Busy past nine days.....

Ben and I made a last minute decision to join the church's mission trip to an Indian church in Oklahoma because someone else cancelled about a month ago. So, we set off on Saturday, July 11th and just returned home last night. The pictures below are from today at the local apple orchard and then from this past week in Oklahoma. Ben was an angel on the trip-he barely fussed at all on the entire drive and he provided more laughter and entertainment to the group than I thought possible. All in all, it was a great week, but I am sure TIRED after teaching VBS to a group of up to twelve children ages 18 months to 4 plus looking after Ben the whole time!

Ben picking apples! He wanted to eat them straight off the tree and was mad when Tony and Drew made him put them in the bag to bring home.

Ben and Tony looking for raspberries. Unfortunately the berries aren't quite ready yet so we didn't find many.
Drew and Ben at the orchard.

This is Ben's "Who? Me?" look that usually means he knows exactly what I'm talking about and is teasing me by pretending he doesn't know.

Ben cleaning out the cupboards in the fellowship hall of the church we stayed at during our mission trip.

Throwing food out of the cabinet! I got to clean this up at least three or four times a day all week long because there were no doors on the cabinets and Ben is a sneaky little bugger!
Looking at prarie dogs in the Witchita Mountains Wildlife Refuge

Ben looking at a buffalo in the welcome center of the refuge. We saw live ones as well, and he was fascinated by them since they were only about 3 or 4 feet away from the road as we drove through.
Ben "driving" the van outside the Holy City in the wildlife refuge.Ben and his new friend, Angel, whom I first met and fell in love with 3 years ago when I went to Oklahoma. This child has a piece of my heart that I'm sure I'll never get back. Ben also loved him at first sight, so Angel must be one special guy.
All three of my "boys" ended up dressed in nearly matching Addidas soccer shirts one day on the trip, so I had to take pictures. Isn't it funny that they all wore these on the same day? I didn't even realize they all packed them!