Remembering Christmas 2005

This was Christmas 2005, 4 months after moving to Cameroon and we had only been in our house in the rainforest for 2 months. Besides our leafy branches that we tied together to make a 'tree' (that had to be replaced every few days when they wilted) and decorated with the few ornaments that we had packed as well as some tissue paper circles to make a tree collage on the wall and green and red construction paper for the Christmas chain...what else do you really need to be festive? We also painted noodles to make a garland for our 'tree' hoping that no bugs would eat it, just the weevils that already came in the bag. Notice my sweat-glistened face...no snow this year! It was fun making new traditions and coming up with creative way to celebrate the birth of Christ.
It's hard for me to remember our kids being this little! We took a little girl, a toddler and a baby over with us in 2005!
That Christmas we gave out rice, salt, bouillon cubes and candy at the village to over 60 families. Also, Nestor and Samba, two Baka guys that were living next door to us, told the story of Jesus' birth from a picture book someone had given them. Doesn't this picture look so different from your church's Christmas service? We are glad to show our kids our American culture, but at the same time enjoy reminding them how simple life in Cameroon is and how we enjoyed it just as much because we were together as a family.

Children's Inn at NIH

This weekend we went to the National Institutes of Health in DC to get more blood tests done and meet with the tropical disease specialists. It turns out that we all have strongeloides, which is a worm that comes from soil. It's easily treatable with a one time dose of medicine. Nandry and Nathan are the only ones of the five of us who have filaria (more specifically: loa loa), a slightly more serious parasite that lives in your blood. A month from now we need to draw more blood, then Nathan and Nandry can be treated. Fortunately, neither of them are experiencing symptoms yet and we are happy that the doctors caught it so quickly and we can clear it up. All of this, since we are part of their study on filaria, is done free of charge for us, so it's been a huge blessing!

This time, in DC, we stayed at the Children's Inn, which is a part of NIH. It was awesome! From the moment we got there, they pampered the kids. Stuffed animals as a welcome gift, dinner donated and served by a local charity organization, a huge 'don't-pick-up-after-yourself-we-have-someone-who-does-that-every-evening' playroom, more toys and crafts with local high school kids, a Santa's Secret Workshop available for each of our kids to pick and wrap presents for 4 members of their family, a stocked food pantry for breakfast and snacks and more little gifts waiting for them in our personal mailbox in the morning! Almost made them forget the whole clinic visit and needles, almost!
Here's a picture of the kids with their loot...I'm a bit excited to see what they picked out as presents for Nathan, me and each other (I heard something about "Daddy's really going to LOVE that pirate guy from that movie"....hmmm?).

"Well the weather outside is"...GREAT, actually!

There's so much excitement and fun stuff going on this time of year. We are all soaking it up and celebrating the holidays by making new "stateside" traditions. The kids had a blast decorating the tree, and they love the nativity scene and other decorations around the house. Yesterday, Asher lined Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, wise men and animals up single file to see baby Jesus. He's learning a lot from preschool! :)

So Much Fun at Thanksgiving!

Though the weather was cold, we had so much fun with the cousins and the great variety of stuff to do at Pop's house!

Thanksgiving Trophy - 5 Stitches

Asher went for his bed at Grandmom and Granpop's house in PA with a flying leap, tripped, and smashed his head against the frame (big OUCH). Nathan and Grandpa Conrod took him to the ER last night at 10:30pm and were home by 12:45. Asher was brave and actually likes his stitches. As he was on the floor of the bathroom with an ice pack on his head after it happened and the sobbing ceased, he said, "this reminds me of when we were in Africa and Boaz fell out of the tree." I really hope these boys aren't trying to compete with injuries now!

Happy Thanksgiving to all! We are truly thankful and blessed to have so many family, friends and supporters who love us and have prayed for us and cheered us on during all of our adventures. We are most thankful for Christ and the hope of salvation found in Him, the reason we do what we do.

Tonight, Nandry was in her first school performance. The second grade dressed up like they were 50 years older and sang a few songs for the parents. Nandry liked her "old lady" outfit we got at the thrift store, and Grandma accessorized with a brooch, belt, heels and matching purse! Only things missing are the granny glasses and some bright red "is-it-on-straight?" lipstick.








Nandry was whooping it up at the after program party, gettin' down Granny style.















And here, Nandry is getting driven home after one to many cups of Koolaid. Glad she's not behind the wheel!

Feeling Thankful...and Needing to Blog More

We are so thankful that we get to be together as a family and experience so many good times this year we are are home in the US. We are so thankful that we live next door to Nathan's parents and Granny. It truly has been a blessing to be so close (yet have our own space) and that the kids are getting to know their grandparents and great-grandmother, and they know they can always go next door for a snack and a hug. I think this picture is of the dinner when Asher went up to Granny and said, "what is your name again?" and then proceeded to tell her that he could scare the hiccups out of her if she wanted.

Next week we get to travel to PA and spend time with the Cranes. We are so excited about that too! It's hardly ever just the 3 of them while we are in PA...they are constantly in the company of 3 to 6 cousins, all around the same ages. It's fun and extremely LOUD. I know that the kids, especially Boaz, miss all the freedom they had in Cameroon to run around outside from sunup to sundown (minus the 30min of "school" Boaz would hurry his way through) with the Abbott kids all of their village friends. But, they sure are getting loved on and spoiled by all of our family here. We have much to be thankful for!

The day before on the way to school Nathan was telling the kids that it was going to keep getting colder and one of these days soon there would even be frost on the ground, like little icicles on the grass and that if they stepped on the grass it would crunch under their feet. So then this morning (it was last Friday) Nandry saw the frost on the ground and said "can we please, please, please go walk on it and feel it crunch under our feet?"

