Thanksgiving and a Wedding!

We celebrated our second Thanksgiving in Jamaica! It is not an official holiday here, but since it is celebrated where we are from, we take a day off to enjoy the traditions we are familiar with. An extra holiday never hurt anyone, right? Turkey is very expensive here. Expensive like $4/lb. So we had "churkey." Carrie prepared chicken and seasoned it so it tasted very much like turkey. In fact, the rest of the staff still don't know unless they read this!

The aunties did a play for children the evening before Thanksgiving. It was about being grateful. Their outfits were fantastic!

The day after Thanksgiving, we welcomed Mandy Sauder. She is from Wallenstein, Ontario and will be serving at JRM as an auntie.

One of the biggest events of November for us was the wedding of Carrie's sister Audrey to James Shenk. The wedding was held in Catlett, Virginia, so that meant a trip to the USA for our family. I will just take this moment to thank you all for your contributions that allowed us to make this "extra" trip. We are humbled by your generosity, and all we can say is, "Thank You!"

Carrie flew to Ohio on November 10 with Emma and Olivia.

She spent a few days there, before traveling to Virginia for the wedding. The rest of the girls and I tried to keep busy so we would miss them so much. We did a few special things together just because we could.

The rest of us flew to Baltimore on November 17, and we were all together again... but first we took a selfie.

We enjoyed all the excitement that a wedding brings, but most of all, we enjoyed being with family. We got to meet a new family member for the first time.

We enjoyed a traditional Thanksgiving meal at rehearsal. There was also this amazing spread of appetizers to enjoy.

Then, of course, there was the wedding. It was a beautiful event, but we were also keenly aware of missing Carrie's dad. It just didn't seem quite complete without him there to walk the bride down the aisle. 

The Matron of Honor was especially beautiful, I thought.

We returned back to Jamaica on the 23rd of November. Floyd & Ellen Yoder had spent a week here while we were gone, so we were able to spend one day with them before they returned to their home.

My birthday was earlier in the month, so we enjoyed a family dinner the evening before Carrie left for Ohio.

According to the number of candles on the cake from the staff, I am only about 17.

This little girls keeps us busy chasing after her. She doesn't play with toys very much, and she thinks she is about 10 years older than she really is. This is how she brushes her teeth.

Thank you again for you support, and most of all, for your prayers! We wish you God's peace as we prepare to celebrate the Prince of Peace.

Merry Christmas!

Kevin

Sign of the month: This store's hours are very "employee friendly." If you can't read it, it says, "We soon open."

October

Rainy season has arrived in October, meaning that almost every day we get an hour or two of rain. Some days it is a gentle shower, and other days it is a downpour, creating rivers in the streets. It certainly makes the landscape green.

We have enjoyed working with, and getting to know Joe & Ellen Shetler. The jumped right into the work here, and already hosted a group this month.

We began October by welcoming Cynthia Miller back to JRM. Cynthia had served here several years ago, and came back to help us out for a couple of months. She has done a great job of fitting in and being part of the team here.

My parents came to visit for a little over a week in early October. It was good to have them here, and they enjoyed it, although I think they were ready for the cooler weather in the North. We made a trip with them to the Blue Mountains on the eastern end of Jamaica. It was a 5 hour trip, taking us across the island, through Kingston, and into the heights that are the Blue Mountains. The last 2.5 mile section of the road took us 30 minutes to travel. The views were spectacular, and the air was clean and cool.

We found ourselves mesmerized by the view, and it didn't take much additional activity to keep us content. The girls enjoyed playing with the rabbits, and playing games in the yard.

A neighbor brought his donkey over, and gave them all rides.

There was a caretaker who stays on site, and we were pleasantly surprised when we discovered that we had a cook as well. So, it truly was a vacation; we didn't even need to wash dishes. We enjoyed our meals on the patio with a fantastic view of Kingston.

When it was time to go to bed, we found ourselves once again, just wanting to look out the windows.

We went hiking a couple of times, visiting some local coffee farms. The berries turn red when they are ready to be harvested, then the bean inside is what gets roasted, and brewed into coffee.

We also visited a nursery where they start new coffee plants.

We saw a strange looking house built by former US Ambassador Peter King.

We had a wonderfully relaxing time, and would highly recommend the place we stayed.

We had more visitors in October as well. A group of Amber's friends surprised her for the weekend. We also hosted a group from Mt. View Nursing Home in Virginia. They helped us out with cleaning, and sprucing things up here at JRM. It was so nice to have things sparkly clean again. They also spent some time at Blossom Gardens, as well as the school at Mt. Pelier. We really enjoyed having them here and making new friends.

Loretta also had some friends visit over her birthday.

Her friends also took some family pictures for us.

Emma seems to enjoy the Frosty cones at Wendys.

We are looking forward to seeing some of you this month when we make a trip to Virginia for Audrey's (Carrie's sister) wedding. It will be a quick trip, then we get to celebrate Thanksgiving when we return.

Thanks so much for your interest in our lives!
Kevin

Sign of the month

September

The hot, dry summer weather continued through September. The grass stayed brown, and we didn't need to cut it much at all through the month. It seemed like all the rain went on either side of us.

September also brought lots of changes here at JRM. Lots of staff changes and schedule changes always makes things a little more hectic. School started on September 7 for the JRM children. That means I am driving to town and back twice per day for school drop off and pickup. The children have adjusted to school and are doing well.

A few days before school started, we had an outing with everyone to visit Mr. Ramford at his farm. It is always enjoyable to try coconut water, sugar cane, and all the other things he is growing there. I always learn something new when we visit him.

We had guests here from Ohio to visit Nicki. Shelly Gingerich & Kim Hostetler came for a week, then Denise Troyer came right after that. Nicki was at the end of her term and was able to travel back with Denise on September 30.

Sheri Peachey returned to her home in Pennsylvania on September 21. Both of these ladies did a lot of the cooking, so not only do we miss them, we miss their good food. :)

On September 29, Lucinda Hochstetler (Indiana) arrived to serve as an auntie.

Along with Cinda, Joe & Ellen Shetler (Indiana) arrived as well. They are serving as Outreach and Project Coordinators.

On September 20, we passed an anniversary that we were not looking forward to. One year ago, we got the news that Carrie's father had unexpectedly passed away, and by that evening we were in Ohio. This year, we got balloons for our family and "sent" notes to Grandpa.

While most of us were doing this...

...this happened.

A fisherman was cleaning his fish on the rocks nearby. He had caught some Lionfish.

We spent some time at the beach in Negril, then we stopped in at the lighthouse, but it was closed.

Before school started, Chloe had the opportunity to be the "receptionist" at the Child Development Agency for part of a day.

In the last update, I had written about the decision before us about our time in Jamaica. We sensed an open door, so we have committed to be at JRM until the summer of 2017. Thank you for your prayers and input concerning this decision.

I had also written of some financial needs that we have. Thank you so much for responding and for the contributions that you have made that allow our family to serve here in Jamaica.

I realize that it is October already, and we have had some exciting times already this month; but you will need to wait to hear about it until next time. :-)

Sign of the month:
This person is more than willing to share his opinion of Montego Bay.

Blessings!
Kevin