The last of week before the boy's went home-by the Riegel's

This has been exam week for all the boys. With exam week comes a lot of changes around the home. Usually during the week the boys go to school around 6:30am and are home in time for lunch, but with exams, their schedule is different. Different grades in school go to class at different times during the day, different schools have different times and different days, so this week, it has been hit or miss with the boys during the day, but like always we all come together in the evening to pray and read scripture. The boys are very serious about this time; this is THEIR time together and together with God. Please continue to pray for the boys as the semester ends and they prepare to go visit their families until school starts again in January. The boys travel a lot during this time and though they are anxious to see their families and we encourage this time, we pray and anticipate for a safe return in January so they can continue with the second half of school. We will miss them while they are home with their families.
Whiskey- Whiskey has really stepped up over the past few weeks with exams and school coming to a break. Whiskey celebrated his 21st birthday on the Dec. 5th with his cake and his closest friends. Whiskey is like the big brother of the boy’s home and we appreciate his help so much.
Jocelyn- Jocelyn has been the silent type this week. Every morning (early) we can hear Jocelyn climbing the stares to go on the roof with his books to get that extra quite time to study and listen to God. Jocelyn always has good incite during our devotions and seems to be really diving in to what God has for him as a young man of God.
Jn. Robert- Jn. Robert has been in his books a lot lately preparing for his tests. He has been really busy keeping up with his studying and his chores, but Jn. Robert always finds a little bit of time in the evening for a quick game of Dominoes.
Mackenson- Like Jn. Robert, Mackenson has been caught in his books a little more than normal these past few days, also preparing for exams, Mackenson is stepping up to hit next semester running !
Elira- This boy is all smiles, all the time, even with the pressures of tests and school, Elira is not sweating it. Elira brings joy and laughter everywhere he is and is always willing to give out the extra hand!.
Jacky- Jacky was giving the short end of the stick this exam week (not a short-joke). He is the only boy that has to be at the school before 7am. While the other boys have that extra couple of hours in the morning, Jacky is up, dressed and out the door. Go get’em Jacky!
The boys have been really good with the Rigel's in our absence. They absolutely adore Blayn (the Rigel’s 11 month old son) and are having a blast the Rogelet (the Rigel’s 11 year old son). Rogelet fits in just fine playing games and watching cheesy Kung foo movies.
God has really begun to turn this house into a home, giving these boys a safe place to learn and grow. This home is a family, and they keep it that way. Of coarse all brother argue and step on each others toes, but you will not find a better group of young men seeking out what God has for them and taking advantage of such a great opportunity that they have been given. May God bless these boys!

It is interesting to see what other's see. Nixon and I ache to see our boy's again. We will be back in Haiti before we know it. Our prayer is always the same for our boys, that they would grow up to be super close to our Lord. He loves them so. Our love for them is only a teeny tiny piece of His love for them.

Our boys are missed

More than ever Nixon and I realize what an important role the boys play in our lives.

We knew that having the boys gave us a great sense of satisfaction and fulfillement.

We knew that the most important role we feel we play with Joy In Hope is having the Boy's Home. But just like there is a point when we go from knowing God to REALLY KNOWING God, we have come to the REALLY KNOWING that we love our boys.

We miss their unique personalities and hearing them downstairs. Yeah, I even miss their spending all weekend in our house, sometimes even in our room strewn all over our bed.

I find myself wondering what they are doing and how they are really feeling. Every time we call they say they are doing fine. I know they are, I just miss them.

Praise the Lord for Georgette and Mike who are there for our boys. Praise the Lord that they could do this for them, and for us. Thank you both for that, I know you are doing a fantastic job.

Saturday was Jacky's birthday! We kept calling the digicel numbers and somehow we were not able to get through so I was disappointed. We celebrated before we left though. I am glad we did.

More than ever I pray that our boys grow into responsible, mature men. I pray that they will have a heart that beats for the Lord. This is the greatest wish that a person could ever have for another. I pray we all have that heart.

Whiskey's birthday

Whiskey's birthday will pass us by when Nixon and I are gone and so we wanted to make sure and celebrate with the boys.

I made his cake and then Whiskey requested us not to eat his cake so he could celebrate on his birth day.

I said ok. I gave him his cake and he asked if i could keep it. I was hesitating. Nixon said ok.

He opened his present and said he preferred a long sleeve shirt.

Later i found out Nixon said he would exchange it.

Ok, I am glad we got to celebrate but this is getting ridiculous. It happens so quickly, so sneakily. You start good and then you love em and it becomes "give them a hand, and someone will take the foot".

Whiskey will be turning 21. Though 21 is not the same as in the States. It is 21 nonetheless.

Happy Birthday to Whiskey. We still love him and will pray till the cows come home.

Nixon and I had a long talk about this the next morning. We have to tighten the reigns again.

Starting with, "you get what you get", as a present.

God help us as we try to do what is best for our boys. It just all comes back to getting on our knees. And that is a good thing.

Thankful for Wiskey

Nixon and the boys went out to the beach yesterday. I have a list a mile long and I also needed some peace and quiet yesterday afternoon so Nixon let me stay home.

Nixon said he and some others noticed someone very far away from shore. They realized it was Wiskey but he often swims way out. Nixon was concerned and as he watched Wiskey, his alarm grew.

