Baby Brooklyn

No I haven't had my baby yet. Sampson is holding our new baby niece Brooklyn. He is getting a lot of practice at being daddy.

Brooklyn Taylor Faddis was born at 1:57 pm on December 10, 2008. She weighed 6 pounds and 3 ounces and she was 20 inches long. She is such a beautiful little baby.

Luke and Liz as new parents holding little Brooklyn. Check out her sweet Santa hat.

Houston holding Brooklyn

The New Grandma's

Brooklyn all wide eyed and smiling

Brooklyn buckled into her 5-point harness car seat. She was totally ready for her first car ride going home from the hospital.

The Phoenix Suns Game

Right before the game we ate at Crown Burger and I was so pumped I raced a guy from the parking lot to the door so we could get a better spot in line. It was pretty intense for a pregnant woman and quite a sight at that.

The Girls in their Jersey's

Amare Stoudemire warming up for the big game.

Juan Carlos

In between feeding and naps the babies were either left in their crib, on a mat, or placed in a walker. These babies were in definite need of attention, but it was so difficult for me to give them each all the love they deserve. The boy in the picture is Juan Carlos who was abandoned by his parents. He was almost 18 months here and could barely sit up by himself. He was born with a clubbed foot and he had already undergone a severe surgery on his back. This sweet spirit has little to look forward to in his future besides being bounced around in many orphanages in his life. I loved to just see him smile and I just hope I helped him to be happy for the few weeks that I was there.

Solomon Klein

When our internship didn't turn out quite how we wanted, so we decided to start volunteering at a local orphange. This orphange has 175 kids living there under the age of 6. It was completely crazy! I was in the newborn room which consisted of 36 babies from day one to about 12 months. My morning started out with hand feeding each baby at 8, washing and changing cloth diapers after that, and then after a 20 minute break we were back to feeding them all again. I would finish at abou 12:30 for lunch and return at 2 to start the changing and feeding process again until 6. They were long days, but worth every minute.

Big Tree

Here is Sampson and me in front of the biggest tree to be found in the jungle. Those vines that hang from the tree were definitely a temptation to Sampson. And of course, Sampson couldn't resist and seconds after this picture he was half way up the tree. He is nuts!!

Rope Swing of a Lifetime

Believe it or not that spec in the top right corner is actually Sampson and me on a rope swing. We had to climb up this teetering tree that scared me half to death. We had to stand on this ledge half way falling off before we started. When we jumped I screamed the whole way down because I had left my stomach at the top of the 3o ft tree!! It was definitely a relationship builder.

Cable Crossing

In the jungle there aren't bridges to cross from one side to the other just cables. The only way to get across is to throw a rope around your butt and your neck and pull yourself across on a pulley. Everything was going great until I got half way across and realized I was hanging 30 feet above the river by a rope!! It was an experience I will never forget.

Rio de Espiritu Santo

Here we are at the holy spirit river where we went rafting in the jungle of Bolivia. That jungle sun we had heard so much about didn't shine that day and it turned out to be one of the coldest days we had the entire winter!! (it was winter there) It didn't help that we were soaking wet and the only hot beverage these jungle men had to offer us was coffee!

I Finally Got a Blog

I have now joined the ranks of the bloggers. I guess thats what happens when you get pregnant, become glued to the couch, and suddenly need lots of friends!! For now I'll put up some pictures of our crazy summer in Bolivia and Peru. This first one is of us in a cave deep in the jungle of Villa Tunari. We were searching for Vampire Bats and we eventually found them in the next cave where I thought we were for sure going to die because the bundle of about 50 sleeping bats were yawning and showing off there incredibly huge wings and fangs!!! note: we only lost one person that day