Consford Chronicles

Rainy Day and Valentine Fun

2012-02-13T22:08:00.001Z

The kids were so cute walking up the road with their umbrellas.

Gilbert was excited about doing his own Valentines.

Bonnie and I did her Valentines together. That was quite a chore!

Danny wanted to know if they were ready to fold yet.

Monday, February 13, 2012

2012-02-13T22:04:00.001Z

Bonjour,

The taxi came this morning to take the kids to school. Mrs. Naomi and Brother Dan rode with the kids to school.

I spent most of the day in the kitchen. I made cupcakes for Valentines Day and frosted them. Then, I made buns for sloppy joes. I also made cream puffs for a special treat for breakfast tomorrow.

Joe went and found the electrician and brought him out to the house. They were able to get the electrical problem fixed on the vehicle.

The kids had a good day at school except for Bonnie; she had to visit the principal once again. When the teacher told her to do her work, Bonnie told her "No." That is one stubborn child. She was in trouble!!

It started raining just as the kids came home. The sun was still shining. The rain let up. So, they headed up the road to the Luthers. It started raining again as they set out; they all grabbed their umbrellas.

After supper, I worked on Valentines with the kids. We got a list of names for all of the children in their classes today. When I said some of the names, the kids would tell me, "I don't have anyone in my class with that name." If I pronounced it differently, then they would say, "Yes, I have one of them in my class." Gilbert has been talking about a girl in his class named "Sermon;" her name is actually "Selma." Danny has three boys in his class named "Kelvin," but he thinks their name is "Kirbin." Bonnie corrected me on several names: "It's not Dorcas, Mom. It's Doughcoss." We finished with all of those just before bed time. Bonnie has 29 in her class; Danny has 26, and Gilbert has 21. Bonnie and Danny wanted to write the names on each one, but they wanted me to help them. Danny signed his own name on all of them; then, I helped him with the names of the kids in his class. I held Bonnie's hand in mine, and we wrote everything together. That was quite a project!

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

My Little Helpers

2012-02-12T23:01:00.001Z

Gilbert wanted to wear a tie with his plaid shirt today. One of the
boys at church told him, "You look like a pastor." Gilbert was
tickled about that. Danny helped teach the Sunday school lesson today. He forgot how he was going to start and said, "What do I say, Mom?" As Bonnie smiled for the picture, she said, "This is my beautiful smile, Mom."

Sunday, February 12, 2012

2012-02-12T22:57:00.001Z

Bonjour,

This morning as we got in the vehicle to head to church, the car would not start. The battery was completely dead. So, we got out and walked toward the taxi station. We caught a taxi and went to church. Between the services, Joe realized that he had left the keys in the car; the key ring has our house keys on it too. So, he asked Brother Arthur to take him to the house. When they got to the house, the vehicle was running. The key was not turned on; the car was just running. Since it was running, Joe brought it back to church.

Gilbert led the singing in Sunday school. Danny taught the lesson on the days of creation. Since Gilbert taught the lesson last week, Danny has been asking all week if he could teach today. When Danny first got up, he said, "What do I say now, Mom?" I asked him some questions to get him started. He did good for his first attempt.

During church, I had twenty-six in my class with no helper. Danny and Gilbert helped with the songs. Gilbert taught the lesson on Adam and Eve. I helped him out a little.

Joe said that the morning service went well. There was a man who visited today for the first time.

The vehicle started right up after church. We went home, ate lunch, took naps, and got ready to go back to church.

Once again, the car would not start. Joe was looking at things under the hood. He touched a wire. The lights came on and the doors locked. It was a good thing that Joe had left his door open. But after doing a little checking, he saw that the wire connected to the battery had melted into the battery. He disconnected the battery, and we took a taxi once again. He did not want anything to catch on fire. He will have an electrician come and get it sorted out tomorrow.

We had a good service this evening with nine in attendance.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Piglet or princess?

2012-02-11T21:55:00.001Z

Bonnie really enjoyed her egg salad sandwich. Joe said, "Let me take
a picture of you, Piglet." Bonnie replied, "I'm not a piglet; I'm a
princess, right?"

Saturday, February 11, 2012

2012-02-11T21:51:00.001Z

Bonjour,

This morning, Joe went to do Bible Clubs with Dan. They had four different Bible Clubs today. They went to Anaji, Tadisco, Ntokroful, and Senate Flat. There were six saved at the Bible Club in Anaji. They had a big crowd in Ntokroful.

