On the 3rd Day of Christmas...

Our 3rd day in Jamaica was spent at the orphanage. We were a little concerned at first because we couldn't get in touch with the orphanage director...but finally Wednesday morning we connected. What a wonderful woman. She's originally from MN...left her old life behind to start a new life and an orphanage in Jamaica called Robin's Nest.

Michelle requested that we take some of the older kids out for lunch for a special Christmas treat. We were very happy to do so. Here we are...

It was a beautiful restaurant. I only had one complaint. It was as if the staff knew they were orphans and the service was quite below par. Later I mentioned it to Michelle and she said that's quite common. What's wrong with people? This kids should be treated like princes and princesses when they get to go out.

We left our youngest three with Grandma and took Shianne along. Jaden had never been away from us for more than a couple hours, and this was over 12 hours...but he did great. I thought Sierra and Tye were a bit too young, and Jaden not only being too young but it wouldn't be good for him to be in an orphanage just yet. I'm glad we took Shi though. I want my kids to know at least in part that there are so many hurting people/kids in the world. So they can count their blessings and to do what they can to help. Even if it means missing a day at the pool. It wasn't a sacrifice for us, though. For Brandy and I it was one of the highlights of our trip.

Pictured here is the older 3rd of Robin's Nest's children. Oh, the stories each one could tell. They've been through so much. Michelle told us what some have been through and it is just astounding.

Then off we went to the orphanage. It was about 2 1/2 hours away. The last 40 min we drove only 7 miles. I have NEVER seen a road like that before. Narrow, winding, with more potholes than flat surface. I can hardly believe the van could make it through! 4 wheeler trails are better than that. Driving in Jamaica is an experience anyway. Not as bad as in China. But an experience. They also drive on the left, which threw me for a loop. But this road led us to a beautiful spot on the mountain called Robin's Nest.

Once there, we got a tour and got to help out with the kids. We also dropped off some supplies that our church Pioneer Club donated (which was much appreciated! Thanks, kids!!).

They got 3 wonderful presents on Christmas Eve. Two newborn baby boys...below...

And a matching grant/donation which will help build their boys dorm. This will give them much needed space and enable them to take on more kids. If you want to make sure all the matching grant is used, you can donate at http://robinsnestchildrenshome.org/.

Here am I with the privilege of feeding one of the newborns...

Here's Shianne reading to a few kids...Brandy managed to get a shot of the oldest girls. One of them asked Brandy when we would be back...Please pray for these kids. This is a wonderful orphanage. But it's still an orphanage, it's not the same as a family. Pray too for Robin's Nest and Michelle. That God grants them what they stand in need of and blesses them for what they are doing to further His kingdom.

On another note, here are some pics of us walking on the beach with the kids at night before bed. We did this a few times. It was relaxing and the kids enjoyed it. The first is a picture of them in our room. Tye's gift from "Santa" was a Jamaican "hat" with braids. He didn't want to have anything to do with it...he said it was for girls! So he gave it to Jaden, who was very cute in it and actually kept in on for quite a while!

As you can see...Tye got a little sunburn, even though I tried very hard to avoid that! Every day we were at the beach was about a bottle of sunscreen. Thankfully, it wasn't bad and went away without peeling. Each of us had a little sunburn at one point.

Here's Sierra hiking up her skirt and prancing along in the water...

Well, Christmas vacation is over. The girls go back to school tomorrow. Bittersweet. I could use a few more days. They say they have mixed feelings about it. But it was a wonderful Christmas break! More pictures to come!