Around here...

Maxo planted a Hibiscus hedge along the lane... I think it looks so nice, and really hope that it grows well!

And I wanted to show you how nicely my yam garden is growing! :)

See how the vines are crawling up the supports?

Water Balloon Fun...

 This afternoon we had a water balloon fight!

 Most of the children loved it!

 But there was a few who didn't want to get wet...

 Lots of laughing and screaming...

 ... but oh, so much fun! :)

Helping...

 Michael and Jared loved "helping" my brother, Lyndon, fix the stove! :) I think it was more a case of "snoopervising" :)

One Year Old!

Today is this little fellow's birthday!

 He's still our sweet, happy, little charmer!

 And he's not walking yet... though he loves to push chairs around

*and harass the dog, who loves the attention!*

It's hard to believe it's already a year since this little fellow entered our lives...

 ...he weighed 4 lbs. 3 oz.

 But he sure grew fast!!!

 Isn't he adorable?! :)

 It's so much fun to see them grow, but I sure do miss the "baby" days...

Weston, you are LOVED! Happy Birthday!

June Birthdays

Three of the boys' birthdays are all within one week of each other, so we celebrated them all together. Jared turned 8, Kenneth 5, and Weston 1. It's hard to believe how fast the time flies!

 Jared and Kenneth wanted a helicopter cake, and Weston is too little to care! :)

 But I think he liked it anyway! It was hard to get a good picture of them all together, because Weston just thought he had to touch it! And I don't think he would've stopped with just touching it!

One of His little ones...

  

 This sweet young woman is a widow. She brought her 9 month old baby to us last week pleading with us to take her. She was living with her family and her Dad kicked her out, because she "can't help with the work".  The mom wants to get a job to support herself, but this little cutie is keeping her from doing it... She has 2 older children that she has already placed in the care of others. The mom loves her baby and has taken excellent care of her as you can see in the pictures. Please pray for them as we continue to see what can be worked out for her. I would love to see her be able to find a job and be able to keep her baby with her... we're still working on it... Sometimes it's hard for us to understand how a mom can love her baby and yet want to give her up, but we don't see the picture from their viewpoint either. She told Pastor L. that no real mother wants to give her child up, but when she can't provide for her, and she sees how loved and well cared for our children are, she thinks it is the best thing to do. The only thing she wants it to still be able to see her from time to time... Pastor L offered her a place to stay so that she can keep her baby, but it seems that she has her heart set on going back to Port where she grew up and she knows she can get a job... That's disappointing to me... I hope for the best for her and her little cutie. 

Manning the Pikwa!

 Jared just loves getting out there and working in the garden when he isn't in school.

Being greedy doesn't pay! The goat went after corn in the can - and couldn't get back out. Doesn't it look like the kids are wondering "What did you do that for, Mom?"

Three Years...

Don't we all love going back through old pictures? It brings back good memories, but at the same time reminds us how fast children grow up. I came across this picture yesterday that was taken 3 years ago when the girls were babies. Now they're such young ladies that it's hard to even imagine them being babies! That led to digging out the old cds where the pictures are stored, and we all enjoyed looking at the pictures from "so long ago"! And the video clips were priceless. Made me realize that I need to take more of them! 

And beware 'cause you'll most likely be seeing more pictures from the by gone years! :)

Don't they all look so little?!

This one of the children was taken last fall...

And one of all of us from this spring... God is so good, and He never fails!

Shall it be feast or famine?

I'm sorry... no excuses... I just haven't taken the time to upload my pictures from my camera and get them posted - until today... And then I could hardly decide if it should be a feast or famine on the pictures... 

 Without knowing exactly what all made the week so crazy, it has felt like a very hectic week... A tropical wave has dumped inches upon inches of rain and created a very muddy outdoors. We haven't seen the sun in days! So of course no matter how hard we try, the laundry has a very difficult time getting dry. I think when the sun does shine through the clouds and fog we will be all the more grateful for our warm Haitian sun! :)

 Here is a picture of the cholera treatment center (CTC). It has been operating since last Monday. It hasn't just filled up like we thought it might. Which is a good thing, 'cause it means that the cholera isn't spreading too fast. But they've had enough to keep them very busy down there, and we're still waiting to see which way it's going to go. Whether it'll fizzle out or get worse... Because of the rain and mud they ended up moving the CTC to another building much closer to the A mission... They were able release a number of people and were down to 3 last night, but this morning they're up again to 7 with a few more under observation... Please continue to pray for the situation... We hear heartrending news sometimes... On Friday it was about a lady that was soon due to have her baby, and got cholera. Her husband tried to find help to carry her to the clinic and none of the neighbors wanted to help because of the rain and they were afraid of the cholera. She died before he was able to get help for her...

 And now some pictures from here... How about home grown pineapple? This is the one that I posted pictures of several months ago. That was one of the sweetest pineapples I ever ate... Just wish I knew enough about growing pineapples to have a whole field of them! :)

  I just love coconut palms... These are gifts from Pastor Claudy's family who knows how much I like them. The picture below is one of 4 that they gave nearly 3 years ago. Only one survived, and just last week, they sent 3 more... (one is pictured above) I so hope that the hurricanes don't destroy them, the goats don't eat them, or no other misfortune befalls them!