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We had an AWESOME weekend celebrating Elliott's 32nd birthday!!

More to come tomorrow...

Para Te

So there is a little jewel of a restaurant right down the street from our house named Para Te- it is heaven. Elliott and I stumbled apon it while house-hunting, and then it turned out to be right down the street from the house we decided to rent. It is a Taiwanese, vegetarian, tea spot with the tag line "Jardin del Descanso" (Garden of Rest). If you know me, you know that these rank among my favorite things...good ethnic food, I always say I could be a vegetarian, I love, love, love tea, and after spending 3 months in Guatemala I fell in love with little garden restaurants. And, to top it off, I can walk to it- another one of my favorite things.

The restaurant is in the Taiwanese family's yard, and they have made it into a little garden complete with a fountain, soft music, and bonsai trees! They have green and red tea- and then you get to combine that with just about anything you can imagine- raspberry, apple, orange, grapefruit, jasmine, lavender....(even prunes- haven't tried that one yet). Our personal favorite is Te verde con Jasmin poco azucar- green tea with jasmine, easy on the sugar. We have ordered it so many times that when they come to take our order they ask "te verde con jasmin poco azucar?" The food is awesome too- my personal favorites are the dumplings, and noodles with peanut sauce. Mmmmm. And to top it all off, the most expensive thing on the menu is 100 pesos (less than $3)!

I go every Wednesday with some other American moms. I am so blessed that the Lord has finally provided me with some American friends.

Katherine (on the left) had her TWIN BOYS on Monday!!

Avery and I have been sick all week...my neighbor (who is more obsessed with Para Te than I am) just brought me a green tea with grapefruit juice, and a frozen orange juice drink ....I am feeling better already!!

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.

Dania's Quince

On Saturday night we celebrated our sweet friend Dania's 15th birthday. In there DR (and most Latin countries), turning 15 is the BIG birthday. It is the coming of age, going from a little girl to a woman.

We hosted the Quinceañera at our house, and they invited about thirty of their family and friends. The party was "supposed to" start at 6:30. One of their friends has a minivan and offered to bring everyone from Cielo. The first group arrived at about 7:20, and then he had to turn around and go back for the second gruop. The second group got here around 8, and then we were ready to begin the celebration. Dania was upstairs getting ready, and stayed hidden from the guests. We gathered everyone around the stairs, which were lit with christmas lights and decorated with white confetti. Elliott announced her....Ana Dania Martinez Ortega...and she gracefully came down the stairs, curtseying her way down! Everyone applauded and shouted as she came down. Her little brother Gregory was waiting at the bottom of the stairs to receive her. He then escorted her around to greet each guest.

Then it was picture time!! Dania posed for some individual shots, and then took a photo with just about every combination of people possible.

Gregory, Ana (mom), Dania, and Altagracia (grandmother)

Avery stayed up for the whole party...oops. She was in her PJs and all ready for bed when the doorbell rang...once she found out there were people here, there was no getting her down.

After the big photo shoot, came the food. Not a crumb was left!

Then it was time to sing Happy Birthday and cut the cake.

We had an awesome time. We were so honored to be able to celebrate Dania and her family in this way. Her mom told me that it was a dream come true for them all!