Little Of This... Little Of That...

Life has been pretty normal, day in day out, run of the mill the last few weeks.  Which is truly not a bad thing!  Here's a smattering for you to enjoy:)

Squishy McSquisherson hit four months!  I feel kinda bad for him.  I mean, I'm pretty sure that the other three kids had their own separate post at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months and Tanner is just getting jumbled in with a bunch of other stuff at four months.  Sorry buddy!!  We'll see if we can at least get an eight month post in there for you!

This was his first time in the bumbo.  He didn't hate it but it wasn't his favorite.  He's getting a little better with it though.

He's kind of taking his time with things like rolling.  Maybe because he has so much to roll over??  He squirms around on his back and rolls up onto his side enough to do a full 360 though when he's on his play mat.  He's just as sweet as ever and still sleeping like a champ at night.  Naps are a little iffy- some days he naps great and others he will just limp along with catnaps.  But I really don't complain because he does so good at night!  He is quick to offer a big ole smile and loves to interact with others.

A couple Saturdays ago, Danny and I went on a little date to the market that's about halfway down the mountain.  I wish I would have remembered to take pictures to give you a better picture of it but I didn't.  But I did get a picture of the parking lot...

Summer has been doing great with school.  She does miss having other kids in the class but I don't think she minds getting all the attention either.  One day they were talking about Hawaii and we got a video of her doing a little dance in her hula girl getup:)  Sawyer has been going three days a week but we are going to drop it down to two.  He enjoys it, but really he's not actually starting Kindergarten until fall of 2022 so it's just a little much for him.  But it's nice for him to have a little something to do.

I found this one on my phone and it made me smile:)

When we visit the missionaries in Cayes, we get to drive through the river.  This was later in the afternoon than normal when I took this picture.  Usually it's full of people doing laundry, washing their motos, and bathing.  I'll be honest, it makes me feel a little cool when I'm driving a big stick shift vehicle through a river.  Don't worry though.  Soon after I get through the river I have to stop and go on a hill to get back onto the main road and I usually kill it at least once if not two or three times and then I'm put back into my not cool place.

I get so carsick on these roads that I usually just look straight ahead.  But sometimes I just need to stop and appreciate the beauty.

We've had a few days that were hot enough for swimming and popsicles!

Summer got a bug house for Christmas as she is forevermore trying to catch some kind of critter and find a box for it to live in.  Danny and the kids caught a lizard and had him in there a few days.  His name was Quick.  Because he was fast.  Super original, I know.  Poor Quick never got fed and after two or three days I said they had to release him.  He was definitely quick then once we opened the door and let him out.  FREEDOM!!!

She also has an obsession with making knots and tying things up.  If there is something she can make a knot with, she does.  She loves to tie up animals and have them on a leash.  Sawyer got those dinosaur eggs for Christmas where you can dig out a little plastic dinosaur and Summer had about five of them tied up together.

Our Haitian minivan.  If we're only hauling kids, we just walk.  But if we're going somewhere for supper and have food and stuff, we load up the gator.  We've had our share of casualties when we hit a bump a little too hard.  The kids have gotten really good with holding on with both hands with their arms straight out to prevent said casualties.

There is an orphanage not too far from here that Carrie likes to visit.  I finally had a chance to go for the first time!  The kids were cute of course and loved getting visitors.

Such a sweet little smile!

The nannies loved Tanner and said I should leave him there.  They were shocked to hear he was only four months old.  He might be the fattest four month old in the country!

We've loved having the Moreau family here the last few weeks.  They left this morning to head back to Connecticut but they have been such a blessing to all of us down here!

Their oldest daughter did a great job with Summer.  She is just so full of ideas and wants to do all the things so when someone is willing to work with that I really appreciate it!

So that's been life the last few weeks!  Today is a relaxing, no schedule Saturday.  Well, most of our Saturdays are like that I guess.  Well, except Tanner has his schedule and I hear him letting me know it's time to move onto the next thing.  So until next time!  Bye:)

Goodbye's And Weddings And Christmas, Oh My!

