Fall Festivities

So now that David is back, we are back in the swing of things. Here are some things we are enjoying about fall:

*being outside as much as we can. It is getting darker earlier, but we still try to get in some kind of family fun outside most nights. We have a park nearby that we ride bikes to a lot, as well as Noel's plethora of scooters, cars, and lawnmowers to play with in the yard.

*camping! Yes, it's that time of year again. Next Friday we are headed out to Turkey Run for our church's semi-annual camping trip. However, this time we will be "livin' it up" because we get to use my brother's camper. I'm sure there will be stories to come.

*Noel's 2nd birthday is next Saturday! We are very excited about celebrating Noel's birthday. Every time he sees a cake, he thinks it's somebody's birthday, so won't he be surprised when it really IS a birthday cake? In lieu of a party, we will be celebrating on the camping trip. What more could a 2 year old ask for?

I can't wait for the leaves to change and to (hopefully) head up to Michigan to catch the end of Apple harvest, too. Fall is such a beautiful season, one that goes by too quickly. I was so irritated when I went to Hobby Lobby last night to find that about 1/4 of their store is already stocked with CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS! Come on, can we at least end September before we buy more scary Santas???

Happy Fall.

Safe and Sound

Sorry about the delay in posting about David's return. With all the excitement, I completely forgot to write that David and the rest of the group arrived home safely on Monday night. They had a great trip. I'm sure we will post some pictures (we have hundreds), but needless to say it was a very good trip. God worked through each person on the trip differently, and many were touched because of that. Thank you all for your prayers.

Day of Relaxing (for all of us)

Last night I was pleasantly surprised by a PHONE CALL from David! It was very exciting. Mac (the leader) had a calling card, and everyone got a turn to talk for a few minutes. It was so nice and comforting to hear his voice. Today (Saturday) they had a "relax" day. Here is some of the e-mail he sent tonight:

We are all REALLY starting to miss our families. It is especially evident for us guys since our work tasks ended yesterday. We feel that, "OK I'm ready to go home" thing.

Today was very relaxed. They rented a little bus (an air conditioned piece of heaven, I might add) and we went up in the mountain south of Port Au Prince to about 3000 ft where we got a great look at the city. We also went to a Baptist Mission there and then went to a history museum downtown and walked in front of the President's Palace. We got to see much more of Port au Prince today. We realized that many areas are nicer than where we are, but it is still very rough. It is evident that the city had much better days back in the 1970's.

The level of poverty you see is hard to comprehend......but somehow many people still have cell phones. Driving here is pretty nuts. The first rule of the road is that the biggest bumper wins, so we had a good day since we were in a bus. The taxis here are normally little Toyota pickups with benches in the back and a topper as a roof. They are called "Tap Taps". It is crazy how many people fit in these things. I've got some good pictures of loaded ones.

We got to eat at a place called Mac Eps today. It is Haiti's version of McDonald's. It was very comical. McDonalds doesn't have to worry too much.....my stomach seconds that observation.


As for me, I got to relax a little tonight as well. My mom graciously came over and watched Noel while I went to a youth group campfire/movie night. I know, some of you are thinking that doesn't sound very relaxing, but after 7 days of conversation with mainly a 2 year-old it was very refreshing. I love those kids. They crack me up.

We are all looking forward to Monday night, when the Wittenbach clan can be together again. Thank you again for your prayers.

More News From Haiti

The internet in Port-au-Prince has been a little sketchy, but I got a message from David today. I wanted to share a few parts with everyone:


Yesterday was very good. We had clinic for the 3rd day. Jim Shelton and I did vitals. It was only advertised as a 1/2 day but went much longer. We probably saw over 300 people over the 3 days. I took one lady's blood pressure, and it was 238/122. That's astronomical. We saw two ladies like that. It was amazing they were even alive with that. They rushed them back and gave them some meds. immediately. We were learning as we went with the clinic. It is such a juggling act. We've got a Haitian checking patients in, us taking vitals, Cuban doctors, and U.S. nurses giving out meds with a translator. Things went much smoother when Gerard showed up the second day. He is a take-charge bulldog and took over translator duties at the pharmacy. Everyone did a great job though.

The other guys (not in clinic) finished the building for the new generator (any place of significance has a generator because city power is only available a few hours / day). That was really cool. We also unloaded over 16 tons of relief food into school room. HCO is working on distribution plans to get it to the people in the mountains who are really struggling. It will likely be taken in by helicopter. It is very interesting seeing this kind of activity on the front lines of a relief effort.