We had 38 at our Bible Club today here in the yard. A crazy man came right during the middle of the story. I just kept going and told the kids to pay attention to me and not him.

After lunch, we took naps. Then, the kids played with the Luther kids for a while. I worked on supper while Joe did some work on the computer.

Before supper, Bonnie was going to set the table. Joe walked into the kitchen. She told him, "No mans allowed in the kitchen." Danny and Gilbert came into the kitchen to get in on the action. Gilbert and Danny helped me with the dishes after supper.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Fun at the Ocean

2012-02-10T22:15:00.000Z

Friday, February 10, 2012

2012-02-10T22:13:00.001Z

Bonjour,

The kids did not have school today. So, we went to the ocean to continue Joe's birthday celebration.

On the way there, we passed a sickly looking longhorn cow. Gilbert said, "I'm like that longhorn cow; I'm a skinny Longhorn." Then, he continued with, "Mom, do you know how animals know what to do? It is their 'insects' that tell them what to do." I said, Did you mean 'instincts'?" He said, "Oh yes, they have instincts, and we have a mind."

When we got out of town, we were poking along behind a truck. Danny said, "Dad, when are we going to go speed?" When we got up to 50 mph, Danny said, "We are going speed now, Dad!"

Gilbert said, "Look, there's the hundred 'nacre' woods." Needless to say, we smiled all the way there. : )

With the Harmattan haze, the water felt quite a bit cooler today than it did when we went last month. But, the kids did not seem to mind. Danny took a pretty big hit with the waves a couple times, but he got right back out there again.

We walked down to a little French restaurant beside the ocean for lunch. It is the restaurant where we saw the monkey last month when Nana and Papa were here. The kids were all asking the waiter where the monkey was. He said that the monkey had been naughty earlier and that it was hiding and would come out after a while. Danny was disappointed because he wanted to see the monkey. Bonnie said, "It's okay, Danny. The monkey is fixing to come out when he changes his face." Joe asked Bonnie if she has to change her face sometimes. She suddenly became very thirsty and did not want to talk about that.

When the monkey did make an appearance, he went up in a tree. There was a lady who was trying to sell bananas and peanuts who came over to us. Gilbert wanted to buy a banana from her to see if he could entice the monkey out of the tree. We bought a few bananas. The lady saw that the kids wanted the monkey to come down. She started antagonizing the monkey. She was waving a piece of cloth at the monkey. She held up a tiny little banana. The monkey got upset with that lady. He came down the tree, grabbed the biggest banana off of her tray, and went back up the tree. Then, he started throwing the peels at the lady. He came down out of the tree after that lady left.

We had some very good hamburgers for lunch. Joe even had a bacon burger, although he had to wait a little longer for his. The man got confused about the order and just brought two burgers out instead of three. Joe got his plate when we were all done eating.

We walked back to the vehicle and then headed home. The kids all fell asleep for a little while in the vehicle. We went into town to renew our internet minutes for the month. Then, we went home. We got home at the same time that they normally get home from school every day. The kids went up to play with the Luthers.

Joe finished waxing the car while I worked on supper. The power went off just as we sat down for supper. It is still off. The power company said that it is regional load shedding; they have started doing this a couple nights a week, but we never know when it is going to be. Joe had to take the car battery out of the vehicle to start the generator because the generator battery is not working. Charlie had gone to Accra today. So, after Joe got our generator going, he went up to the Luthers and got theirs going too.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

A Plethora of Tree Frogs

2012-02-09T22:31:00.001Z

The tree frogs seem to be everywhere today. One had climbed inside
the first step of our water filtering system. We put the well water
through four different filters before we drink it.

Thursday, February 9, 2012

2012-02-09T22:24:00.001Z

Bonjour,

Joe took the kids to school this morning. Then, he went to look at a couple vehicles; he is trying to help another missionary find a vehicle.

I did some work at the computer today. I was finishing up all of the reports for last year.

This morning, Joe found a tree frog sitting in the water cooler. It was in the first bucket of the four steps in our filtering system.

My helper came today. She was in the pantry getting the broom and got stung by a scorpion. Apparently it got her on the callused part of her foot because she was not in very much pain.

The kids had a good day at school. When Joe went to pick them up, he found out that they don't have school tomorrow. It is a teacher workshop day. I guess they had told the kids earlier in the week, but that was the first we had heard of it. So, we are planning to go to the ocean tomorrow.