Well we are back in the saddle.  With Christmas and New Year's happening in there we might have been just as busy as everyone in the states!  A little increase of activity and plans for us here and some definite decrease for everyone up there, we ended up being about equal:)  Danny is back at work and I am back to answering the gate and pretending I know what people are saying.   However inflation went way down while we were out on furlough and the amount of people coming with needs/wants/things to sell has also decreased.  The needs are definitely still there but they are not as overwhelming as they were in the spring and summer.  And of course we had people coming to ask if we had a Christmas gift for them because, I mean, why not???  The answer was always no.

We bade farewell to our friend, sister, and cohort, Ruth, soon after we returned to Bonne Fin.  She spent I think four years here in Haiti and has now returned to Iowa.  We were on the field with her for 16 months but between furloughs and COVID we were actually only together in Haiti for less than four of those months.  We wish so badly we could have had a whole lot more months but we're glad we had the ones we did:) 

The kids got the biggest kick out of her!!

On December 19 one of our yard guys got married.

Turns out Danny was the equivalent of the best man!  We did not know this was going to happen.  We were sitting in our chairs waiting for the wedding to start when the other yard guy came up and said the groom needed Danny.  So he left and I sat and waited for him to return.  A few minutes later the music started and in walks Danny and the groom together!  So I was by myself for the duration of the wedding.

But at least I had a cute date still.

Also we had a lot of people in the back of our vehicle.  It was probably the most that was ever in there because usually it just transports Americans but Haitian style is just a little more cozy.  I was not complaining to be sitting up front.

After the wedding the vehicle was parked in our driveway for awhile and the kids kept getting the mops and brooms out of our storage depot and cleaning it:)

One day I went to get a bowl of cereal and noticed a small lizard had met it's fate the last time I had put the container back up on the fridge.  Can you see it hanging off of the bottom?  Oops, sorry little lizard!

Carrie had us over to decorate cookies and I think Tucker had the same cookie the whole time.  He just kept adding more frosting and licking it off.

Christmas!!  Because of Christmas church services and family plans we've never had a typical "Christmas morning" with our kids.  It was kind of fun to do that!  We did wait until after breakfast though.  I made a french toast casserole that I thought would be kind of special and they would love it.  They didn't.  Such is the life of a mother feeding her children.

Being in Haiti didn't prevent "the aftermath" like I thought it maybe would.  We gave grandparents to thank for that:)

Later that day we got together with the missionary family.  It was an afternoon filled with good food, good company, Settlers of Catan for some, and watching Elf for the others.

I wasn't sure what Christmas would be like for us as it was our first time away for it.  The hot weather was definitely a foreign feeling.  No cozy blankets or fires or hot drinks were really needed.  Aside from one grocery store with lights and garlands strung up (and really annoying Christmas tunes that sounded like they came from a child's toy), there were no festive decorations.  Well, except for my nostalgic big colored lights I (still have) strung up on our back porch area!  I told Danny it was kind of a heart check for me.  I am such a Christmas junkie.  I don't necessarily love all the commercialism of America, but I do love the gatherings, food, lights, music, hustle and bustle, gift exchanges, and even the weather that comes along with a midwest Christmas.  So taking that all away was a little bit sad, but made me celebrate the holiday for all the right reasons.  I'm sure many of you had similar feelings with everything being so different this year.  So thankful for the reason for the season!

We hosted New Year's Eve at our house so we could put our kids to bed and enjoy being around for the whole party rather than having to leave at like 8:00.  We have an extra family down here right now that came to visit a few days after Christmas and is planning to stay until January 23.  The husband/dad is on the hospital board.  With six extra people we just had ourselves a nice little party!  I only got one picture of the whole night but I think it's a real cute one!  Tanner and his Auntie Carrie:)

And with that, Happy New Year, everybody!  Remember to keep your hope in Jesus and not in 2021:)