We left Dumay Tuesday morning, and went into Port. We were a little unsure of what town would be like as it was the Presidential Inauguration Day. But things were calm, and traffic light. It was Paul and Loretta's anniversary, so we wanted to treat them to some good times and show them some nice parts of Port. We stopped for lunch at one of our favorite pizza places and I think we all enjoyed it! They had the TV on so we got to see parts of the inauguration.
We went to the Caribbean grocery store and did some grocery shopping. Then we went to the Marriott to show them the best place to stay!
It was too cold to swim, but the kids liked watching the crane and Cass sacked out for a while. Then we went downstairs to eat in the outside dining area. The hotel was full of women in fancy dresses and men in nice black suits. It was really busy, so we had to wait a long time for our food. It was nice to be outside where we could just relax and talk and the kids could run around and play on the tablet. Then the food arrived and we about choked. The lobster was about half of a half of a lobster, and the steak was about 2 oz. The supper was disappointing, but we enjoyed the evening :) And the breakfast made up for it - really yummy!
We thought we could get in Domino's pizza for lunch the next day, but they weren't open at 11 like advertised :( So we left, went to a frozen food warehouse to pick up the collective BF missionary frozen food order, and then picked up chicken from the stand outside the warehouse gate (none of the rice, thank you! - we have learned the hard way that this stand has the "bad" kind of rice - ick!).
We made it to the airport right as Aberle's and Nussbaum's plane was arriving. Then there was lots and lots of luggage to pack on the top of our truck, and people and bags to smoosh in the trucks for the ride back to Bonne Fin!
A little unconventional, but this is how we ride.....
We were welcomed by some homemade bread and a casserole in the fridge, thanks to Joan. A blessing after a big, exhausting day!
The next day, David went off to work and Orrin off to school. The rest of us hung out around home and tried to get things cleaned up.
David had some projects for Dad to work on during the week they were here. David's big depot full of supplies and leftovers from work teams needed to be cleaned out and organized.
I had a few things on my own list :) Dad hung some curtains in our room.
Cass was in awe of the drill.
Making cookies to take to our welcome dinner for the new families on Friday night!
There were lots and lots of books to read :)
And games to play! Grandpa had bought this number game for Orrin in the airport on the way down. It was a hit. We also spent a few evenings playing farkle together.
Saturday we took them to St Louis island, and it was a great relaxing day in the sun and surf, with good food.
We brought along a metal detector and went treasure hunting in the sand and in the fort. Found a few pieces of old metal, not anything crazy, but it was fun :)
David and Orrin doing Orrin's Bible lesson - Daniel in the Lion's Den!
We had the Nussbaum family over for supper Sunday night - a little Forrest gathering for the night :) We had a good time and I think the copycat Chick-fil-a chicken went over well!
Grandma went to school for an hour with Orrin on Monday. This is the scene every morning, lining up to sing, say the pledge, and pray before school.
Orrin working in a small group with the teacher.
A lot of just sitting goes on....
Orrin at the chalkboard, learning to write numbers!
Tuesday was Valentines Day, and Grandpa got Grandma a card that sang and barked when you open it. It was a smashing success :)
Our Valentines supper - and a less than photogenic Kodak moment to remember it by :)
We went to visit the patients at the hospital - Cassia gave them smiles and protein bars, and the little Doctor handed out prescriptions for spiritual health and eternal life.
We stopped in and saw the dental team hard at work!
Visiting daddy's office!
Visiting Grandpa hard at work!
The way we walk home - always on the risky side!
Our painting session turned into a face-painting session!
Father/son mustaches
Playing in the yard
Cass hiding out in the cool shade with Lady
"Helping" Madam Ino triye diri (sort rice) - getting all the little rocks out!
Madam Ino pointed out that my super-huge plant in our landscaping was a malanga plant.
She dug around the roots, and found the food and dug it out.
Our home-grown contribution to lunch - after it was cleaned, grated, and fried, it makes a really good hush-puppy type food.
Grandpa's contribution to the kid's snack - cold Coke in sippy cups!
Thursday morning we were to receive a container - full of supplies for a team coming in on Saturday! The containers usually arrive up at the hospital before the employees do in the morning, but this time the truck got stuck. After David and some guys took a trip down to the stuck truck and put some charcoal on the wet road, the semi was able to get traction and make it up the mountain. It made for a late start time - around 10am. We had to leave for Cayes before it was completely unloaded.
Hurry and wait is a common theme here. After racing down the mountain at stomach-churning bouncy-ness speed, we had a while to hang out and wait at the airport while our stuff was unloaded off the plane and sorted.
We went to visit a few of the Cayes missionaries so Dad and Mom could meet them, and then went to the Domestic Center to look at the products. After all this we were pretty hungry, so we stopped at our favorite road-side stand in Cayes and got four boxes of grilled chicken and banans and pikliz (spicy cabbage salad) and snarfed it down. A good meal was had by all.
After such a long day and being a nap rebel, this little girl was pretty well dazed by the time we got home...
The next day - their last day here - we finished sorting through some of the container stuff from the day before.
Dad and David worked together on putting up the last two surgical lights in the OR the week before, and this day they put up a new air conditioner in the lab department.
There were some other things on our "list" we could have done that week - like going to market, or a gator ride, or a quick trip to see the hydro reservoir, but we didn't get any of those things done. Sometimes you find the best times are just when you can sit at home in an evening and be together with the people you love.
Thanks Dad and Mom for coming and spending time with us here, and helping us out. We are so glad for the memories of your time here with us!