The kids played with the Luther kids. We went up to visit with the Luthers. Charlie had gone to town; we talked to Julie for a few minutes. She is busy packing up their house. They are going to be moving to a different area of Ghana.

We went back home so that I could get supper ready. Joe washed the car.

Joe had bought a Fanta on the way home. All three kids were supposed to share it. But, I did not know that. Bonnie asked me to open it for her. The boys were still outside playing. By the time they got home, she had almost finished it off. The boys were upset with Bonnie. Joe took the boys to the little corner boutique and bought the boys another Fanta. Gilbert was so proud because he got to buy the drinks from the man all by himself.

The kids wanted to measure to see how much they have grown. Gilbert and Danny have both grown an inch and a half since August, and Bonnie has grown an inch. Danny is just an inch taller than Gilbert now. Gilbert has caught up a little.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

2012-02-08T22:42:00.001Z

Picture 1: Harmattan haze

Picture 2: The birthday boy opening his presents

Picture 3: A heavyduty flashlight

Picture 4: The lovely couple

Picture 5: The birthday cheesecake

Bonjour,

I woke the kids up and told them they could help me wake up the
birthday boy. As soon as they woke Daddy up, they wanted to give him
their cards. The only problem was that Danny could not find his. He went into panic mode. I got another piece of paper out so that he could quickly make another one.

Joe is 35 today. I can't make any jokes about him being "old" because I am older than he is. : )

We ate breakfast. Then, Joe took the kids to school. Joe had been
asked to preach in chapel today. Chapel is at 8:00. He got back home
a little after 9:00.

I worked on making a cheesecake while Joe was gone. Joe is not too big on cake. I usually make a buttermilk pie for his birthday, but I
thought he would like a cheesecake for a change. I tried a no-bake recipe that I found online.

We headed into town around 10:30. We did a little shopping. I had to find some presents for the birthday boy. The kids wanted to help me wrap the presents after school.

We went to Han Palace, the good Chinese restaurant, for lunch. We made a couple more stops after lunch. Then, we headed to the school to get the kids.

All three kids were grouchy. So, they had to go to bed. They were not too happy about that. I think Bonnie was the only one who actually went to sleep, but the boys rested a little.

I worked on the birthday supper while the kids rested. Then, we wrapped the presents. After supper, Joe opened his presents. Then, we headed to church.

We had a good service tonight with ten in attendance. Ghana lost in their semi-finals game against Zambia today. The people were disappointed about that.

After church, Joe and I had some cheesecake. The kids had theirs after supper.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

2012-02-07T22:28:00.001Z

Bonjour,

I have found a faster way to upload pictures to the blog. I just
haven't figured out how to put a caption under the pictures yet.

Picture 1: "Is it morning already?" (We wake the kids up around 6:00
to be out the door by 6:45.)

Picture 2: This is the type of bug that has been "biting" me. It has
a little stinger. It might bite and sting or just sting or just
bite. We aren't sure!!

Picture 3: Can you identify this bug??? We think it might be in the
wasp family.

We had Cowboy Cake for breakfast, unless you are Bonnie; she had
"cowgirl cake." It is actually coffee cake, but if we call it that,
the kids think it has coffee in it and will not touch it.

Joe took the kids to school. Harmattan is back with a vengence. The
dirt is so thick in the air today that you taste dirt as soon as you
walk out the door. Joe had to stay indoors as much as possible
because it was making him have asthma.

We did some office work today. I was working on finding things for
taxes. Joe did some work on the computer.

Joe picked the kids up from school. The kids went outside to play
with the Luthers. The Harmattan dust is bothering Gilbert too; he has
a runny nose and a cough.

I made pizza for supper. After supper, the boys did their homework.
Then, we worked on birthday cards for Daddy. His birthday is
tomorrow. We were trying to keep it a secret, but the children were
not very discreet. Danny started to show his to Daddy and then
remembered that it was a secret. Bonnie took hers right over to Daddy
for inspection. Oh well, it is the thought that counts! : )

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Monday, February 6, 2012

2012-02-06T22:18:00.001Z

Bonjour,

I am back among the living. I have not felt sick to my stomach today, but my leg is still quite swollen. We have been searching online to find the bug that is causing this reaction, but we have not found it yet. At first, we thought it was a tsetse fly; but after looking at the pictures that we could find of that fly, it did not seem to be in that family. It looks similar to a mosquito, but it has a little stinger on it. Joe killed one tonight; we have been studying it more closely. Gilbert was the first one to spot the bug. It was trying to bite him. Joe got the bug spray out and started hunting for it. Then, Danny spotted it. In all of the excitement of trying to watch the bug so that Joe could kill it, Gilbert and Danny ran into each other. Gilbert's main concern was that it not get anywhere close to me. He said, "Protect Mom, Danny!"

