Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Our New House

Here is a link to a video of our new house.  I hope it works.   New House in Haiti

Friday, August 17, 2012

32 Hours


To say this past week as been busy is an understatement.  We celebrated all three of the kids' birthdays.  We celebrated the girls with an American Girl party and we celebrated Luke's 12th birthday by giving him cash and an afternoon alone with a friend at the Mall of America.

We were overwhelmed by the love of our local body, Hiawtha Church.  Sunday we were blessed by a commissoning service followed by a going away party.  The party had an amazing turn out and even more amazing food catered by David Fernandez. If you attended and we didn't get a chance to speak with you we are so sorry and hope you felt welcomed.

We cleared our calendars for this last week in the states in hopes of having plenty of time with Chris's family.  Unfortunately some work problems arose that needed attended to for most the week.  Leaving behind a business is harder than I'd thought. 

We spent the day Thursday packing.  It was quite the task.  We were about to give up when Tammy and Chuck Dube came over and miraculously repacked our bags and made everything fit.  Praise the Lord for amazing friends!  Here are some before pictures that don't really even do justice to the amount of stuff we were dealing with.  We now have 15 suitcases, 5 carryons, and 5 backpacks packed.  We'll take some after pictures at the airport.



So we are headed out in 32 hours.  Insane. We are actually ready and thankfully have a full day to enjoy our family.  So I must logoff for a game of Scrabble with the in-laws.

Friday, August 10, 2012

Sunday 12th Farewell Events


Everyone who is able is invited to our going away events this Sunday, August 12th.

Commissioning Service at Hiawatha Church
10am 4155 41st Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55406

Going Away Party at Hiawatha School Park
6:30-8:30pm 4305 42nd St E, Minneapolis, MN 55406

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Countdown


It has been another whirlwind month.  Now it is well into August already and the official countdown to our departure has begun.  We purchased plane tickets and will be flying out on Sunday, August 19th at the break of dawn. 10 days!

Thank you so much to all of you who have joined our support team, sent encouraging notes and messages, and been praying for us along the way.  The encouragement has sustained us through this crazy time.

We moved out of our friends' home and into Chris's parents home. We have a lot to do in these last 10 days including packing 15 70lb suitcases, tying up details of life here, raising our final 5% of support, celebrating all three kiddos birthdays, saying many, many goodbyes and hopefully sleeping at some point.

Thank you!

Friday, August 3, 2012

Chris's House

When Sara and I got married in 2003, it wasn’t too long until we  were convinced to get a house.  Looking back that may not have been the best move for many people at that time, but in our mind it was a good investment and we were planning on staying about three years and then moving on to something that would be a better fit for a family of 4.  I remember not initially loving our neighborhood and thinking about all the things I would change.  Now looking back after leaving last month, I am so grateful that God kept us in there and made it our home.  

It’s too hard to describe all that I remember and love about our house and neighborhood but I think the story of white-eyes the kitten sums up much of what I loved.  One day Eloise found one of the many kittens that at various points have lived in our garage, and it had some type of conjunctivitis.  Thus the name “white-eyes”.  She desperately wanted us to keep it, and we debated this until a neighbor ended up taking her away and keeping her.  Eloise was devastated and despite my strong dislike for cats, Sara and the kids eventually ended up convincing me to get one.  Less than 24 hours later we had domino, a cat who very quickly found herself pregnant with kittens that were born in the kitty hospital on our porch.

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While we eventually found new homes for them, the few weeks when they were living on our porch was a lot of fun.  Kate used to go a grab them and carry them around giggling, and there were many hours spent chasing them around and putting them in weird places.  

I will miss this and the many random things that on my own I never would have thought to try, but having done them makes our life as a family on 3824 Clinton all the more meaningful. While it's a little sad to be leaving a place with so many memories, it makes me all the more excited to make new ones at our home in Haiti.