Friday Happenings

Support letters have been mailed, there is no turning back!! ;)  We sent out over 100 letters to friends and family.  This was exciting and hard.  Exciting, because it is real, and we have begun the fundraising process to make the move to Haiti happen.  It was hard, because I suddenly feel very vulnerable to what others may or may not think about this whole thing.  And to put it bluntly, it is hard asking people to support us financially.  We are prayerfully waiting on God to see what He does with this whole thing.  I took the kids with me to the post office to help stamp all of the envelopes, then I took a picture.  Noah looked up at the flash, and said in his best 17 year old impersonation, "Seriously mom, we're just putting stamps on envelopes.  This is not a big deal."  Oh, but it is!

We have also planned a "Meet and Greet" lunch for April 22nd, to which YOU are officially invited.  I'm not too fond of calling it a "Meet and Greet", because many people attending we already know, but I'm not sure what else to call it.  We will meet you, and we will greet you.  We will also feed you lunch and provide childcare.  Oh, and entertainment... we will also entertain you.  That's a pretty hard invitation to turn down, right?!  So please come learn more about what our ministry in Haiti with the Grove will look like, and how you can get involved too.

Sunday, April 22nd

12:00 noon

The Grove

2777 S Gilbert Rd.  Chandler, AZ  85286

3/4th grade classroom (to the left if you're walking in from the front parking lot)

We have a moving sale planned for tomorrow morning.  Signs are made, items are priced, and we hope to sell it all, because it is not coming back inside the house.  Please come! 7am-Noon

 Email me for directions at garyandmichaela {at} hotmail.com

And lastly, and update on the kids' passport pictures.  Mission accomplished in only two trips.

 If Jason Bourne had a son, this would be his passport photo.

We were lucky enough to get a very nice Grandma employee, who got a picture of the wee one that was good enough for our government's approval, with no tears involved.

Mylie Mae?  Well, at least she's not crying in the picture... just before and after.  Poor girl is going to regret this ten years from now when she's fifteen and still using the same passport.

Treasures

We're having Moving Sale numero uno on March 31st.  We plan to have a final sale of all remaining furniture that we will need to use until we actually move.  At this first sale, we're selling everything we don't plan to keep, that we can't live without before we move.  In other words, most of our stuff.  This isn't your run of the mill ordinary garage sale junk.  This is primarily stuff we wouldn't otherwise be getting rid of.  You know, if we weren't moving to an island where its really really hard to pack your couch.  Please come.  I would love to know our beloved earthly treasures were going to good homes, where they will be appreciated and loved.  And perhaps, when you put flowers in that vase, you'll think of us.

Here's a sneak peek at some of the goods:

Also:  tons of baby gear, kids' clothes, toys, decorative stuff, framed art, some furniture, bedding, bike trailer, pre-lit Christmas tree, jewelry, watches, tent, full set of placemats, and tons more.

If you're in the Phoenix area, please come.  Even if it's just to gawk and drive by slowly like a creeper.

email me for directions (garyandmichaela {at} hotmail.com)

Saturday, March 31st 7am-noon

** Disclaimer:  if you see something for sale that you gave us... please do not be offended.  It is not that we don't love it, or that we don't love you... we just can't keep everything!**

Hold My Baby

It's okay to laugh... it doesn't mean you don't love God.

Ode to Ryan

So, you may remember my rant from last summer's adventure in obtaining a passport.  Today marked the beginning of round two.  It is time to get passports for all three Crazies.  I've learned what to do, and more importantly, what not to do.  It should be easy.

I've learned that customer service is a relative term.  Ryan had all the markings of a customer service representative, in other words, he donned the blue vest and name tag that boasted "Photo Expert".  However, that is where the customer service resemblance came to a screeching halt.  First off, he broke my personal rule of multiple face piercings including, but not limited to, his cheeks and forehead.  Whatevs... it's his face.   I'm only mentioning this, because couple an intimidating face AND not being "a people person", he came across as being the stranger in all of my stranger danger monologues to my children.  Hence... the little girls were terrified.  Mylie quickly launched herself into the ugly cry and stiff legged me.  After I gave a very quiet and powerful "YOU WILL DO THIS AND YOU WILL DO THIS NOW I WILL HOLD YOUR HAND NOW GET OVER THERE" instruction with my crazy mom eyes bugging out, we finally got her picture.  She looks like Photo Counter Ryan is threatening to cut her.    Next, Presley.  That little lady won't even budge.  She is shrieking like a pterodactyl and is attaching herself to me using all four of her orangutan limbs.  After five minutes of brainstorming solutions with Photo Counter Ryan... of which I was coming up with all the ideas, and he was shooting them all down while simultaneously rolling his eyes, tapping his steel-toed foot, and sighing loudly to make sure I knew how much this was ruining his day.  Meanwhile, I am still trying to pry the little gal off me and working up quite the sweat mustache.

