Today we went to watch Joshua play basketball. It was a fantastic show...complete with darkened gymnasium and a tunnel with smoke coming from it as each player's name was announced and he ran out, taking a lap of the gym, slapping hands of everyone lining the walls in anticipation of a great game.

I am so impressed with what a great player he is. He really knows where he should be and what to do. He is so fast and is a great shooter...look how high he jumps to make the basket!!!You can see how even his coach is excited! After the game, we all went to a room where the team gathered for some wrap-up words from the coach. Joshua was given an award for the most Christ-like player...well, I didn't even know Jesus played basketball...but if He did, then Joshua did a good job imitating how Jesus would have played, he is not a ball hog, makes sure that if he sees somebody else in a better position he passes it on, he encourages other players and is always looking for ways to improve the game. I am proud of him!

Emily has found her own way to get through the game...her new passion...TEXTING! Go Emily!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMILY!!!!!!

 





I never get tired of waking up to this!!!

Well, it has been a week of questions. Hello? an earthquake? a tusnami may be on its way? are you OK? when is the next flight OUT of there? how far are the mountains? how many can you fit in your car? do you know for SURE that it is not going to happen? moving on to...how can we help Haiti?

So many people have asked what can they do...most know that they can not do anything on their own, but they still want to help, they want to help NOW and know that the money is ALL going directly to the Haitians...after repeated questions of how can they get money to her, after calling her bank and mine to try to set up accounts, Jessi decided the fastest and easiest way was to set up a Paypal link on her blog site (link to her blog is to the left of this article). The response has been amazing! I don't know if she wants me to publish the amount received so far, but she and Ariel went into Santiago last Saturday and loaded up a truck with all the things they know that can be used NOW. A group of people from her church that actually know people right there in the earthquake torn areas have already been there and back and will be headed down with another load on Thursday. They know how to get it there safely and how to deliver it directly into the hands of those in desperate need of it. They will continue to make deliveries as long as the need is there and there are supplies that they can deliver.

James 1:27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

She wants to go so badly, but also knows that the risks are so high right now. She has assured me that unless she has a group to go with that she would not just hop on over there on her own. Right now, after calling the hospitals, she has been told that there is no place for her to stay, food and water are scarce and that she is more of a liability. She knows no French or Creole. So even though she has the nursing skills ready and willing, she is staying put. In the meantime, the organization that she works for, Kids Alive has been asked to take on 50 children orphaned by the earthquake. It is just a temporary need, they will take in the kids for 6 months while the Haitian branch of Kids Alive builds a place to house them back in Haiti. So for now, she is content with knowing that there are needs right there that she can help with, giving love to the little kids...ages 3-8, who have seen so much already that we can barely imagine...and with being a go between for getting supplies into the hands and mouths that need it so much. Thanks so much for your love and prayers!

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Wow, what a day!

Not a whole lot has happened the past while to write about, just the same old busy busy busy…and then WAM!!!

First a text from Jessi that she had just had an earthquake...oh wait...go back...I was at a movie with Bonnie...phone on vibrate in my purse. (yes, I get it…earthquake/phone on vibrate) I get out of the movie...a text from Jessi about the earthquake, then I see I have missed repeated calls from her, John, and my Mom...oh man...panic set in, I could not even think of who to call back first...but to save me from decision...in came a call from John. Yes, there had been an earthquake, Jessi had called him also, she was OK, but trying to reach me to have me get on the internet to my Red Cross weather site to see what I could find out about a predicted TSUNAMI!!!

OH, man...the panic I had just felt went into something else, I can't even describe it. I was not crying or anything hysterical like that, all I knew was that I had better find a place to sit down. John had said Jessi needed me to check on the internet, Bonnie had a great idea....there used to be a library at the mall...she asked around, while I called to Rachel’s cell, knowing she would be home...she was not...but John was at home with the grandkids and so he said he would check it...meanwhile I tried to call Jessi's cell, since she had told her dad the home line was out. No answer...over and over and over...all the while I am walking back to my car. (no library at the mall anymore) Bonnie gave me a big hug (thanks Bonnie!) and off I went for home...still getting calls trying to figure out what happened...or was about to happen, that was the worst thing, thinking there still might be something worse COMING. I got home, by then Jessi had called me...she was fine...and it was looking like the tsunami had been called off, but still nothing definite. She had sent an email to my Coast Guard admiral friend, Ron, for an official report, like who would know more about the potential threat than the Coast Guard, right? and he sent one back to her saying that it was not going to happen after all, it would have happened within 2 hours of the quake, if it was going to happen. But they are still having aftershocks and so the fear is still there…what if? What if there is a bigger quake? What if it causes a tsunami?

I can't believe how fast these things happen...from one moment, enjoying a movie with a friend...to panic. I am now feeling such a sense of relief, but I feel so worn out.

The map above shows the island where she lives...she is on the north there in the Dominican Republic by that blue arrow...the other one is where the epicenter of the earthquake was...in Haiti. You can click on the arrows of the map and it will enlarge or shrink or move it around by dragging the mouse, so you can see exactly how far it is from Florida, etc. Reports are that many lives are lost, so even though there is no immediate loss for me, there is sadness for those who are dealing with it all.

CHRISTMAS HAS OFFICIALLY LEFT THE HOUSE! I packed up Christmas and put it all away today. It is always so much fun to get out everything and fix it all up for the holidays, but so nice to get it back to normal again too. But it is not quite as much fun putting it all away as it was to get it out. I use this time to really get things clean...instead of spring cleaning, I do after Christmas cleaning.

Last Christmas, I put a bunch of photos on here of my decorations. There was one decoration I didn't add last year. I don't know why. Some years are like that, maybe I didn't add my little eggs to the tree last year. I made these the first year I got married. I thought it was pretty clever of me blowing out those eggs and fixing them up. John had to eat a ton of scrambled eggs that first year. I remember being pretty proud of them. Looking at them now...they pretty much look like grade school art class...well, OK, primary school art class. After we got the tree decorated that first year with all my crafty eggs, stings of popcorn, bread dough art, thistle mice and nut angels, etc, etc, etc...John and I went in to do some Christmas shopping and I was so ticked off at him! He BOUGHT some red and blue balls to hang on the tree! I was so mad that he was not quite as impressed with my eggs...all 4 dozen of them, as I was. But now....looking at the remaining dozen...I can see WHY he wanted a few uncrafty decorations on the tree.