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

Brazil Trip Day 2

Dear Daddy,

Only 9 more days until we get to see you again daddy!! We woke up this morning and immediately checked the Delta website to see if you had made it to Brazil safely and you had! Yay!! We hope you got some sleep last night on the plane.After some breakfast, me, mommy, and vicky packed up our things and headed to the beach. We decided to go to Croatan Beach to avoid the crazy tourist crowds. At first I wasn't too sure of the water but after awhile I had fun splashing in the waves as long as mommy or vicky was holding me! It was VERY VERY hot today.We headed back home for some lunch and then I took a nice long 2 hour nap. During my nap, papa came over and fixed the leaking sink for mommy.Once I got up from nap, we all headed to macarthur mall to do a little shopping. Mommy got a pretty new dress to wear when she comes to pick you up at the airport! Then we had dinner at Chili's. It was delicious and I loved my corn on the cob.We came back home after that and I played with Vicky some before heading to bed.Mommy told me that after I went to bed tonight, her and vicky were going to have a girls night. Pj's, a chick flick or two, and of course something sweet to eat!We miss you SO much daddy. I watched your video a bunch of times today and I really thought it was live and you were talking to me. I would wave hi to you and even blow you kisses back. We prayed for you before bed tonight as usual. I can't wait for you to be home to put me to bed and mommy can't wait to have you back in bed with her too. She slept with your body pillow next to her last night.

Love, Lily

Brazil Trip Day 1

Dear Daddy,

Today was probably the hardest day of your trip - saying goodbye to you. Mommy has been crying a lot today even though she's trying to hold it together for me. We both sure do miss you a lot and hope the time flies by REALLY fast. Mommy is going to try to blog each day so when you get back you can catch up on everything we did together.

After you left today, mommy and I headed back home for lunch. Luckily grandpa showed up and kept mommy company for awhile since she was really really sad. I took a nap and then mommy and I played together for awhile. After that we headed over to Nana and Papa's house so mommy would have some more company to keep her occupied. While we were there we got a call from you in New York!! Yay!!! We're so glad you made it there safely. We are now 8 hours closer to having you home again. Then Aaron, Aunt Missy, and Bobby showed up at the house. I had fun playing with Aaron and then Papa bought us chick-fil-a for dinner. Finally we headed home and mommy gave me a bath and put me to bed. Before bedtime Mommy showed me the video clip you made to tell me hi. I LOVED it and kept wanting mommy to play it again and again. I would even cry when she tried to close it - that made mommy even more sad.

Mommy said that Vicky is coming tonight and she'll be here hopefully around 10pm. We prayed for you during bedtime prayers that God would watch over you and keep you safe on your long flight to brazil.

We love you SOOOOO incredibly much daddy and pray that God uses you to reach other lives for Jesus! 10 days until we see you again daddy!!! Here's our cute picture from this morning before you left:And here's how mommy felt this afternoon (she's not looking so great!):