More than Meets the Eye

When you look at these pictures, I wonder what you'll see.  I hope you see a month full of blessings and happiness to spend time together with our family and friends in the US.  However, sometimes these pictures tell a bigger story than what we see at first glance.  Here is what I see...here are our stories....

Cassia got to meet her Great-Grandma's!  She is so sweet and full of smiles for everyone :)  We're so glad we went back to the States now instead of waiting until fall.  This way people got to see Cassia when she is still a baby!

Orrin got spoiled again at Grandpa and Grandma's house.  Pop-cycles, sure.  Stroller rides, yes.  Skid steer ride? Of course!



Speaking of spoiled....I felt really spoiled!  David's mom got in a lot of "Grandma time" which was really nice :)  Diaper changes, holding, rocking, reading, lawnmower rides, watching kids while I rode on the ambulance one day, and even drawing smiley faces on stomachs with a marker :)



I thought it would be fun for Orrin to go swimming at the pool.  Will's birthday was that day and so he came along too.  The water was really cold, but the boys swam for a while.  Cassia's swimming experience was very short-lived....enough to get her feet wet and have her suck in her breath and shudder.  She did get to go swimming though one time when we went to a hotel to stay with my parents and mom's family.  And I'm sure she'll be ready for the beach soon enough...

In this picture I see a new generation of Gerst's.  Orrin and Titus look so much alike and so much like their Gerst side!  Their mommies used to play together too when we would get together for family things like these cousins are.

As I look at this landscape, I see a lot nostalgia.  It's like looking at a whole different life.  Iowa, cornfields, the "bottoms", gravel roads, the farmhouse, the grove of spruce trees.  Starry nights of lying on the roof, talking about the future.  Where would I be in five years?  Ten years?  Sure didn't see the flood, the farmhouse and church that no longer mark the landscape, Illinois, David, mountains, or Haiti, but God has been good!  Just seems so....strange....and so long ago.

CORN!  Orrin ate sooo much sweet corn this trip!  Corn for supper, corn for snack, cold corn, even corn for breakfast.  As long as the corn was on the cob, he was pretty happy!

Oh, the things that grandparents do..... Last time when we left my parents' house, Orrin had left hand prints on their mirror.  One day mom cleaned the mirror and dad was so bummed that the hand prints were gone.  So this time, we put the kids' hand prints on the mirror so they can see them when the kids are away :)

David told me one of his favorite parts of our time home was that his brother Joel is now working and living in Fairbury.  So they got to spend time hanging out together, playing virtual basketball, and of course the occasional wrestling match in the kitchen :)

Another chapter in the Orrin sleep saga.  Over our vacation, he usually made it into our room once or twice a night, or had to have one of us sleep or lay down with him.  One night I got fed up, and told him not to come down the stairs.  So he sat on the stairs and looked through the railing at me in the living room.  And that's where he fell asleep.  I also see a little boy that became very very attached to his mom on this trip.  I think it was a little stressful for him not to know where we were going or what we were doing...after all, he's lived in Haiti most of his life that he can remember!  So we went through a lot of crisis' whenever I walked out of the room.  It seems to have improved a little since we got back to Haiti.  I think he's in his element again....

Yes, we lit the fireplace in May.  It was a cold month!!  We are used to the heat and humidity of Haiti so much that we all got pretty dry and had some colds :(  The fire was kind of fun though :)

Good friend time :)  Spent a day with Lindsy and Cassia shopping in Williamsburg.  Cold but really really good to be able to catch up.  So glad that all our friendships seem to be able to pick up right where we left off.

Speaking of friendships... :)  Orrin and Tristan sat together in church one Sunday.  After the service I saw Orrin go over to Tristan.  They held onto each other's hands and had this little conversation....not sure what about, but it was really super cute!

One day the kids were being nap rebels, and I was pretty grouchy about it.  So we loaded up the crying kids into the car and took off to the park.  It ended up being the perfect afternoon.  Orrin loved the swings, the slides, the merry-go-rounds.  He also had a great time riding his really old red trike!  Last summer he was just starting to get the hang of riding, and this time he was a pro!  We walked, pushed Cassia in the stroller, and Orrin rode his bike all over the park.  He would take off ahead of us and we couldn't keep up :)  It was really nice to enjoy the spring weather outdoors together as a family.  I had to wonder how many people have experienced these things I think of as "normal".  First world country, quiet small-town neighborhood, a kid on a bike, paved roads...and then it goes further....parents that are married to each other, that go to church...I wonder what percent of the world has this experience.  Maybe a fraction of a percent?  I need to not get so grumpy over the little things....kids that don't sleep aren't really that big of a deal in the big scheme of things.  Being thankful for what we've been given helped my mood a lot :)