Notice Asher and his tolerance for the cold. It's just unbelievable. He comes home from pre-school and takes off all his clothes except his undies while he has lunch and watches a little TV. You wouldn't believe he's only spent a year of his life in North America.

Remembering Life in the Village

Last Chance for the Beach

Yesterday was an incredible day! We couldn't believe how beautiful the weather was, and how warm it had gotten again. We decided to take advantage of the afternoon, after the kids got home from school.

So, we hopped in the car and headed to our favorite place in Virginia!

Our good friend annA was there waiting, letting us park for free by her apartment, and showed us the best spot on the beach.

We had the best time, ever!!!

Last Chance for the Beach, Part 2

We enjoyed running on the beach and sitting in the sun, as well as watching the birds do tricks in the air and watching the jets fly into the base.

We did a little groovin' and playing frisbee.

And we even attempted to ride the big waves in the chilly water.

Capturing the Perfect Shot

Anyone have tips for taking a family photo without making threats on your children's lives? We desperately need to update our prayer card...but we are having much trouble getting a good photo.

Do you know how hard it is to get all 5 of us looking the same direction with a halfway normal expression on all 5 faces?

We might resort to a photo of just Nathan and I and put a *** on the prayer card with a footnote saying "***by the way, we have 3 kids".

Incarcerated

Asher wouldn't believe us when we told him there were consequences for taking a cookie without asking...then Officer Lester showed up! He dropped by on Saturday while we were having a picnic lunch with my family in PA. We all got that tense "uh-oh, what's this about?" feeling when he pulled up the driveway and "blipped" his siren. It turned out to be my parent's friend who has been riding in their township for the past few months, just stopping by to say hello. So we took the opportunity to get some good your-going-to-jail photos. Nandry would not get in the group picture below...all the kids were a bit intimidated when Officer Lester first got there. Oh, and our kids are finally saying "police" now instead of "gendarmes".

On Display

This weekend we are participating in a mission conference at EBBC in PA. Last night they had an international potluck dinner with lots of yummy food and all the missionaries did a short presentation afterwards. Nathan and I set up a mongulu (Baka leaf hut) in one of their classrooms and invited people in for a visit to the rainforest. I know that our kids enjoyed playing in the mongulu, and I hope that the hut made a lasting impression on everyone that came...even if it's just made of PVC and fabric leaves. Thanks EBBC for hosting us and feeding us and special thanks to the folks that stayed late to help us move the hut to the foyer!

Seeing Family

This weekend Nathan and I were able to go to a World Team banquet in PA, where we saw some of our fellow workers from Cameroon. It was so great to spend a few hours with them and it felt like we were with family. It was good to be able to share some of our joys of home assignment and frustrations with "reverse culture shock" and be encouraged that we are still normal (well...). Then, Saturday, we spent the whole day with Mom & Dad Crane attending the Truth Project (thanks again for inviting us along and getting us tickets!!). It was nice to be able to have some time with them as well as see Curt & family Saturday night and Chad & family Sunday AM. The kids spent the weekend with the Conrods in VA and even went out to Moyock to be spoiled by Aunt Sherri (here are some pics on her blog: http://thereagan-smiths.blogspot.com/).

Help! I need an interpreter!

We got a call tonight that Boaz' S.S. class needed a teacher for the next couple of weeks, they couldn't find anyone to fill this position, so could we do it? I said that we could do it tomorrow if they couldn't find anyone else, but we couldn't commit after that. They were going to e-mail us the curriculum and any special instructions. Here's part of the special instructions that we got (we are kind of giggling about it):

I will be in C210 tomorrow around 915. Your class will be meeting behind the kindergardeners. The kindergardeners are on the carpets facing the stage A-D from left to right. Your class is B so you wil be behind the second carpet on the right side facing the stage. After about 20 min your calss will move to room C201 where Boaz was picked up last week.

This should be interesting!

The day that just got better and better

Last night Boaz woke up numerous times complaining that his ear hurt. We gave him Tylenol and kept a hot compress on the side of his face for a while. He still woke up every half hour whining that it hurt, until about 2am. This morning, I let him sleep in while I sent Nandry off to school. He wasn't feeling too bad when he did wake up, so we did another hot compress and got ready for school. He was there by 9am. Well, throughout the day I kept praying that he would feel better and have a great day. He came home with a ribbon pinned on him and a special prize from his teacher for being "Boy of the Day". How cool! Then, when Nathan sat down with him to do his homework, it went really well for the first time this year. He didn't struggle with concentrating, he just got right to it and finished it quickly and easily. THEN, to top it all off, Boaz finally got the hang of riding a bike by himself. That was the thing he was most proud of today and most excited to show me. We are so proud of him for all his great accomplishments and successes, and so thankful for a great day!

More Amusement Parks

This was our last big adventure before school started. Boaz in the front with Abby, Asher not keeping his head inside the car while it's moving with Emma, and Jacob, Nandry and Katherine in the red ladybug car. I think Nandry's a bit too old for this, though she did enjoy making sure 2 year old Katherine was ok.

Boaz is the responsible driver, keeping his eyes on where he's going. Our kids are really enjoying their cousins on both sides of the family. We are so thankful that our kids have these instant friends (cousins) who we'll be able to keep in touch with even though we are gone for years at a time...because it's kind of required somewhere that you visit your family more than once on your furlough, right (Christmas and Easter - kind of like church)? And besides, it's SO MUCH fun.

Asher, ready for take-off

We are officially renaming Asher, "Tigger". Nathan and I've realized that Asher never walks anymore. He always leaps, bounds, hops and boings wherever he is going. We've noticed also how many picture we have of him without both feet on the ground. In these two shots, he's airborne. Sometimes, I'll have to get a picture of this, he even flaps his arms like he's going to take off and fly away!