Another Blessing

Grandad is here! Justin went over on Thursday to Dar to pick up his dad and bring him over to our island. He got to fly co-pilot on the little plane over and get a good aerial view of the islands.

 

 

The girls were super excited to see and hug Grandad when he arrived. Of course he came with many gifts and presents which were such a blessing to all of us. It was a long journey over here and we are so happy he made it!

 

 

We've been having a blast showing him around our island, our home, meeting our friends.

He and Justin even got to check out the ocean wildlife today. The boys are planning some diving and fishing while he is here and enjoying the wonderful Indian Ocean.

 

Thanks for sharing him with us and watch for more adventures with Grandad coming soon!

Graduation

We've finished our first Computer Courses!  This awesome cake I made commemorated the event with a very professional looking "Hongera"  aka, Congratulations!

 

 

These are 5 of the 6 ladies who completed the class.  They were very proud of their certificates as well as the sodas and cookies (the guys class got the cake. I  burned the one for the ladies, hence, cookies).

 

And here are the first 8 men of Northern Town, Little Island to become proficient in Kompyuta!

 

Thanks for your prayers in making this happen!  We rejoice in the relationships we built through this class and look forward to going deeper and further with these new friends.

Tooth Fairy

 Well the African Tooth Fairy struck again! Hunter was eating a carrot while playing outside and her second loose tooth popped forward. She came running inside and all it needed was a little tug to finish it off. For those who might have missed the post when Hunter lost her first tooth....apparently the tooth fairy takes into consideration cultural differences and needs from around the world. Here in Africa you place your tooth under a gourd or watermellon and the next day she will bring you a chicken (at least that is what Justin keeps telling the kids). In an effort to keep things exciting and new, the tooth fairy mixed things up and brought Hunter her very own Guineafowl!

 Guineafowl are native to Africa but there are not many of them around on our island. Hunter decided to name her's Squeaker Spotty Brown because it sounds like a squeaking door when she talks. As you can see, Hunter was more than happy with her new pet.

We were all pretty happy, except for Toothless Kukulicious Brown, her chicken.  She clucked like a banshee and ran away as fast as her little legs could carry her!  Later, we all did a little running when we found that Squeaker can fly...and did...and did not perfer to be recaptured. We now know that Guineafowl are really fast runners.  It took Justin and 4 friends, climbing roofs, diving in the dirt, tearing up gardens and the loss of her tail to get her reigned in.  We did a home-style wing clipping and just hope we can get her in the coop again tonight.

 

And thus ends another adventure on our Little Island.

January '13

It's sad when my BLOGS have to have month titles!  But alas, such is life right now.

Gramma and Papa came from Colorado!  It was wonderful!  They brought hugs stored up for 2 years and many gifts from many wonderful friends and even a VBS to do with the girls in the afternoons!

We had fun trooping them around our island, showing my mom our life for the first time.

The girls got to show Gramma a thing or two also!  Avery got a 2 wheeler and is working on learning to ride solo now too!

We got to make the rounds to meet my friends too.  Mariam started to pull her head wrap down to cover up and I told her then we wouldn't see her pretty earrings, so she left it up.

Here is Fatma.  She is my best friend over here.  She married my next door neighbor in April I think and just had her first baby on Friday!  Guess who caught the little fellow?  ME!  The midwife knew me and handed me an apron and gloves and told me to get in there.  Be still my heart!

He was an ugly little fellow but today, at 6 days old he is BEAUTIFUL!  I'll get a picture soon. 

Here's Hunter all gussied up in her VBS outfit.  They learned about the Califor-ni-A gold rush and how we should be mining for the Truth, and how the Son is our pure gold!

Do these pictures need any explanation?  I think not.

This little one was born to my friend Aisha a month early at least while we were in Kenya.  She'd been having complications already and I feared I would return home to a stillborn.  Instead, I found this little fighter...9 days old and perfect.  Lacking only...milk!  That's right.  Mama's milk had not come in and she was waiting till it did to feed him.  HUH?  How he survived again is God's grace alone!  These are some of the things I'm desperate to help change here!

Here's Omar's firstborn bonding quite nicely with the lovely Mzungu Mama.

We attempted a beach photo shoot.  Only I forgot to check the camera battery. 

Lipgloss?  Check.  Nail polish for touch ups?  Check.  Change of clothes for secondary shoot, check.  Battery?  Who me?

Love these girls.  Love their grandparents for coming all this way to love on us.  Miss you ALL!