In this pretty boring picture of a high school graduation, I see a bunch of cute second grade faces that I helped "tutor" when I was in High School.  Wow, how crazy that it was 10 years ago, and they're now graduating Seniors and going off into the world!  It was also fun to see and show David my dear old Wapello High School :)

Memorial Day we got together with the Zimmerman cousins...had a cookout at Tory and Wendy's.  In this picture I see a bunch of really great people that have great times together, enjoy good food and some good-natured teasing.  I'm go glad to be a part of this family :)

Orrin got luggage that had his name on it from a different Orrin...and it was so great!   He was such a big boy and pulled his luggage all through the airports.  Traveling home to Haiti again went pretty smooth.  Thanks to William for taking us up to O'hare for our noon flight!  Thanks to U Bill and A Joan for keeping us overnight in Ft Lauderdale and taking us from and to the airport!  After catching a ride back to our mountain, we're getting settled back in to our routine here!

The Good, The Bad, and the Beautiful

You know the saying “the good, the bad and the ugly?”  Well, I’ve decided to tell you what’s been going on in our lives lately…the good, the bad and the beautiful.

The Good…David went on a day trip Easter weekend to visit a fort (or their ruins) and go on a hike/swim.  The water came out of a cave and so it was crystal blue and cold.  He could see fish swimming in it, and the water was so beautiful.  He had a great time enjoying seeing more of Haiti. 

The Bad…After they left the fort, a couple men blocked the exit and wouldn't let them through.  Then when they got back to the vehicles after the hike….6 tires on two vehicles had the air let out of them L 

The Good…There was a pump in one of the vehicles, so they could air up the tires.  Otherwise, it would have been a really bad deal.  Also good was the rest of the Easter weekend.  Orrin and I dyed eggs with Komari and kids.  We had a good Easter Sunday with a Brunch and church service.

David and me at brunch...it was hot out!!  David says these are our hayseed disguises :)

The Bad…Orrin’s sleeping.  We thought we had moved Orrin to a big bed.  But after weeks of him getting up multiple times per night and then up before dawn in the mornings, we decided this wasn't going to work.  Especially with Cassia still needing to eat about every three hours.  So we moved Orrin to Cassia’s room (closet) and Cassia now has the biggest room of the house. 

The Good…Orrin’s new room is dark, quiet, and he sleeps through the night and sometimes even until 7am!!  Also, for the past few weeks, I’ve been laying Cassia down when it’s time for her to sleep and she goes to sleep by herself!  And she’s been doing great at night too!  Sometimes 7-8 hours!!!

The Bad…that was so totally last week.  Sigh.  I guess kids just want to keep you on your toes.  Never know what to expect.  Orrin’s new thing is not wanting to sleep in his room anymore.  Cassia’s new problems are that she is starting to freak out when I leave the room, or rolling over and thinking she can’t sleep on her back.

Maybe we should move the rocking chair to his room and he would sleep...now there's an idea...

The Good…Singing group.  One day I was talking to Miss Margaret in the Hospital, and told her how I thought her singing group was really pretty.  She said they wanted us to come teach them a song in English.  So Joan, Komari and myself started going to sing with the group on Wednesday afternoons.  I love my Wednesday afternoons with these ladies!!  Usually we practice a song in Creole or French that they want to sing, and then we’ve been working on teaching them the song “Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken” in English.  They did great and now they want to learn another English song J  And I love singing their songs too…they’re so beautiful!!  It’s also really great Creole practice for us and a good way to get to know more of the ladies around Bonne Fin.

So if I was going to do the Ugly category, this would be the story.  But for now, here’s the next Bad…The Day of The Slingshot.  Yes, this is capitalized for a reason.  It will forever live in my memory.  Short story is that some kids wanted to kill a bird in a tree in our yard.  I told them no.  I spent about an hour in and out of the house “playing” hide and seek with them and telling them I didn’t want them to kill the bird, and I didn’t want them shooting the slingshot because sometimes Orrin is playing in the yard.  They would leave and then come back when I’d go in the house.  They would send a different boy to try other tricks (like, it’s my pet bird).  After I locked the gate, Orrin went outside to play.  And they shot a rock up into the tree when he was outside, playing near that tree.  I tore out of the house, ran toward them, plowed through a hole in the fence, and chased them as they turned and ran up the hill.  The only reason I stopped was that Cassia was still in the house, lying on the couch or somewhere I felt unsafe leaving her.  You feel like you really blow it when you chase kids up a hill telling them that you’re going to beat them if they do it again.  Security came after I called David telling him to come RIGHT NOW.  They came but the kids were gone.  And they haven’t come back.