Today, our last work day, was slower paced. We did some painting, varnishing, and hanging of lights in the clinic. The Haitian electricians worked on running wire from the generator to the clinic. It is quite a run (probably 200 ft) through PVC that is inside the concrete structure of the buildings.

Everyone is having a great time. Lots of laughter and relationship building with the Haitians that are at the church. They are lots of fun (your brother is loved by the kids). Tomorrow is basically a sight seeing day and then Sunday we get to go to church with people we now know. That will be fun. Russ is preaching on Sunday.

The group is scheduled to be home Monday night at around 9:30. Please keep praying for safe travels and that God continues to use them in their last few days there. I know this has been a tremendous experience for everyone, and I hope this leads to our church taking more adult missions trips.

Nurse David

I got another e-mail from David tonight. It looks like he has been doing some things out of his comfort zone. Here is what he wrote:


We had another really good day. We had clinic today and some of the guys worked construction. They were putting a roof on the generator house. Your brother was working that. He had an interesting experience today.....don't tell your mother until he gets home. He was about 6 feet from an electric pole that had a mini electric explosion. Dave basically jumped down off a wall and took off. He's fine, but probably needed some new underwear. I had a good day in the clinic. I was very much stretched today. Being face to face with new people doing something I'm not good at made me really nervous. I was exhausted at the end. We saw over 100 people today. Some of it is very sad. Some people are very sick. I had a girl throw up right behind me. I really get emotional when I see a mother with a son about Noels age. I did vitals for a 1 year old boy who was really sick and I could see how much the mom was concerned. It really got me.

We are not going to leave Port Au Prince. It isn't going to work out. Peredo is unreachable so we will not venture down there. We will be doing another clinic tomorrow (over 100 people came today) and more construction. Not sure what we will do on Friday, but they will find something.

Thank you for your prayers. Noel and I are doing well here, missing David but trying to enjoy a week of great weather and time with friends.

Work in Haiti Continues

Got another e-mail from David today. Just wanted to share a few pieces from it:


We had a good day today. We got done a little earlier today. Some of us ran the medical clinic today and some did a demolision job. I helped with demolision. It was unbearably hot. We knocked down a concrete building that housed an old generator. We were supposed to put a roof over the new generator building but the building materials never came. Tonight I'm supposed to get my training from Phil and Darrell so I can take blood pressure, pulse, and respiratory at tomorrows clinic. Very exciting : ) The clinic saw about 75 people today. Tomorrow may be busier. Still not sure on the schedule after tomorrow. Gerard is supposed to be coming in from Miami tomorrow.

All in all the group is getting along very well. Everyone is feeling really well and doing well. Sleep is hard to come by.

Please keep them (and us) in your prayers.

Monday in Haiti

I just got an e-mail from David. Wanted to share his words with you.


Today went really well. Phil told us last time he was here there was a rooster that crowed at 4:30am every morning. Guess what, he's still alive. You could have set your watch to that thing. That means I will likely not sleep past 4:30 because he just keeps crowing.

We worked like dogs today cleaning out the clinic. Pictures are the only way to describe what we did. We had to get ready for clinics tomorrow/Weds. We are ready for tomorrow after today's massive effort. Some will be doing a construction project tomorrow (probably me) and a few will man the clinic. It was a great day everyone got along and worked hard. Your brother and Darrell had us laughing all day.

Ironically, my claim to fame today came via the infamous PB&J. Phil and I had to make the sandwiches this morning. I taught him the trick about putting PB on each side to "keep in the jelly freshness" so it doesn't make the bread soggy. You would have thought I taught the group to walk on water. They brought it up all day long and we kept laughing about it.

They want to try and take us to Jacqmel on Thursday PM. Peredo is still up in the air. It has been raining here for the last 4-5 hours.

Thanks to everyone for your prayers. I'm really thankful that we get to communicate via e-mail for now. Once they leave Port-au-Prince that will probably not be possible.

I hope those of you who know about David's relationship with peanut butter and jelly will find it especially funny that he knew a trick to making the sandwiches!

Picture of the group

Here is a picture of the group that left for Haiti on Saturday. Wanted to put faces to the people you are praying for and possibly hearing some stories about. I will post more info when I hear more.

