Eastgiving? Thankster?

Agape Flights, which is the organization we get our mail through, generously supplies missionaries in the Caribbean with a Thanksgiving meal each year.  Each family who wants one gets a frozen turkey along with a box of non perishable Thanksgiving foods.  When they sent out the email in the early fall, we had said that yes, we would like to receive our meal.  That was before we knew we would be back in the states for three unexpected months.  So ever since the middle of November, we have had a turkey in our freezer and a box of Thanksgiving food in our pantry.  Shortly after we came back in, I found myself in the middle of first trimester woes and had no desire whatsoever to prepare a meal like that one.  And then a couple weeks ago we ordered a 40 pound box of chicken legs to add to our already getting crowded freezer.

The time had come.

 I knew that in order for all the chicken legs to fit, the turkey had to come out.  So we had Thanksgiving dinner for our Easter celebration!  I had never made a turkey before so I was a little nervous.  But thanks to the oven bag they provided and the handy little pop up thermometer in the turkey, it went pretty well.  Always learning what I would do different the next time but I was well satisfied with how it turned out!  And yes, I know this picture is post carving.  Sorry.

We had the whole spread.  Turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potato casserole, stuffing, green beans, cranberry sauce... it was so good!!  Topped off with pumpkin pie of course.

We invited the Herrmann kids to join us while their parents had a little date night:)

The next day we did resurrection eggs and flannel stories also with the Herrmanns before coming home and coloring eggs with the kids.

The kids have been really eager to help with dishes lately.  We have not been super eager to let them.  But they love it and so sometimes we say yes.  And really, might as well teach 'em young, right?  There will come a day when we have to force them to do dishes:)

A few days ago I decided I was tired of doing the same pony tail everyday so I did a throwback to the french braid I used to wear every day.

And the Summer, who for once actually had gotten her hair done early on in the day, really wanted a french braid to match.  So I begrudgingly agreed said sure!  Her hair is NOT easy to work with.  But she loved it and just as I know there will come a day when she doesn't want to do dishes, there will also come a day when she doesn't want to try to be just like me:)  So I guess we'll go with it for now.

We are thinking of you all and praying for you while you are all stuck at home all the time.  It's been fun seeing all your different posts about what you're doing to pass time and stay sane!  The COVID-19 virus doesn't seem to be spreading at an alarming rate down here, but it is spreading.  I am not really involved with the hospital at all, but from all I hear, they are about as prepared as they can be and praying that they don't have to put all those preparations to good use.

Hang in there, everyone.

Oh and also?  Thanksgiving meals always give me the chance to recreate the most amazing sandwich that we first had in Maine.  And it makes me happy:)

My Tribute To Grandma

I keep trying to think of all the things I want to say about Grandma, but the words and thoughts are not flowing.  But I guess I don't need to say too much.  Just acknowledge the sweet, prim, and proper grandma that she was.  Oh, and with a side of Spunk!  Sometimes the things that came out of her mouth were hilarious!!  She loved us all dearly and treated us in a way that we never questioned that.  She struggled a lot with memory thanks to brain aneurysm she had in her 50's.  But toward the end God gave her the clarity to really share her excitement about heaven.  The last real conversation I had with her was over Face Time and though her voice and body were weak she talked clearly and openly about what was to come.

I don't have too many pictures of her.  There's a few good ones out there but grandma's typical reaction to seeing a camera was putting her hand up or turning her head away:)  She was more than happy to learn there would be no visitation with people filing through and looking at her!

But I do have this one that I love, even though it's blurry.  Grandma loved babies.  This was Sawyer's first Christmas and she held him and talked to him, oblivious to what else was going on around her:)

There will always be things that remind me of grandma.  Snickers Bars and the original Chapstick in a black tube being two big ones.  You could always count on her having those two things, though the Snickers were usually hidden somewhere.  I'm not sure there was ever a Christmas where at least one grandkid didn't gift her some of those:)

She will be greatly missed, that is for sure.  But more than anything, we are all so happy for her to be able to go on home.

Disappointment, Fear, Hard Things

I have so many thoughts in my head.  They're not floating around- more like zinging around like a pinball machine on steroids.  