Joe took the kids to school this morning. They had a good day at school. On the way home, Gilbert told Joe that he did not have enough lunch, and they gave him some fish at school. I guess I got mixed up and put Gilbert's chips in Danny's bag. Danny ate both bags! Bonnie said that her whole class had to see the principal because they were talking during nap time.

I got some laundry done today. Other than that, I did not get much accomplished. I kept my foot elevated as much as possible.

Joe did some office work today.

The kids went to play with the Luther kids. Danny came back down crying. He had taken his crossbow with him. He fell, and the crossbow broke. He was just devastated. Joe super glued it and taped it. He will check tomorrow to see if the glue is going to hold.

When I was tucking the kids in tonight, Bonnie gave me a big hug and said, "I love you tight, Mom! I love Dad tighter!"

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Sunday February 5, 2012

2012-02-05T21:31:00.001Z

Bonjour,

Lo is sick tonight, so you have to put up with my version of the daily e-mail.

We got up and went through the usual circus to get ready for church this morning. These three little kids can make a morning special! One Sunday morning at our house and you will be glad to return to your calm Sunday mornings!

We had a good day at church despite a small problem that people had conjured up. A few people have not been very faithful this year and they did not hear the announcement about a funeral and they missed it. So, to save face, they said that I had not announced it properly. Even though I announced it every service this year and even went to their house individually and told them. Oh well! We are having some people who want to learn and are very faithful and excited about what God is doing in their lives. The Devil wants everybody grumpy!

Laura got bit on the leg by a tsetse fly yesterday. Her leg started hurting this morning at church. Gilbert helped his mom by telling the story in Jr. Church. Lo said he did a great job and the kids all listened very well. The kids are getting the local version of English down pretty good now!

Lo stayed home from church this evening! Her leg is quite swollen, and she has to alternate ice and elevation to keep the swelling down. She has a fever and just does not feel well at all. Every time one of those tsetse flies bites her, she does this same thing. Usually I get them the moment I see them, but I missed that one, and it got her.

This evening after church, Gilbert and Danny were building a fort in their room, and Bonnie kept bulldozing their fort. Gilbert came out of the room and announced, "We can't do any thing fun with THIS GIRL around!" Bonnie had to report that their fort was in her kitchen and that it was just too much fun to "disturb the brothers!"

Lo took some meds and has gone to bed. I tucked the kids in, and Bonnie gave me permission to take mom's place and read the story for tonight only!

A demain,

Joe, Lo, Gil, DJ, and Boo

Our New Vehicle

2012-02-05T17:15:00.001Z

We were recently able to get a new vehicle. It is a 2007 Tata Sumo.
We had gotten a loan to buy the vehicle. Then, we got word that our
home church was going to buy the vehicle for us. What a blessing!

Saturday, February 4, 2012

2012-02-04T22:27:00.001Z

Bonjour,

This morning, Joe went with Dan to do Bible Clubs. There was not
anyone at two of the locations, but they did have two Bible Clubs.
They had about seventy-five at one. At the next place, it was mostly
older teenagers and young adults, but they sat down and listened.

I worked on getting some things ready for a wiener roast. I got a
dessert made before Bible Club.

I had fifty-four at my Bible Club today. It was a little wild at
first, but they all settled down and listened.

After lunch, I got the baked beans in the oven and finished my potato salad.

The Siekberts and the Luthers came about 4:30. We had a wiener roast
out in our yard. The kids had a great time playing together. We
enjoyed the fellowship.

I have been bitten again by the type of bug that makes the bites swell
up. So, I have had my foot propped up this evening. Hopefully the
swelling will go away during the night.

I was telling Bonnie something today. She said, "I already learned
that out, Mom."

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Bonnie, and Danny

Friday, February 3, 2012

2012-02-03T22:39:00.001Z

Bonjour,

We got the ninety-day extensions on our visas today. Praise the Lord! Thank you for praying. The boss man just wanted to make sure that we knew he was the boss, I guess.

