We Still Love America:)

There's a lot of things in the states right now that give cause for a lot of not so fun feelings.  But we still love our home country, and maybe living in a foreign land makes it a little bit sweeter for us.  And since COVID threw a wrench into everything, there's a lot more missionaries around here right now than would normally be in the summer.  So we gathered the ones from Harvest Call together and had us a celebration!

One of the older girls had made an American flag, so of course Summer wanted to join in the fun.  One of her parents did probably 80% of the project but she was proud to claim it as her own:)

Ready to load up and head to the party!  We had it here in Bonfen so the gator sufficed for transportation:)  We try not to be too lazy and walk when we can, but with three kids, a portable high chair, and several dishes for the main meal, the gator was definitely the way to go this time around!  Besides, Nussbaums hosted it and they live at the top of a steep hill and I'm tired and pregnant so there's that too.

Thrill rides for the littles!

Shoulda brought swimsuits.

Sparklers as the afternoon turned into evening.

Water guns, 5 gallon buckets filled with water, a kids pool, water balloons.... the day definitely called for water!  Tucker had the last water balloon and he lovingly held onto it for a very long time before he finally dropped it:)

I'm noticing some different outfits.  These pictures are from the course of a couple days.  We had a huge afternoon meal on Saturday.  Then some of the Cayes group spent the night and we had church together followed by lunch on Sunday.

Patriotic Jello pops.

After all was said and done, all three kids fell asleep.  At the same time.  That is pretty much unheard of these days.  Sometimes one or the other of the older two will take a nap, but all three at the same time?  Never!!  And we found Summer like this in her own little bed she made with our pillows and Danny's shirt on top of the trunk that sits at the foot of our bed:)  Whatever works I guess!

The only sad thing from the weekend was that we had ordered a bunch of food through Agape Flights that we don't normally have down here.  We were so excited to have this special meal!  But then Agape couldn't come that week for some reason so we didn't have our berries or lettuce or things like that.  But we made do, it was still tasty, and truly refreshing and a blessing to be together.  And the good news is that we will still be getting our food- hopefully this week- so we can still enjoy it:)

And we have plans!  Soon enough we will get to enjoy our favorite foods anyway!  As always, things are subject to change because this is Haiti and then COVID of course.  BUT, we have tickets bought to go out on furlough!  If everything goes according to plan, we will fly from Port-au-Prince to Fort Lauderdale on Sunday, August 2.  We will spend the night in FLL and fly into Bloomington on Monday the 3rd.  We will spend a week in IL with my family before heading to a three day missionary orientation (yes, even though we've already been on the field for a year), and from there head to our "home base" for this furlough in IN.  Because of having a baby, we will be in the states longer than we normally would on a furlough, and also our time will not be divided very equally between IN and IL.  But we will have a few weekish long visits back in IL over the course of our time in the states.  Our return date is very unknown at this point.  There are several factors going into it and we will just have to take the wait and see approach for now.

We are really excited to come!  We are looking so forward to seeing people, eating the foods we love, and having air conditioning:)  That being said, please be patient with us at first!  When we evacuated in the fall, we had only been gone for two months and it was very easy to just jump back into the American life.  This time is different, and we aren't sure how we will react to the social overload and the pace of life up there.  So if we seem a little off, especially at first, please give us some grace and don't take it personally!  I am more nervous about all that than Danny is, and it will probably be just fine, but just a heads up.

I'm not sure if I will have any more posts on here before we leave, so if not, we'll see you when we get there!

Everyday Life

Again with the crafting.  All day every day if she would be allowed.  I have limited her mostly to the time after lunch when Tucker is in bed and she's not because crafting with Tucker around takes the stress level from about a 2 to off the charts.

One weekend afternoon Danny turned on the sprinkler for the kids (well, and himself because it's HOT!) and used that time to wash some of the bigger outside toys.  Summer said "I'm pretending this is fun but it's really not.  We should be getting paid for this!"

Sometimes they just sit and look at books and I love that so much.

He's a goofball, that one!

So... this picture:)  Our permits came so I guess that means we officially have permission to live in Haiti now.  But this picture!  I was in the middle of my first trimester and felt nasty.  My hair was greasy- combination of the heat and desperately needing a shower.  I was wearing a sleeveless dress and they said my shoulders had to be completely covered.  So they had this jacket for me to wear.  I was so hot already and not feeling well.  And then I put on this jacket, that, judging by the smell had never been washed.  So I held my breath as best I could and thank the Lord they were satisfied after the first shot they took.  And then we got the pictures printed and cracked up!  I think I look like a little grade school boy from the 1800's or something like that!

Seriously- a goofball!  And yes, he's wearing the same shirt.  I think it was from the same day but truthfully, he wears the same outfit for at least two days in a row and sometimes three.  Including bedtime.  I mean, he doesn't have a ton of clothes so if they're not terribly dirty, what's the point of a new outfit every day?!?!?!

The Aberle's are all out on furlough right now.  Once a week or so Danny goes to check on their house.  And while they're gone we are the keepers of their 4-wheeler.  A lot of days he drives that to work in the afternoon and then texts me when he's leaving work.  When I get the text, I send the kids to the bottom of our back steps where he meets them and drives them up the hill to our front gate.  They love it so much!  Sometimes Sawyer will go to the bottom gate like an hour before Danny's finished working to meet him.  He doesn't last the whole hour usually but he sure is excited for his daddy to come home!  Well, and he's excited for his ride, too:)

The goofball is also a determined little fella.  When we're doing dishes he goes to the bathroom to retrieve the stool (yes that is a squatty potty) and brings it to the kitchen to get a better view of the action.  And if he gets distracted for awhile and leaves the kitchen, we will return it to the bathroom.  But he will go back and get it again so he can see!  He is not a fan of being on the sidelines, that's for sure!

This was on my flip calendar yesterday.  It made me say "ouch".  If you can't read it, it says "From pain will emerge a deeper trust in God... a beauty we could not imagine."

Happy Thursday, everyone!  Or whatever day it may be when you read this:)