Like many people across the world, we have been spending a lot of time at home. I feel like this picture sums up how some days have gone:
Hopefully everyone is enjoying this time at home.
There are many question about what happens next for us, but no more than there are for everyone right now. We wait on the Lord, and know that He has been faithful in the past and will continue to be.
Where we live there is a creek that runs through a nearby park. The kids have always wanted a creek in our backyard and this is the next best thing.
Where we live is pretty built up with houses, but there’s still a few places where you can go into the woods and explore.
The latest thing that has caught their interest is the way the creek is producing ice all over it from the flowing water.
It’s easy to forget that there are things to be found just outside our doors.
If you live in Michigan, you already know that a little over a week ago we got a record breaking snowfall. If you live elsewhere, well, it was a lot of snow for November.
The kids were ecstatic.
After missing out on snow for the past few “winters” they were really looking forward to getting a good amount of snowfall to make forts, snowmen, and to play in.
The kids got their wish fairly early this year and on top of all that, got a day home from school out of it as well.
In comparison, here’s a photo from November 17th last year.
Well, it has been busy. With the start of school, we have been busy. The kids are playing soccer and cheerleading. Eila also attended the homecoming dance. We visited with family at Old Man’s Cave in Ohio, and have been returning to local favorites like cider mills.
And, the weather is getting cold. We all need extra layers.
Here’s an overview of April in photos:
We don’t have pictures of fall, because there’s no autumn here! However, here’s some pictures to show what we’ve been doing over the last few months:
Brian worked with this intern over the summer. He created a web-based database-driven application to manage inventory. Here he is after presenting his project at his university.
Shannon assisting some of her i-Delta students with their projects related to narrative discourse in our living room.
Brian, in his office, helping a friend with some English lessons over lunch break.
Eila spending some quality time on the soccer field with friends. (Not pictured: friends).
Playing Minecraft? One of the Josiah’s favorite activities.
Josiah caught this lizard. Fortunately he’s on a catch and release system.
Thaddeus planting a geranium in our yard that he grew from a seed in science class. It is thriving.
Josiah at the Nyong river where we attended a baptism of some of the students from Eila’s school.
Thaddeus baked a Swiss Man cookie over October break. He decorated it with raisins, walnuts, and peanuts.
Eila painting nails with her friend in our backyard on our new picnic table. She only got a little bit of paint on the table.
Over the past few months, I’ve had the privilege of being able to teach computers to the 3/4 and 5/6 grades at our boys’ school. We used the curriculum from “Hour of Code” (code.org) where the kids have to solve a series of puzzles by putting “blocks” that represent computer instructions in the correct order to make shapes, instruct a farmer how to harvest crops, or even navigate around in Minecraft.
It’s a fun program and the kids seemed to enjoy it a lot. At the end of the class they were able to design a little project that they worked on over the course of a few sessions and then demonstrated their work to the other groups.
Here’s one photo of the kids in action:
Thaddeus has once said he wanted to be a ‘tophographer’. That was many years ago, but recently he has enjoyed taking the camera around our compound, or on a walk in the neighborhood, and taking pictures.
Recently we took a walk around the neighborhood (quartier) and Thaddeus brought along the camera. Here are pictures of the walk as he saw them:
And why are there two pictures of chickens? Well, there are a lot of chickens. I mean a lot. So if there were going to be two pictures of something, it would be chickens.
With the arrival of the new R66 helicopter here in Cameroon, there have been reasons to celebrate. And over Easter weekend, there was a celebration at the aviation hangar with a BBQ, a presentation and dedication of the helicopter, and of course, helicopter rides.
Brian, Eila, Josiah, and Thaddeus went on the ride. Shannon stayed on the ground, like she prefers.
Here we are just after our ride.
The helicopter ride gave us a chance to see Yaoundé from the air. It’s a big, sprawling city. Unfortunately the air was very hazy while we were flying, so visibility was poor, but we could see much of the city right below us.
Yaoundé stretching off to the horizon.
Brian also assisted with the BBQ portion of the event, which involved an entire pig and an entire sheep. They were slowly roasted overnight underground wrapped in banana leaves and foil. Another one of the dads here orchestrated the whole pig roast. It was fun to be able to help out.
It was a memorable day.
We hope you had a happy Easter celebration.
We just want to send a very quick update and give thanks to you for your prayers and to God for His great power!
Shannon has been pain free for almost two weeks now. She experienced immediate relief and full healing as a small group prayed over her. Praise God.
Schedules returned to normal this week after spring break. Also, Shannon is away this week at the village to continue with the next linguistics workshop with the same language community.
Our Easter family portrait for 2018.
Please pray for Shannon’s workshop in the village this week to go well and also for continued good health for the whole family.
We were able to take a ride in the new R66 helicopter. It was a great experience.