According to Wiskey, after he realized that he was just getting taken out further and further into the ocean, he signaled for help. Danny and Nick responded as soon as they saw Wiskey waving for help and were able to come to the rescue.

Nixon can swim a little but cannot float. He never goes out so far that he cannot touch the ground. Apart from that Nixon has been in a near drowning incident of his own which he says he never will forget. He shared how helpless he felt as well as a flood of emotions of anger, fear, and desperation.

When Nixon came home, even before the boys were able to wash up, we got together and talked a little. Then we gathered around to praise and thank God for rescuing Wiskey. It was a scarry thing but it reminded us of how much we love each other, should pray for one another, and made us grateful to have such a God who never forgets us. Truly, God means things for good. I was reminded of Rom. 8:28.

Praise God for His goodness and grace!!!!!!

Eventful Sunday

we got in on the fun too:)

I love this picture!

all except for Jackie+husband

They are so funny!

likes the serious look.

It started with church.

All our boys are old enough to stay downstairs at church service. I caught Elira in one of the classrooms though, I still need to get Nixon to talk to him about that.

Anyway, I looked through the window to see how that classroom was doing and saw Elira. He had a little bitty thing on top of his desk and he looked so in love. He was talking to her and he would kiss her little cheeks. It was the sweetest thing in the world!

When we came home, the boys wanted to take pictures. They love photo shoots and it is free so what the heck. I got my camera out as well, since they were doing that. We then sat out on the balcony and just had fun talking and relaxing after church. It took us a while to get out of our church clothes.

I actually fell asleep in a chair, there was such a nice breeze out there. LOL! There are not many cool days here a year so it was nice.

A couple of hours later, a group of short term missionaries came back after spending the night here. They were so nice and sweet! They were an elderly group and the boys told us later on that they were concerned about them coming up the stairs and all. The boys were very happy to carry their luggage downstairs as they were leaving. But before that the prayer group wanted to pray for us. They invited the boys over to help pray for Nixon and I and then the group prayed for the boys as well. We finished by singing "Lord, I lift Your Name on High". I thought it was a real special time.

As the evening rolled around, the boys gathered and we had our usual prayer Sunday. Everyone took their time praying and it just floods my heart with joy to hear the boys growing in their faith. Then it was Planet Earth time. I had been trying to get Nixon to hook it up to the projector and he finally did last night. It looked so great and the time was filled with its usual "ooohs and aawws" as well as the boy's questions. The boy's favorite part was definitely the lions ganging up on an elephant. They always seem to like these gruesome things.

We had a good and eventful Sunday.

Remember the video the boys made with Rick, here it is!

Trouble keeping up-for me anyway

Boys playing as we speak

Everytime they lose, they put a clip on

I am so glad Nixon can play Memory so much!

There is only so much of that game that I can take.

Jackie the Teacher.

I am thinking he likes teaching;0

They worked for at least two hours. Wow!

The boys looking at some of Rick's pictures

enjoying their time with Rick.

This week has been eventful, to say the least.

Wiskey keeps saying he has a headache, so we are working on that.

The boys got their scores back and Elira and Jn Robert are not doing as well as we would like.

Jn Robert spent about 6 hours studying today.

Elira is confident he can get his scores up there. I'm not sure what happened with him since he is a strong student. Jean Robert has always had to work twice as hard to keep his grades up.

I think Elira was just a little overconfident.

I am praying hard for all our boys to pass and not only this, to excel.

Jocelyn was dealing with a really bad toothache and went to Christianville to have it pulled yesterday. He had two teeth pulled and by the time he got back from Leogane, he was exhausted and just beat. I felt so bad for him. He is doing well today. He had nothing but banana malt o meal yesterday but he started to eat soft foods today. He is such a great kid.

The boys, Nixon and I, and Rick(Director of Joy In Hope)had a wonderful night together on Thursday night.

I made homemade pizza and cupcakes. The boys practiced their English on Rick and we were floored to hear Jackie speak SO MUCH ENGLISH. He is such a smart kid. Wow!

Afterwards, some of the boys had to go to their English course but some of them stuck around to watch some pictures of the animals Rick saw in Kenya.

The boys loved it since they are extremely interested in animals, especially after watching Planet Earth. The boys even made a video, Elira being a natural-future tv reporter maybe.

The boys had a wonderful time with Rick.

And we have a visitor staying with us. His name is Jean Luc and he is staying with Nixon and I for two weeks before he goes to the Mangine home. He will be child #5 in their orphanage.

He has gotten along very well with the boys and is happy as a lark.

Jacky sat with him for quite a while, giving him some lessons and even homework.

I am so proud of Jacky. I think this will help him become more mature, a little more responsible. Jacky will be working with Jean Luc while he is with us since Jackie likes playing teacher and Jean Luc is SO HAPPY TO LEARN. And Jacky is breezing through school so he can afford the time with Jean Luc. It is really cool to see, both of the boys.

Right now the boys 4 of the boys are playing dominos and Jean Luc, Jacky and Nixon are playing memory. I LOVE HAVING A HOUSE FULL OF BOYS! I don't really know why though. I just love it;). God is good.