Tropical Storm Isaac

Rain, rain, and more rain... My weather station recorded 11 inches, but so much of that time it was so windy, that I think we probably got more than that... The highest gust recorded up here was 79 mph. We got the first rain bands about 12:30 Friday afternoon. The wind didn't start picking up until 4 or 5 pm. By 7 or 8 pm, we were getting gusts up to 60 mph. The wind and rain was coming from the northeast, so we were constantly sopping up water at the front doors. Around midnight is when the worst of the storm hit... then the wind just roared and the rain pounded against the doors and windows with a fury! When the eye went through at 3 am, it got so quiet all of a sudden, that I believe it woke me up. Then storm returned again with a fury, this time all the wind was coming from the south side... It seemed like the north side of the storm packed the worst winds, because we didn't have as high winds after the eye went through, but we were still getting 60 mph winds. By Saturday morning it was still very windy, and pouring buckets of rain, but it was a LOT calmer... All of a sudden the 30/40 mph winds seems like just a breeze! It rained all day Saturday, through the night, and off and on throughout the day on Sunday... Today is a lovely day with sun and clouds. Still quite breezy, but oh the sun feels SO good!!!!  Here in my area, gardens are destroyed, a lot of animals died from exposure to the weather, my neighbor's house roof went, and lots of trees were snapped off, the roads are washed out and impassable. But thank God that there wasn't worse damage!!! Around here the natives almost always tuck their houses into the side of the mountain, and I definitely can see the wisdom of that in hurricane season!!! If their houses would've been exposed to that wind, there wouldn't be anything left to them I'm afraid. There's one area not far from here that they tell me looks like someone just swept it with a broom... The whole hillside is cleaned off, and there's clothing and debris scattered all over the place... I'm still hearing reports from other areas, some places got the wind and some didn't... Everywhere had rain... Some people were flooded out, houses were washed away, bridges washed out... It's very discouraging to the mountain people to have lost their crops, and to the people living in tent cities since the earthquake it's discouraging as well... Haiti needs your prayers!

Balloons and Water

 My children just LOVE water balloon fights... Anything with water is just super fun for them... I took these pictures several weeks ago, but wasn't able to post them before because I had them backed on my external hard drive while I sent my computer in for warranty service. Can you imagine the screaming and commotion that goes on during a water balloon fight, from this picture? :-)

 The balloons were gone, but they were reluctant to stop the water fun... After all now that we have a cistern, we can actually spare some water for fun!!!! Here Weston is expectantly waiting to have water poured over his head...

I think that was about more fun for him than the water balloons were!!! When I took him inside and gave him a bath a little while later, he was still talking about how much fun that was!!!! :-) 

Home again...

...From a lovely weekend in Wisconsin. I know Donovan & Thea both very well from the times that they individually lived and worked here in Haiti, so it was a special honor to be present at their wedding, and share in their joy of God's leading in their lives! The weekend was so busy from beginning to end, but I so enjoyed it all... So many Haiti friends were there that it felt like a grand old Haiti reunion the whole weekend long! We topped off the weekend with a Haiti reunion on Monday, and then headed home on Tuesday. 

I got home Tuesday night at midnight, and my children were up the next morning before I was. :-/  They got into a discussion whether one of the suitcases was mine or not. Janelle solved the argument by walking up to the suitcase and smelling it. "Yep, it's Mommy's, I smelled it!" :-)

And Weston comes by later, "Mommy, I'm ready!"

Mommy: "Ready for what?"

Weston: "Ready to read 'chug, chug, puff, puff'" (Tootle)

He's been begging for all of his favorite songs and books since I'm home...

The best part about going away is coming home again! Just have to love this crew!!! :-)

Homegrown...

This is the second pineapple we harvested in a month, and they are really sweet!!! Pineapple anyone???

More of the story...

Thank you so much for your comments on the post "A baby girl..."! I really enjoy hearing from you all! Just thought I'd share more of the baby's background that I heard from my neighbor...

The baby's mom was a pretty, young girl - barely 18. She was still in school, and when her family discovered her pregnancy, they were very unhappy, and continued to let her know that throughout her whole pregnancy. She was not well for a week before she died, and her family was still chewing her out even while she was at the clinic! Makes my heart just bleed for the poor girl!

The boy that she said was the father of the baby, denied it. And since she died, now the girl's and the boy's families are fighting over which family killed her! (putting the blame on voodoo).

How miserable and sad life is without the Lord... pray for our little girlie that she can grow up to love and serve the Lord!!!

A baby girl...

It was a busy Saturday at our house... 5 girls' heads to wash and comb, food to prepare, cleaning and laundry to do... Virginia came for the day, and we were doing some sewing for a friend's wedding next week... Toward evening as the children were eating supper, Rose came and said, "There are some ladies coming and they have a baby with them!"  I went to talk to them, and they told me their sad story - this little girl was born in the morning - the mom had pre-eclampsia. They took her to the B. clinic but she soon died. The grandmother and her sister brought the baby to me wondering if I could take her... The grandmother looked fairly young, and I asked her if she wouldn't want to keep and care for the baby if she could have help with milk for the baby. She said that she was willing to do that. The poor woman was in such shock from losing her daughter...

 I always try to keep some formula on hand for situations like this, and I had a couple small cans that my sister had given me not too long ago so I was very thankful for them. I confirmed that A's milk program could take her, and then told the grandma that I would give her a little milk to start her off - that the milk program will take her on... I asked permission to clean her up and get her started on a bottle. They were grateful for that. Of course the children are bouncing off the walls in excitement, as I brought her in, begging me to keep her. :-). Bethany said, " I wish that you would keep her and then you would have your 12 disciples!" :-)

 We put a bottle on to boil, and then it was a huge family affair to get the baby cleaned up, and trim the 3" cord stump...

 Oh the fun of newborn babies!!! Why is it so hard to do the best/wisest thing? I was so glad that the grandmother wanted to take care of her, but I wanted so much to keep her too... It was hard to send her to where I know she's going to be dirty and stinky, that they'll probably forget how to mix her milk, feed her with dirty bottles, and leave her lying, unattended on the bed most of the day!

After the bath we dressed her in nice new clothes from a baby pack that friends sent, and then came the bottle. Again it's a huge family affair, but I love how my children just LOVE babies! It took this little girlie a long time to get the hang of drinking, and it was getting dark, so the grandma was getting really anxious to leave... I finally sent them home with a baby pack, formula, and strict instructions on how to mix her formula, her care, etc... And we're still talking and thinking about her today... wondering so much how she's doing, and hoping that she is well cared for!

My "twins"

These two are sitting on my bed right now chattering to me about 'squiter bites' (mosquitos). Nellie's twin brother was stillborn, but these two sure act like twins... always together, always wanting to share everything with the other. Sure do love these girlies!!!! :-)