the best of 2016!

And just like that it's time to wish in another year!  I hope you enjoy looking back at some of my favorite pictures and memories from 2016.  Thank you for joining with me on this journey.  So many of you support me financially, in prayer, and follow my blog/facebook/instagram etc.  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!  

My lap seemed to get a lot smaller this year- WOW the kids are growing!  I'm constantly amazed at how the Lord gives me the ability to love just one more even when I feel like my plate is already full.  And I'm also thankful that life is never dull with this crew=)

This picture isn't one that is fancy or extra pretty.  It's what it symbolizes to me that really matters.  There were so many moments where I spent time counting containers of formula and calculating just how many cans per kid I would need based on what I had.  There were moments when I knew that the amount on the shelf wasn't enough and yet there wasn't one single day that there wasn't a can of formula on that shelf.  There wasn't a baby that had to be turned away from the program because I didn't have the supplies needed.  And for that I am 100% thankful and amazed at just how much the Lord uses His people to join together and really make things happen.  Teams would come to campus with a suitcase of formula not knowing that I was stressing over running low- this year I watched as the Lord provided absolutely everything we needed in the malnutrition program.  

This year we made SO many new friends.  I won't even try to list everyone by name because it would be impossible but I can't thank each of you enough for loving and pouring into my kiddos.  Moments that might have seemed silly or just little are still talked about in my home.  My kids ask about you by name and they talk about how you played games with them and how some of you carried them absolutely everywhere we went.  They laugh at the funny things you told them in Creole and tease about who was dating who (because why wouldn't 5year olds be the biggest match makers?!).  My kiddos and my home were blessed with so many people that intentionally loved us and spoiled us.  My kids now know what grapes are and they love them!  And board games are a new favorite too.  Feeling extra loved and blessed because you chose to join with us in this crazy walk through life=)

You know you are the fifth child in your family when you clutch your mango tightly even while napping.  Oh this sweet girl has my heart and I love nothing more than spoiling her rotten=)

If you asked my kids to pick a 2016 highlight I'm pretty sure it would be that we got invited to swim in a friend's pool and then we got our own pool!  My kids learned to "swim" and do so many amazing tricks in this little pool.  We are pretty blessed to have an amazing community of friends that loves us and spoils us too=)

This sweet girl lost TWO teeth this year and I feel like we have been waiting yearrrrsss (literally..) for her to lose these teeth so naturally it is a favorite memory of 2016=)

This year I was reminded at just how important it is to have traditions in my home.  To create a space where memories can be made and where the kids have something fun to look forward to.  Yes, the moments never really turn out like I see others post on Instagram and yet I feel like our chaotic/messy/overwhelming and yet totally perfect way of doing things really is all the better.  

This picture is one that I don't know if I'll have have all the right words for.  This was taken the morning hurricane Mathieu was set to cross right over Haiti.  I can't tell you just how many Facebook messages, emails, and texts I received from SO many of you.  To know that there was an army of people praying for Haiti and for all my little friends was beyond comforting.  Watching as the Lord worked a complete miracle in redirecting the storm and leaving us with just rain was a complete answer to prayer.  It was also a neat experience watching as the NVM community in the States joined with our NVM Haitian staff and community in providing relief to areas that were completely devastated.  Even the children in the school joined in with helping to prepare relief kits.      

This picture represents just how loved I felt the moment I watched the children in the malnutrition program run and play with toys that were gathered and sent to us for the new nutrition space.  Collecting money for formula and plump nut is a lot of work and SO appreciated- and yet there is a community of people that took the idea of blessing the children in our program to an entirely different level.  I got to watch as the children in the program played, walked, and laughed.  This sweet day is one I won't forget.  

This photo in a lot of ways shows just how faithful the Lord truly is and the beauty of redemption.  This year I struggled with knowing one of the momma's was pregnant.  I struggled with the fact that she was going to have another baby and yet didn't parent her first.  I hurt for her first child because I saw the love she wanted and needed.  And yet, despite all the ways I mentally had this event playing out- the Lord chose this sweet baby girl to in a lot of ways redeem this momma.  He used this baby girl to prove just how much a person can change and how we serve a God that heals.  This momma has been so attentive and precious with her baby girl.  She dotes on this sweet baby and I can't imagine what life would have been like if it would have went "my way" and this little one wouldn't be a part of the story.