International Shopping to start Christmas break.

We picked Anna up on Saturday as her Monday exam was a take-home; Fritzlin especially was happy for the extra family time.

Dried jackfruit, fresh breadfruit, persimmon, various apples,
 pomegranite, asian pear, prickly pear, eggfruit, mango, quince.

Sunday we enjoyed watching the children sing Christmas songs in the morning service at my folks church.

Even better was attending the evening youth hymn sing with wonderful harmonies of the old Christmas songs that we sang with our grandparents while we were growing up.

A special evening of worship with my folks and all three of our kids!!

We finished up school with Fritz and are now on Christmas break.

Today we drove Anna back to Calvin for her last exam. We had decided to have some fun and explore some of the ethnic grocery stores around Grand Rapids.

Red palm oil, fava beans, bamboo shoots, sesame and other candy, noodles,
 various dried, canned or pastry fruits including papaya,
 akee, olive, jujube, dates,mangosteen, lychee, longan, passionfruit, jackfruit, mango

After visiting an African and Mediterranean store we returned to pick up Anna. Then before lunch we enjoyed walking and shopping in a big Asian store.

Lunch we shared with another couple who live and minister in Haiti who also made the hard decision to leave for a while due to the unrest. A nice time getting to know them a bit better and talk about Haiti.

A couple more stores for more international food choices: Christmas money well spent on favorite fruits, new tastes to experience, some for gifts, maybe some seeds for Haiti.

Thankful for family for the Holidays. Thankful for schools opening and more calm in Haiti. Thankful for tickets to head back after the holidays in early January. Thankful for phone calls from Haiti with updates. Thankful for so many blessings.

Today is cookie making day with my Mom! Will try to take some pictures.