Batabou/Pirate Beach Trip

This is the most beautiful beach on Dominica! Luke is not a fan of beaches (he doesn't like to get dirty and the ocean scares him unless Morgan is holding him) but even he enjoyed our outing last Thursday to Batabou beach.

It's also unofficially named "Pirate Beach" because a scene from the 2nd Pirates of the Caribbean movie was filmed here.
After taking a short 20 minute walk through the rainforest, this was what unfolded before our eyes. Pretty incredible huh? Our group consisted of 14 adults and 9 children. We were the ONLY ones there. It's so awesome to find a deserted beach and enjoy it's beauty and serenity all to ourselves. Miriam absolutely loves beaches! Each child is so different. She loves to run out into the ocean and play in the waves.
But most of all, Miriam loves to EAT sand! No matter how hard I try, she always sneaks bites of sand. She's never hungry when we get home from the beach!
It was a magical time with Morgan over the break. He was wonderful with the children and Luke treasured each moment with him. Here is Morgan trying to coach Luke to get into the water.

Luke's Dinner Prayer

Morgan left yesterday for the Indiana Conference. In our prayers last night we asked Heavenly Father to bless Daddy on his trip. When Luke said the blessing on our dinner tonight, he said: "Heavenly Father, thank you for this day. Please bless it. Please bless the stromboli. Please bless Daddy on his trip and to bring back the Spiderman back pack and a Superman back pack. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen." This was the first prayer (or at least that I can recall) that Luke added his own personal wants to it. Morgan had told Luke before he left that Grandma was sending a Spiderman back pack for him and that he could have it when Morgan got back from his trip. So now Luke just can't wait to see Daddy in 3 more days!

Dressing Up Miriam

At the end-of-the-semester sale (which by the way, is the biggest shopping event of the semester here and much anticipated) I found a pack of tiny hair rubber bands for Miriam. I had searched in vain at all the other stores in Portsmouth and in Roseau for these and was lucky enough to buy them from a departing student. Now Miriam sports the side ponytail or the Pebbles hairstyle and will even wear sunglasses...

for about 30 seconds!

How Luke Sees Things...

I was showing Luke some different pictures of the Savior one day. When he saw this picture, he said, "Jesus wears a cape." I guess I never thought of it that way. I just love all the things that Luke comes up with on his own!

Flat Tire

Yesterday I took the kids in our double stroller to campus. While there we filled up 2 gallons of filtered water, bought some produce and played on the playground. However as we were leaving, I realized that our stroller had a flat tire. Luckily I had brought the air pump along with me. However I must be fix-it challenged because I could not get that tire to inflate to save my life! It just wouldn't! So in despair I just resolved to pushing the stroller back home on the flat tire. I just mumbled a "Please help me Heavenly Father" and took off.

I had to make one more stop at James Store across the street from campus before going back. While I was in the check out line, a Dominican man came up to me and said: "I fixed your tire so that your baby will have a smoother ride home." He asked for nothing in return. I thanked him with all my heart.

The kids had a smooth ride home and not just because the wheel was fixed. My heart felt light and full of gratitude for a loving Father in Heaven that hears even the little prayers over trivial matters.

This Week's Good Times

It has started to get HOT here. Each time we go to Tina's (one of the few grocery stores here), I always get Luke a juice box to enjoy once we get home in the hopes that it will cool him down. However, Miriam has decided that she is now old enough and hot enough to have her own juice box too. Ah, her desire to be independent and to be treated as Luke's equal has set in!

Our friends, the Hales, left the island last week. Before leaving Bethany brought over lots of their old toys. Luke and Miriam have really enjoyed playing with all their "new" toys. Miriam discovered that if she took the cookware play set out of the bucket, that she could create a nice head ornament. She runs/toddles all around the apartment with the bucket on her head and makes funny sounds. Luke tried it after watching Miriam but his head was too big!

Potty Tales

1- A few Sundays ago we had our friends, Adrian and Diana Peterson over for a quick game of Star Wars miniatures. The Petersons have a little girl- Kairi- that is Miriam's age. The adults were playing games, Luke was watching Donald Duck and the girls were roaming around the apartment. All of a sudden we hear Kairi fall and hit her head on the tile floor in our bedroom. Diana rushes in and hits the floor too. Is that water spilt on the floor? Upon closer examination, we discover that Luke had become so engrossed in his Donald Duck show that he peed the floor. Kairi slipped in it, Diana slipped in it and I was mortified! Diana is a great sport and after running upstairs to change clothes, she returned to finish the game.

2-On Morgan's birthday, I was busy in the kitchen trying to prepare a really great dinner for him. Luke exclaims: "Mommy...poop!" I see my little girl walking towards me with a strange brown object in her hand. Trying to be optimistic, I try to believe that she is holding something other than what my gut is telling me it is. However, this day was not the day for optimism. It was indeed poop that had escaped from Luke's underwear and found by Miriam. I screamed, scared Miriam, carried her to the shower for a good bath while birthday Morgan was stuck with cleaning up Luke. Thanks babe for tackling that one! Anyway, we did get a good laugh out of it later.

ARRRGH!!!! Sometimes Luke is soooo good with using the potty. Today he even told the babysitter while I was at the gym that he needed to go pee. This is the first time he has told anyone other than family that he needed to go. He is doing well for the most part but every now and then there are accidents. Kind of like life if you think about it...