Back to Haiti

I'm so thankful to have been given the chance to return to Haiti. I have developed a love for the people there and truly enjoy going back. 

I headed back with my group of cronies from last trip. (I have reminded myself to throw that dumb coke shirt away because I seriously look like porky the pig in it. Note to self.)

Bobby joined me on this trip along with Wes and several other men that we got to know on the journey there. 

The little flight there went smoothly for me but Bobby was as green as the shirt he was wearing. The trip back had pretty much everyone but me feeling nauseous as well. I'm thankful that I got the nauseous pass this go around! 

Haiti has lots of large scary crawly things and this is an example of one of them. Ick! 

Project Hope was in the middle of building a new home for the missionaries of Haiti Home of Hope. We had plans to help with the building process but most of our plans were halted do to.....well, I really don't even know what. Mostly haitian culture and some other roadblocks. 

We still did what we could and we had fun while doing it:)

This is how awesome you can plan to look while you're on a mission trip. Vogue will be calling us any day now. 

This little guy was new to the orphanage and was blind and as sweet as could be. He could recognize you from your scent. He had an incredible back story which made loving on him all the more sweet. 

Billy was also new to HHH. His mother was essentially a slave to another family and was severely malnourished. She came to feeding clinic and brought Billy who ended up staying at HHH. 

 We took a hike one afternoon and passed out some bibles along the way. This was one lady we met on the way up. 

 The view:

This guy (whose name escapes me right now) caught us on the way up and walked the entire way. He spoke good english and said that he was studying to be a preacher. He ended up making all of us necklaces with our names. 

 When we got to the top of the mountain Peter climbed to the top of this tower. Uhhhh, no thanks. 

Wes went part of the way up though. Brave soul! 

With Peter's help we all made it down safely. It was a great little workout and fun to have something different to do.....it was also fantastic to see Peter so proud that he led us there and back. 

We later went on some home visits in the community. This is the house that Samantha and I were suppose to help build back in November when she got the flu. It was rewarding to go back and see the new house after seeing what they had been living in previously. 

These are some kids from the village. 

This little princess's grandma heard that we were coming and put on her Sunday best for us. I couldn't believe how white this dress was being that the floors were all dirt! 

Some kids chased us everywhere we went. Others were shy and just giggled and stayed in the shadows.

I love this picture....I caught this girl sneaking a glimpse behind her. 

I also noticed that Tom's must really be true to their word. I looked down and this little girl was sporting her very on pair. I should do some marketing for them! 

Back at HHH.....Ashley and Billy

We cozied up under our mosquito nets. Amanda had a princess net and Samantha? Her's wasn't quite as princessy:) Mine fell on me a couple of nights. That's creepy. When you're sleeping in a foreign country with lots of large bugs and suddenly in the night you're wrapped up in netting....creepy. 

We helped with the MOther's Milk clinic again this year, too. 

 This was the littlest peanut we saw that day. He actually had a sweet little mother that I was able to visit at their home. 

I went out with Ronnie and Rachel to her house to give her some tips on breastfeeding. I was pleased to see that she followed my advice and was producing much more milk for her little fella.

Ashley fed this little chickadee some high nutrient peanut butter stuff and the little girl instantly fell in love with her. 

When her mom came to get her to go home she threw a huge fit and did not want to leave Ashley OR that peanut butter. 

One little one got to go to the main house to get some burn care done on her leg. 

Later that day Ashley and I were given the impossible task of digging a septic tank area. Yeah. Don't say we didn't give it our best but it was futile. 

I had a couple kids at the orphanage make some bracelets for the boys. 

Just some pictures:

We had church at Aknov's again and were surprised this year when they had casio keyboards and huge thumper speakers hooked to electric guitars. What??? We were told it was something special for us. I have NO idea where you get that kind of stuff when you are literally out in the middle of nowhere. Amanda sang with a friend of Pastor's. (They had already practiced several times that day which makes me giggle even now almost 10 months later when I'm blogging this.... a bird pooped right on his head in the middle of a practice and he just wiped it with his hand and kept on playing. so.funny.)

It was a great return trip to HHH. I'll be planning the next one soon! 