Joe took the kids to school this morning. Then, he did some work on the computer.

We went into town this morning. We stopped to check on the visa situation first. The man told us to come back this afternoon to pick up the passports and that everything was fine. We went to the post office and had a couple packages to pick up. Then, we went to Planter's Lodge for lunch; they have a new chef, and their food is really good. We did our grocery shopping and still had a couple hours before it was time to pick the kids up from school; so, we went home and got everything unloaded from the vehicle.

Joe brought the kids home. Then, he went to pick up our passports. We are legal for ninety more days! Hopefully we will get the quota approval before the ninety days run out so that we can begin working on our residents' visas.

The kids played with the Luther kids for a while after they looked to see what they got in the packages. After supper, we did hidden object searches and puzzles. The power went off, and the generator battery was dead. Joe got it fired up. The power came back on just in time for bed time.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Thursday, February 2, 2012

2012-02-02T21:46:00.001Z

Bonjour,

Joe took the kids to school. Then, he took the vehicle to the painter. They started getting the different rust spots that the welder had repaired ready to be painted.

Yesterday, a man from Immigrations called and said that he needed evidence that we had turned paperwork in at the Interior office in Accra. Mack Siekbert picked Joe up and took him to the Immigration office. Joe showed him the receipt. First, the guy asked why we were requesting a visa extension instead of filing for a residents' visa. Joe explained that we were wanting to get the residents' visa, but we were awaiting the approval of the paperwork in Accra. Then, the man said that to apply for quota approval, we were not supposed to be in the country. Then, he started asking questions about the quota that we are trying to get on. He wanted to know why the person in charge of the quota had not come and introduced himself. Joe explained that he and Charlie had both come to the office and talked to someone together, but the boss man was upset that they had not talked to him. Charlie went down with a letter of introduction this afternoon. Joe will go back to the office tomorrow to find out what the man decided. It is all up to him. He can decide to give us the ninety day extension, or he can deny the extension and make us leave the country. If we have to leave the country, we will have thirty days to leave. Pray that he will grant us the extension and that we will not have to leave.

Mack took Joe back to the painter. Joe was there until 7:00 this evening, but they finished the job.

Dan brought the kids home in a taxi. The kids changed clothes and went up to the Luthers.

Bonnie informed me that she had to go see the principal today. She said, "It wasn't just me, Mom; it was everybody. We didn't do our seatwork correctly." I said, "Your whole class had to go to the office?" She said, "Well, I guess it was just several of us, four, no five of us." She said that the principal talked to them and looked at their papers. Gilbert was happy because he finished his seatwork.

I got supper ready. Joe's phone battery had died. We didn't know when he was coming. So, we went ahead and ate supper without him. He ate when he got home.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

2012-02-01T22:04:00.001Z

Bonjour,

Joe took the kids to school. Then, he headed to the welder to have the rust spots repaired. He then went to the painter to schedule the painting for tomorrow. He got home at lunch time.

I did some cleaning, laundry, and worked on my book a little.

We got a brownie mix in a package the other day. So, I made those brownies and then worked on supper.

After supper, we headed to church. Ghana was playing Guinea tonight in the Africa Cup of Nations; so, there were eight in attendance tonight. We saw people gathered around TV screens and radios on our way to church. Joe preached a good sermon.

Bonnie said that her teacher told her that her hands were dirty today. I looked at her hands, and she had dirt under her fingernails. I asked her how her fingers got so dirty. She said, "Well, I was just playing with a black girl at school; she's my friend." She must think that the black comes off! : )

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

2012-01-31T21:21:00.001Z

Bonjour,

Joe took the kids to school. Then, he checked at several different places to get the best price for repairing some rust spots on the car. He found a welder and a painter. The welder will start the work tomorrow.

I got the laundry started. Then, I worked on my book for a while. I think I am on page six now; what progress!

Joe picked the kids up from school. The kids all had a good day at school. The kids played outside for a while.

Bonnie was showing me a paper that she did today. Their letter today was "L." She was looking at the clue word pictures and telling me the words that she had learned that started with L - "letooce (lettuce), leezard (lizard), bumble bee (otherwise known as a lady bug), and a goat (lamb). That girl is a mess!

We went into town for supper. We ate at a Chinese restaurant; it was very good.

As we got closer to home, the power was off. It was off for a couple hours and just came back on in time for bed time. Hooray!

