first things first.

check out my new site!  www.diegomiguel.shutterfly.com

As a first of a series of blogs that I hope will get you all updated on whats been happenin' with the Morel's, I thought I would try to send out our first video post.  Diego just wanted to send a personal hello!  :)

....so that was my original intention; however, I've spent the past 4 days trying to get the video uploaded.  Its obviously not going to happen any time soon unless our internet decides to miraculously get better.  So instead of holding off the updates...I'll just have to send you a few picture teasers of Diego.  Believe me...he would love to show off how he talks and laughs with his mommy and papi!  We'll keep trying with the video.

you know its hot when...

So the other day I was dusting the house when I noticed that the advent candles that I had out for Christmas looked a little strange.  Upon closer examination I realized that they were doubled over from the heat!  I thought it was just me that did that!  Go figure...

and we're back!

Hello all!  Sorry we were estranged from you all for a bit.  We had some technical difficulties that kept us from doing much on line.  Our computer conveniently crashed on us, but we

are now back up and running and excited to show you some pictures of Diego. 

He's growing like a weed and we have found that he enjoys eating.  He's starting to 

smile and laugh at us and we laugh back at his many, many funny faces.  

He's 2 months old tomorrow and we can't believe how the time has flown and 

how much he has changed.  The pictures are in order of when we took them starting with the oldest first and working up to the most recent taken within the past week or so. 

We hope you enjoy the new pics! 

Don't you wish that you all could have a passport mug shot that cute? :)

(Diego - 1 mos. old exactly)

When he sleeps on his back, he seems to prefer to throw his arms back and relax! 

Thank you Uncle Cody and Michelle for picking out the mobile.  

Diego loves looking and studying all the animals that pass by!

Throwing Papi a smile!

Diego loves to stand on my lap while pushing up on his legs.

He loves to make different noises with his mouth, including an occasional scream or two!

caught him smilin'.

Pictures of the week!

(taken a couple of days ago)

Diego is 3 weeks old today...can't believe it.

diego miguel morel morel.

This week Miguel went down to the Oficina Civil to declare Diego and to receive his birth certificate. Apparently everyone was there the same day to declare their children as well. There are a lot of Dominicans who don't even bother to do this and then their children remain "non-existent" in the government's eyes. Its these children who can't attend the public schools and get good jobs without their ID's.

The Oficina Civil is where we got married as well. Its probably the most chaotic government office. Most of the time, you have to buy someone who works there a lunch or juice to get anything done on the inside. Miguel always finds a way to worm his way in. It pays to know people here.

Miguel wanted to be sure to find a competent person to do the paperwork. He wanted to find someone who would write the name down correctly the first time, so that little Diego would have correct paperwork. You'd think that would be a basic thing to do, but trust me, it isn't.

So everything was going well until it came to my last name. When we got married, I didn't even think about having a hyphenated last name like Fisher-Morel. I'm really not into that. So when I changed my last name on my Social Security card, passport, etc. it was Jennifer Lee Morel that it was changed to. Well that doesn't apparently go over too well here. I have to have a different last name than my husband and my child HAS to have TWO last names. Like most Dominicans, the person taking care of Diego's birth certificate couldn't see out of the box. Diego has to have two last names. Thats all there is to it. They wouldn't believe Miguel that my official paperwork doesn't have two last names on it.

So little Diego's name is officially declared DIEGO MIGUEL MOREL MOREL.

the guagua saga.

This was an email written by Garrett, one of our new staff members at Makarios. He and his wife, Anne, are here to help host groups when they are here, and Garrett who is a builder is working alongside Miguel on the Makarios construction site. Anne is also a wonderwoman in that she does so much around Makarios. She's a woman of all skills and trades, and we are so excited to have them a part of our staff.

Some of you have probably already heard about our fire incident with the Makarios van. It happened last month. Well, here is the story from Garrett, who was there on the scene when it happened.

