Happy New Year!!!

I have not written anything for a while, so I have some back pedaling to do, but I did want to mention some of the highlights from our Christmas break so far. Of course we LOVE the Christmas break, because it is great to have some time to spend as a family without all of the normal tugs of work and school. Kyle and Megan got three weeks off for their break, and Todd has taken 2 weeks, too. We have done projects around the house, taken time to play games and spend some time as a family; we went to the beach with our neighbors for a night; the kids had a sleepover with friends, and they have enjoyed lots of time playing with the neighbor kids.

We ordered a Christmas tree (fake, "prelit", low-maintenance, PERFECT!!!), and we put it up the day it arrived back in November. K&M were very excited about opening presents weeks before Christmas day (typical). But we decided to do things a little differently than normal this year since the kids are getting bigger. Usually we read Luke 1 & 2, have a short devotional and open presents on Christmas Eve night. However this year I went against my nature (wanting to open each package even before it is under the tree), and we actually waited on presents until Christmas morning.

Christmas Eve night we went up onto our roof and read the Christmas story. Kyle and Megan acted it out under the stars in the quiet night with only our flashlights. There was no rush or anticipation of the next thing. We were able to reflect and really focus on the reason we celebrate. When our heads hit the pillow that night we were thinking of all of the prophecies fulfilled, the Redeemer, the Messiah come to earth...for us. It was refreshing. I think we will do that again.

Todd has taken advantage of the vacation time to build racks for our solar panels so we can harness some of that free energy our sun produces instead of dealing with the headache of our local electric company which provides power 4-8 hrs per night, most of the time, and charges two arms and a leg. :) Yesterday (Dec. 31) he worked on that and I painted on our back walls. Crismen came and made the traditional Haitian pumpkin soup for us (basically a vegetable soup), soup joumou. Around 6 last night we went to some neighbors' house to play games and visit. About 20 of us played Outburst!! Fun!!

At 9 I went with Crismen to a New Years service at her church. I took a camera, but of course it was out of battery power when I wanted to video tape. They sure did rock the house with their singing!! Loved it. Besides the singing, people told things that God had done in their lives through out the year and we had a time of prayer. We finished right after midnight, so it was exciting to experience all of the sights and smells and sounds of the neighborhood in party mode as we walked home. :) I am SOOO thankful for our car for safety and convenience reasons, but we miss a lot when we are in our sterile bubble of glass and metal floating down the street.

When we got home, Todd had just put the kids in bed, so we all got to wish each other Happy New Year. We thank the Lord for all of the joys and challenges, the peace and the lessons learned in 2009. We anticipate that 2010 will have more twists in the road that we do not necessarily anticipate. But through everything, it is good to know that He can change sorrow to joy, curses to blessings....