Wedding Pictures

Congratulations Ashley & Joe! And thanks so much for the honor of having Kaylen be your flower girl. She did awesome, and had so much fun! She's been talking about it all week - so proud of herself - and we are too! Here are a few pictures of the fun weekend...

Rehearsal - we impressed upon her how important it was that she do a good job, because a wedding is such a special time for the bride and groom. She paid attention, listened really well and learned what she was supposed to do. They even had flower petals for her to practice with, and I had to show her how to just keep walking and randomly sprinkling - at first she tried stopping to drop a single petal in front of each pew. :)


After getting her hair done by Aunt Karen - what an awesome job Karen did with it.

Then, dressed and ready for pictures.







Kaylen & Ashley - she just couldn't stop wanting to hug Ashley (who really couldn't bend down very well but was still awesome to oblige some :) - the two princesses! (And, I wanted to get both the back and front of her dress - so pretty!)





The new happy couple!








Dancing - with her new best friend - one of the bridesmaids, Jenny. I couldn't even get a good picture she was having so much fun dancing! They became best buds on the limo ride (Thanks Ashley for offering that she ride with the wedding party - she had so much fun!)

That's about it folks. It went downhill from there. Kaylen was SOOOO tired about an hour into the dance. It was an awesome day, but a long one for a 5-year-old, so it was time to go.

PS - Ashley - if you want any of these pictures let me know - I can send you originals - these are shrunk down to save space & time loading them here.

Trampoline :(

We're bummed - our trampoline bit the dust in a storm while I was in Haiti - just two weeks after we got it set up! Apparently Jock & Kaylen spent some time around 3am last Monday morning in the basement. Kaylen noticed the trampoline was gone the next morning - apparently screamed hysterically for Jock to come. She'd been looking out her window at it every morning - she was so proud of it - she'd saved her money for a long time (although really only paid about 20% of it - but that was a lot for her!).

Someone asked us about our insurance, but it's not more than the deductible, so I think to replace it we're just going to have to do it ourselves. We still have lots of pieces of it that are OK though, so we're going to go through it and see if there are parts we can find or order separately - although I'm afraid it might be less to just get a whole new one - we'll see. Ugh!

At any rate, we'll also have to try to determine how to keep it safe in the event of future storms. Jock said our neighbors had theirs just flipped over - but theirs didn't have the safety netting around it. This weekend, another neighbor had theirs damaged when it flew up and hit their deck - if it had been further out in their yard instead of right up next to their deck it probably would have just flipped over and been fine, but it was all bent up. Sheesh - too many storms this summer! And, our trampoline didn't just tumble down the street - we think it was sucked up, because we have a fence around our backyard - only one slat was damaged, and there's a small dent in our next-door neighbor's rain gutter. I understand it landed next to a pile of dirt in front of a new house being built 4 lots down (two houses between)!

We're thinking maybe we can just stake it down, and also make sure we let down the netting after we're done using it each time. Hmmm...

Last week/weekend

What does one do when she returns from Haiti? Well, I wouldn't want to get bored, you know...

I got home around 10 pm last Wednesday night. Thursday morning, Jock got up and got both him and Kaylen off to work/daycare as he'd been doing all week, so I could sleep in. I got up around 10 am, got some pictures downloaded, showered up, then headed in to work for the afternoon.

Thursday evening I thought my dad might be coming into town, but since they weren't coming until Friday, we met up with our Lighthouse group (small-group Bible Study from church) for one of our monthly summer socials. I was tired, and I'm sure not quite with it, but I'm glad we went. Tried out a restaurant we hadn't been to before and liked it. Got to spend some time with good friends. One family even shared their babysitter with us, as we weren't sure we were going until mid-afternoon!

Friday morning I worked, but was off at 1:00 to pick Kaylen up from daycare early so she could get in a nap (Daddy isn't as strict about bedtime as I was, and she was up late Weds with them picking me up at the airport), and a shower. Then as soon as Jock got home (earlier than usual), we were headed to wedding rehearsal and then dinner. Kaylen was the flowergirl.

