"No, Johnny! Don't go there!"

In the morning, the boys were eagerly waiting for me to get up and play. A few days ago I told them that if we found some nice smooth rocks, we could paint them. When I woke up, they had already found a few rocks and washed them off. So we called the girls up from downstairs and we painted rocks out on the porch. While we were painting, Tree's father came to visit. Woodjay aka Tree is a little boy that Dorothy has had here for a little over a year. I think he is around 2 years old. He is not sick anymore, but his family did not want him. Dorothy informed Tree's father a couple months ago that if they would not take him, she would have to send him to an orphanage because she is a rescue mission only. Today, his father came to get him. It was wonderful to see them together. Tree clearly loves his father and his father loves him as well. I guess that his father, Jerry, has been using the past few months to get some things together for Tree and a place for them to live.

(As a side note, I'm sitting here in my room typing and listening to the girls searching for me out in the hall. I can hear Mama Dorothy explaining, “She's probably resting a little. You know, everyone needs some quiet time. Leave her alone for a little while” Ha! Isn't that the truth!)

Shortly after Tree left, we got a phone call from Beaver Brookes. He was here last weekend with Lala. He lives in Goniaves and was in Port picking some people up at the airport. He offered to take Emanuel to Goniaves with him today. A Pastor there has offered to take him for us because he is deaf and we cannot give him the care and attention that he needs. So, we loaded him up in the truck and met everyone at Muncheez, a restaurant. I got to meet several other missionaries and they treated us to pizza. It was an nice unexpected lunch. Emanuel sat on my lap the whole time. I cut his pizza up for him and he gobbled it down SO FAST! The kids here don't get pizza often. The little guy ate 2.5 slices!!

When it was time to leave, he stood up between Dorothy and I and reached for our hands. That was so heartbreaking! We had to leave him with people that he has never met, to go to a place that he has never been before. Because he is deaf, we couldn't even explain why we were leaving him....talk about hard! Dorothy and I both know that it was the best situation for him though. He will be living with other deaf people and will be able to learn sign language and communicate.

After lunch, I spent some time downstairs with the kids. The nannies brought them all upstairs to watch a movie. Most of them don't even pay attention to the movie. I think they just like the change of the scenery and being able to be upstairs for a little while. Naturally, Guerdline sat on my lap the whole time and Rosa played with my hair.

After the movie, I was in the kitchen with some of the older kids getting them a drink of water. Suddenly, I heard a sound like running water. I looked across the kitchen to see little Johnny peeing in the dog's water bowl! He is just so darn little and cute that I had to hold back my laughter as I told him, “No! Don't pee there! Go in the bathroom!” He looked so innocent and confused, haha! I guess he thought that it was a toilet. Johnny is three years old and has HIV. He is so tiny that we have a hard time finding shorts that will fit him. We don't have any underwear for the little boys, so most of the time his little hind end is hanging out. Like I've said before, I just never know what to expect here!

This is Johnny listening to Dorothy's iPod.  He was playing The Beatles and bobbing his little head up and down.

This is Emanuel the deaf child that we had to let go today.  Please keep him in your prayers.

This is Johnny again....The tiny little stinker who peed in the dog's water bowl.  He's just too cute!