Sometimes Pictures Tell Our Story Better :)

Wow. I cannot believe that a month has come and gone as quickly as it has! We have had a very busy 4 weeks here in Thomassin, Haiti and have truly loved every minute of it! We have had friends visit, enjoyed our first Christmas together, celebrated a New Year, and started school.

The pictures tell the story way better than I could with words....

We picked Wilfete up in PauP and took him to Pizza Amour for his first EVER pizza! He also jumped on the trampoline for the first time :) Jett, Callie, & Phoebe had so much fun with our sweet friend! 

We were so blessed to celebrate our Christmas worship service at Port au Prince Fellowship with Mary Kate & Wilfete.  We have truly been blessed with such great friends! 

On one of our drives :) The beautiful mountains of Haiti! 

Phoebe Kate and I enjoyed doing little Christmas things together :) Coloring, decorating gingerbread men, decorating our house and sharing the real reason for this beautiful season. Jesus came to earth to live among us and this is the only way we could ever know Him intimately. For Him to come. We celebrate the day He gave up equality with God so that we could be saved. His birth was and is the ultimate gift to this world. What a Savior! 

Christmas Eve all tucked into her little bed :) We LOVE the blanket that our good friend, Chelita, made for Phoebe Kate! Such a sweet gift and she LOVES it! 

Christmas Eve we were invited to our neighbor's house for their Chrismas Eve celebration. They were so kind to feed us and share this special day with us. We are so blessed with kind, loving, and protective friends in Thomassin.

Christmas morning enjoying the gifts from family,  friends and "Santa". She had a blast and even one month later is still LOVING her gifts. We have been so blessed are thankful for the love that has been poured out on us! 

We were absolutely thrilled to spend Christmas with our dear friend, Wilfete. It was fun to celebrate
Christmas with him and watch his eyes light up as he opened presents that were just for him :) 

Aunt Kate and Phoebe Christmas morning 2012 

Mommy and Phoebe Kate opening her stocking Christmas morning 2012 

We went to Boutillier to see Port au Prince at night. It was a beautiful sight.
It was such a treat to enjoy the view with Kate, Phoebe, Wilfete, Rhyan & Annabel. 

Aunt Kate keeping Phoebe warm on a cool night in the mountains :) 

Phoebe is really developing an interest in books and reading. I absolutely LOVE to find her on her own enjoying a book! Makes me so happy as a mommy to see her grow in her love for reading  :) 

Some of my favorite moments with this sweet girl are at night after bathtime. She loves to get her leap pad out and her toy doll house and free play for a while before bed. 

Everyone meet Jocie :) Jocie was a gift from Phoebe's Honey that was sent to her at Christmas. Jocie is now a member of the family, too :) Memaw Ann and Ann Marie sent Jocie an LSU outfit and Phoebe couldn't wait to put it on her! Supporting our LSU Tigers from Haiti... GEAUX TIGERS!!! 

My sweet southern girl :) I love that she can rock a pair of overalls!
 She is going to fit in great on the farm with Aunt LeLe and Uncle Jesse :) 

Phoebe Kate had her first sleepover in January of 2013. Her best friend Callie came over to enjoy some time with Phoebe in her home. They play so well together and enjoyed their time together very much.
 Looking forward to having Callie over again soon! 

Callie and Phoebe Kate coloring while waiting for lunch at the Baptist Mission in Fermanthe.
This is one our favorite eating spots :) 

I can't say enough how happy we were to have Mary Kate here with us for a whole month!
 How did we get so lucky?!?!? It is amazing how much enjoyable things are when you have a friend by your side. Thank you so much for helping me with potty duty, cooking, cleaning, washing clothes, and just your support! We love you so much, Aunt Kate :) 

Our first "serious" flat tire in Haiti.
Thankful for my precious neighbors  who were so willing to step in and help! 

Sleeping soundly in the X position.  What a bed hog :) 

This was Phoebe's last day at home with Mommy before she became "a big girl" and went to school for her first day :) This day was so special to me. I spent a lot of time praying over her, her teachers, her classmates. I just had a peace that they would be a blessing to one another. Phoebe Kate's loud, likable, loving, sensitive, and caring personality will no doubt be a blessing to everyone she encounters. 

1st day of School: January 8, 2013.
Doesn't she look absolutely adorable in that uniform?!?! 

Mommy & Phoebe Kate on her first day of school. 

Phoebe Kate & her teacher Madame Paul.
She is such a sweet, caring, and kind woman. So thankful that Phoebe has her for a teacher!!
Madame Paul is not only Phoebe's teacher but our neighbor & landlord. 

Showing Mommy how she plays at school like a Big Girl :) So proud of herself.
This is day 3 of school. No more tears when leaving Mommy. She is comfortable and confident in her new environment. So thankful for the Lord continuing to break chains in her little life. We are praising Him for each new day, each new chain broken. He is so faithful! 

Phoebe's celebration of finishing her first week of school! Brownie Sundae from the Baptist Mission :) 

Also in celebration of a successful first week of school we took Phoebe for a fun day at Club Indigo with her friends Lucy & Kendall. Phoebe loves to swim and play in the sand. We also wanted to treat Aunt Kate before she had to go back to the frigid January temps in the U.S. It was a fun day for everyone :) 

Aunt Kate & Phoebe enjoying the ocean. 

La Mer 

This is another one of our fun times together after bath time. Phoebe loves to get her Leap Frog guitar and put on a show for us! I feel like her head wrap adds a whole new element to her look :) She absolutely loves music and singing! 

On Monday, January 14 we went to Phoebe's school to pick her up. Phoebe was so proud to show Mommy & Aunt Kate how she slides on the slide at her school! School has been a positive influence for Phoebe already. I am so thankful that I decided to send her. She is much more social with the people in our community already and her Kreyol/French is coming along nicely :) So thankful for this opportunity to create positive and enjoyable memories with Phoebe in her home country. 

Mommy & Phoebe (January 14, 2013)
I love to walk into her class to pick her up and see her face light up :) 

Aunt Kate & Phoebe (January 14, 2013)
I love how Phoebe's eyes are glowing in this picture. She LOVES and ADORES Aunt Kate.
We were both so blessed by her visit. Please come back soon, Kate :)

The only event that I didn't take pictures of and I regret so much, is our time with our neighbor/landlords family! We did not take any pictures Christmas Eve nor when we had them over to our house for a treat! -- They asked us a few weeks prior if we would make them some American food. We were excited at the opportunity to serve our neighbors and to share life with them so Kate and I were up for it :) We made some pretty awesome hamburgers and french fries for about 15 people!  It was so fun to have them in our home and watch many of them experience that kind of food for the first time! They were kind, thankful and respectful (even when they were not totally impressed with our hamburgers :) ). 

On the adoption front, our dossier is heading to Haiti (Lord willing) on January 25. Yay!!! But please continue to pray, IBESR is still closed and we are praying for them to reopen so they can start working on our case! 

2013 is off to a great start! I am praying that this year will be filled with the blessings and opportunities to serve the Lord here in Haiti as we continue to trust Him on this journey. He is good. And He is so faithful. So whatever 2013 may bring, we choose to believe that He is on our side and that He is working all things together for our good. 

My prayer for 2013 is that I will know His heart. May His passions become my passions and may they flow through this broken vessel. Thankful that He is making me whole.