spot on the picture taking screen. But the pictures come out normal once they are on the computer. Yay!!

This morning we got up and lazied around like normal. Aunt Dawn made us homemade mickey mouse shaped pancakes! They were delicious. Ava headed off to vacation bible school, the babies went for a nap, and I watched an episode of gabba.

After the babies got up from nap, we went to Old Navy. Mommy got herself a new bathing suit for only $16 and a cute new summer dress. Mommy likes wearing casual summer dresses now. Then we went to pick up Ava from VBS. It's so crazy getting 4 kids in car seats in Aunt Dawn's van! Mommy has to climb all the way under the babies to the back seat to get me in!
We had some lunch and mommy was just getting ready to put me down for a nap when she got your phone call! While I was napping, Ava and mommy played Mario Kart on the Wii and ate some oreo ice cream. Yum!This afternoon Aunt Dawn had to take Owen to get his corrective shoes so she dropped mommy, ava, and me off at Planet Child while they went to the doctor. Planet Child is this cool indoor kids play area. I had a blast! It's been SOO hot outside - in the 90's - so being indoors felt good.On the way back home, we picked up some bojangles for dinner and rented Iron Man. Mommy told me that aunt dawn had never even heard about or seen this movie! She couldn't believe it. So mommy made her rent it so they could watch it tonight after us kiddos went to bed. By the way... I forgot to tell you yesterday that I tried out aunt dawn's little tricycle and I loved it!Your trip is half way done now! Mommy and I get to see you in only 5 days!! Yay!!!! We love you and miss you lots!

Love,
Lily

Brazil Trip Day 5

Dear Daddy,

Only 6 more days until you come home! The time is going quicker than me and mommy thought it would which is a great thing. Having a lot of fun company is helping! We saw that you had dinner tonight at the Brazilian Steakhouse. Yummy!! Hope you are having a great fun time. Mommy wishes she could be there with you but she couldn't quite bare to go out of the country from me for 10 days.

I slept really good last night in Aunt Dawn's pack-n-play. Mommy didn't even know I was awake this morning until she stood up out of the bed and I saw her and said "mommy!" Mommy said she slept okay too but misses having you in bed with her.Ava went to vacation bible school this morning and we just hung around aunt dawn's house. I was very whiny this morning too but liked watching a baby movie with all my cousins!Mommy was able to fit my car seat in to Aunt Dawn's minivan so after Cecilia and Owen got up from morning nap, we went to Target to pick up a few things. Then we headed over to pick Ava up from Vacation Bible School and got lunch from chick-fil-a. I loved getting to ride next to Ava in their car.

I was having so much fun playing with my cousins after lunch that I didn't go down for nap until 1:30! That's late for me. And then I only slept for like 40 minutes!! I did okay until bedtime though. After naps, Aunt Dawn set up the 2 kiddie pools in the front yard for all of us kids to play in. I had a great time but unfortunately mommy didn't.... She accidently dunked the camera in the water part of the way. She pulled it out quickly and dried it off but now when it turns on it's all blurry and funky colored. Uncle Chris is trying to fix it so I guess we'll see.... Mommy is going to check the warranty when she gets home but it probably doesn't cover it. Here's what any pictures you take now look like post-dunking....Thankfully Aunt Dawn has a camera we can use while we're down here to keep recording the fun things mommy and I do while you are gone. We had dinner, took a bath, and then mommy put me to bed. We prayed for you and mommy is hoping she'll get a call from you soon! We love you SO much daddy and miss you!!

Love,
Lily

Brazil Trip Day 4

Dear Daddy,

Only 7 more days until we get to see you again!! Next week at this time you will be home and will have gotten to put me to bed for the night.

This morning I was quite the clingy little girl. Mommy said that I was just like I was last week after I had gotten over being sick. She thinks it's because I sense that you're not here...Grandpa came over to take mommy's car to get an oil change before we left . Grandma couldn't come since she is still sick. Once grandpa got back he took me on a wagon ride and to the park so mommy could get stuff ready to go.After lunch at mcdonald's with grandpa, mommy and I hit the road. For the first hour, I took my nap. Mommy said I looked like my neck was going to break while I was sleeping.The rest of the trip consisted mostly of me watching Yo Gabba Gabba. I actually was really good in the car for mommy and we didn't make any stops. The only bad part was that traffic was stopped on 95 for a little while. But it only delayed us about a half hour.I was so excited to finally get to Aunt Dawn's house and get out of the car! I love playing with my cousins - ava, cecilia, and owen. Owen is definitely my favorite though. I'm always asking where owen is and was really sad when he had to go to bed before me tonight. Aunt Dawn made us kids dinner at home and then mommy and aunt dawn ordered out from The Loop.And guess what daddy? Cecilia and I had matching pj's!! I LOVE my bug pj's and was excited that Cecilia had them too. I was not in the mood to take any pictures though or sit with dawn as you can tell from the pictures...Mommy and I are excited to spend a week with Aunt Dawn, Uncle Chris, and the kiddos. We sure do miss you a lot though. Hope we are able to get a phone call from you soon! We prayed for you before bed that God would protect you, keep you safe, and give you the courage to tell others about Jesus! We love you daddy!!

Love,
Lily

Brazil Trip Day 3

Dear Daddy,

Happy Father's Day!! I sure did miss having you here for your second father's day. You're the best daddy in the whole wide world and mommy told me she thinks so too.Here's what we did today. We all got dressed and headed to the early morning service at church. It just wasn't the same without you and pastor todd there. I did get to play with abby in the nursery though and that was fun. Mommy said that you would have LOVED to be there today because Pastor Jimmy talked about "apples of gold." Mommy said she was laughing inside the whole time.Vicky and Mommy decided not to go to sunday school so we came back to the house with nana and papa during that time. I played a new game in my bed with nana called "slide."Since Grandma was sick, we just went with grandpa out to lunch for father's day. We went to that barbeque place at Landstown Crossing. I loved the green beans and ate almost all my grilled cheese sandwich. We forgot to take a picture here!

After lunch we came home so I could take a nap. Mommy said that Vicky ended up napping a little bit too.Then once I got up from nap, mommy and vicky took me to the new babies'r'us grand opening because a bunch of characters were going to be there - including my favorite - Brobee!! A care bear came out first and I did NOT like him at all. He was very scary. When Brobee came out though I was excited although I still didn't want to touch him.While we were at the store I fell in love with this yo gabba gabba guitar. I was dancing all around with it and mommy couldn't help but buy it for me. I'm so glad she did because I love it!
After we got home, Vicky had to leave to go back to her house in Lynchburg. Mommy decided to take me for a walk outside in the wagon afterwards and I insisted on taking my new guitar with me.Then we stopped at the park so I could swing and go down the slides.Finally after dinner, mommy's friend Ashley (who also didn't get to go on the brazil trip) came over to hang out for a little while.Mommy put me to bed and we made sure to pray for you. We miss you so much daddy and can't wait to see you in 8 days!! Happy Father's Day! Hope you've had a good one even though I wasn't able to be with you. Me and Mommy love you very very much!

Love,
Lily