Surgery!

Don't panic, it was just minor! One of Darv's neighbors had a infected foot,

and Michael R. opened it up...

Enough spectators?

Whatever the case, Weston is enjoying the party! :)

Life in Haiti tonight...

    Rain pounds on the windows, as we are still feeling the effects of Hurricane Irene. It's been interesting how we've had 3 days of wind, but no rain until today. I was beginning to think that we weren't going to see any rain from the hurricane. The rain started around 5 this morning and has kept up through out the whole day - and the hurricane is currently over the Bahamas! All day we've had winds between 30 and 50 mph along with an inch of rain. We're so glad to be in out of the weather, and to have a dry house. I had to lock the windows to keep the driving rain out on the south side, but other than that we're fine. I had a  friend call late this afternoon just to find out how we are making out. Wasn't I afraid of all the wind? they wondered. I said, "Oh no, I love it!" We'll all be so glad to see the sun shine again, though! My children get so buggy from not being able to go outdoors at all. They can't even play on the porch because the rain blows in so much. It's good to have school to keep them busy at least! :) They've enjoyed playing with dominoes too, making all kinds of shapes and trains. :)

On Monday afternoon, I heard wailing coming from a neighbors, and I was like, "Oh no, not again!" But it was again... The second time in about 3 months that that household has had a death... A few months ago it was an 8 month old baby, and now it was the grandfather. He died very suddenly, though they say he hasn't been doing so great the last while. We refer to them as Guylene's family as Guylene has worked for me hauling water already (Guylene is the daughter of the man who died)... Please pray for their salvation. It seems like such a dark household, and we long to comfort their hearts and reach them for Christ.

Sunrise in the mountains... #4

It's market day, so about 6am we begin to see the vendors heading to market...

This is one of our citrus groves - grapefruit, citron, sweet and sour oranges and "limos" (a cross between a grapefruit and an orange) grow here...

And one of our banana groves... For some reason this is one of my favorite pictures. :)

Accident

Several weeks ago on my way out to TG, I was stranded behind this overloaded truck while they changed a tire... So I got out my camera to take pictures while I waited.

Kind of interesting to see all the stuff tied on it... Sacks of produce, goats, and chickens. Don't you love that dishpan tied on the bumper??? :) Even though I see it so often, I still have to pity the goats hanging upside down for so long...

But I reckon that owner is still wishing that he was stranded by the road changing tires... I was in Port last week, when we got a call that there was an accident on the mountain road, not far from where we live...

 The truck was heading out after market day, way overloaded, as usual...

 He was heading up a long hill when the differential went out, he lost his brakes, and rolled to the bottom.

ending up in someone's courtyard - incidentally, his was the second truck that ended up in that spot. No one was killed. It sounds like the people that were with him were battered and bruised - is that any wonder when they didn't bail out on the way down?! The driver had a broken leg... and the goats on top were killed.

On another note... Here is the other option when it comes to transporting goats from the mountain markets to town... On foot. We often come across herds like this...

In the sweet potato patch...

 This morning my children (and Yeye! :) had a blast helping Maxo dig sweet potatoes in the garden...

 some carried the potatoes to the pile...

 while others helped to dig...

 It's a large, beautiful crop of nice sized sweet potatoes...

 I wish that they would keep longer... I think we'll try to send them to market on Monday.

 Queen of the sweet potato patch! :)

Many hands make light work (or fun!)

Sunrise in the mountains... #3

These are volunteer papaya trees in our garden. I just noticed the little papayas growing on them!

Tropical Storm Emily

I'll stop giving the excuse of being so busy for the reason of not posting- but it still remains... :) 

I just need to get out my camera and take pictures once... 

         On Thursday Tropical Storm Emily tracked through our area. They were predicting 6 - 12" of rain with isolated amounts of 20". But the mountains of Haiti and the DR had their toll on Emily and she was soon downgraded to a tropical wave... It was fairly mild for us. We had 2" inches of rain and 2 days of wind, but only a few hours of constant wind around 35 - 40 mph with gusts up to 52mph. The rest of the time winds were mostly around 20 mph. We were thankful that it wasn't worse and the Haitians were delighted that their bean crops have a chance to survive!

Today is a beautiful day. Just perfect for all the laundry we have to do... Sunny and breezy, and so comfortable. If we had the sun without the breeze it would be hot, but the breeze without the sun would make it cold. We are enjoying the clear blue sky after so many days of clouds and stormy weather. The children are  having a load of fun playing out in the sunshine!

And now I have lots to do while the sun shines! :)

Sunrise in the mountains... #2

Sunrise in the mountains...