Merry Christmas!

Yeah, we haven't been around much lately. Or at all. Unless you're Facebook friends with us, you might think we've disappeared off the face of the earth. I'll try to make more regular appearances around here (no promises), but until that happens, here's a little taste of what we've been up to:

A Song I Composed Today

I hate this project,
I hate the science fair.
Thomas is dawdling,
I'm tearing out my hair.
Why does Ms. Bunderson
Torture the parents so?
Boom de ya da, boom de ya da,
Boom de ya da, boom de ya da. . .

Wow, that's. . . umm. . . descriptive

Mom: How was school today?

Thomas: It was okay, but there was this really weird smell in the front hall. It was like the smelliest dog in the world and the smelliest fish in the world got married, and then they had a baby, and then the baby puked, and then the dog ate the puke, and then the dog pooped, and now the poop is decomposing in the front hall of the school.

A Boy and his Snake

This is Buster.


Buster is a garter snake. He lives in a park by a creek. He likes to bask in the sun. He likes to slither through the grass. He likes to eat bugs and small fish.

One day some boys were playing in the park. One of the boys built a trap and caught Buster.

"Look!" he said. "I caught a snake!"

"I like that snake," said one of the other boys. "I would like to have it as a pet."

"I will sell you the snake for five dollars," said the first boy.

"Okay," said the second boy, whose name was Thomas. Thomas gave the boy five dollars and took Buster home.

Thomas' mommy was very surprised to see Buster.

"Aaah! A snake!" she said.

"This is a nice snake. His name is Buster. I would like to keep him as a pet," said Thomas.

"Well, okay," said Thomas' mommy. She was a very nice mommy.

Thomas put Buster into an empty fish tank. He put the lid on the tank. It was a nice lid, but it was not made for snakes. The lid had small holes in it. Buster crawled through one of the holes and out of the tank. Thomas caught Buster and put him back in the tank. Buster crawled out of a different hole. Thomas put Buster back again. Thomas put tape over the holes. Thomas was worried that Buster would still get out of the tank.

Thomas did not get very much sleep that night.

In the morning, Thomas told his mommy, "Buster crawled out of the tank many times last night."

Thomas' mommy said, "Please go check that Buster is in the tank right now."

Buster was in the tank.

Thomas' mommy said, "Let us go to the pet store and buy a better lid for the tank." She was a very nice mommy, but she did not want a snake crawling around her house.

The man at the pet store said, "Here is a lid that will keep your snake from crawling out of the tank."

The man at the pet store said, "Here is a special lamp that will keep your snake warm."

The man at the pet store said, "Here is a special light bulb to go in the lamp."

The man at the pet store said, "Here is some sand to put in the bottom of the tank to keep your snake comfortable."

The man at the pet store said, "Here is a bowl to put water in for your snake to drink."

The man at the pet store said, "Here are some feeder fish to feed your snake."

The man at the pet store said, "Here are some crickets to feed your snake."

The man at the pet store said, "You need to buy all these things."

Thomas' mommy said, "Well, okay." She was a very nice mommy.

Thomas and his mommy took the things home. They put the sand in the bottom of the tank. They put the water bowl on the sand. They put water in the bowl. They put the feeder fish in the water. They put the crickets in the tank. They put the new lid on the tank. They put the special light bulb in the special lamp. Thomas accidentally dropped the lamp. The special light bulb broke.

Thomas and his mommy drove to the pet store again to buy a new light bulb. Thomas had a very nice mommy.

They put Buster in the tank. Buster looked at the sand. Buster looked at the water. Buster looked at the fish. Buster looked at the crickets. Buster did not eat any of the fish. He did not eat any of the crickets. He did not drink the water.

Buster did not look happy.

Thomas started to feel bad. He thought that maybe taking Buster away from his home in the park was a mean thing to do. He wondered if he should take Buster back to the park.

Thomas went to his mommy and daddy. He was crying. He said, "I think I should take Buster back to the park and let him go."

Thomas' mommy and daddy were proud of him for being such a kind boy. Thomas' mommy wondered if maybe Thomas could have thought of this before they bought all the things from the man at the pet store, but she did not say that to Thomas. She was a very nice mommy.

Thomas' whole family went to the park with Buster. Thomas was sad. He wanted Buster to be happy, but he knew that he would miss Buster a lot when Buster went back to his home in the park.


Thomas was sad.


Thomas' little sister was sad.


Thomas' little brother was sad.


Thomas' mommy was sad to see her children sad, but that did not stop her from taking pictures of them.

Thomas and his big brother put Buster in a bucket. They walked to the place where the boy had caught Buster.

Thomas took Buster out of the bucket.


Thomas was sad.

Thomas put Buster in the water.

Buster was happy to be in the water.

He swam very fast.

Buster slithered under the grass at the edge of the creek.

He was happy to be home.


Buster looked at Thomas.

"Goodbye, Buster," said Thomas.

Trip report

Sherise isn't back from Nigeria yet, so I'm filling in until she returns.

Many have asked about my trip to Haiti. There's a lot to tell, and I'm not sure where to start, so as the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words.



Here are 100+ photos to get started.

Pictures from Paul

Paul left yesterday morning for Haiti. He flew from here to Chicago, then Miami, and finally Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. The group spent last night in a hotel in Santo Domingo and were planning to take a bus across the border to Haiti today. Paul managed to find wireless internet and send a few pictures this morning.

Here's the bus they'll be taking. He heard it's a 7-8 hour trip.

Sign on the bus windshield.

Paul's caption on Facebook says, "Hotel in the DR was a dump but it was on the beach at least." I'm guessing he won't think it's such a dump after he's been sleeping in a tent for over a week.

The guy in the middle is Blair Hankin, who was a missionary in Haiti the same time we were and is the only other Creole speaker in the group. The other two are "Will and Melanie," and I have no idea who they are.

Hotel beach.

I doubt I'll be hearing much from him while he's there, but if he manages to send anything else I'll post it here.

We're Still Here

Hi there, remember us? The people who used to have a blog here? We're still alive, just neglecting our bloggy duties.

It's not much of an excuse, but we have been a little distracted lately. Many of you already know this, but Paul and I both served LDS missions in Haiti in the late 80s/early 90s. We've felt heartsick and helpless as we've watched the coverage of the earthquake and its aftermath. We've both felt like we want to just hop on a plane and get down there and do something, ANYTHING, to help the people and the country we love.

Well, an opportunity has finally come up for one of us to do exactly that. Paul is going to Haiti on Tuesday with an organization called Haiti Sak Plen. He'll be there for about a week and a half with a small group who will help rebuild houses damaged in the quake. He and one other guy (Hi Blair!) will be the only Creole speakers, and the other four or so guys are contractors/construction experts. They've got a source from whom they can purchase building supplies, and they'll hire day laborers down there to help with the grunt work. I'm very excited for him to go, and also a little jealous. I'll try to keep you posted on his adventures as they happen, and I'm sure he'll have plenty of stories and pictures once he gets back.