Haiti Update

I got an e-mail from David this afternoon, and wanted to share it with all of you

We arrived without incident. We got into Port au Prince around 7:30am and got through customs without problem. We got all our luggage and made it out of the airport....that is a bit of an experience with lots of Haitians trying to help. Ro Ro met us at the airport (haven't seen Gerard yet). We then drove to the Wall House where we will be staying for ??? days. We got here around 9am and dropped our luggage and went to church. The drive to church is about 10 minutes and the poverty you see on the way is amazing. We worshipped at Emmanuel and got a tour of the school, church and medical clinic. They introduced us at the church and we met several people as they left. The service was all in Creole so we didn't get much. It is very hot and sticky. School doesn't start until Oct 6th because of the hurricane so we won't get to see that in session. There is not a lot of hurricane damage here in Port au Prince but it is worse elsewhere. We will work in the clinic in Port au Prince tomorrow (construction, clean up, etc.). We are now back for the afternoon waiting to eat lunch. Everyone is doing well. The level of poverty is realing striking us who are here for the first time.

I'll post any more info as I get it.

Terribly Sad

I just found out this afternoon that my favorite English professor, David Foster Wallace, died on Friday. Apparently he committed suicide. I was in a class of his at Illinois State University, not knowing that he was a nationally known and celebrated writer. He was known for writing Postmodern literature that was very detailed and over the top. I liked some of his short stories, but was not a big fan of his topics, although they were incredibly creative. But I loved having him as a professor. He expected more out of his students than any other professor, and we wanted to give more because of that. I remember that he was so intense and passionate about learning and reading and words and meaning. It is just so saddening to hear that he was in so much pain that he ended his life.

Some things I will never forget about DFW:
--the fact that he drank Tab
--he always made us sit in a circle
--he swore a lot, but when he found out it offended some of the students he immediately tried to stop
--any time I saw him outside of class, he couldn't remember my name, but always remembered that I was the girl from Kokomo, so he'd just call me 'Kokomo'
--he started my love for being a grammar nazi. he once said that writing with poor grammar was like going to a job interview with Oreos in your teeth. it didn't matter what you said, all they would remember were the Oreos. I used that example EVERY year in my classrooms.
--when you turned something you had written in, he poured over it, writing comments (good and bad) all over it. It was always so exciting to get something back from his class. Nothing made me more frustrated in school than when you would work soooo hard on something and the only comment on it (except for the grade) was a 3-4 word overview.

Anyway, I wanted to share my thoughts on this tragedy. What a sad loss, and what a shame for his family and the future students who would have had him in class.

Made it to Miami

I heard from David this evening, and the group made it safely to Miami. They are staying there for the night, and will leave really early (I think around 6:00) to fly to Port-au-Prince. After making it through customs, they hopefully will be able to attend church in Port-au-Prince. I think they are staying there for the night, although all plans are subject to change. One other note of good news: There was a huge (several tons) shipment of dry goods (rice, etc.) that someone had donated to Haitian Christian Outreach a few months ago that has been sitting in customs waiting to get released (tons of red tape, etc.) and they got it out today, from what I heard. So one of David's group's first jobs might be to distribute food to people, which would be really awesome, especially after the devastation they have just experienced.

In other news, I read online today that Wyclef Jean (of the Fugees, a Haitian native) has gone to help Haitians in hurricane relief. He brought his pal MATT DAMON along with him to help. So my hubby and Matt Damon are pretty much hanging out together in Haiti this week. Very cool.

I'll try and post any more info as I find out. Keep everyone in your prayers.

How lazy can I get?

I think I just hit the all time low in lazy. We were listening to some cd's in the living room tonight. The cd player is a 5 disc one. I put 2 or 3 in and usually move around to those. Tonight I've been so lazy that I've just listened to an entire Christmas cd--on the 9th of September--because I'm too lazy to get out of our LAZY BOY and change the cd to one that is a little more season appropriate. On a side note, I'm dreaming of a white Christmas, just like the ones I used to know. . .

Haiti Situation

Please be in prayer for the group from our church that is going to Haiti next week. We have been getting updates from RoRo, the missionary, who says that the flooding in Haiti has been pretty devastating. Lots of people lost everything. Haitian Christian Outreach lost a building full of school supplies, medicine, cement mix, and food. It is incredibly sad, and to top it off, it's still raining there.

The original plan for the group from Chapel Hill will probably not happen because they cannot get to Jacmel, which is where they were supposed to work. Instead they might stay in Port-au-Prince and work there. I am sure there is much to do, but it won't be anything near what was planned. We know God works for good, and there is a reason they are going at just this time, so please keep the group in your prayers.