The Good…We started getting a rainy season again in April!  One day it rained 2.3 inches in about a half hour!

The Bad…We got flooded.  We have a line coming into our house that occasionally lets water in when it rains a lot.  But this time it was about an inch in diameter, just pouring into our dining/living room.  Me and my great critical thinking skills didn’t think about putting a bowl or something under the stream of water to catch it coming in.  Instead, I had seen David go out and dig a hole to let the water run out before, so I went out and started shoveling away in the pouring rain.  David told me later that it didn’t do any good, but it was a good effort J  Anyway, after another terse phone call to him to get home right now, he drilled a hole in the pipe and that was what really let the water drain out outside the house so it didn’t come in.  But after all that, we had a floor full of water.  So we proceeded to “jete dlo” (bail water) out of our house, using a dustpan.  We bailed about 15 gallons out of our floor.

The Good…We’ve been having company for supper!  We had Guito and Kerline Augustine and their kids, Clyde and Maiva.  I made American food because they’ve spent time in the States before, so I figured they would be used to it a little.  When we asked them, they said, no they didn’t eat American food in the States!  Oh no!  But I think the food went ok and we really enjoyed our evening together eating and visiting.  Clyde is about a year younger than Orrin so they played and fought over toys together.  Maiva and Cassia are about a week and a half apart in age.  We are so thankful to be able to start making more friends here and are blessed by this beautiful family!

A few nights ago we had Dr Mario over for supper.  It was also a really great evening and we enjoyed getting to know him better and laughing over some funny stories.  He was impressed that David had helped cook the meal :) .

The Good....  we were blessed by visitors from our other home!  David Mueller and Ted Bachtold came down on a quick trip to do a repair on our water system.  They got done in two days!  We had them over for supper and the evening one night and really enjoyed it.  There’s something about having people from back home see where we’re at…we recommend it more often J

The Bad…we went to Port to take them to the airport, and they arrived an hour before their flight.  They were told they were too late to check their bags, and so they tried to put everything in their carry-on and left their suitcases L Then going through security, a bunch of stuff got thrown out.  Saaaad. 

The Good…Madam Ino suddenly got a large order of peanut butter for us to take back to the States.  It should be a help to her financially.  She hopefully will not find out that the other peanut butter was (hopefully!) dug out of a trash can at the Port au Prince airport J

The Beautiful…We had the HL Board come down for a visit recently.  Sunday we all went to Zanglais to a retreat center to have worship services, fellowship, and Communion together.  The Communion service was Beautiful.  We looked out at the water and were reminded of how Jesus called fishermen to become fishers of men.  We looked out at a distant hill and thought of how it would have been to look out and see three crosses on a distant hill, knowing that people were going to die there, but maybe not knowing that one of them was dying for us.  And it’s not just that Jesus died.  People die every day.  But people don’t usually die for someone unless they’re a great person.  No one dies for someone who is bad, evil, wicked.  But that’s what Jesus did.  That’s what He came to do.   And in so doing, He gave us life…and that is beautiful.

Container

We received a much anticipated sea container this week!  We want to thank everyone for their part in sending it to us!  There are so many medical supplies, building supplies, and fun packages for the hospital and for us.  We really appreciate all the work that goes into it.  We don't know everyone who donates money, buys supplies, packs the container, etc, but we want to name a few that we know.

Thanks to Tory and Wendy for collecting money, purchasing and delivering a 4 wheeler for use around the campus.  David put on a few miles the first day (yes, for work!! :) ).  Orrin thinks it's pretty great too :)




Thanks to my parents for donating gloves and diapers for the Hospital.  Thanks to Grandma Gerst for crocheting balls for the kids at the hospital, and Emma Metzger for sending a bunch of Creole Bible Story Books!

There is a really sick little boy in the Hospital right now (not one of these pictured) and his mom is unable to take care of him.  He is at the Hospital alone, and it's so sad to see.  But it's neat to see the staff pull around him.  They bring him food and bathe him.  When we brought the balls to the hospital, I gave him one.  He said, "Mesi" (thank you)...it was the first thing I've heard him say.  So sweet!

