We're Back!

Well we made it back all in one piece!  We had about twenty some boxes waiting for us along with all our luggage to unpack upon our arrival.  Everything is coming together but still not quite finished yet.  It was pretty overwhelming opening up all of our stuff.  We had just a couple weeks after we first moved to decide what we wanted to have sent on the next container.  Having just gotten here, we were not used to living with less and we sent far more than we probably would have if we had had the chance to settle in a little bit more.  It seemed like for most of the stuff we opened we thought "WHY did we send this???"  So our once sparsely filled house is now very much so no longer sparse.  One more thing to try to reconcile in my mind and heart as the "us/them differences" are even more so glaringly obvious.  But I will say there are a few things I'm really glad we sent:)

All that being said, we are glad to be back and are looking forward to feeling settled again.  And I am once again all flustered at the thought of learning Creole.  Just when I felt like I was making some progress....

And we want to finally introduce our house help and yard guys!  We took these pictures with them right before we left in October.  First up, our house ladies!  Johana is holding Summer, and she cleans for us.  She is quiet and soft spoken and leaves the house spic and span when she's finished.  Madame Mari is holding Tucker and she does the cooking.  She is bubbly and outgoing and makes some really good food.  They make a pretty good team.  I think before they were hired they knew of each other but that was about it.  I can't understand what they're saying but they seem to enjoy working together.

Then we have our yard guys.  Most people only hire one, but we have a large yard with an abundant supply of plants that we have no idea how to take care of, nor do we really have the time.  I'm not around them as much since they are always outside, but they seem to have a good thing going.  They  even have a garden going for me!  So far I don't think you can classify it as a bumper crop but we're all new to this so we'll see how things go with it in the future.  Someinson is the shorter one on the left and Famito is in the red.

They all kept working while we were gone, keeping things in tip top shape.  They all work hard and do so with a smile.  I'm looking forward to getting to know them all better as time goes on.  While Danny was here in November, he started having them eat in the house with him for lunch rather than on the porch where they had been before.  He enjoyed it and got them all to admit that they preferred it:)  It should help with developing more of a relationship with them and we are going to keep up with that arrangement.

So there's our people:)  Come visit us and you can meet them in person!

Christmas And PLANS!!

So where did we leave off.....?  Oh yeah, we had just finished another stint in Illinois and hit up the hotel with our kids on the way back to Indiana.

We jumped right into Christmas activities with a candlelight Christmas singing and also caroling.  The kids were generally happier than what the picture would suggest:)

Then it was time for the Christmas overnighter with Danny's family!

Always loud, chaotic, but fun.

Each year the kids do a play and this was the first time Summer and Sawyer were into it enough to have roles.  Sawyer's part was Baby Jesus and he took it VERY seriously!

After staying up until midnight the night before, a nap was in order.  Midnight was only the kids' bedtime.  That was the hour the adults put on a movie and broke out the snacks.

And then back to Illinois we went for my family Christmas.  (Yes, we have grown very weary of going back and forth.)

Tucker's present was a big hit with all of our kids!!

On Christmas day we had our own little family Christmas.  Once we got home from church that morning I made sure to wear my festive Christmas leggings for the rest of the day to celebrate.  I just love them!

We said our final farewells to my family on the 28th and then hit the road..... again.  We had one more extended family Christmas where our kids got toothbrushes.  Because we are very much at a point where small, useful, and/or consumable is very important.  Summer loved hers and since there was two in the package she gifted one to a cousin.  Brushing their teeth together while using their new toothbrushes was a highlight for Summer.  It's the little things I guess:)

We had a very multi cultural, kid friendly New Year's celebration that ended at 9:00 at night.

Then once all our kids were in bed we finished out 2019 by playing games and solving the world's problems with Aaron and Cass.

And now we have a whole new year ahead of us again.  A clean slate.  We are pretty excited to say we have tickets bought and plan to head back to Haiti this coming Sunday, January 5.  Well, to Miami anyways.  And then Haiti on Monday.  We are thankful for the unexpected blessing of this time but we are also very ready to go back.  We need routine.  Our kids need routine.  We have another big adjustment in front of us that might not be super fun or easy but it's time.  Our family and friends have been more than generous- especially our parents for letting us crash their houses and putting up with our suitcases and back and forth-ness.  We want to give a huge thanks to everybody for all the support you've given us during a very unplanned and uncertain time.  We appreciate each one of you so much!!  We would love to be kept in the loop of your lives, whether every day happenings or prayer requests or whatever it might be.  Please feel free to shoot us an email or Facebook message anytime.  We'd love to hear from you!  But for now, God Be With You Til We Meet Again!