We were supposed to be leaving for Florida today for our annual pilgrimage.  Some of Danny's family is still going, some have opted to stay home.  The day Trump cancelled flights from Europe was the day I knew in my heart we wouldn't be going.  It wasn't until a few days later that we made the official decision to not go.  I was (and still am) so sad.

My tiny little hometown with it's tiny little high school with less than 200 students excelled in basketball this year.  The boys team made it to the Final Four and had a great chance of winning state when the tournament was cancelled.

So many plans changed that are completely out of our control.  So many things that are disappointing, yes, but really don't matter in the grand scheme of things.

So much other heartache going on in the midst of a really chaotic world.  Whether the chaos from COVID-19 is necessary or not, I'm not sure.  Probably not as necessary as what people are doing.  But the heartache for some people continues, quarantine or not.  Death, illness, strained family relationships, you name it.  Those things don't stop just because someone says wash your hands and stay home.  They only become more complicated.

For me personally, my grandma is getting close to meeting Jesus.  While I am so happy for her, it is hard to not be there during this time.  I missed the funeral for my Grandpa Aeschleman, but I was there during all of his last days.  It's a special time for the family.  I had already gotten married and moved to Indiana when my Grandpa Hodel was on his deathbed, but was able to make it back for his last couple days and of course for the visitation and funeral.  Again, a special time for the family.  I just had a chance this afternoon to talk with grandma on FaceTime.  She is so excited to die!  And even though I can say goodbye on the phone, it's hard to not have that special time with the family and the closure that comes with a visitation and funeral.

The coronavirus has officially come to Haiti.  If it's really as bad as some people say it is, it will be devastating to the country.  The virus, yes, but also the ripple effects that come along with it.  The problems will go far beyond a respiratory disease.  And people don't have a lot of access to soap and water, or at least clean water, to wash hands frequently.  Limited healthcare, panicked people who will be afraid to go to market, market vendors who will quit bringing food to the market because they have no customers, desperation increasing.

Today is the first day of everything being shut down, and there is already an influx of people at the gate.  I cannot help them all.  Part of me wants to try to help at least some, part of me just gets annoyed that they are there asking for more and more and more.

Today is the first day I have wrestled with fear over the whole thing.  Between that and several other things going on, the last few days have been highly emotional.  Pregnancy hormones don't help either:)  So it has been a day of music listening, devotion reading, praying, thinking, quoting scripture about fear.... and some tears shed too.

So.  All of the above might make sense, or it might not.  Maybe doing any sort of processing on here wasn't a good idea.  I don't know.  But it's the real deal, I guess.

And so to end things on a little bit lighter note, here's a picture of the kids when they were all super happy and Danny was tickling them all together and I just love it:)

Also, your cultural picture of the post:  We have a mango tree right outside our back porch.  The branches hang over the tin roof that is on the porch.  The mangos are not ripe yet but are getting bigger and fall onto the tin roof.  Which sounds like gunshots.  And they don't necessarily abide by our schedules.  They fall in the middle of the night, just as they fall in the middle of the day.  So Danny hired this kid with a slingshot and a good aim to try and shoot as many as possible out of the tree so they would quit falling and causing us to jump out of our skin every so often!

Thanks for your prayers.  We haven't forgotten that a lot of you have a lot of hard things going on too, and we pray for you as well.

Here We Go Again...

Because we haven't had enough big changes recently...

This was a very difficult picture to take!  Tucker had different ideas of what to do with his sign than what I had envisioned for him:)

So, here's the answers to (at least some of) your questions:

I was pretty nauseous for awhile.  I am not back to normal, but I am definitely getting better.  Evenings can still be pretty rough, and if I am not careful about the type of food I eat and the amount I eat than I regret it.  Rich, creamy food gets me every time.  Taste so good, feels so bad.

We are planning to come home to have the baby.  The time we spent considering having it here in Haiti was pretty short lived.  We know things can change and for some reason we might be here.  But as long as we have any say in the matter, we will be coming home.

I don't really have any inclinations as to what it is yet.  Summer has been diligently praying for a sister for quite awhile now.  Before we told the kids I asked her "What if God would give us another baby and it would be a boy?  Would you be okay with that?"  And she says "Well, yeah, it would be okay.  But I just don't NEED another brother!"

