Sunday

Jael and Baruch are pretty excited to have me here. The other kids are too, but I don't see them as much. We've been having a lot of fun together. The other day the kids and I were making cookies, and Jael looked at me and asked if I was married. I of course said "No, I'm not." She looked me up and down and then said: "Well, I think you're big enough to get married!"
OK. Now I've covered all the little stuff, so I can tell you about the "big event". Today was our first time to hike down into Mibu. The hike down wasn't too bad, but it sure did give new meaning to the words "steep, muddy, mountain trails!" It's about an hours hike down. Pretty close to the beginning of the trail there is a waterfall. We crossed a little ways past that. There's no bridge, but it's not very deep either. In some spots the mud is about ankle deep, you just have to try to find a way around it. In some places there is no getting around, so you just kind of slog your way through :). Angie fell twice, Jael fell a little more often, and Baruch... Well, let's just say I lost count around ten. I managed to make it without falling. Shannon, and Brooke, were a little annoyed by that I think!
The service went pretty good, as far as I could tell. Joey is really sick, so Geoff had to do all the teaching. He did enlist the help of one of the guys that could read.
About two-thirds of the way through the service I blacked out. I was sitting there just kind of fading in and out, when I realized it was because I hadn't eaten anything. So asked Angie for something to eat. I'm not sure what I looked like, but she took one look at me and didn't waste any time! So I sat there for the rest of the service eating crackers, an apple, and washing it all down with water from a coke bottle. I still wasn't feeling the greatest when we headed back up the trail, but I thought I could make it. What a joke! We got up a little ways, I was having trouble breathing, and my head was just pounding. So we ended up sending Shannon ahead with Baruch, and Skyler who were being carried up by a couple of the other women. Angie, Jael, and I, went up very slowly, stopping every few minutes. About halfway up I started puking (who made up that word??). We continued up the mountain, with me barfing the whole way.
By the time we made it back to the house here, I thought I'd lost everything I'd eaten. Unfortunately I was wrong! I had continued to drink water on the way up, and after we got here I had some coke too (help settle my stomach). I went down to my cabin, and by that time I was so dirty (I still hadn't fallen, but all of my breaks when I sat down I really didn't care where I sat!), I ended up laying on the floor. After about ten minutes I ended up making a dash for the toilet where I lost all of my fluids. YUCK! I went back and layed down fro probably another twenty minutes, before I managed to convince myself I'd feel better if I took a shower.
I'm feeling a lot better now, I still have a whopper of a headache, but I took some pain reliever, so hopefully that will take effect soon.
In spite of all our breaks we actually made better time on the way up than on the way down! We didn't have Baruch with us and then the first part (which happens to be the worst) we went up really fast. Which was part of the problem. So! That is my first Mibu experience! I should get going now. Tonight is "team night". Everyone comes over here for pizza, and tonight, we're also celebrating Brooke's, Marietta's, and Skyler's birthday. Angie is working on the pizza, but Baruch is in the way :P. Thank you for all the prayers, they are definitely appreciated. That's part of what kept me going up the trail today! Love you guys!