B&K in Haiti

Two Saturday's ago we had the awesome privilege of having our new friends Ben and Katie stay with us. Ben and Katie moved to Haiti to teach at Quisqueya Christian School just a few weeks before the earthquake. A few days after the quake, I was blog-hopping, and came upon their blog. Turns out, Katie went to Baylor, and we had met once through a mutual friend. My heart was drawn so much to them because I know what it is like moving to another country....the adjustment, the highs, the lows, missing family and friends, adaptation...and then on top of all that, a MAJOR earthquake??? I can't even imagine. So, I sent them an e-mail and told them if they were ever in Santo Domingo, or needed to get away, they were welcome to stay with us. They took us up on it!!! Their school had a week break for Canival, and they were headed to a beach just outside of Santo Domingo, and needed a place to stay the night before they checked in. We had SUCH a great time with them...they are such an amazing couple. It was such an encouragement to see their faith in ACTION, on the front lines. God is truly filling them each day, so that they can make it to the next. They are excellent writers and update their blog often. Check it out! It will help you see what is going on in Haiti, and give you names and faces to put everything together. They wrote about our time together here.

God really used their time here to give me a grateful heart. It is so easy for me to compare everything to the states, and start to feel sorry for myself....we don't have Target, it's hot and we can only use our AC at night, constant noise, it takes forever to get the simplest thing done, terrible driving and traffic...on and on and on. Through hearing what they have been through, learning what Haiti was like even before the quake, and seeing how big their eyes were in Jumbo (a Wal-Mart-like store), God was saying, "Be grateful!! You have SO much. I have provided you with so much...and even if you didn't have these things, you would be fine."

What a blessing they were to us! Come back soon Ben and Katie, and in the meantime, you are in our prayers.

(My camera is semi-broken, so unfortunately we didn't get any pictures together)

Eight

Avery is eight months old!!

She has such a fun little personality and a great sense of humor. She is always laughing at something...if I move a certain way, make a funny face, up on dad's shoulders, jumping in her jumper, dancing with dad, chasing people with Pops...she giggles and giggles. I love it! She loves to give wet slobbery kisses and even says "mmmmwa" (kinda- more of mom and dad's interpretation that actually knowing what she is doing). She is a really really good eater and eats most everything I give here. For some reason the DR only sells fruit baby food- no veggies. And the fruit they do sell has sugar as the second ingredient listed. So, I have resorted to making my own baby food, which has actually been quite fun. She loves auyama (a Dominican squash), broccoli, green beans, peaches, apples, and pears. But, her absolute favorite thing to eat is Cheerios- I never leave the house without them. She can even pick them up and feed them to herself. She is still a pro-sleeper at night, and now takes 2 naps a day (sometimes three). She sleeps with her little frog-blanket that Elliott has affectionaly named Maco (frog in spanish). She's still not crawling yet, but getting really close- although she can cover some serious ground by scooting backwards on her belly. Her hair is starting to come in more- I finally have something to wash when I give her a bath.

We love you so much Avery and can't wait to see how you grow and change this month.

So proud that she can stand up in her crib.