Thanks also to David's parents for the Christmas gifts (yes, in April) for Orrin, and to Troy and April Slagel for Orrin's toy trucks!  Thanks to Troy and Leann for doing some grocery shopping for us.  Thanks to Rhonda and Emily for sending baby girl clothes that they were done with....and so many others!  Thanks to whoever sent pears...for weeks, Orrin kept saying, "Pears, when container comes!"  He ate a whole can that night...and then drank the juice :)

This Hospital is such a huge project.  We're thankful for all the staff that works here every day, putting in their time and effort to make it a success.  We're also so thankful for everyone's involvement "back home."  Thanks for your prayers, your donations, your visits on work teams.  Please continue to remember Hospital Lumiere in whatever way you can.  May God bless you, and may He bless His work that is being done here!

A Beautiful Life

One evening in Dumay, as we stood out on the porch of the guest house and sang hymns with several of the local young men, we sang the song “A Beautiful Life.”  It touched me that night, and I've been thinking about the song ever since.  So much so, that I've decided to name our blog after it.  Seems like everyone’s creative with those sorts of things, so I’ll join the club…

I wanted something that would be applicable to our life in general, since I started this blog before we came to Haiti, and, maybe I’ll still have it afterwards. 

When David got his Paramedic license and started working 24 hour shifts, I made him a quilt to take with him to use at night.  And in the center, I had one of these verses embroidered.  “I’ll help someone in time of need, and journey on with rapid speed; I’ll help the sick and poor and weak, and words of kindness to them speak.”  I thought it was really fitting for what he would be doing every day at work. 

I also feel like it fits with what we’re called to do here at in Haiti too.  When we were called here, one of the verses God showed me is “How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!"  In addition to keeping the outside of the Hospital looking nice, the inside working smoothly, the patients taken care of physically, we are called here to love everyone, help where we can, and show them God’s love.

And wherever we are in life….I think this fits.  Not just in Haiti, not just on the ambulance.  Wherever we are, God wants us to help lift another person’s load.

And then I think, what if my life ISN’T beautiful?  Yeah, right now from a human perspective it’s beautiful.  God has blessed me with a great marriage, two healthy kids, a house to live in, a supportive church.  I have eyesight so I can work.  I am able to read.  I live free from being persecuted for being a believer in Christ.  I have food to eat every day, and when I wash my dishes, hot water (usually J) freely flows out of my faucet.  So many things that would be unimaginable to so many people in this world.  But does this make my life beautiful?  If I lost all this, would my life not be beautiful?

Over the years, David and I have talked about this, asking each other if we are enjoying our day, our stage in life.  Now, for instance, not every day is perfect (I have a 2 ½ year old boy who has a stronger will than his mother, and who doesn't want to sleep at night, for instance J), but we are enjoying living in Haiti, and we mostly like our two-little-kids stage.  But then we say, the point is not if we're "having a good time" or to have the easiest smoothest road possible.  God is what matters.  Doing what He has called us to do is what matters.  The Bible says it better... So likewise ye, when ye have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants:  we have done that which was our duty to do.  Luke 17:10

And then I read the song again.  Nowhere does it talk about healthy kids, or freedom, or food or hot water.  It talks about doing good to others because that’s what God wants us to do.  It is a way to honor and worship Him and bring those glad tidings!  That is what will make our life beautiful.  No matter what.  Even the person who wrote this hymn, William Golden, didn't have such a great life as we would think of it.  If you believe what you find on the internet J what little info there is says that his only child died young, and he himself died in a traffic accident.  He wrote this song when he was serving an eight year prison sentence.  How’s that for beautiful? But in spite of that, this is what he wrote….

Each day I'll do a golden deed
By helping those who are in need;
My life on earth is but a span,
And so I'll do the best I can.

To be a child of God each day,
My light must shine along the way;
I'll sing His praise while ages roll,
And strive to help some troubled soul.

The only life that will endure,
Is one that's kind and good and pure;
And so for God I'll take my stand,
Each day I'll lend a helping hand.

I'll help someone in time of need,
And journey on with rapid speed;
I'll help the sick and poor and weak,
And words of kindness to them speak.

While going down life's weary road,
I'll try to lift some trav'ler's load;
I'll try to turn the night to day,
Make flowers bloom along the way.

