HCH Mangine update-- 2009 in photos!
This has been, without exception, THE craziest year in the life of the Mangine Family. Rather than a clever and wordy update about what happened, (because my brain is too fried to do clever and wordy), I thought I'd let the pictures and captions do the talking for me...
Enjoy our year!
JANUARY
The Mangine Family, January 2009.
The year began with a wedding! My sister(ish) Jenny got married to Melody's brother-in-law, Josh. It was a great wedding and a fun time to celebrate with the family.
And, of course, licking the chocolate fondue fountain made things memorable. (Disclaimer-- we didn't ACTUALLY lick it...)
January brought us some snow! That was fun for our kids, knowing they were headed for a snow-free life!
And, of course, licking the chocolate fondue fountain made things memorable. (Disclaimer-- we didn't ACTUALLY lick it...)
January brought us some snow! That was fun for our kids, knowing they were headed for a snow-free life!
FEBRUARY
Knowing the chaos about to come, Nick and I tried very hard to spend GOOD, QUALITY time with our kids... Here's Nick and Nia all gussied up for the "Daddy Daughter Ball"
And me and Nico, ready for our Mother/Son movie night-- SPIDERMAN!
And I did crazy-extreme things back then to connect with my kids, like hold them... (sarcasm alert!)
MARCH
We made some initial good-bye trips-- here we were saying goodbye to Nana's house and all the cousins there...
At Crosspointe, the kids sent us off well with tons of supplies for the orphanage! I miss these kids!
We headed out to Colorado for missionary training at MTI-- what an amazing experience for our family.
And we of course spent some awesome time with downtown Andrew Brown... had my first of many melt-downs when saying goodbye. (Hey Andrew-- WHEN are you coming for a visit???)
We headed out to Colorado for missionary training at MTI-- what an amazing experience for our family.
And we of course spent some awesome time with downtown Andrew Brown... had my first of many melt-downs when saying goodbye. (Hey Andrew-- WHEN are you coming for a visit???)
APRIL
If you recall, this is the month we moved to Haiti-- but not until the very end of it! Prior to that, I headed down to Haiti with my mom, my sister, and Nia and a team of people who went down to help get our house ready. Unfortunately that house fell through, but we still had a great week working together.
We had many, many tearful goodbyes-- including to these people-- our very much loved and missed life group.
And we're here in Haiti! We jumped right into the tasks at hand, and into our new community!
We had many, many tearful goodbyes-- including to these people-- our very much loved and missed life group.
And we're here in Haiti! We jumped right into the tasks at hand, and into our new community!
MAY
May hit us hard and fast. I experienced a fun little bit of Haitian culture early on when I took some of Danny's kids to Haitian motocross.
I laughed harder than I have ever laughed when this team came in two weeks after us moving here.
We moved to Port Au Prince to start language school.
And we spent a lot of time in the hospital with my Danny and Leann's son, Woody, after his accident. I love that kid.
I laughed harder than I have ever laughed when this team came in two weeks after us moving here.
We moved to Port Au Prince to start language school.
And we spent a lot of time in the hospital with my Danny and Leann's son, Woody, after his accident. I love that kid.
JUNE
Our family took a day trip to Wahoo Bay! Great (overpriced) beach. Great food.
Had a cultural "experience" when Nahomie prepared chicken feet for us.
We finally moved to Jacmel into short-term house... it was great.
Had a cultural "experience" when Nahomie prepared chicken feet for us.
We finally moved to Jacmel into short-term house... it was great.
JULY
Our kids were scarred for life when they saw a goat they "knew" butchered and his head boiled in a pot for soup.
We spent a lot of time with a couple street kids-- pictured here is Jocelyn.
We visited Nico's old orphanage in TiMache... Here's Nico with his former preschool teacher, Jean.
On the same trip, I got to FINALLY meet in person my long-time friend, Vivian!
We spent a lot of time with a couple street kids-- pictured here is Jocelyn.
We visited Nico's old orphanage in TiMache... Here's Nico with his former preschool teacher, Jean.
On the same trip, I got to FINALLY meet in person my long-time friend, Vivian!
AUGUST
VBS Chabin was a huge success in August!
We discovered that we had been flim flammed on the purchase of a "new" mattress that was NOT, in fact, new.
In a frustrated state, I chopped Josiah's pacifier in two-- and we became a pacifier-free home!
Fritzie, our first HCH Mangine child joined our family! What a great day that was!
We discovered that we had been flim flammed on the purchase of a "new" mattress that was NOT, in fact, new.
In a frustrated state, I chopped Josiah's pacifier in two-- and we became a pacifier-free home!
Fritzie, our first HCH Mangine child joined our family! What a great day that was!
SEPTEMBER
School started in September.
And Prisca and Wildarne became part of the Mangine family!
And Prisca and Wildarne became part of the Mangine family!
Bigsby, our puppy, joined our family too!
OCTOBER
October was a crazy month-- had a great Crosspointe music team come, followed by my mom visiting.
I got to attend my first birth in October. This is Anise.
And this is Max, my godson, the product of her labor!
We ended the month by receiving our Haitian residency-- JUST IN TIME!
I got to attend my first birth in October. This is Anise.
And this is Max, my godson, the product of her labor!
We ended the month by receiving our Haitian residency-- JUST IN TIME!
NOVEMBER
The beginning of November was our furlough. We saw tons of family...
and friends!
While we were gone our beloved puppy, Bigsby died... we still miss him!
We arrived home to meet our newest son-- Jean Louis!
and friends!
While we were gone our beloved puppy, Bigsby died... we still miss him!
We arrived home to meet our newest son-- Jean Louis!
DECEMBER
We started the month with RIDICULOUS water problems...
That situation became much better when we moved into our BEAUTIFUL NEW HOUSE!
