Fun Fun Fun!!

This is a picture of Ashely, Jenna and Brooke drinking Shirley Temples at a restaurant in Washington DC. What a fun weekend! We left Friday morning to head to DC for the day and had a blast. When we arrived we ate lunch and then headed to the Holocaust Museum (the purpose of our trip). It was AMAZING and I highly recommend it for everyone. It took us over 2 hours to go through it, and we didn't finish. Each of us walked through it at our own pace and just met up at the end. It was incredible. I learned so much and afterwards we all went back to the hotel and just spent time journaling what we had seen.

Brooke's dad was in DC with his youth group and had an extra hotel room, so that is where we stayed for the night. The 4 of us went to a great dinner (where we drank Shirley Temples, haha) and then spent the rest of the evening hanging out in the hotel (it had a pool on the roof). We all really enjoy one another so much and we have SO MUCH FUN!!!

We left DC at 5:30 a.m. on Saturday to get back to Philly and head to the church picnic for the day. It went from 11 a.m.-8 p.m. and Brooke and I were there the entire time...along with Bonita, Linda, Dario, Luis, Pedro, M, and N. It was a BLAST! The girls literally spent 4 hours in the pool while the boys enjoyed exploring the woods and catching many various creatures. (The kid on the far left of the picture is Lindo, Dario's best friend).
It was REALLY nice to have Dario around for the day, I miss him so much. He is really growing up, and I am proud of the man he is becoming. He said that he wants to be more involved in church and I am going to pick him up for God Squad tomorrow, I really hope he comes.


We ate lunch and dinner at the picnic as well as played tons of games and really enjoyed one another. Tons of people from church were there and it was a really fun day. I loved it. It was also exhausting and we all pretty much collapsed when we got home. Bonita, Linda, M and N spent the night with me and while they planned on staying up late, it didn't happen. Despite the early bed time, though, we were all still very tired today. It was a full weekend!!
Today also turned out to be a great day, though very unexpected. Sunday School and church went well and although the girls wanted to spend the day with me again, I needed to sleep!! So, after church I took the kids home and then went home to take a nap. It ended up being a pretty long nap, but it felt SO GOOD!! When I got up I realized that I still had N's purse at my house and I had promised to take it to her. Brooke and I got in the car to go by her house and then get ice cream, but we never actually made it to get ice cream.

When we pulled up I got out to give N her purse and several kids came running to me. Some other kids that I love live next door to M and N and they were outside playing when I arrived. L and A are cousins and L was looking very sad when we arrived. She shared with me that her mom had a new boyfriend and she didn't like him, but she had to go to his house every weekend, which meant that she couldn't come to church, which she really didn't like. She also said that she was supposed to be going to summer school but her mom wouldn't take her and she was afraid she was going to fail. She looked so sad that Brooke and I decided to park the car and hang out for a while.

We ended up staying for over an hour and having so much fun!! I offered to take L to summer school, but her mom said no so we are praying that she will be able to pass anyway (that has happened to Bonita and Linda before...the dysfunction of the Philadelphia school system can work to our advantage!). M and N were down the street in a water fight with some other kids, but came and hung out with us when they saw we were there. The kids performed dances for us and just acted silly and laughed a lot. We took lots of pictures, but they are on Brooke's camera, so I will have to post them later. Other kids, B and J, came out and played with us for a while too and we all loved it. I am SO glad that we went by there and I hope I will have the time to do that often. All of the kids told me that they wished I lived on their street, haha. Honestly, I kinda do too...Bonita and Linda would love to play with them all the time, and I would love to see them all the time!

This week shouldn't be too busy, but surprises seem to always come up. Carisa is out of town for the next 2 weeks, but I think I can keep things together for that long. I have found myself really struggling with jealousy and anger recently and I NEED to take time to spend with the Lord. It has become very easy for me to focus on the things that are hard and only those things. I miss my family a lot and I am jealous of the people that get to see theirs. My family is having a hard time right now and I really wish I could go home and help them out. My dad is living in Washington, NC trying to find a house for him and my mom while my mom is still in South Boston, VA trying to sell that house. Then there is the packing and moving, combined with the stress of my parents living in different states. I know it is so hard on them and I hate that I can't go and help...but there is just no way I can leave Philly any time soon. It has become very easy for me to focus on myself and find many things to be upset or angry about, and I hate that. That leads me to not liking myself and its just not a good cycle to be in. I don't like feeling this way and I need it to change. So, despite my busyness I am really seeking to spend a lot of good time with the Lord. Brooke is going out of town on Thursday and won't be back until Saturday night. I am turning everything off on Friday and just hanging out with Jesus. I can't wait!