Update!

SO much to Blog tonight, so check back later! :-). HOWEVER...

Stephanie just came up to the balcony with news that our file WAS one of the 7 files!!! (Wadson just brought them back.) So we are on to the second phase of courts now! And this means that God just answered our specific prayer to move before December end!

More later, I promise!

Happy Birthday to Trey Amos! Pics later!

Giggle Monster!

We love having Samuel Chancelet with us during the evening hours...  he is always alive and happy.  Last night we really felt what it would be like to be together as a "family."  He is getting comfortable around us and just having fun.  He is so funny - we all get along great and have a fun time laughing...

Night Process

As I was getting ready for bed… I realized what a “process” it is.  So I thought I should share, as one really does have to mentally get “up” for it.  There is no just quickly “going to bed” in Haiti, as you have to go through the process first.

1)     Get the antibacterial wipes out.  Thoroughly clean your feet with them.  Put socks on.

2)     Change clothes for bed (put on a long sleeve – it’s cold and humid)

3)     Remove make-up with remover.  Wash face, but keep lips closed tight! Put hand sanitizer on your face/lips/hands.  Though not sure face washing is doing much good, as we are both finding we have acne like we are 13 years old!  Yuck…  you can just call us zit faces!

4)     Get out the filtered water bottle.  Put toothpaste on toothbrush.  DO NOT TURN ON FAUCET!  Keep one hand with toothbrush and the other with water bottle.  Brush teeth.

5)     Rinse with antibacterial mouthwash, just in case…

6)     Go to the bathroom:  And as you know:  “If it’s yellow, let it mellow… if it ‘s brown flush it down.”  J

7)     Take Tylenol PM so you sleep through the chickens at 3am.

WHEW…  finally?  Turn off the light!

Just Another Fabulous Day in Haiti

We had another action packed and good day today...

We said our good-bye's to the Ramsey's - bittersweet for sure. They are a good family and I am sure they will have a rough time, missing their twins.

While we had expected it to be back on schedule for our 8 babies... we ended up having some unexpected things thrown into the agenda mix, which we are both all for! We love to have a change of pace; some new challenges thrown into the mix.

We had our morning coffee and then spent some time on the balcony with the 3 munchkins - which was a lot of fun. Thanks to Cathleen they all had the cute onesies to wear for their photo shoot!

Then we swapped out for some new kiddos... and started playing until Stephanie came up and asked us if we could show a guest (Joanna) how to care for the babies. She and her husband are the ones who donated diapers and soccer balls for Christmas (he was born in Haiti, but now lives in the USA.) So she spent most of the day with us, giving the babies some extra attention.

We then had lunch and headed back up to the balcony... at about 3:30pm, Dixie came up and asked me if I could film some clips of 6 babies for their referrals! I was totally excited to do that, so I spend the next 1.5 hours getting babies ready and filming them walking, smiling, crawling and such. Then I picked out 3-4 clips of them and got them all to Dixie. It's exciting to think they will get proposed very soon! :-)

Tonight, it was the smallest crowd we have had for dinner since we have been here. Molly and Joyce had supposedly arrived, but didn't come to the Main House for dinner. So we had a quiet meal with John, Dixie, Steeve, Stephanie and Bas. Baked potatoes - yum!

So... now I write in the living room... will probably get the little guy pretty soon for some evening time. It's starting to hit me that we only have 2 full days left in Haiti. The time has flown by... I said a prayer while holding him today - that God will work a miracle and bring him to us very soon. I love that kid so much...

The Boys...

Joanna (day volunteer)

Joe and his baby W.

Jill's girls...

PS: Bas (Sebastian)

I just wanted to share about Bas… his story is sort of special.  