I ended up awkwardly running out of there, equal parts embarrassed and frustrated.  Without passport photos.  Awesome.  We're going to try this again in a few days.

Here's to hoping for :
a) Such an awesomely easy breezy experience it won't even be worth recounting  -OR-
b) Such a heinously embarrassing predicament that I can blog about it to the delight and entertainment of my mother


Good day.

Forward Motion

So you may have noticed that the top of the blog is different, as is the name of this blog.  Simmer down, I know you're worried that this is permanent, but fear not.  Sharon of Redbud Designs is going to work her magic design skillz and transform this into a beauty once more.

Until then... we're both going to need to deal with the wonky off center picture up there, and the totally lame-o blog name... m'kay?

While you're waiting on the edge of your seat for that day to come, why don't you help a gal out and come up with a really great name for this blog.  Seriously.  Krulls in Haiti?  Could that be any more generic? (please say that in your best Chandler Bing voice)

We met with the elder board from our church and received their official blessing and support to move forward as missionaries sent directly from The Grove church.  Let the fundraising and preparation commence!  We have support letters and prayer cards in the works to be sent out in the next two weeks, a lunch meeting planned for us to share what God is doing at the Good Neighbor Orphanage and church of Lespinasse, Haiti and how you can be involved, and a trip scheduled for the end of April.  Yay for forward motion!

Just when we begin to feel discouraged, God sent some well timed and tangible encouragement.  We expect to have an approval on the offer to sell our house this week and today, due to some not coincidental circumstances, Gary was able to meet a couple who just moved back temporarily from Haiti... who are full of answers to some of our very basic "how to live in Haiti" questions.  We are so excited to ambush them with our list of 100 queries!  Also, our partnership with the Good Neighbor Orphanage, henceforth GNO, is shaping up nicely and we're so excited to see what God is going to do!

If you would like to be included in our mailing list for future updates, you can comment here or email us at: garyandmichaela{at} hotmail.com

Happy Spring Break!

Roof Rats

A few weeks ago we were talking about tooth fairy traditions from around the world, and stumbled upon Haiti's tradition of throwing the tooth on the roof for the rats to bring you a new one.  Since my little thinker knows the truth behind The Tooth Fairy, he thought this sounded a lot more exciting than putting it in a little pillow.  Recently, as in the last time he lost a tooth a few months ago, the little baby tooth sat in my bathroom cabinet.  I couldn't throw it away, because that's not what moms do... we instead attach  meaning and sentiment to inanimate objects.  I distinctly remember a small bag FULL of baby teeth that my dad kept in his bathroom cabinet, and knowing his hoarder-like tendencies... it is probably still there.  That seems a little Criminal Minds, does it not?  Think about it... it is a bag of human teeth... in your cabinet.  Gross.  Okay, back to the tooth in my cabinet.  I thought to myself, why in the world am I saving this.  There is no reason.  I threw it away, in the regular old trash.  It felt good.  So when we discovered this Haitian tradition, we all decided that when we lived in Haiti we would do this instead of the tooth fairy visiting in the middle of the night.  Well, when Noah unexpectedly pulled a tooth due to a vigorous flossing session, he decided to toss it on to the roof.  This would have been a great memory for him, had the tooth fairy, or rat, or whatever, actually shown up with the money.  The Tooth Fairy Rat told him she would still bring him a few coins.  But she forgot.  Whimsy is lost when you're just doling out cash to your seven year old the next morning, and yet, he didn't seem to mind.

By the way... that isn't a joint in my baby boy's mouth, I promise.

A First

Today was Mylie Mae's very first ever dance recital.  We're not all Dance Moms up in here.  We like to kick it old school and enroll in city offered dance classes.  In fact, Mylie's dance class was in the exact same room I took my first dance class back in '81(ish).  I convinced her that it would be a great idea to sleep in sponge rollers last night... you know, for her big performance.  She was adorable.  So here, in all her curly glory, I present Mylie Mae...

After the performance, their teacher told they to stay put so the parents could unleash their cameras on the group.  She said, "Okay, strike a pose."  And all the little girls just stared blankly at her as if she just requested them to defuse a nuclear bomb... except for my girl who struck a very familiar pose.  Seems like the apple didn't fall too far from the tree, as she chose my signature cheer pose a'la PLNU cheer 1999.

She's a sweet one, my girl.