Hope your Christmas was GREAT

 We hope your Christmas was really good.  We had a quiet and nice time here.  I'll only put a couple of photos here.  Some good friends sent in some neat gifts for all to share.  Captain Dick and his wife Linda (MFI) sent Abbie a box.  It was so funny.  The first picture shows what she got.  Now, I want you to know, ELMO is a giggle Elmo.  Abbie slept with us that night...WITH Elmo.  Every time she turned over, Elmo giggled.  That lasted until she was finally asleep....then he was ejected from the bedroom.  Her shirt, with the MFI logo on it was a SUPER hit.  She said now she is like Mommy, Grandma and Grandpa...she IS MFI.  Doesn't take much to make them happy, does it?   

 

We had gotten her some inexpensive dolls...the Disney princess type...she's been into that lately.  Well, Shannon knew I had gotten those dolls, and when she went out for a week and a half, she got Abbie the tent, with the princesses on it, and a crawl space to get into it.  She LOVES that thing...and thankfully it does collapse quite easily and opens easily, too.  Those are her princess dolls in the box in front of her. She got lots of nice things from many friends.  I had her help wrap some gifts.  We had gotten Shannon some huge packs of gum (she LOVES gum).  Abbie had a fit.  She said that is a FAKE Christmas present, it's not real.  Anything you can eat, in her estimation is NOT real.  But this year she did not tell before hand what anyone got.  A first for her.  

Had to throw in a photo of the puppy...keep praying that no one steals him from us, like they have all our others.  His name is Peter Puppy....Abbie named him after one of our grandsons.  He is a cute thing, and surprisingly he DOES listen.  

 

Don has been working hard on the door for the gate.  He has run into so many problems, but ends up solving them.  It just takes SO much time!!!  I think he is going to hire someone to make the big gate....he probably won't be happy with it, but it will get done quicker that way.  His time has just been spent doing too many things, to get time to work on the gate.  Pray for him as he figures out how to do it and who to hire to do it.

New Years will be quiet for us.  We tend to stay at home and normally get to bed early.  Things here are quiet and we are praying they stay that way.  Pray with us on that, too.  And pray for the container that is sitting at the docks now.  We finally sent some money to get things going on the paperwork.  They have been putting it off, so we are happy that at least there is some movement on it.  We know it won't get here before the new year, but that's okay now.  Prayerfully we'll get it the first week of January.  That would be a huge blessing.

I don't know what it's like where you are, but it's COLD here in Haiti.  Our normal LOW is med to low 70's.  Tonight it's supposed to get down to the 50's.  That is BAD for here.  With all the medical problems going on with Cholera, these low temps will create another problem.  People here simply cannot stand it when it gets into the upper 60's, so this is going to be a REALLY difficult time for them.  We'll have more and more people coming with doctor and hospital bills now.  As we all sit here wrapped up in blankets and with sweatshirts and socks on, we think of all of those here who have NOTHING to keep warm in...not even a wind proof home.  A lot of prayers are needed in that area, too.

For now....God bless!!!  And keep in mind how much the Lord has blessed you this last year.  Even when problems arise and trouble seem so huge...HE IS THERE FOR YOU!! And then look at the Haitians who are suffering, and remember, there but for the grace of God, go you.  If you're reading this, you have a computer...they don't even have a sweater.  Keep praying for Haiti...it's leaders, it's health care workers, and the people here.  Thank you!!