Day after Christmas at the Beach

Over 20 of us headed for the beach on Saturday! It was the perfect day for sand and sun! I did get in the water for a bit and jumped the waves with Kristina. But it just wasn't hot enough - I preferred the warm sand. :) Others swam quite a bit though - it was pretty nice for December!

Day after Christmas at the Beach, cont.

Happy 9th Birthday Brianna!!

Happy Birthday to Brianna,

Happy Birthday to you!!!!

:)

Instead of a party with all her friends this year, Brianna chose to work down at the Seminary construction site!! It was Daddy's idea - but Brianna was all for it! :)

Of course - we didn't get any pictures of the kids working at the site. But, here's some pics of later that day. We did take some time to celebrate her special day!

Then, later that evening, we had a houseful for a special Christmas Eve candlelight service and fellowship. It was beautiful!

Mama's first evening here and Kristina snuggled right up to her! :) All the kids are thrilled that Grandma made it! We had 4 days of rain - and MAMA's plane was late due to the low cloud cover here in Cape-Haitian. At 4:00 the clouds lifted and the sun began to shine-for the first time since Saturday!!! We were rejoicing! :)

The kids (all 4 of them) are working with Brett this morning at the Seminary site. There are still lots of finishing touches to be done before the dedication of the new Seminary in a few weeks. Sylove, their babysitter, and the Folkeringa family (3 wonderful teenage boys) are with them - so I am sure that they are well looked after. :)

We are thrilled to have the Folkeringa family back in Haiti with us for a week! We enjoyed a wonderful time having them over for supper last night followed by Legos and indoor "Hide and Seek". It was a LOT of fun!!! :)

This afternoon we are heading to the airport to pick up MAMA. The kids are excited about grandma coming! :) Of course Brett & I are too - but the kids show it a bit more .... they were announcing it quite loudly first thing this morning! :)

The kids are enjoying their Christmas break! We are also joyful about the return of the Hubele family this week. They are farmers from southern Illinois (great place! :) who come to help us in MANY ways and then return home for planting season.

What a joy it is to have Rachel just next door to pop over and talk to! The kids are enjoying having their playmates back! :) And Brett is grateful for not only John's friendship, but also having another man on the field to help fix things!!

The kids are really enjoying their Christmas break. They are thrilled that the Hubele family returned this week - so they are able to play with old playmates. Dr. Rodney's kids are also joining in the fun so the center yard really does look like a park full of kids! :)

We have just made it back in from picking tangerines. We have not had the rains yet this year - so there are not as many as last year - but we came back with a bunch - thanks to the kids' tree climbing ability!

Getting the speck out.....

Matthew 7 has new meaning for me. This morning, as I was making the pizzas for Cowman's "Pizza with the Principal" Party, I heard Alanna yelling for me out in the yard. I ran out to see what was the matter. She was leading Jake up to the house. He was crying and couldn't open his eyes. Alanna said that he had something in his eye. He was crying harder and harder. I grabbed the eye drops and right there on the front porch we had a wrestling match as I tried to get them into Jake's eye. I recruited the girls to help. Asking each one of them to hold a hand down. It didn't work. We prayed, we tried again. It didn't work.

So, I led him into the living room and helped him to lie on the couch. I again tried to hold his arms down and put the eye drops in at the same time. It just wouldn't work. We prayed again. I sent Brianna for a towel and a cup of water. Then I sat on Jake, sat on his arms too, and with one hand held his eye open and with the other hand, poured the cup of water over his eye. The two younger girls are wailing right along with Jake. Then, a small piece of bark, with one end being pointy, washed out of his eye and onto his cheek.

I helped him to sit up and pulled him into a hug - and apologized for having to sit on him.

He was still crying. Within just a few minutes - he settled right down.

What a lesson: the cleaning out process can be hard - but once cleaned out, the pain begins to lessen and restoration can begin.

I just asked Jake how his eye is feeling. He says that it doesn't even feel like there was ever anything in it!

Praise the Lord!!!

