Gretchen's 3rd Birthday!!

First let me say hello to you all!! These past two weeks have been a roller coaster of emotions!! We have had our share of highs and lows!! These past couple of weeks seemed to have more lows than highs but we are managing!! One of the highs was definitely celebrating Gretchen's birthday!! She is an amazing little girl who just lights up our days and nights!! We had a great time celebrating with our new family here at Mbingo!! A low was we definitely missed celebrating with friends and family back home!! This past week was the hardest week for me since we have been here!! Very homesick and very emotional!! Also would like to say Thank you for all the prayers for Marlis's daughter Ashley! For those who don't know Ashley was admitted to Mbingo hospital last Thursday the 14th. She ingested a chemical used in making their laundry soap! I am very happy to say that she was sent home today and she is going to be fine! She had a few sores in her mouth and throat but there is no other damage!! God is good!!! 

The Birthday Girl!!!

She got 4 different colors of play dough from Isaac and Cathen! I'm not sure who is more excited to play with it me or Gretchen!!!

Gretchen on her new ride!! She got a bike and a shopping cart!!

Blowing out her candles! (Note to self it might have been nice to throw in a few boxes of birthday candles seeing as we are having 4 out of 6 of our birthdays over here!!) But we do want to say a big Thank you to Christy Lee who gave the kids party hats and the party blowers!!! She also made homemade Strawberry ice cream and my favorite Mint Cookie Chip ice cream!! 

Another pic of the kids playing!! They are so cute!! Isaac and Cathen come over to play at our house a couple times each week. Lindsay and Angela take turns bringing them over! This has become a highlight for the kids!! And me too! We really enjoy spending time together and getting to know them!!

The FOOD! It wouldn't be a blog post from me with out a food picture!!

We had a wonderful party! Good food but more importantly a good time with friends!! Elliott had fun playing basketball and ping pong with JR and Chuck. They are Cathen's dad and Isaac's dad! He later said it was just like having his Uncle John here playing games with him!!! Megan being the social butterfly that she is sat and talked with all the ladies! She also played with the little ones too!! She is such a good big sister!!!

Elliott found another bug!! EWWW!!

This bug was about 4 to 5 inches long and really fast!! Randy said it ran in the house when our door was open and he had to chase it back outside! Maybe a centipede?

On to more pleasant things!

 Tortilla chips! Here we are making our tortilla chips.

We have good food here but we haven't had a food that tasted just like home! Until now!!!

Grandma's pickled eggs!! They are so good and they actually taste just like Grandma Pepple's!!!! I think Jen and I did pretty good! I actually got emotional eating them!! I told my mom eating them made me homesick! Remembering all the family holidays!!! But I am going to keep right on making them!!! Not everyone shares our love for Grandma's pickled eggs!! We had Megan's friend Livette over for lunch and I offered her one! She took it and tried it. She was trying to be polite but you could tell she did not like it!! She ate the yolk out of it but left the rest!

Had to show everyone our giant pineapple!! Papa, Mama, and Baby Pineapple! This is one thing I don't get tired of! Love the pineapple!

African Lebanon Bologna!! 

Actually it is salami but tastes similar to LB!! You have to get past the fact that is bright pink!!! 

We found Strawberries!!!!! Our first strawberries since we left home! 

We thought this was funny!! Jen said I didn't know Bruce Springsteen made mayonnaise!!! HA! HA! It is the little things that make us laugh!!!

Prayer Requests

Prayers for us as we start the process to have our Visas extended for the last three months. Pray that whatever happens it is Gods plan for us. Continue to pray for Thad Ferry and family! Also please pray for Brandi's Pap and Gram Batzel. Jr broke his arm and Jo already had a broken leg from earlier this winter!! 

Prayers for Jen as she deals with things at the hospital that one can not even begin to imagine!! Pray for the patients she sees daily who have no chance of surviving! Pray that they will come to know the Lord and find comfort in him! Prayers for all the doctors here at Mbingo and all the patients they see. Praise the Lord for those who worked on Ashley and helped her to get better!! (Including Jen) There is a lot of heartache and death here at the hospital but there is also good! I also hear about the joys and miracles of the patients getting better! I know that it is hard on my sister to not be able to help or save everyone! She has such a big heart and I know that it is hurting right now but God will comfort and lead her during this time!! 

My last thought is just a praise! Praise the Lord for our new family here at Mbingo! We have been truly blessed with a great group of people who support each other and make being away from home a little bit easier!!   

Lizard, Chin Chin, and Rainy Season

Greetings from Cameroon!!!

