Hello everyone! As you can see, this weekend was drill weekend for Richard. This was his first drill here in Kansas. He really likes this unit. He will be going to his annual training at the end of this month, so I will be here with only my children. Doesn't he look so handsome?
I cut both of the boys hair this weekend. There was minimal crying on the boys part which is a HUGE improvement. They just hate to get their haircut. Jasmine is with Jacob in this picture, she just has to be out with the family. She is such a good dog.
Leann and I took the kids to this little carnival this weekend. It was at Maude Carpenter (where Leann and Ryan work). The kids got lots of little prizes there. As you can see, the bubble thing was one of them. They had a great time outside today.
I hadn't got a picture of Rebekah's new rat, Squirt. Her rats get along great. Squirt is in her hand. Rebekah is really good with animals. Also, you can tell that Rebekah got her hair cut. Leann did it yesterday. It looks cute on her. She hasn't had bangs since she was 3 or so.
We got this bike today at church. It is Jacob's. The Duhlohery's gave it to us since their daughter has outgrown it. Now we only need 5 more and we will be all set! Alyssa was helping Jacob balance in this picture. None of the kids know how to ride a bike, but they all want to learn. Jacob's bike was very popular today.
For Alyssa's birthday we got her another hamster. Her name is Cream. So now she has one named Peaches and the other Cream. Clever huh? She is the cutest little thing. Already she is an escape artist like her big sister.
More pictures of Rebekah and her hair. Also, her doing some bubbles. It is 75 degrees over here or so. So beautiful!
This picture of me is at a weird angle. Alyssa was taking the picture while she was falling over. Very common in our house! Anyway, I did dye my hair yesterday. I was at Leann and Ryan's house. It literally took all day! I wish that I would have had a picture of it after we bleached it. It was scary bright! Now it looks very nice. Good job Leann! We had to take a break from it just to go to the carnival with the kids. Never dye your hair black, it does not come out. You have all been properly warned. My last day at work is going to be May 12th so I am getting pretty excited about it.
Jacob and I were posing for this picture, and then you can see that Jasmine had to get her rear in there! =) Have a great day everyone!
Here is Richard in his fabulous costume. He actually was carrying around a sword and spear.
Aaron wants to be in the scene where they are beating Jesus next year. He thought that just waving palm leaves around was "boring". =)
Here I am with my mouth open. For those of you who know me, this is how I always look. TALKING! =)
Alyssa had a wonderful time, though you can't tell from this picture. We would do the wave with our leaves. It was fun. Next you can see Jacob before the panorama. Then the last picture is 10 minutes into the panorama. He couldn't stay awake and just slept next to the wall the whole time!
Have a great week everyone! My parents and grandma will be coming down this weekend so the next blog will be of that! Love you all!
She looks so cute with her hair like that. It naturally curls and she loves it! Good Job Leann!!!
This is the market. This does not show how huge it is there. They sell everything that a person would need like food, clothing, toiletries, etc. I believe that the yellow building is a shop. The lucky people have these little (and I stress the word little) shops that they can work out of.
This is the center of downtown. Most people do not drive, they walk. So needless to say that when we drive around we stick out like a sore thumb, especially because there are a whole bunch of white people in the back! These are actually more shops down this street. The areas the people lived in were just concrete buildings and not all had roofs.
This is a great picture of the trash system in Haiti. They pile it up next to the ocean and just dump it in. Literally the ocean is black around the island. The Chilean U.N. is in Haiti to help keep the peace, but it also helps to clean up the city. They have taken their bulldozers and piled up huge amounts of trash to be burned. The other group that was with us said that the city was already much cleaner since they were there 2 years ago.
This is a picture of Beka who was on the trip with me. She would hate this picture. Sorry Beka! Anyway, what I want to show you is to the right of her. Those buildings behind her, that we would just knock over, are houses. Every time I look at these pictures it amazes me what we consider poor here in America versus what poverty really is. 
One last picture of me with the kids. It was a wonderful, rewarding time and I will never forget it. I can't believe that I have already been home a week. I would ask that we all remember to pray for the people over there. We have been blessed with so much. Pray for the missionaries there who have dedicated their lives to not only preaching God's word to these people, but helping to improve their economy. The kids must all learn a trade before they graduate from school so they can support themselves and help with creating employment. It is a huge endeavor, but it is working. Love you all!
The Haitian people use coal to cook everything. It is actually very detrimental to the island there so the children's home is trying to raise money for a gas stove. The picture below is the woman who brings the coal in on donkeys. She actually goes all around the town doing this. Right below that is one of the women cooking our meatballs for dinner. She just cooked outside on coals, one at a time. 
The last day that we were there we went to the hospital. Their hospital is one where you must pay first. If you are not able to pay, then you cannot have the procedure done. So in actuality those individuals that were able to go to the hospital are the lucky ones. Most of the time the people who have injuries are not able to go to the hospital and die. We took some toiletries and rice to the people there. It was gone within minutes. Next time we have decided that we will just bring rice and beans because these people do not get a meal there unless their family brings it to them. 
The people were in beds right next to each other. There was absolutely no privacy. Tabitha was guiding us through the hospital. She is a church member who comes in to the children's home and sells necklaces and things like that. We went to most every wing and in each one she would sing and then we would pray for the people in there. She was an amazing source of encouragement. She goes to the hospital about once a week to spend time with these people. We saw some things in the hospital that I am not going to put on the blog. Those of you who have spoke to me know why. There was one woman who was about to deliver and we were there when that was happening. It is different to see it from the other side, and of course they don't have the epidural!
This is a picture of me and Woodlin. He always wanted to be held and loved. I would go back in an instant. I know that the group that I went with talks about going back again. In the midst of the starvation and depravity are these wonderful people. They were such an encouragement for me. Next blog will be of the town. God bless you all!