If you'd like to help donate to the relief or keep updated on what is going on with Haitian Christian Outreach, their website is www.haitianchristian.org

Hope everyone is doing well.

What do we do now?

Well, we can all breathe a sigh of relief now because the Olympics are over. They were starting to take over my life! So life is back to normal now.

We've decided to stay home over this coming Labor Day weekend, something we have never done before. It will be really nice to just have David home for an extra long weekend to play and work and relax. This is especially good because he is leaving on September 13 for a 10 day missions trip to Haiti with Haitian Christian Outreach. They are going to be doing mostly building projects and a little work in the clinic. Please be in prayer for him and the dozen or so who will be going along also. My brother is going, and it is his first time on a missions trip, so I am really excited for him as well.

Hope everyone who reads this is doing well.

Addicted

Sorry there haven't been any posts recently. The truth is there hasn't been much going on around our house since the Olympics started.

I'm addicted.

I can't stop watching.

Even if it's Women's Trampoline (Did anyone know this sport exists?)

So once the closing ceremonies have been held, I will get back to posting pictures and stories of my adorable son and husband. But for now I'm just watching Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps make history.


p.s. Are the Chinese olympians real, or does anyone else think they are robots?

Phun on Phil and Rita's Pharm

Last Friday we got an invite to go out to Phil and Rita's. We have always loved hanging out with them, but now that we have a little boy, each trip there is even more exciting, because they have all kinds of fun, including a pond (with fish to feed) two horses, Gracie the dog, cats, swings, and lots of chickens! Needless to say we had a great time on Friday. First we had homemade pizza, thanks to Rita. Then we headed out to gather eggs. Rita kept teasing me because I was saying we were picking eggs, as if they came on branches or something. Noel got to walk around with the chickens and even get some of the eggs that they had laid. It is so fun watching him experience new things. He really enjoys animals and nature.

Then they hooked up Moses, their younger horse, to their carriage and took us for a ride around town. It was a beautiful night, and we had such a good time. We ended the night with ice cream and cookies and a gymnastics program put on by Noel. He can now do somersaults, thanks to cousin Baylee, and he loves to show his newfound talent. We are very blessed to have friends like Phil and Rita.

Softball Madness

I know it's late, but I did want to post a picture of David and I with our lovely niece, Becca. A week or so ago we got to see her play softball in a tournament in South Bend. We rarely get to see her play, so it was really fun. We got to watch her team, the Magic, beat up on their competitors. I wish we could have gotten an action shot of Becca's catch in the outfield. She had to dive for it. Very impressive. Anyway, way to go, Becca!

Another First

Well, Noel accomplished another first, only we weren't so excited about this one: his first trip to the emergency room. On Sunday, David and I were scheduled to be the teachers in Noel's Sunday School class. Mind you, I've done this ONCE before and David had never been in there. There was a kid who was really upset, so David was sitting on the floor with him. Noel walks past, trips on David's foot, and bangs his head into the supply cabinet, splitting his eyebrow wide open. We had an EMT at church look at it, and he said we should take him to the ER. However, it was the fastest, easiest trip to the ER that we could have possibly asked for. We were in and out in less than 30 minutes. Noel had stopped crying before we even left the church (he couldn't see how nasty his eyebrow looked, unlike his parents). They were able to seal it with Dermabond, which is like fancy super glue that holds the cut together long enough for it to heal. This was such a relief, because we did not want him to have to get stitches. Now he is completely fine, except for not being able to play in the water for a week or so. We are very very thankful that everything worked out so well. Plus, we'll probably never be asked to help in Wee Worship again (hee hee)

More Larson Wedding Pictures

Give me an award

On July 12, David and I went to Morton, Illinois to see Axel and Jamie Larson get married. It was such a fun day. And I pointed out to Jenni's family that I believe I am the only non-member of the family to make it to all 4 Larson weddings. Actually, Axel's is the only wedding I didn't sing in. But all is forgiven. I can't believe baby Axel is all grown up and married. But I'm excited about the future they have together. I have lots of pictures that I want to post, so I will probably make a few separate posts to make it easier. I also just got back from Rainbow Christian Camp, which was a really fun week.

In other, unrelated news, I got the best early Christmas present from my brother. It is an accordian! I have always wanted to learn to play. It's very old and doesn't work completely well (He got it out of a dumpster)but it's beautiful! I will try and take a picture of it soon!