 Things have been busy these past couple of weeks! The kids are getting back into the swing of school. Jen has been working long hours this week! There is a visiting ENT doctor from John Hopkins here for two weeks. Randy has been busy working on the different computer systems at the hospital. As everyone knows the internet here can be very frustrating here!! So it makes Randy's job that more trying!! I have been keeping busy with the kids and my new fun thing to do is make tortilla chips!! It is a never ending job but they are so good with fresh salsa and fresh guacamole!! The kids are doing great! They all are growing up so much!! Especially Gretchen!! She has become such a little lady!! They all miss home and our family and friends a lot but have really adapted to life in Africa!! There is a snack that they make over here called Chin Chin! It is hard to explain but all three of them really like it! Gretchen was having some the other day for a snack and she got down to start playing and Jen said to her "Gretchen sit down and eat your chin chin!" We both looked at each other and Jen said did you ever think that would be a saying that came out of our mouths!!!! 

Our family picture!! This was taken at SCA on graduation night! The only way Gretchen would get in the picture was if the scooter could be too!!!

While we were away at SCA, we had a house guest!!! A lizard decided to make our home his home too!!! It took some getting use to but we didn't really mind him too much! He would startle us and we would scream (well I would scream) but it started to become a game. Who could find lizard tonight?!?! He usually stayed in the school/play room or the bathroom so we kind of thought it was cute!! Well then Jen found him in her bedroom!!! Not so cute!! As Jen and I shared the same fear of him crawling across our faces at night!!!!!!! We are definitely sisters!! So Randy being our Hero as Megan says captured the lizard in a strainer!! It was quite a sight!! 

Lizard!

Randy and the lizard heading for the door!!

Gretchen has been taking after her big brother and I think they try to see who can get the dirtiest!! 

Mid-day scrub in the sink! 

The kids got a basketball hoop! Rene the man that built the swing set built it. We had it put on the side of our house under the car port. Now they can still play even in the rainy season! They will be ready to play "horse" when we get home so you better start practicing Uncle John!!!

The Rainy Season!

We are at the beginning of the rainy season. Everything is already starting to get green. I like that part! Everyone says that the rainy season is so beautiful! Everything is so green and flowers are blooming. The thing that will not be nice is all the mud!!! 

Elliott is liking all the rain!!!

Our backyard! 

Our front yard!

Adjusting to life in the rainy season!! Gretchen and Megan had a little more fun than Randy!!

On Tuesday we got more chickens!!! They are little chickens! Marlis said it will be about 2 months until we can eat them!! We thought it was hard to kill the other one wait until the kids have 2 months to get attached to these!! They named them too!!

Roger let Elliott and Megan help him put the chickens in the shed! Gretchen tried to help but I told her she could just pet them!!

KFC, Iron Chick, Phil, and R2-Chick2

Helping get them settled into to their new home!!

The other day Marlis killed a chicken we had bought. We stayed inside while she killed him. After a while I had to go outside to get the laundry hanging on the line. Gretchen always goes with me out to the clothes line. So this day was no different! We started around the corner of the house and she stopped and didn't move! There was Marlis with the chicken in one bucket and all his feathers in another bucket! The chicken still had his head and feet but he was naked! Gretchen looked up at me and goes It Dead?!? I said yes but now we can eat him! She said Good I like to eat chicken! I thought maybe she was going to be grossed out or scared but no she thought it was pretty neat to see the chicken like that!

Thank you for the support and prayers! Prayers for family back home as we get ready to celebrate Gretchen's birthday next week! I know it is hard for all of us to be away on a regular day but it is especially hard on holidays! Prayers for Randy's dad Jim who started chemo this week! Prayers for Thad Ferry as he left today on a 10 month deployment!!!  I am praying for you and love ya!!  Prayers for Brandi his sister! May God comfort you during this time!!!! Wish I was there to give you a big hug, Bran!!! Prayers for safe travels for Jim and Carolyn Brown who are leaving to go back home for a month long visit! Prayers for the patients at the hospital and all the doctors working to take care of them!

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.   Psalm 139:13-14

SCA and Meg's Birthday

Greetings everyone!! Wow it has been awhile since our last post!! First the kids and I had a wonderful time in Bamenda at the Sonshine Christian Academy home school session! A couple days were yucky do to the flu and colds but over all a great time! This years session was called "Putt,Putt Motors". The kids learned about small engines and the first week took a lawnmower engine apart. The second week they put their engines back together. This class was taught by the helicopter pilot, Uncle Eric Wolf. The first day after class Elliott ran up to me and said I just drained the oil out of a engine! He was so excited! Megan even enjoyed this too! 

There were about 25 kids ages 2 up to 8th grade. We ate breakfast at 7:30. Devotions were at 8:00. At 8:15 to 9:00 was math class. 9:00 to 9:45 the kids had language arts. Then was a 15 minute break for recess. 10:00 to 10:30 were read aloud. 10:30 to 11:15 they had art class the first week and music the second week. Motors class was from 11:15 to 12 noon. It was then lunch time! 1:00 to 2:45 was the best time according to the kids!! It was swimming lessons!!! 3:00 to 4:30 was play practice. All the kids put on a play called "The Stone in the Road". The first week the older kids had testing. They took the Iowa state tests! Elliott had normal class with his classmates! Meg wasn't too happy but this way her testing is done!! For art class the kids made "Cameroonian cars". They are made out of sardine cans and flip flops! They are really cool! For music class not only did they sing but they had guitar lessons. Megan liked this! She did remember some of the chords she learned before she came!! I told her Tim would be proud!!!