I haven't had any appointments yet but I will plan to do prenatal care down here.  The OB doctor has a very good reputation and speaks excellent English and I am plenty comfortable going to him.  This has definitely been a reminder in how much I put my trust in men rather than God.  Even though this doctor here is really good, he doesn't have many of the resources available to him that my doctor in the states would.  Those resources give me a lot of comfort when I think about things going wrong.  But, just as with everything, God is in control and I do believe that, and now it's time to put that belief into maybe a little more action than I have in the past.

We are..... excited:)  And a little overwhelmed.  And maybe questioning our sanity.  But overall excited.

And that's all I can think of for now!  (Pregnancy brain, you know...)

Visitors!!

We have enjoyed some visitors in the recent days and weeks!  A couple weeks ago, my uncle was in Haiti with a team and was able to come spend a few hours with us.  We had a great time catching up and the kids loved playing with him.  We're so glad he could come!

This past week my parents were in country.  My mom spent the whole time with us while my dad did a lot of work with the organizations he is heavily involved in.  He was able to come up yesterday though, and spend the night with us!

My favorite thing that mom did while she was here was all the dishes!  She just jumped right in and I don't think I washed a single dish all week.  So amazing!  The kids' favorite thing was that she brought face paints:)  It was a huge hit!!

Even huger of a hit was when she agreed to let Summer paint her face in return.Summer was more than delighted and took her job very seriously!

Sawyer, who mostly boycotts naps these days, couldn't help but fall asleep to the sound of grandma's late afternoon book reading time.  Twice she sat down to read books with the kids and after awhile we noticed Sawyer cashed out!

Also, it just so happened that she was here over our anniversary.  Since date night places are pretty limited, we did a little at home date.  She had brought in some boneless skinless chicken for me and I had sent down some Panda Express orange chicken sauce.  So the kids had hot dogs while me and my hubby of six years now had orange chicken and fried rice.  We ate in our locked bedroom where we enjoyed a movie with no interruptions and no falling asleep because we actually started it in good time:)  It was quite tasty and about as fun as it gets as far as dates go around here.  We were really glad for that time!

But now, as of this afternoon, they are gone:(  We loved having them here!  Thanks for all the help, mom!

Tucker Goes To The ER

So the moral of today's lesson is this:  Hide Your Pills!

Actually, the pills around here are pretty well hidden and high up.  But Danny had gotten one of his blood pressure pills out to take, then realizing he didn't have any water just set it down.  And it doesn't take long, does it?  Tucker found it and ate it.  We really think he ended up not actually ingesting any because Danny pulled a chunk from his mouth and Summer said he had something white on his hands, like maybe he didn't like how it tasted and tried to take it out of his mouth.  But we just didn't know for sure.  So we talked to a fellow missionary who is a nurse practitioner and we called poison control.  Even though we were pretty confident he was okay, we decided to take him just for observation.  Because in case he would have gotten more than what we thought, we knew it could be bad.

In the waiting area, which is just two small benches sitting in a corner of the ER, Tucker was more than happy to be there.  He had no idea what was coming.

Dr. Mesidor, the hospital pediatrician, speaks very good English and got us started.  We were very happy to have her there.  But Tucker?  Well, his fun was rapidly coming to an end.

Next he was admitted for observation, which meant getting an IV in case he would need medicine quickly.  At this point, my fun also came to a screeching halt.  It took four sticks, some jiggling of the needle, some blood spurting everywhere (twice), three nurses, and me holding Tucker down to get it accomplished.  I am not usually too quick to cry, but that did me in.  It was rough for both of us.  The second time blood started spurting Danny said he was going to go get some air.  I thought he would be coming back soon, but he ended up just going to his office.  So there I sat, thinking he fainted somewhere in the hospital and was getting taken care of somewhere else.  But then communication was made, and all was well.

Anyway, back to the IV.  They finally got one in the underside of his wrist which was a terribly inconvenient spot.  Before they even left the room, Tucker hooked his thumb on the tubing and it came off of the IV, sending fluids squirting all over the place.  He had been getting tired while we were waiting to be admitted, and after the IV trauma, he cashed out in my arms.  They came back in to put this little contraption on to help stabilize the IV, and he hollered the whole time even though he was still asleep.

