We took a long weekend and went to visit some family! We really enjoyed our time there. It was a much needed break! 
Addison is really taking to the water!
She loved floating around on this blue raft. We called it "Addison's Floatilla"
Here is their dog "Winnie." I love this dog!!!
Addison has discovered her new favorite food, in addition to watermelon, sauteed mushrooms, & carrots...its corn on the cob!
Do you see that mischievious look in her eye? 
In the book When Helping Hurts by Steve Corbett & Brian Fikkart, much time is spent quite explaining the different needs poverty presents, how to discern what is actually needed, and some helpful hints on action that can be taken. Please remember, I'm summarizing many pages, and chapters of information so I am NOT doing this justice, but here is a general and very brief overview:
The first thing responders (those responding to the needs of those in poverty) must consider is if the situation calls for relief, rehabilitation, or development. Fikkart explains that "the failure to distinguish among these situations is one of the most common reasons that poverty-alleviation efforts often do harm."
The first response Fikkart describes is "Relief."
"Relief" can be described as the urgent and temporary provision of emergency aid to reduce immediate suffering from a natural or man-made crisis. When a crisis such as the Indonesian tsunami strikes, people are nearly or even completely helpless and experience plummeting economic conditions. There is a need to "stop the bleeding," and this is what "relief" attempts to do.
Next he describes "rehabilitation."
"Rehabilitation" begins as soon as the bleeding stops; it seeks to restore people and communities to the positive elements of their pre-crisis conditions. The key feature of rehabilitation is a dynamic of working with the tsunami victims as they participate in their own recovery."
The last step, which is a process of ongoing change, is "development"
"Development is a process of ongoing change that moves all the people involved-both the "helpers" and the "helped" –closer to being in right relationship with God, self, others, and the rest of creation. In particular, as the materially poor develop, they are better able to fulfill their calling of glorifying God by working and supporting themselves and their families with the fruits of that work. Development is not do to people, or for people, but with people. The key dynamic in development is promoting an empowering process in which all the people involved –both the "helpers" and the "helped" –become more of what God created them to be."
Fikkart gives many examples and models of how this can, and is being done effectively around the world by organizations and missionaries. Obviously there are many models, but the key is learning how to effectively diagnosed and treat the symptoms one sees when faces with poverty. Brian Fikkart and Steve Corbett work at the Christian organization, Chalmers Center for Economic Development. Their motto is "Helping the church, help the poor, help themselves." The website, which has many resources on this topic, is http://www.chalmers.org/. I encourage you to look into this topic further.
I am learning so much from this book! I'm actually having trouble deciding what to post as I have so much I want to share! Here's a brief, and not so thorough summary of what I've read so far. The authors of the book make some general premises that they support throughout the book. The main premise is that poverty is far more than a person having a lack of material goods, it is also a mindset; a mindset that encompasses "shame, inferiority, powerlessness, humiliation, fear, hopelessness, depression, social isolation, and voicelessness. North American audiences tend to emphasize a lack of material things such as food, money, clean water, medicine, housing etc."
He gives the following scenario:
"Similarly consider the familiar case of the person who comes to your church asking for help with paying an electric bill. On the surface, it appears that this person's problem is a lack of material resources, and many churches respond by giving this person enough money to pay the electric bill. But what if this person's fundamental problem is not having the self-discipline to keep a stable job? Simply giving this person money is treating the symptoms rather than the underlying problem and will enable him to continue with his lack of self-discipline. …A better – and far more costly – solution would be for your church to develop a relationship with this person, a relationship that says, "We are here to walk with you and to help you use your gifts and abilities to avoid being in this situation in the future. Let us into your life and let us work with you ton determine the reason why you are in this predicament."
He continues to describe how forming relationships with those in need is essential to helping them overcome poverty. He says,
"There will likely be lots of ups and downs in the relationship. It all sounds very time consuming, and it is. 'If you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.' (Isaiah 58:10) 'Spending yourself' often involves more than giving a handout to a poor person, a handout that may do more harm than good."
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We live in a county with pretty liberal fireworks laws, so we always have a lot of fun shooting off a ton of fireworks! Here is a photo of some of our fireworks. Most were given to us for free but as you can see we had a massive amount to shoot off! Its a little but like a war zone!
My friend Angela with Addison. 
Smoke from all the fountains.
Posing for pictures. Addison was completely unphased by all the smoke, fire, and loud explosions. I was very surprised.
Daddy's Girl
The kids surveying the damage
Cleaing up the street after several rounds of firecrackers and other explosives! 
Taking pictures
Addie & I
Setting off mini hot air balloons
Off they go!
Jacker setting off fireworks
Getting ready to shoot something...after the photo op!
Watching the fireworks
Dad helping Jack shoot a Roman Candle
