the best of 2012

I've been trying to think of the perfect way to capture 2012 and decided that sharing some of my favorite pictures would be fun.  I love looking back through all my pictures and these are the photos that truly sum up so many memories for me.  I've included some captions so you also know what makes these my favorites=)  I can't help but feel completely blessed to have had all these moments in 2012 and can't wait to see just what all is in store for 2013!  

This young lady has a very special place in my heart.
Love that she is always ready to greet me with a hug!  

Love that my lap is never empty!

Blessed to have had my mom and sister's come to visit in June!
I loved showing them off to all my friends and family here!

Love that there is a community of people in the States that are praying
and supporting me as I live here.  Love that Cindy even went as far as to
come and visit me!  Sort of puts some pressure on the rest of you...=)

Davidson lives with his grandmother.  I have truly grown to love this family.
There are moments when I see Gran's eyes just sparkle and Davidson is  in love with her too.

This photo captured how I feel most days.  I'm always tripping over
kiddos and never have enough arms to contain them all!

After a long day in the clinic this is the perfect place to rest!  

I can always count on Davidson wanting to cuddle.  Favorite moment each day.
Love him.  

We made a salon in Chambrun!  What girl doesn't love to be pampered?!

When I think of Kris--this is the smile I see.  Love her and her contagious little laugh.

I can't think of one memory that doesn't involve either Aubree or
E'tienne.  I am blessed to have such amazing friends that truly
have a heart for Haiti.  

One of my new favorite things to do--buy fruit from the street markets!
The fruit here is amazing and bargaining on the street is fun too!

My love for this little man is really no secret but his love for me..well,
this face just tells all.  He isn't always thrilled with my kisses=)

To most school aged kids multiplication cards are boring--to my friends
it is a great way to spend the afternoon.  These cards can be turned into
all sorts of fun games!  

Daniella is one of my favorite little kiddos.  She is full of personality
and can always be heard yelling "look Brooke, look, watch me!"

I love this photo for so many reasons.  First, Davidson hates bathes. and yet
when I came to his home to visit I found him literally giggling...I rushed to grab
my camera to capture the moment.  Secondly, I can hear Gran's laughter and
see the smile that is on her face just by seeing her cheek bones.  And thirdly, I always laugh
when looking at this photo because only Davidson would have a shirt on to bathe but otherwise always be naked=)

Nothing better than a nap in Chambrun with all the kiddos!  

The little girls are truly growing into young ladies and now love to
cook and play market.  Luckily, I'm their friend so I get all the best prices=)

I wouldn't trade moments like these for all the fancy things in the world.  

 There are moments when I watch my little friends play and be all crazy that I wouldn't trade for anything.  One of those moments happened over the weekend.  I ended up going to Chambrun earlier than normal and the kids were all fresh out of bed.  They were excited to fill me in on all the details I had missed out on since I left the village the evening before=) While I was sitting there I watched one of the little girls walk over with a little cheese puff (a favorite snack the kids love here) in her hand.  She had one cheese puff in her hand and she didn't just toss it in her mouth.  I watched as she broke the cheese puff in half and handed it to one of the little kids sitting by me.  And then she took the half in her hand and broke it again and gave it to another child.  She shared this one cheese puff with five different little friends before she ate the last crumb.  Her bite was literally a crumb.  The first child she shared with got a much larger piece than all the other children and yet not one child complained.  They were so excited to get just a piece of her snack.  I sort of expected the little girl to be disappointed when she realized that her "piece" was basically nothing and yet her smile stretched from one side of her face to the other.  This little four year old girl was Jesus to me.  There is so much crazy going on in the world and yet in that moment I saw so much hope.

saturday mornings

I love Saturday mornings.  On Saturday's the children don't have school and most of the women are off buying/selling things at market.  This means it's typically just me and the kiddos--and they are always full of energy.  It's during theses hours of the morning that their imaginations run wild and we have so much fun.  They come up with all sorts of games, songs, dances, and activities.  Currently, they are really into playing "market" and as soon as I walk into Chambrun they come running up to me and stuff my pockets full of little scrap pieces of paper or trash.  These pieces of paper quickly become my "money" as the children begin to run around with buckets filled with rocks, dirt, and anything else they can find to sell.  They always give me a great deal on anything I want to buy and let me tell you there is always plenty to purchase!  I typically end up buying mangoes, water, little candies, plantains, and of course some flour and rice.  They are also really into making food and decided last Saturday that they needed to cook some food for me.  It took them quite awhile to prepare the meal and they were really careful to make all my favorites.  I loved watching them as they ran all around looking for bottle caps, containers, scraps of material, and all sorts of other things to put the food in.  These little moments of watching the children simply be children are priceless.  There are no toy boxes (or rooms) overflowing with toys and honestly most of the kids have no toys at all.  And yet they are able to create anything and I'm constantly amazed at what they come up with.  Love that I have this special time with my little friends!

The food is being created--I wasn't allowed to help=)

Happy little cooks!  

The finished product--it was delicious!  

Getting ready to take the first "bite"...

Natamara and Davidson are on my lap here--trying to keep them from eating the "food"..as you can see by the mud all over me it wasn't an easy task!