A strange sound woke me up in the middle of the night Saturday. I woke Brett up, asking him, "what is that"? It sounded again- we jumped up and ran to the bathroom and there was Brianna standing over the toilet throwing up in the dark.

We were so impressed! Not only had she made it to the bathroom, but she aimed right into the toilet - even in the dark! We were doubly amazed that she had not called for us or cried out. What 8 year old gets sick in the night and doesn't wake up Mom?

She stayed home from church Sunday; and was able to go to school today. She came home wiped out though.

Thankfully, no one else has gotten sick.

A strange sound woke me up in the middle of the night Saturday. I woke Brett up, asking him, "what is that"? It sounded again- we jumped up and ran to the bathroom and there was Brianna standing over the toilet throwing up in the dark.

We were so impressed! Not only had she made it to the bathroom, but she aimed right into the toilet - even in the dark! We were doubly amazed that she had not called for us or cried out. What 8 year old gets sick in the night and doesn't wake up Mom?

She stayed home from church Sunday; and was able to go to school today. She came home wiped out though.

Thankfully, no one else has gotten sick.

Happy December 1st! :)

The kids were thrilled to open a Happy December 1st package from Aunt Colleen and Uncle Jussi! :)

Thanksgiving

Today is Vertieres Day - the celebration of one of the last battles during the revolutionary war.

All businesses were closed.

It was the perfect day to get together and celebrate Thanksgiving!

The kids enjoyed their day off of school.

Notice that Jake lost his front teeth in time for Christmas! :)

The kids are doing great! Brett and I have both had a stomach bug of somekind. That on top of all the responiblilies that Brett is carrying has him really worn out.

We thank the Lord that the kids are doing well! Lack of energy is not a problem with them! :) We do thank the Lord for their good health!!!

Brianna has been looking forward to Aunt Jane (new missionary that has joined us on the field) teaching her to sew. Bria has picked out the colors of dresses that she is going to make for her doll. She is VERY excited!

Today is Ice Cream with the Principal again. Thankfully, all 3 of the Bundy kids get to particpate. We only have 12 out of 20 students joining me today. Well, Plus Kristina is my little shadow, so she actually gets to particpate too. :)

The kids are really looking foward to it!

Then they come home and get to have a special evening with Ayars so that Mommy & Daddy get to go on a date! :) They are quite thrilled about that too!

What a special Day!

We had an awesome time at the beach Saturday! It was a gorgeous sunshiny day and the water was perfect!!! We enjoyed our time together so much! The kids also enjoyed playing with the Renner kids (fellow MK's)! It was the first time that they had been to the beach together. They swam, they dug their own pools, and they played with sea urchins (though Jake did get a spike under his fingernail - but I removed it and all was well).

The boys enjoyed hanging out in a tree too. :)

The kids are doing well, Praise the Lord! We are so thankful for the blessing of good health!

We are hoping to go to the beach this weekend with the team. We have not made it to the beach since before school started! The kids think it is past time to go! :)

We are also encouraged at the sprititual growth that we see in our children! We praise the Lord for their love for His Word and for their desire to please Him! What a JOY to watch them grow in the Lord!

A Slide!?

For the FIRST time ever -- Our kids can slide in Haiti! :) The slide was given and shipped in for us. What a gift! We do not store up for ourselves treasures on earth -- but it is fun to get to enjoy some of life's pleasures. Brett and the kids mounted it on the monkey bars at Cowman School today. Brett said that it was the perfect width and the perfect height to fit there!

Fellow MK's

Our kids LOVED getting to babysit little Lily! :) They also enjoyed getting to go to the pool with the Renner kids!

Flat Stanley visited all the way from Assumption Illinois!

Brianna -- LOVED getting to feed Lily!

Alanna has learned to ride her bike without training wheels! :)

Family Fish Fry at Uncle Mike's ! YUM!!!

snugglin' up with the newest family member! :)

Great Grandma Revis at Aunt Charlotte's

A Zoo Trip! Which ones belong in a cage? :)

Summer Fun

Brianna and Jake LOVED being able to participate in a 3 day soccer camp in our hometown.

Summer Fun

"Farm Days" at our hometown county fairgrounds in Salem, IL.