Happy Birthday Brianna!

Brianna enjoyed celebrating her birthday with MANY friends!

All the kids played games followed by a movie while eating snacks and cake.

 

 Before the movie, the girls were given ballet lessons, followed by "Art" time while the boys played a game of soccer.

The night before Brianna's birthday we enjoyed roasting hotdogs and marshmallows in honor of her birthday -The following day was her birthday party followed by a Christmas Eve Party at our house later that evening.

Here is Brett and Junior preparing the coconuts after Bri's party so that we can make pina-coladas for our Christmas Eve gathering - its become a tradition. :)

Cowman International 2010 Christmas Program

The Christmas Program, "Meet Me at the Manger" was a HUGE success!  Miss Erica and all the kids did a TERRIFIC job of sharing the REAL meaning of Christmas.  One of the songs asked why bother with the tree, the gifts, the cards if you don't have Christ in your heart?  One of my favorite songs included this line, "We bow down, in your holy presence. We lift our voices in our song of praise, Emmanuel has come to live among us, Emmanuel has come to LIGHT the WAY!"  The sweetness with which the kids sing this beautiful song - just gets me EVERY time. Even in practices!  It was truly a wonderful program.

The kids also enjoyed the party afterward!  One of the mothers brought a brand-new cotton-candy maker!!!  What a treat!!!   Just this summer my mom was trying to find cotton candy for my kids to try ....and now, we have cotton candy right here in Haiti! Who would of thought! :)

The kids thought I was a little crazy this morning.  Brianna was sad because we would not let her send out Thanksgiving e-cards due to our limited bandwidth problem with our internet server.  She and Kristina have REALLY been missing our family in the States....

So, to help cheer things up this morning, I hooped and hollered and passed by the kids throwing out bubble-gum, telling them about the Thanksgiving Parades in the States.  I am not sure if it was my craziness or the bubble gum....but they were thrilled! :)

Our next time out to the States, we will be taking a longer time out than usual.  I know it probably sounds silly, but the thought of getting to watch with my children the Thanksgiving Day Parades on T.V, one of my childhood traditions,  is exciting! :)  Next year, Lord willing, our family will also be able to attend the "Bundy Thanksgiving" for the first time!   The one day a year where all the Bundys get together.

We are all missing Brett this weekend - but the kids are being BIG helpers!  We also thank the Lord for Bud and Jane who offered to go to church with us to help!  As it turned out - our church ended up having children's church under the Big Shade tree this morning - so that was a BIG blessing!
Kristina is not feeling well today.  She has a runny nose and this afternoon was complaining of a tummy-ache -we appreciate your prayers for her!

We had a wonderful day at the beach Saturday!  The water could have been a little cooler to be refreshing - but no complaints from us!  It was awesome to play in the water ALL day!  Of course...we didn't take any pictures, we were too busy swimming with the fish! :)

Kristina playing church with her babies.  :)

Mountain Hike

We flew into Haiti on August 19th, and today we finally got away and did something as a family!  We left early this morning to hike partway up the mountain behind our house.  It was a fun and beautiful outing!  We were home by a little after 10:00 this morning!  We hope to one day be able to hike all the way to the top!

It was so cute, because sometimes the kids would think, "we are almost to the top".  And then, we would come out from under the trees and see "THAT"!  as Alanna referred to the giant of the mountain that still remained looming above us!  :)

While Brianna hiked, she picked a bouquet of flowers. Toward the end of our hike, she gave her bouquet to the mother of one of our friends.  I am not sure how she managed to hold on to her flowers the entire time...but she did!

Back In Our BIG Backyard!

The kids are enjoying being back in their yard to play! Here they are playing in a "fort" made from a trunk that was chopped down while we were away.

The tree was chopped down because it was rotting inside. Now, there are stacks and stacks of wood to be used to make charcoal, the common method used for cooking here in Haiti.

We got our Chickens!

The kids love their chickens! It has been hard to convince them that they can't hold the chickens all day- the chickens NEED to eat all day. Thats what they do!

I also nixed the idea about painting the chickens toenails. I am just no fun at all! :)

This morning, Nina comes to me and says, "I

wanna pick blackberries." We grabbed a bowl and went out to grandma's blackberry patch. As you can see from the pictures, she enjoys eating them as much as she loves picking them! :)

Jake was KING of the recliner for the week he spent recovering from his concussion!