Saturday we were up and going early. My sister came to our house around 9:00 to do Kaylen's hair for the wedding. We left home about 10:15, got to the church at 11:15 to get dressed (after a couple detours for a parade through one town and a farmer's market in another, then waiting on a train!). Pictures started at 11:30, then a short break before the wedding at 2:30. I'm not sure why the mom of the flower-girl was so nervous, but Kaylen did awesome - I'm so proud of her! The reception was so much fun, but we only lasted about an hour into the dance. Kaylen was tired and crying when we left. I had an awful headache from what I've now determined was a cold and not just congestion from Haiti's pollution. It was a great time though.

Sunday we mostly just relaxed. Church was good - seemed like I hadn't been there in a month - maybe I wasn't?!? Dad and Terry came over for lunch - Jock grilled pork chops - yummy! Then Kaylen got a nap - although earlier than usual - I think the late nights had really caught up with her. I told Dad and Terry about my trip and showed them my photos. Kaylen got up soon after they went back to the campground where they were staying just a few miles fro our house. She wondered where they were, but wasn't too upset that they'd gone already. Then, about the time I was falling asleep for my late nap, the tornado sirens went off, and we spend a while in the basement. So much for me getting a nap! I called Dad and Terry - they'd been napping too, and were grateful for the heads-up. Fortunately things were fine here - just very windy and rainy.

Pictures!

I went through and chose some of my favorites of Elijah & Josephine...

The first night, in the hotel room. They were in bed, I was in the bathroom brushing my teeth, and they were watching my every move - laying on their tummies looking over the pillow - so cute!






Sharing - and let me tell you, this was no small feat. I learned the Kreyol words for "share please" - pataje souple (pronounced pah-tah-zhay soo-play). I told this to the gentleman sitting next to me on my flight, and he said, "oh yes, souple pataje avec manman, or souple pataje avec papa", meaning please share with mom or dad... I'm learning - slowly but surely!



Elijah likes to play ball - I'd roll it to him, and he'd throw it back to me - at least until he got tired of sitting - then he'd throw it the other way, laugh, then get up and run after it.



Q: How do you get 14- and 23-month-olds to sit still? A: Give them cheerios! (Notice Elijah's full cheeks! :) Or just catch them on the run. This was my non-professional mommy photographer attempt at a photo shoot with E & J. It was a lot of fun, and got some pretty good pictures out of it too.




Elijah - still a busy and silly little boy. Hard to catch him smiling sometimes though. He's grown, but no marked differences in the last few months other than he is playing more with his toys it seems. He's still got 16 teeth, still walking, and even running. Still just a little talking, although I did notice a little more jabbering when he was playing with one of his little friends whose parents were on the trip. It was kind of fun watching the two little busy boys playing with each other.

I noticed the most changes in Josephine in the last 4 months. Yes, she is pulling herself up to standing - not taking steps yet though. And I don't think she knows how to sit back down once she's up - she fell asleep standing up against the bed one day. She's not sucking her thumb as much and doesn't fight as much when we pulled it out - unless she's just going to sleep. She's still very petite with fine features, but has grown length-wise.

Also, Josephine only had 2 teeth in March, had 5 the first week of July when my friend Kathy was there. She now has 7, and I could see several more that will be coming in soon - her gums are white in several spots - looked sore, but she didn't seem to be acting like they were hurting. They're sure coming in all at once, aren't they! I love the pictures of her with that big smile, showing off her teeth! I found this reference about when baby teeth come in - I think she had her two central incisors, her left lateral incisors, and her first molar on the bottom right. Her white gums must have been from the other lateral incisors and first molars.

I'm home

...but exhausted and not feeling the greatest - very stuffy/congested (probably from all the smoke/pollution or maybe a bug - who knows), stiff from the flights, feet swolen, etc. But, all my flights were on time (or at least close to it) - how did that happen?!?

Anyway, I'll start posting pictures and stories from the trip and here at home soon. Until then...

Good news!

