Agreed?

Any one else see the resemblance?

More Traveling Pics

I always like to travel with the camera handy, you never know when there will be a perfect photo op.
Seems kind of randomly packed. Oh, and I JUST noticed what it says on the bumper (time will tell)!!!

This seriously made me gag. The whole back seat and trunk loaded with slaughtered cow parts. There were 3 or 4 guys in the front seat. I don't know how they could stand the smell!

Visitors!

We had an amazing time hosting Kevin & Lainie McWilliams from Columbia, SC here in Cameroon for 2 weeks. Kevin, one of our CIU professors, came over to speak for our annual CMF conference in Bamenda. It was SO GOOD to catch up with them and share our lives in Africa with them. After the conference we headed out to the beach for a few days to relax before they flew home.

Lainie and Nandry had a tea party out in the ocean, in the waves. Thanks Kevin & Lainie for blessing and encouraging our family with your love!

Joko be a Yesua = Good Jesus party!

Christmas party at Mayos, our village. A bunch of pics...a few words. Go ahead and ask questions.


Games, balloons and a water balloon fight

Family photos

Face painting

Singing and Likano (Baka style story) of Jesus' birth

Sizing for flipflops for all the kids

Giving gifts of rice and groundnuts.

Our hearts were full of joy as we celebrated Christmas with our village. We are praying that this year, in 2011 many will have a full and clear understand of Christ's love for them.

Lala's Deli

I guess this isn't really that exciting, but it was a highlight for us. Whenever we make a trip to the city, we splurge on some things we don't normally have, like sliced ham and cheese. Add it all on a huge loaf of bread (it was originally 3 1/2 feet long), with some mayo, italian seasonings, tomato, lettuce and pickle...and for the gluten free version, try it with rice cakes.

Conrod Christmas Tradition

Nathan chopped up an Inga tree limb and drilled holes in it again this year to use as our Yule log for holding our Advent candles. The kids are having fun going through last year's Advent of Ideas book and remembering some of this things we did and the things we talked about, and doing them again this year. Becky Novak (between Nathan and Asher in the picture) is here with us for 4 more weeks. She's been here since mid October as a tutor for the kids. We are excited to have her as part of our family for Christmas.

Traditionally you light one candle on each Sunday for 4 weeks before Christmas, then light the 5th (middle) on Christmas Day. Our Sundays have gotten pretty busy lately with Nathan, and sometimes the whole family, going up to Mayos in the late afternoon to share the Bible Likano (stories) with the Baka. So, Monday night is our candle lighting night. This past Monday I got out my flute and played along with some of the Christmas songs we sang. It was eerily quiet outside which gave Silent Night a pretty neat feel as we sang it together.

The Tail of 2 Bad Mice...for dinner

Tom Thumb and Hunca Munca had been caught in a trap in the forest...and is that a rat flavored bouillon cube?

Roasting...helps singe the little hairs off.

How about a game of checkers while it stews?

This is what we've been waiting for...really, why do people ask if it tastes like chicken?

Thanks Mom, we had our first bite, you got the picture, what's REALLY for dinner?

Snicker, Snicker

Instead of Home Depo, maybe you should stop by the BM Hardware store. They have a sale on toilets this week...heehee.

Returning to Normal

This was definitely a low point of the last 3 weeks. Both boys started off 3 weeks ago with fevers and general lethargy every other day. Then finally they both crashed, Sunday, 2 weeks ago with vomiting, no appetite and incredible fatigue. We tested for malaria and they both tested positive, so we started a round of meds. They had trouble keeping these down. When we finally finished a 3 day treatment, and they still weren't any better, we had blood labs done in Dimako (the closest town about 5 miles away) at the Catholic clinic. Asher's malaria level was 2+ (that's pretty high) and Boaz' was 3+ (very high!), and that was after treating them already. They also found various bacteria in their gut that we needed to treat as well, thinking it was causing the vomiting and diarrhea. So, they came home and our nurse/teammate Jennifer started them on a quinine drip for the malaria. That's what this picture is of. There was still over a week of throwing up, and Boaz had sever pain in his stomach area that wouldn't let up.

They were slowly getting a little more energy, and were very tired/bored of not having the strength to go outside and play. At one point, I put on a movie for the boys and after a few minutes, Boaz asked, "Mama, can you PLEASE just turn that off?" Just when I thought one of them was turning the corner, they would have a bad night or be in pain or throw up again. Nathan took Boaz to the clinic again this past Friday, and got another round of meds for yeast in Boaz' gut. The nurses thought maybe this was causing the stomach pain. After 2 days of those meds, Boaz hasn't complained at all about his stomach. Both boys are outside right now, running around with the Baka kids. It's good to see. Asher has much more color in his face, and Boaz is looking a lot better too. They both have lost weight, their pants are loose and their ribs are showing. You can even see it in their faces how thin they look (I'm not posting a picture, I don't want to scare grandparents!).

Now that they're eating again, I'm not putting any limits or restrictions on what they want for the next few weeks...though they'll still have to eat the good-for-them stuff along with the chocolate cake and hot cocoa. :) Fatten these babies up!

Thank God with us for the medical help we do have available out here. Thank Him for carrying us through this crazy time. We even had visitors from the US for a few days, on a field visit to explore the idea of coming to Cameroon long term. Lets hope we didn't scare them off! We have currently upped our dosage of malaria prophylaxis. If you remember last year about this time, Boaz got malaria and it kept recurring until January. Thank God that things are getting back to normal, we only missed a week of school for the boys (plus some extra assignments that fell through the cracks and we aren't looking back). Thank God with us that Becky Novak is here until the end of December to tutor the kids. This has been a huge blessing! The Lord has even blessed us with a relaxing weekend, fairly quiet, not many demands and time to hang out as a family and team. Thanks again for all of your prayers!

Birthin'

Ever seen a praying mantis laying eggs? I love living here in the jungle and having a continuous science class. (Though sometimes the indiscretion with which the rooster & hen population choose to demonstrate their ability to, um...reproduce..is a bit embarrassing.) This praying mantis put it's eggs on the side of our house. Once we started looking around, we realized the same kind of egg sacks are all over the place!