He took over the family business from his grandfather/father in the Netherlands (he lives in Rotterdam) – in commercial appraisal (private/contractor work for banks and institutions.)   He was married to his wife for 24 years and had 2 kids.  He is a workaholic (partially driven by his ADHD.)  But he was so focused on his business and making money and climbing the ladder, belonging to the yacht club and a part of high society in the Netherlands that his wife finally just said she was “done.”  But Bas said he couldn’t see what really mattered in life at that time…  

So anyway – he ended up realizing life wasn’t about material things and he needed God and to get better balance.  He remarried and had 2 more kids…  and then he sold the family business and is now just spending time volunteering and giving back.  He still has a lot, but I think it all means less to him now.  We have pieced together that he has a beautiful house in the Netherlands, a 55-foot yacht, a house in Spain, and he drives a ’99 Porsche Cheyenne… and we found out this morning that he really appreciated that evangelical service this morning.  J 

Funny guy…  oh and we also found out he hadn’t ever painted or tiled before coming to GLA.  He just digs in and figures it out!  The GLA staff all love him…  But I am sure his wife is ready for him to come home!  J

Day 10: Sunday

First off: I am happy to say that I am feeling better... not great, but better. So I am hopeful that I will be good-to-go for the rest of our days here!

We didn't really know what today would hold (other than church at 10:30am) so when we woke up this morning we decided to spend a bit of time with Samuel (in case something came up that wouldn't allow us time with him this afternoon.) So we had fun on the balcony, as he was in a good mood.

Then we were off to church at the Trimble's house. They have a pastor and his family from Alabama visiting them (he used live in Haiti about 20 years ago.) He was a hippy in the early 70's, and lived a rough life, but then became a Christian right before he came to Haiti. He now works with the rough biker crowds in the south. So, we now can say we have participated in a real, live southern "tent-revival" kind of church service! It was an experience for sure...

Then everyone in the church service (plus a few more) came back to GLA for lunch (I think there was about 25 of us or so, so we had to quickly get the table all setup for everyone as soon as we arrived back at GLA. It was rice/beans, chicken, fruit, cheese bread and a carrot soufflé. Very good.

Then Dixie said she was headed up to their apartment and that she would see us "tonight." So... we all tried to convince Dixie's son to take us on a walk to the nearby waterfall, but he was being lazy and didn't want to go anywhere.

So Tanya and Aaron decided to watch a movie. Joe, Bas and I took Samuel on a long walk up to the Toddler House (Bos needed some of his clothes from up there.) It was a great way to spend the afternoon... we got a good work-out in (uphill!) and got to get up to see some of the toddlers... We stopped and bought some drinks at a stand - but I decided not to drink mine as the seal seemed to have been broken. No more chances for this chick! :-)

So - dinner will be in about 1 hour (seems like we just ate!) They sure do feed us a lot around this place...

Tanya and Aaron leave tomorrow morning... I am sure it's going to be hard on them to leave their boys...

Walk up to the Toddler House

We ran into one of the GLA workers and his girlfriend... she wanted her picture taken (they like to do that and then see them on the screen.)  She had quite the model pose going!

Joe, the girlfriend and Bas.  :-)

At the Toddler House:  She is going to PA (very soon!)  The one in the green is going to NYC...

The walk back down to the main house.

Getting drinks along the road

Day 9: The Continuation of "Slothliness"

Well…  I have to say that today was not productive by my standards… (in the context of a volunteer’s life anyway.)

But God did say we needed a day of rest, so we were all trying to convince each other it was “okay.”  Tanya and I decided it was just an odd day – we are the type who just “go” and sometimes it’s hard to just slow down when there is so much to be done.

I am still not feeling great…  I have been dealing with the Haitian crud all day long.  Just always have to make sure a bathroom is nearby!  J  And I have the chills, but it’s not enough to make me want to stay in bed and miss anything.  I just want to take every moment in that I can, because I know I will soon be back home, wishing I was in Haiti; back in those moments.