Refrain:
Life's evening sun is sinking low,
A few more days, and I must go
To meet the deeds that I have done,
Where there will be no setting sun.

Raining in the Babyroom

Sometimes I wonder what our life would be like if we weren't in Haiti.  What would my “other self” be doing right now?? Would I be more stressed?  Less stressed?  Would I feed my kids healthier food or not?  Would they be spending more time with other kids their age or less?  Would they sit still better in church…or not J

Obviously I will never know, but it’s fun to think about sometimes.  I really think it’s a neat opportunity for my kids to spend some of their growing up years in Haiti, and with all the different experiences.  Sometimes cultural differences can be, well, different, but for the most part that’s all they are. 

I want to relate a few instances of differences in our life now compared with what it may have been, but that’s not to say it’s worse.  Just want to highlight a few things….

The first Sunday Cassia went to church, it was raining.  During the service, of course Cassia got hungry and wanted to eat.  With Orrin, I would take him out to the babyroom at church to feed him.  But here, there’s no baby room, just a cement “bench” by the front steps outside.  But with the rain…. I leaned up to Jami and whispered, “What do you do when it’s raining in the babyroom?”  You feed the baby sitting in the church bench and nobody thinks twice.

Orrin’s potty training isn’t going so well, but he knows how to go.  So, I’ve taken to letting him run around with just a t-shirt on.  If he has a diaper on (OR underwear!) he will use them.  If there’s nothing but air, he will use the toilet (or “the outside”, as he says).   I can’t see myself letting him run around the yard in the middle of Forrest, Illinois (especially in March!) with no bottoms on, but it’s working out pretty well here!

One major factor that makes our past and present lives so different is the weather.  Here there are rarely coats to worry about, there’s never snow to wonder if it will slow down your traveling (it’s just demonstrations here J).  Right about now, I would be REALLY REALLY REALLY ready for spring, for planting my garden, for going outside for a walk, pushing the kids in a stroller.  Here, my tomato plants are about a foot tall, and hopefully will produce some tomatoes soon.  I’ve got lettuce growing, and watermelon plants look promising if I remember to water them.  There is not much option for using a stroller here with the mountain we live on.  But it’s so nice that we can go outside and be comfortable most every day of the year.  Some days, it’s my sanity-saver!  Orrin can go outside with his little TONKA truck, push it all over the yard (and in the garden), fill it with leaves, dirt and rocks, or watch the other neighborhood kids ride it down the “hill” in our yard.  It’s really helpful if he can be out of the house when I’m trying to get a crying baby to sleep!

Carseats are another thing that is so different here.  I never would have let my kids ride around in the car without a carseat in the States.  (For one thing, I would get majorly in trouble if I got pulled over).  But (gasp!) down here, we rarely use one.  Most of the vehicles we use are made for getting as many people and/or equipment in them as possible, so the back seats are side-facing and it’s not real easy to strap a carseat in.  We did the other day when we went all the way to Port to get a work team…8 hours is a long time to hold a baby in the car!  We don’t have seatbelts in back, so David had to rig it up.  The result was that Cassia had her own “oh no” bar to hold onto around the curves J

One thing I don’t think I’ll ever get used to is the plethora of advise that’s freely given J  One day in town, David was in a store buying paint, so I decided to do a little clothes shopping in the street by where he was.  And as I walked around, browsing the clothes with Cassia in my arms, there was a constant chatter.  And in English, this is what it would sound like.  “Sun, sun, sun!  The sun is bad for the baby’s head!  Sun, sun!  It will make her sick!  Don’t hold her with just one arm.  Don’t hold her across the stomach.”  Then when she started fussing, it was “Hungry!  The baby’s crying!  Sun, sun!  Cover her head!  Breastfeed!”  In about 5 minutes, my nerves were completely shot, so I went back to the vehicle and when we drove away, Cassia fell asleep, which was what she needed after all…not to eat or have her head covered or lay down flat, which she despises, by the way J  

Driving

 

Finally, after all this time of living in Haiti, I drove to town!  I’ve been practicing with David, off and on over the months, and so finally when Jami and I went to Cayes for groceries, I made it the whole way J 

When I was about 15, I decided I wanted to learn to drive stick shift.  Mom had an old red Nova, and I remember trying to back it up for my first lesson.  After killing it three times, I decided I wasn’t ever going to need to know how to drive a stick shift anyway.  I mean, just buy a car without one, right??? 

