Finally back in Haiti

So, the internet has been down, but that's been alright cuz I had a good excuse to not take the time to write! Anyway, we arrived on Tuesday and were blasted with the humid heat of my favorite place in the world. My bags were the first two on the carousel, and I thought it was too good to be true...which it was, as Angelique's one bag was among the last and her other never arrived at all! There must have been 70 people who had NO luggage arrive and you should have seen the tempers flaring!! And not having luggage in Haiti is a way bigger deal than anywhere else! One Haitian lady was crying as they had made her check her carry on as the plane was really full...so she really had nothing!!
We ran a few errands and waited for 6 more people who were arriving on a later flight(Judite's famliy, as well as David's mom for a visit), then headed up the mountain. For those of you who have been here, the road is not only graded almost the whole way, it's paved all the way to Terrier Rouge!! I couldn't believe it!! It only took 15 minutes to drive what used to take 1.5hrs!!
We arrived to much excitement and the welcome chanting of "Lowi(aka Lori), Lowi, Lowi!!" It was like music to my ears! Everyone has grown so much! All of the babies downstairs are walking and feeding themselves, and the older kids are all taller and their feet have grown excessively! Seriously, half the shoes I brought were too small!!
I've already settled back into things, and Minnie did a great job of keeping our routines going, which I am so thankful for! I've also noticed a marked improvement in many areas, notably their coloring skills, and cudos to Minnie for that as well!! A guy was here who fixed some wheelchairs, so now Jenny and Derson spend large amounts of their days sitting up, and we can easily roll them outside for some fresh air.
I didn't even recognize Levi and Evan they have grown so much, and Levi smiles and laughs so much it's unbelievable! We no longer think he is deaf, so that is a blessing!!
There are 2 new babies, as well as two others who are back who had been with a foster missionary family who had to go back to the states. Jamesky is a 5 month old little chubb who we are already signing football contracts for. Lineda is a beautiful little girl who is about the same age, who giggles about everthing and incessantly has her index finger in her mouth. Moise and Connelly are back with us, and though the transition back has been a little hard for them, they are doing well.
The workers here have been joking with me that I have lost so much of my color. They are amazed how quickly we "blanc" turn so white again. But, yesterday when I took all the visitors to the market, I remidied some of that!
Last night I sent another lizard through the fan! Those silly little things hide on things and then when you pick that thing up they jump, and for me they jump right into a high speed fan! This time I got guts all over me and had to get one of the guys to help me clean it up...too gross!!
We've also had 2 more ladies join us, bringing the group up to 15...so things are a little tight!! One of the ladies is the adoptive mom of chubby little Jessica, and they are heading home next week!

Anyway, it's so great to be back! And it's great to be refreshed and ready to really put my all into everything.