Fire, fire, the guagua's on fire

I am sure that many of you have already heard the story by now but for those who haven’t sit back and here a tale of how the guagua caught on fire. Although it has been a little over a month since our van caught on fire the wreckage that still sits outside on the street makes it feel like it happened yesterday. After a productive day in Montellano the women’s group from Westlake Bible Church were ready to return home to the comforts of cold showers and oscillating fans. When we arrived to the house I noticed that Anne had parked the truck in front of the carport which meant I needed to leave the guagua on the street. After the group unloaded I went inside to say hi to Anne and grab the truck keys so I could move it and the guagua under covered parking. When I stepped outside I noticed smoke coming from under the driver seat in the guagua. After casually telling Anne the van is on fire and asking for a fire extinquisher I returned outside. We didn’t have a fire extinguisher so Anne brought out some flour to throw on the flames. When she met me outside and saw the amount of flames accumulating under the van she simply noted “I don’t think flour will put this one out.” If you haven’t been to the Makarios house then you must know that we are located at the top of a hill. To make things more interesting, the emergency brake on the guagua doesn’t work so we always park it in gear. Apparently the fire produced enough heat to start turning over the engine and the van began jumping forward. It finally succeeded and began making its way down the hill. Luckily we also have a broken down Nissan Pathfinder that has never been removed from the street. The van stuck the front end of the Pathfinder allowing us enough time to steer the guagua to the vacant lot across the street. It is not hard to draw up a crowd in the DR so when 12 American women begin screaming and running into the street and flames engulf a van people stop to look. Within minutes every neighbor, construction worker, taxi driver, dog, cat and chicken began showing up. After 10 minutes and two stops at the wrong address the fire department finally arrived. They immediately try to break out the windows but there tiny hatchets just wouldn’t do the trick. So the logical solution became for each member of the fire department to pick up rocks and throw them at the car windows. Needless to say they succeed, more oxygen enters the van and the flames double in size. After another 10 minutes of attempting to put the flames out Miguel and I are questioned about registration papers and insurance. We tell them that everything was in the glove box. Seeing as this was not an acceptable answer Miguel worked his way between two firemen and began kicking the glove box. After 3 powerful blows the box opens up and he salvaged what was left of the paperwork. The police got all of our information, the fire department thought they put out the flames so everyone began to leave. Before the fire department made it down the street the battery in the van caught on fire again and Miguel flagged down help. After a few more gallons of water the fire was out Everything was finally over...I wonder when the clean up crew will come? Oh yeah, there isn’t one...so Miguel and I swept up the broken glass, pushed the guagua out of the street (using the truck), hosed down the car fluids that were all over the ground and finished just in time to start up the grill, it was burger night and everyone was hungry.
posted by Garrett at 8:20 AM

from mom's point of view.

Wow! what a whirlwind it has been. Nothing here in the DR is a simple process. I know you (Jon and Noella)know this but it ceases to amaze me in how things get accomplished! I know the Lord is in the driver's seat and He continues to amaze me. Praise him! for watching over Jennie and the baby!We never thought that it would be a full day as it was when we woke up yesterday morning. It was as crazy as the wedding was! We are chuckling how it all came about. Leaving at 10:45 in the morning to go to the clinic was fine, but after 3 hours of waiting.......it started to get a bit tiresome. After a 45 min.visit with her OB dr., it was apparent that there were possible problems. We ventured to get lunch by the doctor's request before heading on to the radiologist downtown for a second opinion on what her doctor suspected as a dry sack around the baby. We went to the local market to buy some turkey and bread and fruit for a quick lunch at the park. We called Miguel to meet us at the doctor's office as he was at work trying to re-do cement benches that the kids had graffittied on while the cement had been drying! With the temperature at 94 degrees and the humidity at 89%, it was almost unbearable. Poor Jennie! Her ankles were so swollen and she could barely walk. Well, we waited about 2 hrs. for this part of the session to be completed. He confirmed that the baby had almost no fluid left in the sack
and also the umbellical cord was wrapped around the neck. He said that the baby had to be delivered within 8 hours. Miguel drove us back to the clinic where we went to wait again to deliver the report from the radiologist. We sat there another 45 min. After seeing the doctor for another 30 min., her doctor flew out of the office and said follow me upstairs. That's where the hospital rooms and surgery floors are. After more waiting, the doctor told Miguel that there were no hospital rooms left! She called the other hospital in town and they said they had no rooms for Jennie! So.........the hospital quickly called for the clean-up crew to come and sweep out a newly renovated room that was not quite finished yet. At least they had just painted it on Saturday! While that was being done, the nurses took Jennie down to get a shower and prepare her for surgery. Meanwhile Miguel left back to the house to get Jennie's duffle bag and also get a quick shower in himself. He was so dirty and didn't want to be unclean for the baby. As soon as Jennie completed her shower,they whisked her off for surgery. She was so upset and reluctant about leaving Miguel behind. The nurses wouldn't even let me go with her! I just sat and prayed. About 20 min. later, the nurse let me be with Jennie. They had already started her on the I.V. I thanked the Lord because we had a chance to pray together and I could see that Jennie was showing a calming spirit. I just kept praying that Miguel would get there in time. Well, I shouldn't have been surprised but God got him there just after we had prayed. All was well and I decided to leave and let them have their time together. Unfortunately, it was another 3 hours before we saw Miguel again. What joy that was! He was running through the hospital to Jennie's room to get the baby clothes saying, "It's a boy, It's a boy (in spanish)!" After that latest experience, it was another hour
before we saw Jennie being wheeled to her room with an excruitiating headache. She was very sick with nauseousness too. God is gracious and by the time I left for home, she was feeling better. It was 11:30pm. Little Diego Miguel is just precious! He is very fair (rubio they say) and has dark straight hair. A nice amount at that. He has Miguel's mouth and nose and so far seems to be nice tempered! Believe me, there were some loud one's down the hall! He weighed 7 lbs. even and was 45 cm. long. I'll have to figure that one out, or you can let us know. Jennie and baby had a good day today and some good long naps. Diego even gave them a smile. What joy I am seeing! You will all love him as I already do. It will be some experience to witness all our little grandchildren together someday! I'd say that the nursing care is somewhat like Italy's. None, ziltch, nada and whatever else fits in that category. The hospital said she could go home today, but Jennie thought she should stay at least on more day! Imagine that! after a c-section.......! Let me tell ya, if Jennnie could be walking better, I would have taken her home immediately. She will have better care at home and I can't wait till she and Miguel and Diego come home tomorrow!