Joe and I watched a movie in our room from 3-5pm (we brought a little DVD player.)  And then headed over for dinner.  They served pizza tonight.  I took off most of the topping and went with the crust…  J

And then we spent about 2 hours just gathered around the dining table with John, Dixie, Laurie and Stephanie…  Totally random conversation, but it was really nice (and probably good to just rest and enjoy visiting.)  John is really a character – we really like him.  We discussed everything from pets dying to capital punishment to wallpapering to local theft to religion and SpongeBob square pants.

At the same time, Bas started working on tiling the main bathroom floor…  he is like the Energizer bunny!  Oh, and today he re-painted it because he didn’t like the first color he painted it.  I need to figure out how to get him to come visit us!  J

GLA people changes:

1) Laurie is leaving for Florida tomorrow, for some vacation.

2) Aaron, Tanya and Ruth leave for Colorado on Monday

3) Molly and Joyce get back on Monday

So…  while I am not “at my best today” – it was still a pleasant day.  And ending it with a good chat/gathering gave me a bit of a boost.  I am hoping we rest well tonight and that I am able to go to church in the morning.

Day 9: Sloth Day

Today... we are all like sloths. The energy has been drained... All that work finally hit us!

And I got sick around 10am... I was so hoping I wouldn't go through this while in Haiti. It's been a rough day... Not sure if it will quickly pass or hang with me, but hoping it goes away soon. Joe's seemed to be short-lived.

We have the "day off" today, but none of us are quite sure what to do with our time. We are so used to working and playing and going... we got up a bit later than usual and then headed up on the balcony to play with Samuel for awhile. We went down to the kitchen for lunch at the normal 12pm time, but we waited, and waited and waited (watching the movie "Overboard" in the background), when finally lunch was ready at 2pm. I guess they do things different on Saturday's! :-)

We then went back and played with babies for awhile. We then decided we were exhausted and not feeling that great, so we are going to be taking it easy for awhile. I think it is good that we have a break today.

Jingle Bells with the Nannies

Christmay Day: Part 2

This whole day has been a big blur... I can't remember where I left off.

I thought things would be sort of quiet this afternoon, after our busy morning, but it actually got crazier. I had no idea that ALL of the staff were being served dinner as well. We started by moving gift bags back to the house AGAIN (keep in mind they weigh about 25 lbs a piece!) and then we had to move tables and chairs up to the balcony for the 17 of us to eat. Joe and I helped Dixie realize that there was no way we were going to fit the food and tables in that room. And then we setup an area outside for the staff to eat as well.

As the food started to come in - I was in shock. The meals just keeping getting bigger and better!

At about 5pm, all of the Toddler House nannies showed up dressed to kill! :-) It was so much fun to see them in their dresses and make-up! Dixie told all of the Main House nannies/cooks to go get changed as well... :-) Somehow, I was designated "picture-taker-person" so I was trying to be everywhere at once, taking photos of the head chef and all of the nannies. Dixie was quite irritated at one point as we were waiting for all of the employees to get changed and some were taking far too long to get ready!

Dinner was fabulous and we enjoyed our visit/eating on the balcony. It was a beautiful evening - hard to believe we had a tropical storm the other night.

After dinner, we helped Dixie give out bonus checks, the gifts and gave the staff kisses and wishes of a "Joyeux Noel." The Toddler House nannies were ready to go back home, and Dixie looked around for assistance, realizing that they wouldn't all fit in one car with James. So guess who got to drive in Haiti?! JOE! Woo-Hoo! He filmed it and it was quite funny... He describes it as being fun and adventurous.

And then! We did two rounds of playing Santa, giving out little gifts and candy. The nannies LOVED it and ended up singing Jingle Bells to us... And I am officially no longer afraid of them! And that, my friends, is a big deal. :-)

We spent a bit of time with Samuel tonight - but the boys were taking up the living room, playing with their new PlayStation games, so we went up to the balcony, but it was a bit chilly to stay too long.

After all the ruckus & festivities were over... we took in a deep breath and said "this was one of the best Christmas's we have ever had." We worked our tails off - but had some awesome opportunities to give back... and wouldn't have changed a thing! We thank God for this day - and what it means to us.