The Gross Blog

The Return from Miami – Final pics from our July Trip to Haiti

Written by

Steven Gross

I must force myself to finish posting the remaining pictures of our Haiti Adventure.  It is tough to do because it provides a sense of closure to me that I’d rather not have!  But the record would not be complete without documenting our return to Indiana from Miami – mainly because our friends Twila and Gonzo provided such great hospitality.  We stayed with them the night before we left for Haiti, early in July.  They found a safe place to park our van for the two weeks and then picked us up at the airport upon our return.  It was in the afternoon and I knew I wouldn’t be in the mood to drive, so we were so glad that Twila and Gonzo were willing to put us up for the night in the condo where they live in downtown Miami.  The kids were excited to get their hands back on their video games and to spend some time in the condo’s pool.  It was beautiful.

The condo had valet parking!
Gonzo.  He and Twila used to live in Indianapolis and Gonzo helped with the youth group quite a bit while I was youth pastor at the Free Methodist Church.  I was surprised to see all these years later that Gonzo still keeps a group picture on his night stand from our youth mission trip to Mexico.
The Drama Queen checks out the view of the pool from the condo balcony.  The pool was on the 12th floor.  Very cool.
Downtown Miami in the background.
The Princess plays with Gonzo's toy – "Sharkie".
Ida rubs his mom's shoulders after a day of travel.  Speaking of back rubs … I have never seen our kids closer to each other than they were on this trip.  It was a beautiful thing.  Don't get me wrong; it's not like they are usually at each other's throats.  But I was shocked once to walk into one of the bedrooms in the Bundy house in Haiti to find Dats rubbing The Drama Queen's shoulders as they sat and talked!  Another time I walked in and found DQ rubbing Dats' shoulders.  It freaked me out a bit.
It's a rough life.
Twila came down to swim with us for a while.  She was an incredible hostess.  She had packed their fridge with about every type of snack food imaginable. 
There was just enough floor space for three queen-sized air matresses.
Ida bonded quickly with Gonzo and showed his affection as he always does … by treating him like a jungle gym.
The kids survived for two full weeks without access to their DSs, but the addiction immediately returned.  Unfortunately.
We spent one night in a small town south of Atlanta and then continued home.  Oreo was mobbed once we got back to our house.
She was so excited.
And Amber, who house-sat for us, was there when we arrived.  We were so grateful to her for watching over the dog, the house and the pool while we were gone.

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