Wow...I can't believe it's been so long since I have posted.  I'm really sorry about that.  Since coming back we have been ultra busy.  Not anything exciting, just "living" and getting back into the swing of things.

We were able to spend a very short time with my brother and his wife.  But it was good time.  Bob looked and acted much better than we thought he would.  Guess the saying, "Can't tie an old dog down", fits.  I can comment on his age, since I'm right behind him.  The one full day we had with them, some friends they used to be with while "on the road" (they were full time motor-homers) came for a visit. Very nice couple.  But we did have two evenings with Bob and Bev.  Please keep Bob in prayer.  He has finished his radiation and is now waiting for the next step in treatment.  Keep Bev in prayer, too, as this is also hard on her.

Keep our friend Lauri in prayer, too.  Her husband made the journey to be with Jesus, and she is without him now.  Lauri and Bill were and ARE a very important part of our lives.  But losing a loved one is not an easy road to walk.  Bill is happy and rejoicing with Jesus, but those who love and miss him are suffering.  Please keep Lauri and her family in prayer, for God's comfort and peace.

We flew into Haiti on a Tuesday and were anxious to see everyone.  Sad to have to listen to Vero explain her aunt and brother's deaths.  That was such a hard, hard time for her.  She spent two weeks in Port au Prince, first day or two with Smith (pronounced Smit), then the rest of the time making funeral arrangements for him and getting things straightened out there.  She came back here just a couple of days before we arrived back.  Please keep her in prayer as she now has to assume all the responsibilities of her family.  Smith had a couple of businesses going, and she has to get a lawyer to get things straightened out with all of that.  Plus, like her, he supported quite a few kids in school.  She doesn't want to ignore them, but life has put a whole lot of new challenges on her plate now.  She keeps plodding on but it's so hard for her.  She still has all her responsibilities at IDADEE and now all of Smith's situations, too.

One of the fellows from IDADEE brought Savanah to us after we were home.  As I had feared, she didn't really know us.  But I was  holding her and started to sing a song I always sang to her.  She pulled back, looked at me, then all of a sudden she smiled and leaned in and hugged me.  Now we are back to her clinging to me.  She will go to Vero, and to Don, but if I leave the room, she yells.  I'm slowly breaking her of that.  I think she feels I'll leave her again.  She was a bit lethargic when we got here.  Being at the orphanage with 23 other very young kids, she was treated as one of them and was sort of left in her bed a lot.  Not crawling or getting around, it was the safest place for her.  Now she is crawling all over the place, and yup, getting into things.  But that is fine.  She is improving so much in the last 2 weeks.  She got her second round of shots yesterday.  Slight fever last night, but other than that, she didn't respond at all.  She is such a good baby, we sure couldn't ask for more.  When we say "praise the Lord" she lefts her hands in the air.  And this kid LOVES to eat.  I brought back a lot of baby food, well, forget that.  She won't eat it, she wants REAL food.  No teeth yet, so have to really mash things up, but that's fine.  When Abbie walks in, she lights up and gets all excited. They watch TV together and it's so funny.  Abbie likes anything with dancing in it.  And Savanah has good rhythm, too.  She bounces right along with Abbie.  What a blessing these two are.

A lot of our time has been setting things back in order here.  Our inverter quit...well, it wasn't technically the inverter, it was our batteries...they had gone dry and died on us.  Don did find two of the 8 that are usable.  So, he charges them each day so we will have a fan at night.  No security lights, but that's life.  Once we get enough funds, we'll work on getting batteries.  There were a lot of other minor things that needed attention and we are finally getting to the point of having them all taken care of.  

Like American, a lot of political stuff going on here.  But we don't get involved in that at all.  We are here for the Lord, not politics.  And our weather...well, America has been having some major heat situations, and so have we.  We are at the point of praying for rain again.  We had a major storm go over us, and we didn't even get one drop of rain from it.  But our humidity has been right up there in the 90's the whole time since we've been back.  You'd think we'd get some rain, but nope, not a drop.  And yes, our temps were in the 100's, too, with that awful humidity.  It would drop down to the low 90's at night.  Now we are in the 90's and dropping to the low 90's at night.  We even got into the upper 80's once.  Okay, for you all that is bad, right?  Well, YOU have electricity.  Maybe not air conditioning (but most do), but at least fans.  Our power was going off at 6:30 in the evening and not coming on till 5 in the morning.  No fans, no electric at all.  We now have ONE fan working at night, and praise the Lord, it's in our bedroom.  You all can praise God you have an alternative to the heat.  We have one fan, but I think of the Haitians who have NO alternative, just sweltering heat and bugs.  I praise God a LOT for our one fan.

Looks like Savanah and I will be making a work day of it at the airport on Tuesday.  Vero has to take Abbie to the Dominican to get her passport again.  A very tangled web concerning her passport.  (Was lost here in Haiti, they didn't want to issue another one, so she went to the Haitien consulate in the  Dominican to get a replacement.  Now the Haitian government doesn't want to re-issue it, since it ran out.  She has to go back to the Dominican to get it renewed.  What a mess.)  So, I'll go and work on Tuesday at the airport.  We'll see how that works out.

I am so thankful that in our travels in the US the Lord went BEFORE us, went WITH us and kept His hands ON us.  It would have been very hard to have had Don in a hospital somewhere where we knew no one.  But He was also with us on the road.  We got excellent gas millage, so spent less on fuel this time.  A minor thing, but major when you have to pay for it.  Oh there are things we forgot to get and things we would have liked to do, but God knows all of that, and He walks with us and guides us, so we are happy.  We are so thankful for all of our friends and relatives we were able to spend time with.  Two college graduations, one high school graduation and getting to be with grand kids was special.  Everything was super, even the delay for minor things on our return.  

So, a HUGE thank you, first and foremost to the Lord for being with us, and then to our family who was a super blessing for us, and also our friends who make life a fun place to be.  We are blessed beyond measure.  I pray you are in that place too, where you can praise God for all He has done for you.  Even in the rough times, He's there and has His hands on you (and especially on US).  Be blessed, and praise God for all He does for you.   Until next time.... keep your eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith!