Birthday Highlights

Samuel turned 10 on Friday - our family's first birthday in Haiti.  Melissa and I have been notorious over the last few years for running late in planning for Samuel's birthday. This year we went shopping online over a week and a half in advance ... but the presents didn't arrive. 

Thank goodness Grandma Gross got her package in the mail early - it came on Tuesday's flight.  So Samuel got a new lunch box at breakfast time ...

 

And a new Star Wars Lego set in the evening.

The Bundy kids came by first thing in the morning and taped a poster and some candy to our front door.



A lot of Samuel's birthday treats centered around food.  Sugary cereal at a reasonable price is hard to find here, so Froot Loops with real milk accompanied by a blueberry smoothie hit the spot for breakfast.

For dinner, Melissa, was able to pull together Sammy's request - chicken nachos - with a bit of last minute help from fellow missionary, Erica, who knew which grocery store might have tortilla chips.

 

 Uncle Bud and Aunt Jane and little Sammy joined us for dinner.  The two Sammies sat side by side.

 

 It was super sweet that Caleb, Hannah and Sarah took the time to go to the "gift shop" on the mission grounds and get a Haiti hat for Samuel.  Little Sammy liked it too.

 

 My Haitian "sons" made sure they got a picture with the birthday boy, which they immediately request for me to post on Facebook.  (They're a bit obsessed with Facebook at the moment!)

 

After dinner, the Heckmans joined us for chocolate milkshakes.  They brought Samuel two presents.  First, a duct tape wallet:

Which he liked.  But if you want to see him get REALLY excited, give him a package of Oreos!

To top off the evening, he got to Skype with both Grandmas and his best friend Thomas back in Indiana.

We were so hyped up on sugar that evening, we didn't cut into the "birthday cake" until the next day.  But Samuel still insisted on getting a candle on his pineapple upside down cake.

 
In the evening, Ruysdael, Johnny and Mikenn took us all on a hike up the mountainside where they live.  Sammy had been looking forward to doing a bit of rock climbing together.

We managed to crawl our way up a steep ravine that had been cut into the side of the mountain for the purpose of sliding rocks down below for the purpose of construction.  It was just the sort of challenge that makes Samuel very happy. He led the way.

Me and my ten year old at the top!

 

The celebration isn't over yet.  Because our present and a couple of others sent by friends and family didn't make the Thursday flight, Samuel has more surprises to look forward to in the coming week.

We feel so blessed by God to have this great kid as a part of our family!