Hope

We had to privilege of hosting another Ugandan at our home a few weeks ago. His name was Richmond, and he grew up in poverty in Uganda, Africa. His life was dramatically changed at a young age when he became a Compassion Child (you can sponsor one too! www.compassion.com) Compassion is a program that releases children from poverty in Jesus' name. There is a program within Compassion called the Leadership Development program. In this program a few students are chosen to receive sponsorship to get a college education (very big deal in developing countries) Richmond was picked to be in this program, and was blessed even further and received a scholardship for a masters degree at Moody Bible college in Chicago. That is where his visit to our house comes in.

Before starting Moody College, Richmond stopped in Colorado Springs to spend some time at Compassion. He stayed with us for a week, and it was a blessing. It was his first trip to the U.S. and everything was so different and so exciting! It was so fun watching him absorb it all. He was intrigued with so many things, from the water coming out of the refridgerator to all the sugar we add to our food. He even thought our grass was weird.









I took Richmond shopping and to get his first American hair cut, we had a blast!







Can you even imagine growing up in a place with no hope? Compassion gave hope to Richmond by educating him and teaching him about Jesus, because with Him there is hope! Richmond's life is forever changed, he went from poverty to earning a masters degree and even more important he gets to spend an eternity in heaven. I am sure he is forever grateful to the family who payed $30 a month so he could be in the Compassion program.









Richmond (Uganda), Michelle (Philipeans), Tony (Dominican Republic) all Compassion children who received college scholarships.

It mattered to them.......

foot

Maya found her foot last week and she can't seem to get enough of it!

Maya, Lanie and swimming

So this past weekend we tried the pool again with Maya, and she loved it! On Friday we went to the pool with my good friend Emily, her sister, and 2 other borrowed babies. It was a blast! We each had a baby in hand as we wadded in the pool, and bounced around with the babies. Maya didn't cry one bit, the only problem; they don't make swimmer diapers small enough for her, so I kept her in a regular one that just soaked up about 8 gallons of water and weighed about 5 pounds when we were done (good thing she didn't poop).

getting babies ready for the pool

Saturday we got to go to a different pool, this one was even better! There was a grill pool side, so we got to have a BBQ by the pool with our friends. Maya loved the water even more because the pool was heated, and it was like a big bath tub for her. Then right in front of the pool we got to watch "The Sandlot" on a huge inflatable screen while sitting by a gas fire enjoying, smores, cotton candy and popcorn. It was a beautiful evening, probably one of my favorite nights this summer! I can't wait to do it again.

This is where Lanie comes in, she is our new 8 year old neighbor, so cute. She loves babies, and she loves Maya! Last week her and her younger brother came by our house, knocked on the door, and just stood outside and touched Maya's leg while I held her. Neither of them really said anything, they just both gazed at Maya in happiness. Then Lanie said, " We better get going." and they left. That was it! It was so cute. Anyway, Lanie was at the movie/pool night with also, as soon as I got in the pool with Maya she was attached to us the whole time! She just held onto Maya's little arm an followed us wherever we went. I love kids!


Brett, Little Lanie and Maya


Eric and his cotton candy


Mommy and Maya


I think we will have many more fun pool and Lanie adventures to come :O)

head up

little Maya is now able to hold her head up on her own when on her belly, yeah maya!


last weekend chick-fil-a had free food if you dressed like a cow. so we dressed up our little maya like a girl cow with a tail and all. Brett and I just wore an old white shirt with black spots colored on it and a bandana on our head with ears taped on. It was a lot of fun, everyone loved Maya, she stole the show. Pretty much everyone there was dressed like a cow, I kinda felt bad for the one couple in the corner dressed normal who actually had to pay for their food.
our little cow girl



we went to Kansas city and Jeff city 4th of July weekend to visit family. Maya got to meet cousin Ella, 2 grandmas, and lots of aunts and uncles. We also got to go out on a boat at Lake of the Ozarks, it was lots of fun!

maya

this is one of my favorite photos! she is so fun, smiling, cooing, and wiggling around