I'm guessing Jill never imagined that she would be here a year later on her spring break with her husband. The Lord works in mysterious ways!
I picked Dan and Jill up at the airport at 8:00 am, dropped their luggage at our house and then headed straight to Cowman. After a short reunion with Melissa and Sarah outside the kindergarten building, they got right to work.
Jill came bearing gifts bags from her students back in Indiana who have been writing to my students as pen pals. We were impressed, along with Jill, that her students had put these gifts together on their own initiative. It was such a pleasant surprise and a great way to start our week together.
Here's Hannah sporting a little butterfly necklace that was part of the gift bag sent to her.
It was St. Patrick's Day and the girls' bags just happened to have green bows that doubled as hair clips. And finger nail polish that needed to be sampled IMMEDIATELY.
But once the presents were distributed, Jill launched right into teaching poetry - and learning names.
And, meanwhile, Dan worked alongside Coach David in introducing some new sports to various classes throughout the day.
After the first day at Cowman, we found there were a few other things Dan and Jill brought with them beyond the student gifts. First of all, they delivered Mikenn's laptop. (Thanks so much, Sherry, for your generosity and for going out of your way to mail the computer to Jill. I am sure Mikenn will put it to good use as he continues his medical studies.)
Secondly - JUNK FOOD, to spoil all of us with a variety of treats we just can't get here.
And, as if that was not enough, they brought crafts for Sarah and a variety of Ipods for the older kids. Hannah, especially, couldn't imagine a more thoughtful gift. She couldn't wait to get an ITunes account set up and to get some new music - and Dan obliged her and patiently wrestled with our internet service to get her going.
(The kids had brought one old DC Talk CD with them to Haiti and they have listened to it on the kitchen player REPEATEDLY over the last seven months. So I was almost as thankful for these gifts as the kids were.)
Back at school on Tuesday, Jill worked with the students on various types of poetry - cinquains and haiku and clerihews. In the afternoon, she had the 5th graders outside to observe nature and to write. We had a blast and the students really got into it.
Several poems, of course, were dedicated to Cowman's resident puppies...
Here Jill and a student count out syllables to see if he's got the right number for a proper haiku.
We were right there on the school grounds - familiar territory - but even I was seeing things that were new and surprising. This lizard was hopping across the hood of our truck like a frog would!
Jill chased down the lizard and got ahold of him. This was my first hint that Jill had an adventurous side. (Well, this and the fact that she came all the way to Haiti to visit a former student!)
After school hours, we had our own fun with Dan and Jill, including an evening pool time at the Villa Cana. Dan got a workout hoisting various Gross kids into the air.
I need to pause here and finish relating the rest of our incredible week another time. We had a lot of laughs and a lot of tears, too. I have so many pictures and stories to tell, but they will need to wait until I am a little more awake. (Too many late night chats!) But let me finish for now by saying a heartfelt Thank You to Dan and Jill for coming so far, doing so much and for being such an encouragement to our entire family.
May the Lord bless you and watch over you, as you travel back to Indiana and always.
(We can always use another English teacher around here!)
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