Summer Fun

I realize that it has been about 2 months since we had a new post on this blog. Surprisingly, this does not mean that we have had nothing to post about. On the contrary, we have had lots going on.

The fourth Monday in May is a holiday in Jamaica, and it is not Memorial Day. It is called Labour Day, and it is a day to do work in the community. We took everyone outside and cleaned up the trash along the road.

When we took a picture, the guy walking along the road wanted to be in it too.

The children from church that participate in the AWANA Clubs, went to Santa Cruz (about 2 hours away) for the AWANA Olympics.

The first activity of the day was devotions.

We brought our own shade along.

The Baylife team ready for the AWANA games.

They also did a Bible Quiz. This is the Baylife team. They got all the answers right except for one.

It was a full, fun, and hot day. We enjoyed it, but we were happy to be home again.

Carrie & I celebrated our 13th anniversary on May 31. We were able to have an evening out to celebrate. It had rained, and just as we got there, the sun came out to give us some gorgeous scenery.

We had 3 groups in June in back to back to back weeks. First, one of the board members, Sam & Lydia Kanagy came along with their son & his family, and some family friends. Our girls enjoyed having some new playmates for a few days. They did a building project for a neighbor who was re-building after a fire.

The week after that, we had some "home folks." Dr. Richard Shugart brought a group from Plain City, Ohio. They re-surfaced the driveway at JRM, and did some chiropractic adjustments, and eye checkups in several locations.

They made balloon animals for the children one evening.

The next week, we hosted a group of 30 from the Berea church in Nappanee, Indiana. Their big project was to build two houses.

The first 3 weeks in June we also had Sandra & Abby Hershberger and Travis Wengerd at JRM. Sandra put her artistic skills to use by re-doing some furniture pieces, and Travis helped out with whatever work needed to be done.

We had some medical things come up recently, so we got to experience the differences between the private hospital and the public hospital.

The Blackburn Learning Centre in Mt. Pelier had their graduation, and Joe was the keynote speaker.

Our family came back to the USA on July 8 and will be here until we return to Jamaica August 10. We have enjoyed seeing lots of family and friends. One of the board members is filling in for us, so we can have this time off.

Some things to pray for:

-Brad & Rachel and their family as they spend a month in Jamaica.

-The children at JRM, especially with the recent medical issues that came up.

-Our family as we travel in the USA.

-The team of staff in Jamaica (they are the best, but still pray for them)

Thank you for your support, both in prayer and financially. We are so grateful for all of you!

We will be doing a Jamaican Jerk Chicken dinner on August 4 at Plainview School in Plain City, OH from 5-8pm. If you are close-by, stop in and say hi. 100% of the proceeds will go to JRM. We will be speaking at the event as well.

Sign of the month: I always enjoy seeing signs in Patois:

Springtime in Jamaica

Our spring in Jamaica feels like summer for most of us. The temperatures have been in the low 90s and the humidity has been very high. Fortunately, it cools off nicely most evenings. The low 80s with a breeze feels chilly to us. We had a dry couple of months, and the grass turned brown, but May brought showers again to green things up. We are still enjoying gorgeous sunsets most days.

The children had their annual Sports Day in April. This is a day of yelling, cheering, and horn tooting with a few foot races mixed in. The Parent's Race brings the most whoops and hollers, and no, I did not participate.  Our team, the "Yellow House" won the most points of the day.

We had a group of friends here from Sugarcreek, Ohio. They did all kinds of work around here, and we had lots of fun getting to know them. We first got to know one of them, Juliana Miller when she helped our family after our twins were born in 2006. We have kept in touch over the years, and it was great to re-connect with her.

When they first met...

Almost 10 years later...

This little guy came when he was 3 weeks old, and stayed in our house for 3 months. He wormed his way into our hearts. He has since moved over to the other house, but we still enjoy taking care of him when we get the chance.

Our family enjoyed a little vacation the end of April when we went to Negril for 3 days. We got to tour the lighthouse the first day. I went up with the three oldest girls, since the stairs were too steep for the younger ones.

Sierra's expression says it all.

The lighthouse is over 120 years old, and still has lots of old things in it. The lighting system is modern though with solar panels and an electric lamp instead of a kerosene burner.

We stayed at a resort on the cliffs.

The view from our room...

In the evening, we would go out to watch the sunset.

It was so relaxing, and we made many good memories!

Carrie flew to Florida for a few days to celebrate her mom's 60th birthday. It was a girls only trip with her sisters and sisters-in-law. She really enjoyed being with them, but we were very happy to have her home again with us! Of course, she brought treats back for us too.

Carrie started teaching the girls to sew, and they learned very quickly. Some of them even got up early in the morning, and were at the sewing machine before we were out of bed.

This week we took everyone to Ocho Rios for an outing. We had a picnic at Turtle River Park, then the children played on the playground and watched the turtles and the fish.

We had to get ice cream before we made the trip back to Montego Bay.

Earlier this week Erin Miller from Sugarcreek, OH arrived. She will be serving at JRM as an auntie.

We also said goodbye to Katelyn Yoder, who returned to her home in Maryland. She was the teacher for our girls this past year, and she will be greatly missed. The girls are already planning when they can see her while we are in the USA this summer.

Speaking of the USA, we are planning the be back for about a month this summer, coming to Ohio around July 8. We look forward to seeing many of you then!

Pray for us as we continue to experience lots of changes at JRM. Lots of the aunties are going on vacation this month and next month. Changes affect all of us, especially the children.

Until next time,
Kevin

Here are some creative ideas for your electrical projects.

Sign of the month: