A week in the Life of the Nunemakers

This week was full of celebrating the arrival of the Christmas season, it seemed. We wrapped up the second marking period at Cite Lumiere Christian School and enjoyed the fruit of the hard work of the CLCS student body as they shared their Christmas program with friends and family on Thursday evening. We all participated in one way or another with the performance and or the behind the scenes portion of the evening.

Isaac was a shepherd in the celebration of the birth of Christ, along with the other three second grade students at CLCS. Daniel and Josiah helped with sound and lighting for the event.

Lee shared a brief Christmas message following the students' performance. Nathan was our family photographer for the evening and Tina helped out with the refreshments downstairs, after the service. It was a joy to celebrate with the CLCS family and missionary community.

Before going to the performance Thursday evening, Nathan and Isaac helped to decorate the igloo cupcakes that Isaac had chosen to make as a special treat for his class’s Christmas and reward-for-good-behavior party on Friday.

Since the second graders had achieved 20 “green days” for good behavior and good work during the first two marking periods, Friday was an all day game party for the second grade class. Normally, Isaac and I (Tina) only go to the school from 11:30-1pm, but on Friday we spent all day with the class so that Isaac could participate in their fun, games, and learning. Nathan didn’t think this was quite fair, but it was a lesson in the fact that life just isn’t always fair:)

In addition to a Christmas party, reward party, and birthday party all wrapped into one, Friday was also the day to say “we will see you later” (since we don’t like the term “goodbye” in these circumstances) to the second graders' lead teacher, Renee Leger, as she and her family leave this week for the states. Mrs. Leger will be tremendously missed, but we are also thanking the Lord for providing new teachers to step into that role in January. Please keep Renee and her family in prayer as they transition over the next few weeks and months, as well as the second graders and their new teachers as they make the necessary adjustments following the Christmas break.

This week, we also observed Tobi finding amusments in some of the more common things in life. It is amazing how much fun a fallen coconut branch can provide when he is tied during the day (in the picture above). Tobi also enjoyed playing with a centipede on our back porch (you can see the little centipede just above the corner of the chair in the lower left corner of the picture). It was quite entertaining for those of us who had the privilege of seeing it happening. We were disappointed that the video we tried to take did not turn out.

Lee also caught a couple of pictures of the beauty of nature in Haiti this week. Above is a butterfly that looks like its wings may have taken a little beating and below is a spider that he and the boys were fascinated to find one night on their way to lock the gate for the night.

Today (Sunday, December 20th) is Isaac’s 8th birthday and he enjoyed a down day at home, with the family, full of boxed mac and cheese, hotdogs and corn, nerf gun battles, chocolate cake with peanut butter icing and homemade ice cream, riding a new scooter, and fun chasing Tobi with his new remote controls. We also took a quick trip to Tet Simon to try to do some grass sledding on cardboard (which didn’t work too well), but Isaac had fun climbing a big tree.

Have a great week as you prepare for the celebration of the birth of our Savior!!! We appreciate all of the love and encouragement that we receive from so many of you in notes, emails, and packages.