A quick (it ended up being a little long...a LOT has been happening I guess!!) update on the last couple weeks happenings:

1. My mom came to visit and see just what her lovely daughter has been up to for the last year. It was so awesome to have her here and be able to show her all the things I've talked about and have her meet these kids that I love so very much. I though the heat would nearly kill her, especially as the week before she came we were all in shock over the heat wave that July and August bring, but she jumped in and scurried around, with or without me, a freshly cooled facecloth laying across her neck!! The workers here made a huge fuss over meeting here...she never knew she was such a celebrity in Haiti!! I was very busy that week with mom being here and many many other things happening and so for those of you who didn't know, surprise!! My mom has come and gone almost 2 weeks ago already!! And she left her heart with Berto! It was such a blessing to have her experience my life here with me, and see how much she loved it as well, and know that she now understands with her own eyes why I can't help but be here!!

Mom and I

Mom and her "grandaughter" Naika


2. Dave and Kathy Nelson came along with mom, or she came along with them...whatever! The arrived the same day their daughter and my friend left! Funny how that worked out! Anyway, they came and worked like dogs and sweated(well, Dave sweated a lot, Kathy glistened) as they renovated our volunteer bathroom and painted 3 beautiful murals in the playroom. They were such a treat to have here, being so willing to jump in and do whatever on top of their already full days! Their work here is a great blessing to the children everday as they play in a beautiful bright room and as myself and the volunteers use the new and immmensly improved downstairs bathroom!

Favorite pic of Kathy

One of 3 lovely new murals in the playroom

The bathroom before

The bathroom during

The final product:Beautiful!

3. Joanna got her passport and her parents arrived on Tuesday, and she leaves this Tuesday! She was so stoked to meet them and seems to be doing quite well!! They are really great and have been a huge help around here in the midst of our business! I'm so happy that they live so close at home in Alberta, and that I'll get to see her soon again this summer! It's so great that she is FINALLY going home, but I am really going to miss that busy little bundle of girl.

4. Alissa arrived on Wednesday. She is 2 months old, weighs 2.5kg(which is also what she weighed at birth) and was born 2 months early. She wasn't drinking, as she didn't have enough strength to suck breastmilk, so some bumbo told her not to bother giving her milk but to give her baby cereal and such! Seriously, as Melinda said, someone needs to be slapped!! Her mother is a young girl who we felt so bad for as the Haitian staff here started giving her a hard time about not getting help sooner, but she had been trying really hard to keep a very premature baby alive without any know-how! So, now we have this little so-very-very sad looking little girl in our house. She cries a lot, but seems to be slowly coming along. Myself and some volunteers agreed that she looks like those pictures you see on World Vision. Once again it's so shocking that it's right at our door on such a consistent basis!

4. Carlos got malaria. It was the beginning of the same crazy day I went to go and pick up Johanna's folks. While I was gone a little(actually he's a mammoth baby!!) 3 month old boy was brought in as his mother had gone crazy and he needed to be cared for until the father could figure out what to do. I honestly have not taken one picture of him and only seen him 3 times and heard him cry a lot, but he's doing alright and from what we hear his mother seems to be on the mend.
Oh yeah, so Carlos got malaria. He seems to be doing alright now, though at the time it was a little scary as he shook so hard for so long! He still has the shakes a little though he is otherwise fine, and Melinda is trying to figure out what is happening with him.


5. Steeven continues to do well. He's eating cereal now and starting to become more interactive, and aware of his surroundings. Please continue to pray for healing of body and mind for this precious little boy.


6. Jamesky and Lineda are both downstairs now. Jamesky just moved down and Lineda has been down for close to a month. They are both doing really great and are enjoying their new big world! Lineda is really close to walking and Jamesky is busy standing up and pushing anything he can get his hands on.


7. David's Aunt and Cousin went home last week. They were here for close to a month and I know that God sent them in his perfect timing. Katie kept the kids busy with summer school, and David's Aunt was a lifesaver when all those sick babies came in. It was such a blessing to meet them and get to know some more of David's family.


8. Some more files came out of IBESR(one of the often long waits as part of the adoption process) which means now there will be 4 kids(David, Schilintzsky, Moise, Jon) going home hopefully around Christmas time!!! Lots of happy tears shed!!


9. I am going home in 10 days! I can't believe I just wrote that! Oh my word!! I was not at all prepared for that count! I am really looking forward to going home, but I am going to miss things here a lot!! And I still haven't decided when I am coming and going! Minnie comes home in 8 days, so it'll be so good for everyone that the consistency will stay much the same.


10. My hand has been sore. I think I overworked it one day, forgetting that it's still not completely healed, and I've been paying for it since. Nothing huge, just achy and sensitive, so I've been doing my best to rest it, as easy as that is here!!


11. My bridesmaid dress for Laura's wedding is a size 12!! I just had to put that on here! Mom brought the dress here for me to try on when she came to visit, and I was like, uh-huh, a size 12, is Laura nuts?!?!? But it fit! I guess it's hard to realize when you wear skirts that have been too big for 8 months already!! I think that size 12 may be a roomy size 12, but it's still a size 12!

12. Rose-Lisa, the little girl who was born with clubbed-feet the day I arrived in August, has been staying with us for a couple weeks, and will be here for a while. She's a very, very willfull child, and her very young and inexperienced parents spoiled her, likely largely due to feeling sorry for her due to her deformity, to the point that she became dehydrated and very sick. She arrived in a very poor state, and after a few days of her staying here with her mom, it became apparent that she was going to need a short-term stint to get her used to eating and drinking properly, and to work on her strong will. Her mom and dad were so relieved when we offered to let her stay for 3 months or so and get her back on her feet and work on her issues. So, she's been doing a lot of screaming to get her way, but she's coming along and is gaining weight and becoming more independent. We lovingly refer to her as "ti chat"(little cat), as she does a lot, though less now than before, of whining that sounds incredibly like a ti chat!

Beautiful Ti Chat

13. Berto is doing well and has moved over to the baby room. He seems to be enjoying life over there for the most part, though he sometimes has to wait a bit longer now to be fed as he's 1 of 7 and not 1 of 3, and is as ornery as ever over that!

14. We have had a ton of really awesome volunteers here this summer, and I don't know what we would have done without them! It's been so great to have such willing people here to do "whatever" and jump in with 2 feet! They've made what could have been a really stressful time with all these sick children coming in, into a very manageable time. And others have been awesome with helping me keep the older kids busy throughout the day! Definitely couldn't have done it on my own!

15. Ran into Troy Livesay at the grocery store this week. Reckognized him from their blog http://www.blogger.com/www.livesayhaiti.blogspot.com, and it was neat to chat with him and meet the couple who are taking he and Tara's place at Lifeline as they move on to other things in Haiti. I got to meet Noah as well and hear all about his cats, as he proceeded to climb the deli counter! Their blog does not exaggerate!! It's been neat to start to get to know some more missionaries here in Haiti and make some connections, and it seems to happen more often than not by "randomly" running into people at the grocery store. Guess God and food bring people together!