This picture was taken before he felt like re-joining us at the table - so you can see the family joined him at the recliner. :)

Though Jake did not feel up to going to the table yet, you can tell that he is doing better because he is in a sitting position and Brett is making him share his kingdom. :)

Workin' on the Chicken Coop

These pictures were taken several weeks ago - but I have not been able to get good enough internet service to upload them until now. So, NOTE - these were taken BEFORE Jake's injury.

When we arrived home from our weekend get-away, Brianna said, "whew, I am glad we are home - I couldn't take much more of that!" :) The kids were pretty exhausted from our time in the sun and having so much fun! They were ready to crash! :) We did have a LOT of fun! We played lots of "Monkey in the Middle" and Marco - Polo, racing across the pool and jumpin' in.

The kids are so excited about going on our annual missionary retreat. We are staying close to home.....the beach and then a hotel in town. Alanna is ready to leave RIGHT NOW! We have an hour and a half until our convoy leaves. :) Our bags are packed and we are ready to go.

I know that the kids will enjoy their sessions with the child care and with the other kids. Please pray we will also be able to have some great time together as a family! We are in need of some good, quality time together!

We have our beach toys and pool toys packed and the kids are choppin' at the bit to go! :)

We took the kids to"D Korner" this weekend. It is the closest thing that we have to resemble "fast food" like in the States. The restaurant has tables and chairs that look like fast food chains in the States, they have a menu board on the wall behind the counter that resembles those in the States, with pictures of chicken nuggets, ice cream cones, hamburgers and fries. We walked in, walked up the the counter and after about 15 minutes, it was our turn to order. The only thing available to order was a ham and cheese sandwich or a spicy baked macaroni dish. This was the only thing available the only other time we came too.

When we sat down with our food, I asked the kids why they were so excited about coming to D Corner. Jake said, "Its because of all the food!" I had to laugh! All the food? Two choices?! The kids were so thrilled with the appearance of having lots of food choices that they were not even disappointed by the fact that they couldn't have any of it.

Brianna made and painted sugar cookies cut-outs ALL by herself! Alanna washed up her dishes, and therefore was "allowed" to help Brianna paint some of the cookies. Brianna found this cookie recipe in a cookbook that Mary Lou Wunker used when she was a little girl! For the "paint" you mix egg yolks with a little water, you paint the cookies using a clean, new paint brush, then you bake the cookies.

They haven't come out of the oven yet - but I am sure they are yummy! :)

I have been trying to post pictures of the beautiful cookies - but the internet is not letting me download them. They really are beautiful!

We have enjoyed a lovely afternoon at home. We grilled out hamburgers for lunch then enjoyed playing a bit of baseball. We don't play baseball very often - usually soccer. Now, Brett and the kids are putting up the swings that have been sitting in our closet for several months.

This afternoon, I bought a painting from one of the youth in our neighborhood. His parents care for 10 children, plus have taken in a widow and her 2 young children from Port-au-Prince. He is a very capable young man who is trying to help support his household. This week, Brianna will begin taking Art lessons with him. (well supervised, don't worry!) I am so pleased to know that this will not only benefit Brianna, but also him & his family! I thank the Lord for His provision.

We went to the "hiking church" today, as the kids call the church at Coupe David. We drive as far as we can to the base of the mountain then hike through steams and hills to arrive at the church around an hour later. I think we made good time today though. Our pace felt like it was nearly a run! Our kids have WAY too much energy! We have to work hard to keep up!

On the way down the mountain, it started to rain. Making the paths EXtremly slippery! The girls and I took our shoes off and walked barefoot down the mountain. There were some VERY deep, gooey places! Yuck! But, we kept trudging ahead! :) We snuggled together for the cold ride home in the back of the truck - then enjoyed hot chicken, noodle soup when we arrived home!

A Wonderful Weekend!

The girls are enjoying the return of "Gymnastic Julie" And, now we have "Gymnastic Hannah" as well! :) We are blessed!

We thank the Lord for these 2 young ladies who have come down to work in the clinic for the next year!

Making a cardboard car with Daddy!

Dish Duty!

Another day of Fun in the Sun!The kids all enjoyed going out for a kayak ride with Brett. Brianna REALLY enjoyed kayaking alone - she caught on quickly!