Hello from Dad

I received an e-mail from Karen yesterday. Here it is:

Kait and I made it to Port Au Prince. We are having an awesome time. We got to the orphanage around 10 and held babies and played with the kids until noon. Then we got to the Methodist Mission house in time to get settled in and eat lunch. In the afternoon, we had the choice of going back to the orphanage or stay here and rest. We opted to go back and play with kids. It was a lot of fun. Jonathan is so adorable! Our day has been a long one. It feels like we've been here for longer than 12 hours. I still love Haiti! Well, the shower is free and Ibetter get in. I love you and miss all of you very much! Love,Karen

I have not heard anything today from Karen and Kaitlyn. I'll keep everyone posted as I get e-mails: Karen said she would probably not be able to talk on the phone and internet will be spotty, so I'm not worried. Their focus is on serving the kids and the orphanage, not communicating with us.

We've had a fun weekend. Linda and Tom have come down from Michigan to help for the week. They have been an incredible help - I am so blessed to have them here. We had a fun day on Saturday. We walked three miles in the Bridges Walk - a walk to promote diversity in downtown Cincinnati. Mercy (the hospital I work for) sponsored the event. The walk was really cool as it crossed the bridge over to Kentucky and then went through some neighborhoods in Ky, winding down to the river and then across the bridge back to Cincinnati. Prior to the walk, Gretchen Aberg (our Group Fitness Manager at the Anderson HealthPlex) led an aerobic warm-up to music. She brought Tim and Julia on stage with her. You should have seen the smile on Julia's face. She did great and Tim was a typical male as he struggled with the dance moves. It was a beautiful day and everybody did well on the walk. Julia was a real trooper - I only had to give her two short piggy back rides. After the walk we went to the Underground Railroad Museum which was free for those who walked in the race. It was very cool. Then we went to Barnes and Noble for a couple of hours and Linda bought the kids books. After that we came home, then went to Tim's game. Tim's game went great. The Raiders won 14-6. Tim had his best game. He had two tackles and forced a fumble. Tim said Mr. Lachner (his coach) told him he was proud of him and he would probably start on defense for the last game. He played some offense two, but played mostly defense. He was so pumped up after the game.

We were so tired from our day on Saturday that we just went to church,ate lunch and then relaxed on the back porch all day.

Well, that's our weekend report. Sorry I don't have more on Karen and Kaitlyn.

Love,

Dad