the best of 2015

These kids have my heart and I feel completely blessed to have been given a spot in their lives!  

And just like that it's time to wish in another year!  I hope you enjoy looking back at some of my favorite pictures from 2015.  I tried to narrow it down to just ten of my favorite pictures but after awhile I just accepted the fact that it was impossible to choose just ten=)  Thank you for joining with me on this journey.  So many of you support me financially, in prayer, and follow my blog.  I feel blessed to have been given the opportunity to live this life in Haiti and I can't thank you enough for helping make it all possible.  Wishing you a wonderful New Year!

There is nothing cuter than a baby in a laundry basin!

My kids got to experience playing on a big grass field for the first time and this picture pretty much sums up just how amazing it was.  

Friday afternoon's with these three are anything but quiet!  LOVE getting time with just them- we spend lots of time running around the playground playing all sorts of games.  My babies are growing up and this year I've felt it more than ever.  Trying to soak up all these fun and crazy moments while they still think I'll cool enough to play with=)

Loved getting to decorate for Christmas with my girls!

Friday nights are spent playing games, watching movies, and eating fun snacks with the kids in the children's home.  I look forward to this time with them all week long.  

My dear friend and coworker, Francoinise, got married over the summer.  This is something that she had been dreaming about for such a long time.  Feel so blessed to have been there for her big day!  

Absolutely everything is an adventure with this crew and oh do we have fun doing the little things.  They love to visit other friends and of course stopping to buy suckers, crackers, and bags of water is always a highlight too=)

I just wish I could bottle up all the sweet moments from this year with my boy.  He has my heart and I'm not ok with this growing up thing anymore!  

Daniella was my date to multiple wedding this year.  Love my girl!

If this road could talk it would tell of many of the struggles and joys from 2015.  I have laughed, cried, and wanted to scream really loudly on this road.  This road has given me lots of space to pray for my littles as I walk to and home from the village.  I'm thankful for this space that gives me time to process and pray. 

This pictures pretty much summarizes this sweet girl!  She is FULL of spunk and sass and yet is also one of the kindest little girls ever.  She has me wrapped right around her fingers and I'm ok with that=)

This pretty much sums up my afternoons in the village and I wouldn't want it any other way!  I am SO blessed to call them mine and to have this spot in their lives!

The the last few months with this little guy have been filled with such JOY.  Fado is finally gaining weight and strength.  The Lord is using this little guy to show me that even when things seem too messy and risky that I am called to be bold and not safe.  The Lord has BIG plans for this kiddo and I can't wait to watch as he learns to fully walk, run, talk, and start school!  

Behind every child in the malnutrition program is a story that is filled with brokenness and just a lot of hard stuff.  And yet, in the midst of all the "heavy" there are these sweet moments that the Lord uses to show me just how faithful He is. 

It's hard to think that a baby this small could have had such a big impact on so many people.  Watching Kenciana's momma fight for her has been an answer to so many prayers.  This baby girl is now laughing, smiling, and is actually chubby!  

I am so thankful for this friendship.  This sweet momma has shown me so much and has been such a sweet reminder  of the Lord's faithfulness.  It doesn't matter how much or little she has she is constantly pursuing the Lord and sharing with me where He is working in her life.  I consider it a complete blessing to call her my friend.  

My kids are growing up and oh how creative they have become!  I love Saturday mornings and getting to watch as they pretend to load up on the moto to head off to market to buy me lots of goodies.  

This has been a big year for this sweet girl!  She now smiles and has the cutest little laugh!  And she is walking and talking too!

This sweet baby girl has rocked my world.  At first I really struggled with allowing myself to actually love this little one because of all the "what ifs'."  In a way that only the Lord can work this little one managed to wiggle her way right into my heart though and looking back I just can't imagine what we ever did without this little one.  Saina is always full of joy and there is nothing sweeter than cuddling this baby girl.  

christmas party!

Look at how handsome they are!  

 Oh if you could have heard all the chatter and BIG plans that the children were making for the school Christmas party!  For weeks the students talked about who would sing, dance, and do different skits in the program.  The girls talked NON stop about what dresses, socks, and ribbons they would wear.  And oh they talked about the meat they would get to eat and the presents!  The kids were pretty excited to see those presents that each would get to take home!!  This party was the talk of the village!  One momma told me her daughter was ready to get up and dressed at midnight because she just couldn't wait any longer=)  So thankful that our school isn't just a place for lessons but that we also take the time to celebrate and have a fun day just for our students.  

The school was literally PACKED!

The yummy meal!!

Davidson refused to stop eating his chicken so I could take a picture=)

christmas!

LOVE this picture of Rose!  She had SO much fun decorating the tree!

There is something about it just being the month of December that has left me homesick for the "normal" of the Christmas season.  I miss actually going Christmas shopping with my family instead of trying to pick things out online.  I miss hearing Christmas music on the radio and driving around looking at all the beautiful and yet tacky lights.  And I feel like I should be spending my Saturday's baking all sorts of Christmas goodies with my sisters and nieces.  Instead, though I'm living in the Caribbean where it's still sunny and in the 90's absolutely every day.  While not having cold weather and snow is a BIG blessing it just doesn't help it to feel like Christmas.    

I decided that this year it would be fun to decorate my house with the kids and to do some things that would hopefully help it to feel a little more like Christmas.  There was this part of me that was SO excited to do some of the "normal" Christmas activities with my littles.  Decorating the Christmas tree with Rose and Chilanda was so much fun.  Rose spent a lot of time looking over each and every bulb before placing them all in the exact same spot on the tree.  Chilanda and I both tried to show her how she could make the tree beautiful by placing them all over the tree but Rose just wasn't convinced that we knew what we were talking about=)  In my mind I thought it would be super cute to get a picture of all my kids with the decorated tree.  Instead of getting that picture though it's been a constant battle to keep the bulbs on the tree and keep track of who's turn it is to turn the tree lights on and off.  I also thought it would be fun to make a Christmas treat with them and yet the kids really just wanted to eat hot dogs instead.

Many of the moments I had pictured have been filled with a lot more chaos than I ever envisioned and yet they have also been filled with lots of laughter and really big smiles.  The first thing they do when they run into the house is turn off the regular lights so they can plug in the little tree and then turn on the other two strands of Christmas lights.  They then proceed to turn them all on and off at least a hundred times because it is just that amazing seeing them all light up.  The decorative Santa now has a braided beard and actually hasn't been able to just be decorative at all.  They have had so much fun playing with that Santa and it has been so sweet listening to them talk all about his jacket, shoes, and hat.  And even though I'm craving Christmas candies, I don't mind making them hot dogs because I know just how much they love them.  It still hasn't felt quite like a "normal" Christmas and yet it has been a lot of fun creating new memories with all my little friends.  

Santa before he got his beard braided=)