But then finally the ordeal was over and I could lay him down.  He did not move an inch for about an hour.

After he woke up, it was quite the chore to keep him from yanking on the IV.  But earlier I had run home to get a few toys, books, and snacks, and that helped.  Danny came in at lunch, so I could go home again to eat and bring something back for Tucker.  Things were looking up by then.  Even though he was still hooked up, he was getting more comfortable with the IV, crawling all over the bed while I moved the tubes around like a jump rope so he didn't pull them out.  And lunch time always makes him happy:)  Although even at 17 months, he figured out how to milk it pretty good.  He wanted me to feed him, and even if I just put a bite in my hand for him to pick up, he would just lean forward and eat out of my hand rather than going to all that effort to pick it up himself!

Finally, FINALLY, the IV was taken out and we were able to go home around 4:30.  We had gotten to the ER about 8:30.  We even had some company!  There is a couple here from the states visiting the hospital.  Soon after we were admitted, she was wheeled in for low blood pressure, fainting, and dehydration!  So she was in the room next to us all day.  Quite a day for the Americans at Hospital Lumiere!

And then after supper that night, Tucker got a sucker.  You earned it, buddy!

Didn't Mean For It To Go This Long...

Well now!  I've been wanting to blog for awhile now, but I was having some technical difficulties.  Which is nothing new under the sun in my world.  But here we are finally!  We've been back almost a month now though it feels like longer.  It feels weird that we were ever even gone.  I know we were though because of all the language we lost.  I got plenty made fun of when people realized how much I completely forgot:)  But I can tell that I am once again making progress!  

I think I mentioned in the last post that the container with all of our stuff on it finally came while we were in the states.  In it was my beloved purple bowl.  I got this bowl in a Christmas grab a few years ago and I just really liked it.  I had originally put it up in storage but asked Danny's sister if she could put it on the container.  I just was wishing I had it.  Well she searched and searched for it but just couldn't find it so I said don't worry about it.  And then at the last minute she found it in an unexpected place.  I was so excited!  So I unpacked the boxes and found a spot for my beloved purple bowl.  And then within about ten minutes of me putting it there, along comes Tucker to get into the cupboards.  Cause that's what he does.  And he pulled out my precious bowl, dropped it onto the tile floor, and broke it beyond use.  All that for nothing!  It looks usable in the picture but there was a crack over halfway through the whole thing:(

Some of us spent time at the beach a few weeks ago.  I think it is a pretty regular activity here, but with all the unrest it had not been safe enough to travel freely and we had never been.  So we finally got to go!  Summer loved playing with the other kids and loved being turned into a mermaid.

 

Sawyer played mostly by himself, thoroughly enjoying digging and digging and digging.  We left Tucker back with someone who didn't go which made for a much more relaxing experience.

Speaking of Tucker, he finally got a haircut.

It was his third or fourth haircut but it still made me a little sad.  But he really needed one and I guess he's still pretty cute:)

Sawyer's birthday presents, including a little pool, were on the container.  His birthday is in October so it was fun for him to be able to celebrate again.

One of our house ladies stopped by one day with her darling little baby.  So cute!!

These three stop by our house multiple times a week.  Depending on my mood and what I'm doing at the time I either enjoy it or get annoyed.  Just being real.  But they always like to try and sell me produce.  Sometimes I  buy it and sometimes not.  But they are regulars around here!

And then the next container came right on schedule!!

I took the kids down to watch it be unloaded for awhile.  We had a few things we had put on there but mostly just restocking our pantry and our SNACKS!!  I mean, once I saw the amount of snacks I had sent I realized I may have overcompensated for not sending many the last time.  But we're all set for a good while now!

Also on that container were some fake tarantulas that a certain grandma who likes to play tricks sent down so her grand kids could scare people:)  I told Danny they're going to be so normal for Tucker to hold that one day he's going to pick one up outside and I will freak out!!  Good thing they mainly just come out at night when he's in bed:)

We are feeling good and settled again.  We've had back to back teams the last three weeks.  That doesn't affect me too much since I don't do too much with them.  But it keeps a lot of the others plenty busy!  However it has been nice to enjoy some extra fellowship with them being here.  And now hopefully I have all my technical difficulties figured out and it won't be so long until I post again:)