I guess I never anticipated living on a mountain in southern Haiti, and feeling like I wouldn’t be able to drive even in an emergency.  David, on the other hand has been driving to Port and in the crazy Port traffic for a long time.  So, after lots of lessons with David (pretty sure he had to tell me the same thing about 100 times) some of it must have sunk in. 

As we were driving down the mountain, the speedometer read 25mph.  I was poking along.  Am I really the same person who used to consistently drive over the speed limit in an ambulance, communicating with dispatch on the radio, blaring the siren and air horn, and talking to the other medic?  Now I had to learn how to pass a tap-tap while driving uphill, honking the horn, shifting to another gear, and watching out for motorcycles.  Boy, this stick shift business is rough.

Thanks to Jami (telling me things like, “I think you should be in 3^rd gear right now”) we made it to town and down the busy streets of Cayes.  “Which lane am I supposed to be in??”  I guess you just make your own J  We pulled up to our first stop of the day, to pick up David and my Haitian Driver’s Licenses.  “Good thing my driver is getting her license,” Jami said. J

Quotes from a 2 Year Old

When we were staying with Grandpa and Grandma Zimmerman this summer, Orrin woke up early from his nap one day.  I brought him downstairs and rocked him, trying to sing him back to sleep.  I tried to shut the light switch off that was right by my head, but he wimpered, wanting it back on.  After a few more minutes, I thought he was deeply sleeping so I turned the lights off again.  Not even moving or opening his eyes, Orrin said, "Light."  What a great sleeper I have...not!

We went to visit new baby Cole at Troy and April's.  Orrin was in the other room playing with Tristan.  Baby Cole started fussing.  In runs Orrin.  "Baby cryin'!  I'll get it!"

Orrin was supposed to be taking a nap during church one Sunday when we were in Iowa.  Lindsy heard him coughing in the room and then he puked up some of the crud from his lungs.  (He had a bad cold.) When I came into the baby room, he was kneeling on the floor.  He looked up at me.  “I spit it out, mommy!  I spit it out!”  Sooo proud of you :-P

We were just about to land on one of our flights back to Haiti, and Orrin had had enough.  He was throwing a fit and crying.  The plane landed with a lot of noise from slowing the plane down.  Orrin stopped crying and his eyes widened.  "Airplane broken!"

Orrin had gotten the computer taken away and I put it in my room.  He was standing at the bedroom door wailing.  I told him if he didn’t stop crying, he would have to go to his room.  He snuffled and stopped.  “All done cryin’,” he said.

Orrin is a major repeater.  He will repeat ANYTHING a person says, especially if it’s at the end of a sentence.  This story demonstrates….

“Jonah tried to run away from God.”

“Away from God.”

“He was a bad boy.”

“Bad boy.”

“So God sent a big fish to swallow Jonah.”

“Big fish?”

“Just like when Orrin is a bad boy and has to go to his room.”

“Go to his room?”

“And then the whale spit Jonah onto the beach.”

“Onto the beach.  Spit it out!”

“And then Jonah listened to God.  So when Orrin comes out of his room, he needs to obey and listen to mommy.”

“Listen to mommy.”

We’ll see…..

David was lying on the floor playing with Orrin, who was walking over him and stepping on his stomach.  I said, “Orrin, that’s an owie for daddy.  Ask daddy if…”  and I didn’t get a chance to finish my sentence of, “if it’s ok to do that.”  He looks down at David.  “Owie??”

Orrin came walking into the living room where David was sitting on the couch.  “David,” he says seriously.  “What time is it?”

Orrin was getting ready for bed.  After books and songs, I prayed with him.  Orrin said, “Jesus gone.”  I said, “Yes, He’s in Heaven with God.  You can talk to Him when you pray.”  “Find a girl,” he replied.  Funny.  What was he thinking??

Orrin woke up around 6:15 in the morning.  I asked him, “Why don’t you sleep in?”  He opened his eyes wide in a shocked expression, held out his hand and said, “I wake up!”  Duh mom!!

One day, after about 37 times of watching the video I took of a helicopter landing, Orrin begged to see it again.  I said no.  He proceeded to go and ask dad.  “Need to watch video!!”  David told him not to ask dad if mom already said no.  Orrin comes running back into the room.  “Need to ask Cassia!  Need to watch helicopter!!”

Things Orrin knows how to say because he lives in Haiti-

Bon jou

Bon swa

Mesi

`Lectricity’s off! 

Genagator (generator)

The States

Here's a few pictures of what Orrin's been up to lately: