Taking It All In: The Sunday Excursion

I spent my last Sunday in WA with J&A.  After church, we went over her grandma's (the usual Sunday hangout for her family).  The adults chatted, the kids played, the neighbors dropped by to say hello.

The aunts plied me with gifts, made mafé (since they knew it was my favorite dish), and everyone kept telling me I needed to bring their love and greetings back to my family in California.

It was a little bit overwhelming, I'll admit.  They've all been so good to me.  Even though I was a foreigner and could barely hold a conversation in the beginning, they welcomed me into their home and into their family without a second thought.

I learned a lot about family from them.

And I saw (again) just how much God cares for me.  I missed my family so dreadfully in the beginning, and I did a lot of crying to God over that.  But instead of answering those prayers by bringing me back to the US right then (which is kind of what I would have liked at the time), He gave me more family - people who would love and accept me, help me learn, and walk through life's ups and downs with me.

You guys, I don't want to forget this.  I don't want to forget all the good things God has done for me, all the gifts He's given.

- - -

Little Monica, who was a very eager friend since I started coming

Rebecca and I

Germain, Jojo, and Rebecca

...and then Jojo got the camera.

(Side note:  See that necklace?  Mom got it for my birthday the other year, and everyone kept asking where I got it.  Little Monica told me I could cut off the top strand of beads and then she could have a pretty necklace, too.  LOL!)

Little Henrietta, a barrel of mischief

Ndèye, a relative...of some sort :)

Ah, Theo, mon petit cœur, tu me manques tellement.

- - -

After lunch, some of us ladies took the kids for a little visit to the zoo/park.

We strolled through with a kid on each hand and looked at the animals.  Then we finished up at the fountain and posed for pictures.

Then Jojo's brother, Papi, got the camera.

Mr. Jojo

Aunt Rosa, the youngest of the family

Aunt Louisa

Aunt Charlotte (or Lottie)

Aunt Prisca (an aunt by marriage and not by blood)

We were missing Aunt Henriette, Madelaine (Angèle's mom), Aunt Marianne (who had passed away only a few weeks before), and Aunt Jacquie.

"Hey, Papi, can I have my camera back now?"

I love them all.

And I love that I could go for a visit anytime and know that I have family to go back to and - if I needed it - a home to stay in.

Pretty cool, I think.