Merry Christmas, Girls!

Last night at church we had our high school youth group Christmas party. Anyway, I got a snapshot of some of the girls in my small group, and I wanted to post them. These are some of the sweetest (and funniest) girls you will ever meet.

Merry Christmas, girls!!

Cookie Monster

We have been busy making goodies for Christmas these last few weeks. Instead of gifts, we hand out Chex mix, caramel corn, fudge, and cookies. Noel has been very interested in "helping" me, which usually means standing on a chair next to me and asking questions about everything, which occasionally getting to lick the spoons. I wanted to show a couple of pictures. The one of him with the sweater is Noel playing hide and seek. He hides in the same place over and over--we're still working on the actual concept of hide and seek!

Let the Season Begin!

Last night we kicked off the holiday season by going out and getting a Christmas tree. It was really special because for the first time we went to a farm and cut our own tree down. We had to walk quite a ways, and it was cold and snowy, but well worth it, as you can see by the pictures. Noel is really starting to enjoy the music and lights. Plus we are reading through the Jesse Tree Advent Calendar. If you haven't done that, it's a really neat way to see how God has been working since creation to bring us to Him.

Anyway, we hope you are enjoying your season so far.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We have so much to be thankful for this year.
*Noel has had a great year--he's stayed healthy for the most part, and he continues to amaze us every day with his wit and understanding.
*Despite all of the setbacks at Delphi, David still has a job
*I am still able to stay home with Noel, since David still has a job!
*We have a little girl on the way in April!
*We are headed to visit the Wittenbachs in Ohio to celebrate Thanksgiving and enjoy being together.
God continues to take care of us, guide us, and protect us.

We hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving. What are you thankful for?

Halloween Festivities

I know, I know, it's the middle of November, but since our computer has been on the fritz, I am slowly trying to catch up with pictures. These ones are from our fun Halloween activities. We don't have any pictures (thank goodness) of the not-so-fun Halloween activities, which included Noel getting sick in the middle of

the night on the 30th. We opted to stay home and just let him play in the front yard and hand out the candy, which he loved doing. Every time people came by, he would get so excited and then say, "Happy Halloween!" to which they ooohed and aaahed at how cute our little pumpkin was. I also had to post a picture of our jack-o-lanterns. Can you guess which one is David's? Yes, that is Sparty. So proud, so proud.

More Fun on the Farm

We have lots of pictures to share from the farm. These are some highlights of Noel riding in farm equipment. I did want to document that not only did I drive a forklift (Hi-Lo) for the first time, but I carried an apple box, too. The other 2 pictures are of Noel enjoying some quality farm time with David. He still talks about this almost every day, and it's been a month. I think this boy has some farm boy blood in him.

Catching Up

We have lots of pictures to post, so I'll just do a few a day. In early October we went to Michigan to visit David's family. We had lots of fun spending time with everyone and enjoying some beautiful (yet chilly) weather on the farm. Some highlights for Noel were getting a new tractor from Grandma and Grandpa and visiting his best friend, Mr. Hi-Lo. The other picture is of David and Noel showing off one of Noel's favorite pasttimes: playdough. He wants us to build anything he can think of, which makes for some challenging feats, but we enjoy seeing his mind figure things out. What a funny kid. Here they are showing off some farm animals.

Technical Difficulties

Sorry for the delay in pictures and stories of what's going on in the Wittenbach house. A few weeks ago our hard drive crashed, so I haven't been able to get on the computer except on David's laptop in the evenings. We have tons of pictures to share, so hopefully we will get these up soon.

Tonight we are carving pumpkins. "We" meaning David and I. I thought Noel would just be fascinated by this experience, but apparently it is boring to him. Anyway, we are having fun!

We went to Wittenbach Orchards last weekend, and had a great time. We got to see Lizzie and her marching Redskins perform the halftime show at the football game. We also caught Tye and Tori's soccer games. Noel got to ride on every piece of farm equipment except the combine. He is in love with the Hi-Lo (aka, a forklift). I think he would have stayed on it all day if we would have let him.

Keep on the lookout for pictures--they are coming soon!

Camping Trip

Here are some pictures from our hike

on the camping trip. We went to Turkey Run, and the weather was beautiful. Noel wanted to be outside every moment he was awake. We went on a long bike ride and then did a short trail. As you can tell from these pictures, Noel has fallen in love with two things: the outdoors and his dad. He wants to do everything David does. It's adorable. We had so much fun that we didn't take too many pictures, but I'll post more soon.

More Pictures

Here are some pictures of Noel painting his first pumpkin. We painted it white first, and then let Noel go crazy with the orange and black. I tried to get him to use some sponge stamps, but he much preferred the paintbrush. It was adorable. He still looks out the window

to make sure it's there every day. We bought 2 more pumpkins that we plan on carving a little closer to Halloween. We still haven't figured out what Noel is going to be for Halloween. Any ideas????

Long overdue pictures

I have lots of pictures to share, I've just been really behind on getting them posted. So we will go back to the beginning of September. These are from the Tipton County Pork Festival, which we attended with the Pagingtons. I thought these were fun of Grant and Noel trying to throw a frisbee.

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.