Endings And Beginnings

Beginning is always a word I'm not sure if I'm spelling right.  I always think it should have two g's for some reason.  And then I type it out both ways to see which one looks the best and I always come to the conclusion that what I have in the title of this post is correct.  It helps when the red squiggly line shows up underneath the other option.  But I digress. 

Oh, I've always wanted to use that sentence!  I read it in other people's writings and it took me a long time to even figure out what it meant.  I mean, all I really needed to do was to look up the definition but I guess I'm a little slow or something because I didn't do that for a long time.  But now I know what people mean when they say that and so now I can say it too.  Oh lookie there.  I digressed again:)

ANYWAY.....

After Covid made it's rounds in our circle, we filled the time we had left in the states as much as we could spending time with family and friends.  And in the meantime Tanner got chunky.  Or maybe I already mentioned that.  But he is over the 50% though I can't remember for sure where he falls.  (4th child woes)  It might even be close to 75%.  But before him, Tucker was our chunkiest baby coming in at the 10%.  He's just such a little squish!!

Thanksgiving with Danny's family- grandma did some of the games she had planned for her fall party that was cancelled and Sawyer was double fisting the apples after the bobbing was completed.

Guys.  My mom found my first pair of glasses from when I was in 1st grade.  I remember getting those... I wanted a blue pair like some of the other kids in my class had.  My dad convinced me to get these.  They have a tiny picture of a smurf on the sides which is how he made me say they were okay to get.  Looking back from an adult perspective, I'm sure it's just because they were a lot cheaper than the blue ones!!  Oh and the dots on Summer's forehead are from dressing up like an Indian at school.  But really, did I look that cute/dorky???

We were so happy to have some snow before we left!  I think Summer was the most excited.  She loves to play in the snow!  When she got dropped off from school that day, it took her forever to come inside the house.  Finally I opened the door to see what was up and she was just taking her time, eating snow before she came in!

This guy opted for a snack instead of the snow.  He pretty much chooses snacks over anything.  Truly, "snack" was one of his first words!

Seriously.  I just want to smooshle him!  Rolls for dayz.

And then our furlough was done.  My goodness there was a lot that happened during that time.  August 2, when we left Haiti, seems so, so long ago.  Yet our time in the states went so fast.  We were all ready to come back and I was so thankful for that.  Just a few weeks earlier I wasn't quite able to say that I was ready.  But we just reached that point when it was time.

Travelling went amazingly smooth.  I don't doubt that God heard people's prayers on our behalf.  The kids did great, and the flight attendants were kind.  We left Danny's parents at 9:00 Saturday morning and pulled into our drive about 3:30 Sunday afternoon.  It was a long journey, we were all so very tired, but it was good to be back.

It was also great to have Danny's parents along for the ride.  They were so helpful with the kids while we travelled and got settled in.  We had a house that was torn apart because it had been painted while we were gone, lots of luggage to unpack, and the most recent container that was shipped arrived on Sunday so all of that stuff showed up at our house too.  It would have taken about 3 times as long to get settled in if they had not been here!

We had sent some of our baby gear on the container and the bumbo promptly got used by the big kids.  Sawyer said to me, "Look mom!  I still fit in the dumbo!"  Oh, and that's his new smile.

We sent some Christmas decorations down before we had even moved in.  Last year we were still in the states for Christmas after evacuating so I was excited to bust them out this year!  This little tree was perfect for the kids to decorate.  It's already haphazardly being held up with a box and books so I had no problem letting go and allowing the kids to have full control of decorating it.  It was the perfect size for them and they had a blast!

Tanner experienced Haitian church for the first time.  He wasn't sure what to think of all that noise!  But eventually he settled in and took a little nap and we stayed a lot longer than I expected we would.

All the kids still adore him.  But the one who surprises me the most is Sawyer.  He just loves to be right by him and talk real sweet into his face.  The other day Tanner was fussing in his bouncy seat and Sawyer tried showing him a book to cheer him up!

First day of school for the second time this year!  We loved loved loved our experience at KA the first  part of the school year.  We are so thankful they let us in for just a few months:)  We took one week off to get settled in and then started back up again, this time as the Bonne Fin Geckos!  It's a beautiful little school, just perfect for a small amount of students.  With the Herrmann's being in the states right now, that leaves Summer as the only one.  So Miss Trinity said it would be okay if we sent Sawyer a few days a week too!  They had their first day yesterday and came home with rave reports about how great it was!  Well, except Summer was disappointed to learn she still had to do handwriting:)  Tucker was sad that he didn't get to stay.  We came home and within five minutes I couldn't find him.  Sure enough he had gone outside, pushed open the gate, and was headed up the hill.  He almost made it all the way to the school before I realized he was gone!  So needless to say we will be locking the gate from now on.

We are glad to be back.  It feels good to be in our own house and to start finding our routine again.  We know there will be days when we feel really worn down from loneliness, stresses of cross cultural living, and spiritual warfare.  But we are at peace being here and we know people are praying.  We can feel it!  So thank you for that if you are one of those people:)  You pray for us and we'll pray for you!