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3/29/07
Hello everyone,
I’m still trying to catch up, so this happened a while ago, but I thought I’d write about it anyway. On January 20th, we were expecting Aunts Spark, Rhonda, and Diane. They were supposed to . . .
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2/30/08
I keep intending to sit and write another update, but there’s so much that happened, I get discouraged. I suppose old news is better that no news, though, so I’m finally . . .
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2/12/08
I have been putting off writing an update for too long now. I know our family loves reading them, but I never seem to find the time… Anyway, on 1/5/08 we went out to Bon Pa with Ron Palito and his team. It was a beautiful . . .
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01/2/08
I thought I'd write just a brief note to say how the holidays went for us here. We had a Christmas party with . . .
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12/23/07
I was looking at our web site yesterday and was surprised it has really been a month since I wrote. It seems like a week or so, but so much has happened. On the fourth a team from Peoria arrived to . . .
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11/29/07
Well, I really should write an update about the team we had 2 weeks ago. We went out to Baron and then to Pi Ti Coma, both about 2 hours away. The team left Saturday morning, drove 2 hours until . . .
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11/19/07
We went to the beach Sunday, but it didn't exactly work out how we planed. We left the house at 7 AM . . .
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10/20/07
Well, I finally found the time to sit down and write. It has been hectic all day. All week, come to think about it. Today Mom and I decided to count how many people came to the door. It is 4:20 PM, and we have had 41 people so far. Wow! As Mom says, "That's Haiti!" The culture is different, but . . . .
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9/04/07
I'm sorry I didn't write an update sooner, I thought it was just last week that I wrote one, until I looked at the dates and saw it was about a month and a half ago! Where did the time go! When I stop and think we have been here a little over 3 months I just can't believe it. Time has really flown. We have already been here longer than . . .
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7/22/07
It sounds like Grandma and maybe Kristin & Rodney will come visit us this Dec. Already we are looking forward to their trip and planning it. Grandma says she is looking forward to seeing Faith, and I don't blame her. Faith is getting so big. She smiles a lot, but lately, she has developed a temper cry, and she uses it with growing frequency. Mom says it is just a stage, though, and I guess she is right. Gabriel thinks he is getting to be pretty big stuff. He rides his bike and ties it up with some string when he is done with it, "locking it up" as he calls it. Mom didn't know where he got the idea, until she asked him, and he showed her the motorcycle, all chained to a pillar and said proudly "just like Daddy's!" Hannah is getting along just fine. She has fun playing all day. None of us kids have much work, so we settled in quickly. It makes me glad we moved in the summer when there is no school. Bethany and I have been playing volleyball from 7:00 to 8:30 every morning, and that has been a good experience for us, learning the correct way to play and teaching us the rules that we never knew before. :) I can't catch enough crickets to satisfy Arenyen, so I decided to tell the little boys who hang around that I will pay them a Gourd for every cricket that they bring me. They are always begging and asking for work, so Mom finds odd little jobs they can do for food. (usually picking up almonds, but they eat most of them) It is really sad, they way they tell you that their Mom is dead, and their Dad beats them. The way their eyes look at you when they ask if they can live with you, because they don't have anybody to take care of them. It really makes you look at the great life we have, and how much God has given us that a lot of people here don't have. They spend their whole lives looking and trying to find a way to make it to the States where they have a chance. Mom and Dad Don't really know how to help without making them dependent on others and lazy. For now the best we can do is pray for guidance and help "Day by Day".
Sarah
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7/15/07
Well things have settled down here. We have all fallen into a routine. Gabriel rides his big boy bike a lot, and he is getting good at it. Hannah enjoys catching butterflies, so her net is getting some wear and the butterfly population is going down. We found some cool chrysalises though, and two of them hatched, one died, and two more are ready to hatch. Bethany, Hannah and Gabriel are having a lot of friends come 2 play, so there is almost always one or two extras here during the day. I bought two machetes in town, and I was really surprised at how cheap they were. Food is surprisingly expensive here. We are all learning Creole and I think we are picking it up. It is hard to tell, though. I can't count the times that I've wished I could snap my fingers and just know Creole. We are getting there, slowly.
It is very hot down here. During the day if you can stay inside you sit around by a fan, if you are outside, it is almost miserable. You get used to it, though. You also get used to getting up at 6:00, and going to bed at 8:00. Arenyen is doing fine, though it is hard to catch enough crickets to satisfy his appetite. I think Mom got a picture up on the web. Faith is really getting big; she learned how to roll over. Mom bought a walker in town, and she loves it. Mdm. La La loves to talk to her as she scoots around the house looking so big.The church is a little bit different from home, and today was no exception. Gabriel asked Mom why the man was mad. It really makes me appreciate The Apostolic Christian Church, and the way we do things. It is a real blessing that we are able to dial in when the internet is up, and when it isn't we listen to Cds. Well I have to go, but I'll try to update more often from now on.
Sarah
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6/17/07
Well, I have started School, Creole lessons, and a cool bug collection. I have decided to be an Entomologist when I graduate. ( that is a scientist who studies bugs ) Haiti is a good place to catch and study bugs, I discovered. :) I already have over 30 different kinds of butterflies, moths, beetles, and insects. Christoph caught a two inch beetle with half-inch long pinchers. He is disgusting! David Brown traded me a tarantula for 35 marbles. It is amazing the way their eyes light up when they see the marbles! Kathy, we put the tarantula in the shoe box that you sent us... :) I named my new "pet" Arenyen. I catch bugs to feed him but I don't get to see him eat because tarantulas are nocturnal. :'( He is pretty cool, and when he is mad, he turns purplish on his back. Like I said, pretty cool. I will try to take a photo of him to post on the web site for you spider lovers. :) Well, I have to go now. Hello to y'all back home.
Sarah
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Sarah 5-30-07
Well, our house is slowly getting settled. At first it was pretty chaotic. The workers would move our beds away from the window to work on the window during the day, and at night we would move them back to sleep. All the windows had to be replaced because the termites had eaten out all the window sills. For a few days there, it seemed like the demo was all done and the work seemed to stop. Almost all the windows are finished now, though. The heat seemed almost unbearable the first few days, but we are all starting to adjust pretty well. It is nice that there are some missionary kids here to play with. Gabriel has Derek Gutwein to play with; Hannah has Katie Wray and McKenna Moses. (The Moses family is on furlough in the states right now) Bethany and I have Kara Wray, Alisha Gutwein, and Savanna Moses. Where the older kids seem awkward for a while, the younger kids clicked already. Derek and Gabriel are two peas in a pod.
They met as we got off the plane in Port au Prince and by the time we got on the plane to Les Cayes they were inseparable. We have Mdm. LaLa and Mdm. Juclin working for us now. Mdm. LaLa cleans two days a week, does laundry two days, and cooks one day. Mdm. Juclin cooks four days a week and goes to market one day. We still have not gotten a yard man yet. The guards patrol the whole compound at night and on Sundays while we are at church. All in all there are lots of people around to keep us company. ; )
By Sarah
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