HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SAMUEL!

Samuel turned 11 yesterday.  Somehow, each fall Melissa and I get busy with the start of a new school year and his October 4th birthday sneaks up on us unawares.  But THIS YEAR we had some gifts sent in via Amazon days in advance, so we were pretty proud of ourselves.  AND both grandmas sent packages through the mail, arriving the day before. We also did our research on food requests and birthday activities ahead of time.  We were so glad his big day fell on a Saturday this year, giving us plenty of time to celebrate.

Samuel's first celebration request was my kind of activity - free!  He wanted to climb the mountain behind our house.  We had a quick Saturday morning breakfast and then Caleb, Samuel and I left our house at 8:00 for Ruysdael and Johnny's neighborhood so that they and Mikenn could take over as our hiking guides.

 

Samuel stopped outside Johnny's house to pet Buddy's mother.

It was a cloudless, clear day ... by which I mean "it was stinking HOT".  But the views were great.  We had ample opportunity to enjoy the views since we were stopping every five minutes for a rest.

And who was begging for stops the most?  The birthday boy.  Early on, I asked him, "So whose idea was this anyway?"

His answer: "Some dumb kid's."

Look at the pain on his face after about 45 minutes:



So, needless to say, we didn't actually make it to the top.  I hear THAT hike can take up to four hours.  We made it to what Mikenn called "the first floor".  



And once we hit this point, the path leveled out and it was easy walking, so we decided to explore the area a bit before we headed back down.  We found an avocado tree just LOADED with the biggest avocados I have ever seen.  The boys knocked a couple out of the tree with rocks.

Samuel got a bit adventurous and poked around inside an abandoned house.  When he opened the door, a bat flew past our heads.  Mikenn said there was evidence of voodoo practice inside.

Outside, we found the largest hermit crab I have ever seen.

And a small tree snake.

And a boy riding a donkey bare butt! Can't be comfortable.

 And a little natural spring.

And a boy who was there for work, not pleasure.

All in all, we took our time and enjoyed the views and gulped our water and looked for shade - both coming and going.

While we were out, his sisters and a couple of the Bundy girls decorated the living room for Samuel's birthday party.

After lunch, Grandma Trudy Skyped while Samuel opened some presents.

And Caleb enjoyed some of the candy corn Grandma Gross sent in a care package.  

For his birthday dinner, Samuel had requested chicken nachos. The only problem was that we had no tortilla chips.  I went into Cap Haitien in the afternoon in a vain attempt to find some chips.  As a last resort, Melissa spent about two and a half hours making tortilla chips from scratch - another culinary first for us.  Samuel was duly grateful.

 

We made up some of that time by not decorating a cake.  This birthday boy doesn't care for cake.  A pan of brownies is more to his liking.

We are so very grateful for this wonderful kid - his faith, his kind heart, his sense of humor.  Melissa and I will be forever thankful that God has put him in our family and given us the privilege of being his parents.  

Happy birthday, Sammy!

P.S. We got word this week from my younger brother, Russ, that he and his family have purchased tickets to come visit for a week after Christmas!  We are so excited.  Maybe I can convince Uncle Russ to hike to the TOP.