(From Friday -- pre-internet :) )

(WRITTEN Friday,  01.25.13)

John left at 7:30 this morning going to Cap Haitien to try and get insurance for our Montero Sport.   I was nervous about being at the house by myself with the kids and others coming in and out (especially since I don’t speak Creole yet) but all was fine.  We got a good bit set up upstairs again today.  Caleb and I put together the shelves and bins for the kids’rooms and we got the bookshelves loaded with LuLu’s help.  J  Kinley didn’t get a nap with all we had going on but she didn’t mind at all.  Ha! 

Caleb is really enjoying his ‘brothers’.  He is so happy it seems and I love it! He has already made several bracelets for those who come around regularly.  He and LuLu wanted to put the other bunk bed together today but we didn’t get to it.  We worked until lunch and then we worked a little more in the house until about 2 or so and then the kids went outside to play.  

Kylie was excited when Islande came by this afternoon.  Blondine and Sandra showed up not long after.  Islande braided Kylie’s hair and she loved it!  She didn’t want to take the braids out for shower time.. she said that Nana told her a long time ago that if you sleep with your hair braided that it won’t be tangled in the morning so we skipped washing her hair tonight. J We are getting acclimated to showers in a bucket, by the way!  

John, Herod and Yanh Yanh made it back about 4:00.  He wasn’t able to get the insurance since the title for the truck doesn’t list his full name (middle excluded) but his license does.  We are praying that the people still “working on it” will be able to give us some direction soon as we aren’t supposed to drive without the insurance.  He WAS able to get some of the gallon water containers for the water cooler along with some other items at the market… YAY! Just in time since we used our last water bottles for dinner tonight.  He found some Jergens lotion for the fat price of $12.50… One bottle…$12.50!  :/   My legs and feet ache so bad from the many trips with boxes up and down the stairs today that I am most grateful, even if it was extremely overpriced.  AND we had a real treat tonight after dinner… oreos! …also found them at the market in Cap Haitien.  (We continue to be grateful for the little oh-so-familiar things!!!)

It is raining today for about the 7^th time.  While the sound of the rain from the open windows is so peaceful all I can think about are the poor goats that are tied to the trees in the sideyard who are getting drenched…it was a light rain earlier but it is POURing now and they’ve been tied in that part of the yard for the last couple of days for feeding there.  Kylie has inherited my love of animals, for sure.  She wanted to name the goats after she met them and she asks to go ‘see’ them at least twice a day… Not sure what she will do if they ‘disappear’L…I’ve kept my distance and aim to for fear of any new attachments.  I did go over when one cried yesterday to untangle the rope where he was tethered.  I spoke to them, untangled the rope and walked on. 

Sometimes I resent my heart & the love that’s automatically there for animals…makes life harder at times it seems… On that note, since we haven’t had internet for over a week I haven’t been able to check on Winston and Hershey.  I’m sure they are fine but OH how I miss them!!!  I did get to ‘talk’ to Sam last night.  Mom & Dad assured me he is living the high life and that he’s a little more spoiled than usual! ;)  

Kinley had all the kids laughing tonight.  She is so comfortable with them and has no problem assuming they all know what she is saying…she talks to them with no reservation at all.  Although we all know they don’t understand her, they all love her and approach her with open arms.  I think it’s safe to say that she is borderline obsessed with Robenson, (one of the orphans).  He has the most amazing smile and she had him beaming today because she wanted only him and he knew it!  She must have gone out to tell him ‘goodnight’ at least 3 times tonight and even still she kept telling me she didn’t get to tell him & needed to go back!  JJ 

Well, 2 of our crew are already snoring so I think I’ll join them…

“Yet I am always with you; you hold me by your right hand.  You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but You? And earth has nothing I desire besides You.  My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” Psalm 73:23-26