Day: December 31, 2015

The internet has been really slow so I haven’t been able to upload a lot of pictures from our family Christmas!

On December 22nd we were SO blessed to have Chrystian & Mamita come to the Mole. This is Jose’s brother & mother. We haven’t seen them since Christmas last year. Too much time has passed. We didn’t realize how much we missed them until we finally got to hug and squeeze them. Family is SO important. I have learned over the past few years how quickly our lives can change – so make sure you reach out to your loved ones as much as you can. You never know when God will call them home. Leave no regrets….make every effort to show your love.

I have shared this post on the Mole Blog about our Staff Christmas Dinner on December 22nd. Be sure to check it out! It was a wonderful event.  http://molehaiti.org/2015/12/23/staff-christmas-party-2015/

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On December 23rd the children got to open the gifts they picked out for each other. Levi was the funniest kid to watch. No matter what he opened – he would scream with glee – SO excited for what he got it. No matter how big or small – his face just lit up!

I can’t say that every child had the same response…. the boys aren’t necessarily in tune with what their sisters might actually like. They’re learning to work on being grateful in all things.  But regardless – there was certainly a lot of joy expressed that night! Levi sets the example of how all of us should be when we are given a gift!

Although Nana wasn’t here to bake cookies with the kids – Jose led the way! They loved making cookies and spent 30 minutes trying to decide which cookies would be for Santa.

On December 24th we were really busy. We passed out food to the granmoun who came at lunchtime to eat. Right after that we brought Christmas gifts, crafts, and cupcakes to the orphans! Shortly after that it was time to get dressed for our Christmas Eve Service. We had an amazing turnout out – the cafeteria was completely crowded.

Here’s a link to the Granmoun Feeding…  http://molehaiti.org/2015/12/24/christmas-eve-granmoun-feeding/

Christmas Eve Night…

Around 8pm the kids were taking their showers and putting on their Christmas pajamas. We had the reindeer food ready to go. The kids meticulously scattered the reindeer food all over the yard and then went to our back bedroom to wait for Santa.

Santa was running a little late this year. He normally hits our house around midnight but he must have had weather delays. He didn’t arrive until 3am! So we ran to the back to tell the kids that he was here. The girls immediately jumped up and ran to the front. We had to SHAKE all the boys to wake them up. Asher & Isebelle were still sound asleep.

So the first set of kids ran to the front room and started opening up their gifts. About 45 minutes later we shook Asher & Isebelle again and they finally made their way into the living room! It actually worked out nice because instead of 8 kids unwrapping gifts all at one time – we actually got to enjoy watching just a few of them at a time …..which allowed us to truly focus on each of their smiles & excitement as they opened. Rosie likes to take her time. She said she wants Christmas to last as long as it can. So even Christmas Day she still had a small stack of gifts to open.  She’s a lot of fun to watch because she gets excited over the simplest things. There’s a beautiful child-innocence about her that I hope she never loses.

They all said it was their best Christmas…..which always brings great joy & peace to Jose & I.

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After all the boat drama and the repacking and re-buying and totally stressing out – – –  we had no clue how this year would go. After dropping off our christmas crates in Miami – we were told that boat dock we left the crates at would not make it in time for Christmas.

We were so “done” and felt so “spent” trying to make this holiday be what we wanted it to be. I can’t even tell you the tears cried as we felt so defeated. We thought we would have to fly to Miami and repack those gifts into luggage to bring in on planes.

But Jacques found a friend who had a boat leaving the first week of December. All we had to do was move our crates from one dock to another. We found a company willing to do it and 10 days before Christmas – our supplies arrived in the Mole!! PHEW!! PRAISE THE LORD!

We doubted, cried, freaked out, and stressed out.  But as always – it all came together just like it was meant to be!

We just want to thank you all again – for those of you who personally purchased gifts for our children – for those of you who gave us extra funds to replace items lost. What could have been a devastating Christmas for our family- turned out just like God planned! We should never doubt His goodness & the way He provides.

Hope you guys had a Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year!

Tomorrow we’ll post pictures of our New Years Eve Activities! We are planning on doing a bonfire on the beach & celebrating our first official service in our brand new church!

Here’s a few picks from our Family Christmas! I wish I could load up more – but the internet is not my friend today! Also below the pictures are some posts on Facebook from our last few days! Jose dressed up like an Elf while we showed the movie Elf on December 23rd! You know anything to add smiles to faces! Smiling’s our favorite!