Wagon trails...

My crew makes me smile so many times... Lately they've been having a lot of fun making wagon trails in the courtyard and careening around in the wagon - someone pushing as fast as they can go, and the wagon driver just trying to keep it on the trails!

The others will run around trying to keep ahead of the wagon - Janelle and Elaine are carrying their dolls along with them. :-) Lainer's face here somehow reminds me of the "gingerbread man story" :P

"Aerial view"...

It was dusk and too dark to be taking hi-speed pictures, but that was the only way to catch the action. I almost didn't post them, but I guess you photographers out there will just have to hide your eyes.  :-)

My little men...

I don't know why, but every time I see this picture I can't help but smile. :-)

Rainbow

It was beautiful day - sunny and breezy with comfortable temperatures. So it was a surprise the children hollered for me to come see the rainbow. We felt just a couple drops of rain, and enjoyed the rainbow for a long time before it faded away... Those little gifts of love from God are so special!!!

Children at play... {Market Day}

Lately the children been having so much fun setting up and playing market. Cherlise would sit there to sell (she would even keep her babies with her! :-) and the other children come to buy. Sometimes Cherlise would be cooking "food" to sell as well. It's quite entertaining to watch them. :-)

Evening activities...

Since the time change (don't ask me why Haiti observes daylight savings) it gets light at 5:30 in the morning and dark about the same time in the evening. Which means instead of playing outside till nearly bedtime, we have long evenings. The fun part about it is that we get lots of reading done. I enjoy reading aloud to the children and we have been reading lots of books about nature.

Cherlise has discovered the joy of reading... :-) I love it when my children are book worms!

Weston is an expert fisherman. One day my maid tried her hand at "fishing" and was amazed at the coordination that game takes!

"Mommy, take a picture of me"

Weston saw me with my camera and begged me to take a picture of him with his guavas. Our guavas grow wild here, and the children can hardly wait for them to get halfway ripe before they eat them!

Thanksgiving Day {Pinata Fun}

Pinatas are becoming a tradition on Thanksgiving Day... This cow was tough... the children had varying ideas as to what kind of creature it was. Some thought a pig and one thought maybe it was a hippo. :-)

After the children had their fill, it took the big guys to break it!

Thanksgiving Day Fun

The children think Thanksgiving Day is the best out of the whole year. We had an enjoyable day with the GTH crew...

Cherlise had fun spoiling Mikayla...

There were all kinds of relay races... This one really tested their teamwork abilities :-)

(Some of them needed a little bit of encouragement. It made all the difference if they could hold an adults hand...)

And that cute little pair, Kenneth and Janelle, made the best time. They actually won the race! Somehow they figured out how to hop together... 

Sack races... even the young people had to try... :-)

Love this little hopper... :-)

And this one, too... 

Just us...

I just love this little lady... She's not an easy one to get a good picture of, but this one shows more of her personality that most pictures do. :-)

Our most recent family picture... this crew is growing up so fast!!!

All it takes is a bit of imagination...

...A laundry basket cover, a stick, and a handkerchief - and you have an umbrella!!

Boy's play

Sometimes I can't help but shake my head at my boys. They watched the well-drilling and several weeks later, this is what came out of it - a well of their own - dug with a piece of steel!

The problem is - they didn't have water in their well either. But that's easy to solve - just dump water in it. "Mommy, why don't we do that to the {real} well?"

My apologies

Sometimes in the midst of training children, keeping house, and teaching algebra I realize that some things on the blog are way out of date... It's not that I'm not taking pictures, I just haven't taken the time to post them. I have updated family pictures that I've been meaning to post for months now... :-/ So I'm sorry to those of you who have been checking out the Haiti Banquet form only to find last year's date on it. It has finally been updated, so please see the "Haiti Banquet" page to register for this year's event...

It's a gorgeous day, and we're heading to a friend's wedding.

Blessings,
   Rhonda

Amazing

Jared amazes me with his creations and the detail he puts into them!

Here's the helicopter he made from sticks and mud. =)

Pals...

These two little guys are best of friends already. I often hear Jeffrey calling, "Wessin, where's Wessin?" They are together constantly - playing with wagons, drawing "pictures", discussing Weston's favorite book, "Chester the Rooster", and sharing snacks - they fight plenty, too. :-/ I told Weston this morning when he and Jeff were scrapping over some crackers, "Weston, you pray for another little brother and sister - if you had them, you'd have to do a lot of this same kind of sharing! :-)"

Picture overload =)

The rig set up at the second drilling site

The drilling crew (left to right) Jimmy, Sam, & Ivan

Sometimes the spectators had to help. If I remember correctly, these rods weighed 400 lbs!

After Weston had been down there watching for a while, Yeye asked him, "What are they doing down there?"

He was quick with his answer, "Making ice cream!"

With the foam that they used I can see why he thought it looked like ice cream. =)

Always spectators...

And often decisions to make...

And the children???? Fun, fun, fun...

Cherlise with my newest nephew

"hay rides"

The children got so grimy and filthy! Their bath water was brown - or red!!!