We are out of IBESR!  Praise God!  Next prayers:  Parquet moves very quickly as I'm hearing rumblings that they may be closing down for a time, but need to find out more about that.  I so badly want our babies home.  They're perfect and precious and I want to be able to hold them in my arms again forever!

Congratulations also to the Wyatt's.  Please pray that my good friend Jodie and her husband Mark will hear this week that their precious girls are out also!

Congratulations Karen & Alex!

I'm so happy for you both!
Congratulations on your engagement!

Another fun weekend...

Last Saturday we went to a parade with some friends. We all had fun, despite getting rained on. At least it wasn't pouring - just sprinkles. It was still a great success - all the children had lots of candy by the end!


We then stopped by the bank to get some files notarized that I have to take to Haiti with me - but all the bankers there had just returned from walking in the parade, and didn't have their notary stuff with them. Ugh!!! That was frustrating, as we made a point to go that morning - so instead we had to find another branch closer to our offices to do it over our lunch hour.

Saturday evening we'd planned to have a picnic and games with a couple other families. Well, one family had a sick child, so we instead had a quick supper at home, before heading to the other family's house for some fun games. It's hard to get us all together, but we always enjoy it when we can!

Sunday our church teamed up with another church in town to host a community service, outdoors at one of the local school's football stadium. Last year it was held at a park at 11 and was sweltering by then - today was at 8:30, and a beautiful morning for it! I loved the songs, and a good message from the other church's pastor.

After church we came home and put together the trampoline. We had it almost done before lunch. Jock went out and finished tying down the netting straps after lunch, while Kaylen took a nap, and I started in on laundry and packing. I got most of my packing done by 6:00 before I had to start in on dinner. Now just a few things that I forgot to pick up at Walmart, and those last-minute toiletries yet to be packed I think - and trying not to pull things out to wear before the trip (much harder this time around given it's summer here as well!) - and waiting!

Here's where Kaylen could be found most of the rest of the afternoon after her nap - go figure! The only rule we have - so far - is no flips! (She got hurt (although mildly) trying that one other weekend like the bigger cousins at Grandpa's house, so fancy tricks are off-limits - we're such mean parents, aren't we?!)

Congratulations to Dawn & Justin!

We're so happy for you, and also for his big brother and sister. And what a cutie he is! I count myself blessed that I got to meet him at only 5 days old - even if it was only for a short time! Congratulations!

Family stuff...

Spending last weekend with all of my family... It's always fun when we get together - added benefit this time - my brother and family were back in Iowa, so all of us were together.

July 4th - it was a beautiful day, but it got a little bit chilly at night. Good thing we brought along our jackets and sweats - even with them it was hard to stop shivering! We had popcorn and m&m's while we waited for the fireworks to start. Kenny claimed a bag for himself - at least until he dumped out nearly the entire bag - but it was on his chair, so the other kids just ate it off there. The fireworks were great that night - as were the private ones back at the house the next night!










Can you tell we like to eat - all hanging around the kitchen. :) And the fresh produce from Amy's garden was YUMMY!


What kind of cards do you like to play - 500, Gin, Crazy Eights?





Kallie is quite the artist - check out the house plans! She must have learned a thing or two from her contractor dad!

And although not as skilled, Kaylen likes to show off her handi-work to the great-grandma's who are always appropriately impressed!

Child Slavery in Haiti

This is sad, but real, folks. Check out Nightline tonight - on ABC, after your local news, for a 1/2 hour. Maybe it'll also be online tomorrow if you miss it. If it find it, I'll post the link here.

Here is the link to the story - you can read the transcript or watch it.

More Pictures!

Thank you to Jen & Kathy, who both recently returned from Haiti, for some new pictures! I love, love, LOVE getting any new pictures - but can't wait to have them in my arms. I want to see their little faces light up like they did in March. I want to hear Elijah's deep laugh, and Josephine's chatting over devotions and quiet prayers. I want to watch their peaceful sleeping and hear their light snoring. I want them to experience being with their Mommy again. I just want to be with them! Next week can't come and go fast enough!