My little Gray_D_Bug!

August 1 my baby girl finally arrived from her trip to Brazil. It was a little longer than I think she thought it would be, but it really helped her grow and learn. I could see and hear the growth in her before she even arrived!



While in Brazil, she stayed with Barata, Jackie and Lol (who was an exchange student here last year at LWHS). They were so loving and generous with her. Gray didn't speak any Portuguese when she left, but they made sure to help her around and she learned to speak a little while she was there. Lol said she had never met anyone who picked up Portuguese as fast as my baby girl did! But I already knew she was amazing! Gray loved it in Brazil and can't wait to go back for Carnival!

Gray and Lol became very close while she was there and they did most everything together. Lol and Jackie even attended church with Gray while she was there. Gray said they really liked the church and would like to know more about it! They took Gray everywhere and treated her like she was family. Gray loved the the first few weeks at the house by the beach at Marica and said the beach Copacabana was awesome too! But her favorite place seemed to be Cabo Frio where Jackie's sister lived. Gray said it was beautiful there. After Jackie went back to work and they went to stay at the condo in Rio, she and Lol took the bus to the house in Marica and back to Rio several times, so they were pretty independent there.

I think Gray got pretty homesick. We chatted on messenger everyday while she was gone. She left feeling pretty sure she wanted to go far away for college once she graduated. She returned rethinking that plan. :) I'm sure by the time graduation really rolls around I will have driven her sufficiently crazy that she will again be anxious to spread her wings!

This month or so was really a learning experience for Gray. She had a great deal of time to think about her life and what she wanted it to be. She was exposed to things in a way that she never had before and made some realizations about herself and her life. She was able to experience a great deal of independence, but exercised great discipline and maturity in her decisions. She really put herself in a situation that stretched her and I think those challenges brought new found courage and amazing growth. I am so proud of the things she did to help herself grow toward the person she really wants to be!

Summer Ends...

I can't believe it's September! Time flies and so much has happened this summer. The weather has been perfect these last few days... "no weather" as a sweet friend of mine would say. You know... the kind of weather that is so mild that you never notice it unless you are revelling in it. Not too cool, or hot... no rain or wind to speak of.. just complete perfection. Now imagine 10 or 15 straight days of that, and you know exactly what I'm talking about. I love it!!

So... on the last day of July, Mason returned from he and John's Excellent Adventure. They visited Edinburgh, London, Geneva, Bern, a village in the Swiss Alps (where he and John were chased by rogue cows), Lille and Paris in France. Mason continued on alone to Stutgart, Vienna, Slovakia, Prague and Budapest. He stayed with friends along the way who generously took good care of he and John. It was an amazing trip!

They toured castles and the Highlands in Scotland, saw The Police in Hyde Park, London and took The Chunnel from London to Paris. On their way to Geneva from London, he had his wallet with passport, credit cards and several hundred dollars in cash stolen on the Eurostar (he thinks by employees of the rail line). He called me in the middle of the night completely distraught and frankly, I thought from the sound of his voice that John had been killed!! :( But this challenge brought him growth and some sweet experiences as well. A generous Brit heard Mason's distress in the train station and gave him $100 (American) and then left before Mason could even thank him. (Bless you, whoever you are!) Mason successfully gave a whole police report in French all on his own and finished his trip to Geneva with only a small slip of paper from the French authorities as ID. Once in Geneva, the Friedli Family took him under their wing and helped him get to the Embassy in Bern to get a new passport. The family was extremely generous with Mason and insisted on helping him with some money. I can't believe it still, but I am so grateful.

Bastille weekend in Paris and then it was time for John to head home and Mason to continue on his own. Through Germany and Austria and on to Slovakia where he stayed with Julia Malinovska and her family who generously hosted him for a couple weeks. While he was there he visited Prague and Budapest. He loved the friends he made there and plans to go back! On his way back to London to catch his flight home, he stopped off at the home of my exchange student from high school in 1984-5. Beatrice and her family warmly welcomed him in Stuttgart and they had a great visit! I was so thrilled when Mason returned! It was good to have him home again!

A good friend recently said that the effect the trip had on him was easy to see. He seems more confident and adult... ready to take on the world.... I suppose that he already has! There are countless things one can learn from a trip like that, but what I hope Mason will learn for himself is that he has been generously blessed and has potential far beyond his own ability to conceive and that righteous choices are the only way to fulfill that potential. I pray he will know how much his family and his Father in Heaven love him and desire only the best for him. I am so blessed to be his mother... I hope he knows what an important role he plays in our family!