We celebrated Megan's 14th Birthday while we were in Bamenda!!! Where did 14 years go!!!!! Anyway, she finally got her pool party in February!!!! We only had to come to Africa to make it happen! HA! Gretchen had a good two weeks also! Her class was so nice and played very well together! There were 5 kids including her. 

Megan was a young maiden in the play. Elliott played her little brother! They were going to town to sell flowers! Elliott was suppose to be allergic to the flowers and he had to "sneeze" all of lines! They both did so well!!

 

Megan and her friend Nandry. It was nice to see Megan have someone her age to talk to and hang out with! They became really good friends over the two weeks!

The whole cast!!!

A German couple arrived in Cameroon the second week we were at SCA. They go out into the villages and interact with the children and teach them about Jesus! They had fun showing some of the kids the games and activities they do with the Cameroonian children. Gretchen is wearing the cow hat her friend Jude wore for crazy hair day!! That is Gretchen's class standing in back of her!

This is Jude! He also had a birthday while we were at SCA! His mom, Aunt Holly, made his cake! She makes cakes like I do!!! His cake was Kung Fu Panda! They taste really good too!

Pool Party!!!!

On Friday was the pool party/Megan's Birthday!

Racing against each other during some pool games!

This game they had to put clothes on then swim to the other side of the pool! Swimming lessons were really good for both of the kids!! Megan learned to dive and different types of strokes. Elliott learned to swim under water and got more comfortable in the water! Both learned to swim without holding their noses or the use of goggles!!! 

Megan doing the clothing relay!

The bucket race! The younger kids liked this but the older kids I am not sure!!!

Singing Happy Birthday!

 Gretchen enjoying Birthday cake!! 

 The kids could not let any of the icing go to waste! Had to lick the candles!!!

 Birthday Girl!!

 The hotel that had the pool also had a turkey and two geese right beside the pool area! Not sure why but we thought it was pretty funny!

On the last night they have a graduation for the 8th graders. So Megan and her friend Nelson were graduating this year! They both had to make speeches and were given a gift from Aunt Elsie!

After Megan gave her speech, Randy got up and said a few words of encouragement to Meg! It was very nice!

Megan and Elliott were also to prepare a presentation for this night too! Elliott sang "The B-I-B-L-E" while Megan signed it using sign language! It was very nice! I was so proud of both of them! 

We returned to Mbingo on Saturday and even though we had fun and met so many wonderful new friends it was good to be home! As we were leaving Bamenda, Gretchen said "I go to Bingo" Which she sounds so Cameroonian!! They don't say the M in Mbingo either!!! It was pretty funny!!

The kids enjoyed meeting new friends and reconnecting with friends we already knew! We liked hearing about where the families are from and what they are doing here in Africa! Some of the kids and their families live out in the bush!! They are from villages that are in the remote parts of the rain forest!! One family runs a orphanage in Bamenda! They have 29 kids living in the orphanage. We are already planning a trip down to spend some time there!! 

Megan was surprised when we got back to Mbingo! Some friends of ours threw her a surprise birthday party on Sunday!!! We have been blessed with having a loving family here at Mbingo! Even though we were away from family and friends, I think she had a birthday she will never forget!!!!

 Blowing out the candles!!

 Lindsay helping Gretchen onto the slip and slide!!

 Hanging out in the pool! A little different from the other pool but hey two pool parties in less than 3 days what more could a 14 year old girl ask for right!! (And not a plane ticket home Uncle John although I'm sure she would take it!!)

Megan attempting to catch Cathen!!

Water balloon games!!

Cathen and Isaac hanging out!

Gretchen figured out going down on your belly was more fun!!

Cathen looks like she is telling Megan a good story!

Finally we all came home and had a family dinner! Megan's favorite Chicken and Waffles!! She got a waffle maker for her birthday present and while we were away in Bamenda our pet chicken sadly is no more!!!!!! He tasted pretty good though!!

Thank you for all the prayers while we were away at SCA! Especially the prayers for our health! It was pretty ugly there for a few days! A lot wishing that Mom was there to help make tummies and heads all better!!(and that was me wanting my mom!) But we are all healthy and okay now! Prayers for Jen as she works at the hospital. Dr. Acha the ENT is gone for 3 months to the states to the Mayo Clinic so Jen is treating and operating on things she has never seen before. Prayers for her that God will guide her to make the right decisions but also that she will fill their hearts and minds with the word of God and the love of Jesus! Prayers for Randy as he continues his work also. Continued prayers for his dad, Jim! Prayers for both my Grandma States and my Grandma Pepple! We miss you and love you both so much! Prayers for Dr. Dennis Palmer and his wife Nancy. Prayers for Dennis' shoulder surgery! Hurry back we miss you both! Prayers for safe travels for our friend Kaye who flew back to Australia this week for a quick visit! 

Lastly, CONGRATS to Hillary and Darren on their engagement!