Kickin' It With Billy

In college I can remember sweating out Taebo videos in my apartment along with my roomies. They were a butt-kicker then and still remain so now. I have loved working out in Franklin at the new Taebo studio that recently opened by the Taebo creator's daughter. Imagine my excitement when the announcement came that Billy Blanks himself was coming to town do do some classes and training! I jumped on the chance and signed up for 3 of his classes. 

Several peeps from my Monday, Wednesday, Friday bootcamp class joined me for the fun. We were all exhausted by the end of the week with all of that hard core cardio but it was a great time! 

I can't wait until he comes back for some more booty kicking! With his inspirational, motivating talks after a hard workout and his love for the one true God, I'll sign up for training with him any time! Good times!

Hoopster

Grant decided to step out this winter and give a new sport a try. He was our lone child playing basketball and I'll be honest....it was SO nice only having to keep up with one kid in a sport's season! Grant actually did really well considering that he'd never played organized basketball. 

He was a point guard of sorts. Our team basically had one play: Grant dribbles down the court, gets a screen sometimes, and dribbles to the right and in for a basket. It worked 25% of the time.

He scored several baskets this season but if I had to give him an award it would be for the kid that had the most almost baskets. I'm serious that the ball would actually roll around the goal, touch the net and then pop right back out. Unbelievable. He was a pretty good dribbler though.

I caught this free throw in sequence and thought I'd include it for memory's sake. If you scroll through the pics really quickly it's just like a flip book:) 

Grant's little team struggled this season only winning one game (and that was in tournament play). But, all in all, we had a great relaxing season just trying something new. Way to step out, Grant! 

Niner, Niner

Once again, here we are at another child's birthday and I cannot even believe my ears when I say "nine". It's the last year of single digits and oh, how it makes me sad on most days! Our birthday crown has fallen by the wayside....mostly because I'm a slacker. Well, entirely because I'm a slacker :/ I did bake Grant some chocolate chip bread for his birthday morning breakfast of champions.

We headed out to Logan's for dinner with grandparents and then topped off the evening with Sweet CeCe's. I'll take any excuse to head out for some froyo!

My birthday boy and me:

Grant's party was the weekend following his actual birthday. He requested "grandma's chocolate cake" (as everyone usually does because it can't be topped!) and she went all crafty and tried a MineCraft design. MineCraft....the game that makes no sense to me but is dominating the minds of young boys everywhere. He thought it was pretty cool!

We invited all his buds over for the usual sleepover, movie, play hard party. 

His bud Tanner had written a "Grant Morgan Biography" and it was the cutest thing EVER.

 G thought it was pretty funny!

 All of these crazy boys made for some interesting conversation at the dinner table over pizza. I usually just stand by all ears and soak it in. I love to hear what these kids are thinking because it usually gives me a good belly laugh:)

 We ended the night settling down with a movie. 

All were tucked in and sleeping by 1030 or 11. I think that counts as a win! It was a great night celebrating Grant and his 9th year of life. I pray the Lord blesses him with 90 more!! Happy Birthday, Grant! 

Down Goes Ducky

Cade made his duck hunting debut in the wee hours of the morning (as duck hunting usually is) with his dad somewhere in the hills of west Tennessee. 

 While I was sleeping soundly in my bed, he was popping up out of a duck blind in the freezing cold to pop a cap in some flying birds.

Rumor has it that he thought it was awesome!

 Bobby captured a picture of his first kill. 

What makes dressing in camo and hiding out and shooting things even better? Sharing the experience with one of your best buds. Lifelong memories!!

Cade had a blast hunting and can't wait to go again. I think he's now third in line since he has 2 brothers just as anxious to get in on the fun. It will be a few more years before Bobby can safely wrangle all of them wielding weapons. I'd prefer that everyone always come home with all of their appendages and be alive. The only dead thing after duck hunting should be, well, ducks:

We're not a duck eating family but I did eat a duck taco at a fancy restaurant one time and I found it pleasing to my palate. There's no way I could turn the above ducks into duck tacos though. Too close to the original source for me to do without vomiting. So, for the Morgan family, we'll just show up and shoot them and send the carcases to the Jones's to be used in some duck gumbo. Happy Hunting!