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Monday, January 30, 2012

2012-01-30T22:39:00.001Z

Bonjour,

Joe took the kids to school. Around 9:30, he went to the Immigration office with Charlie. They had us call the Interior office to see when the committee would meet to consider our quota request. They said that they only meet once every three months, and they had already had a meeting in January. So, we have to fill out the paperwork for a ninety-day extension on our visa while we wait for the quota approval.

I got some things done around the house. I sorted paperwork and got things put away. I also did laundry, the never-ending cycle.

After school, the kids played outside with the Luther kids. After they left, Joe played soccer with the boys for a few minutes. Gilbert got hit right in the face with the ball. It knocked him off of his feet, but he was okay, although a bit offended.

At bath time, Gilbert threw a plastic turtle at Danny. It hit him right by the eye. When Joe first saw it, he thought we would have to go for stitches. But, after he got it cleaned up, it wasn't too bad.

Bonnie had a group of girls lined up outside this afternoon and was teaching them a song. Tonight, she was talking to the letter magnets on the fridge; they were her students. She must have teaching in the blood.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Sunday, January 29, 2012

2012-01-29T22:46:00.001Z

Bonjour,

We had a good day at church. The attendance was low today. Last night, Ghana played in the Africa Cup of Nations Tournament. Everyone was up late watching that. But, we had good services with those who did come.

I had fourteen in my class today. I did not have a helper. Gilbert and Danny helped me out.

After church, we had lunch and took naps. Then, we got ready to go back to church.

On the way to church tonight, a truck that was a few vehicles in front of us lost control when his brakes went out. First, he swerved way over on the left shoulder and almost took out an electric pole. Then, he crossed both lanes of traffic to run into a dirt embankment. The Siekberts were headed the opposite direction on their way to their church, and that truck crossed both lanes of traffic right in front of them. Praise the Lord for His protection! We had a good service this evening as well with thirteen in attendance.

Gilbert was talking about a movie that he just watched. He said, "The man was driving, and he stopped breathing. He probably had Typhoid." I told him that he probably had a heart attack. He said, "Well, you stopped breathing when you had Typhoid."

Tonight, during testimony time at church, Danny said, "I praise the Lord for Fante songs." We have been learning "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" in Fante in the evening services. Danny is starting to catch on.

Bonnie was singing "Happy Birthday" like they sing it at school. At the end, she said, "Peep, peep, hooray!" They say, "Hip, hip, hooray!," but Bonnie thinks it is "Peep, peep" because of their accent.

Joe has to go to the Immigration's office in the morning to see if they will extend our visas since we are working on the quota paperwork. Pray that it will all work out and that we won't have to pay for the ninety-day extensions.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Saturday, January 28, 2012

2012-01-28T21:28:00.001Z

Bonjour,

Joe left the house about 4:45 this morning to go get Mack Siekbert. They came back to the house and got the other vehicle. Then, they were off to the border. They got to the border town a couple hours before the guy who was meeting them did. Dao came and took our old vehicle back to Ivory Coast. Then, Joe, Mack, and Martin headed back to Takoradi. They stopped and had lunch at a place by the ocean.

It rained here this morning. I wasn't sure if anyone would come for Bible Club. We had nineteen in spite of the rain. We had the Bible Club on the porch.

Dan started four other Bible Clubs today. There weren't many out at the soccer fields today because of the rain, but he did have a few at each place.

Joe got back around 3:30. Charlie brought his kids down to the field to play. It stopped raining just after Bible Club this morning and was quite humid this afternoon.

I attempted to make some corn chips for nachos for supper, but they did not turn out very well. I won't use that recipe again!

The boys have been busy working on some Hidden Picture Puzzle books that we got in a package yesterday. Gilbert found everything on one page, and he was so proud of himself. Danny and I did another 100 piece puzzle tonight. Gilbert helped us for a minute; then, he went back to his hidden pictures.

Joe is very tired after driving from one end of the country to the other in the past three days. Pray that he will get some good rest tonight and will be ready to go again in the morning.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Friday, January 27, 2012

2012-01-27T22:13:00.001Z

Bonjour,

Joe took the kids to school. He came home and helped Charlie put a part on their vehicle. I hemmed several pairs of Joe's pants.

Then, Joe and I went into town. He took me to lunch. Then, we did a little grocery shopping. We headed in the direction of the school in plenty of time to get there before school got out, but we got stuck in a major traffic jam. One of the traffic circles was blocked due to an accident. People were going through the gas station parking lot to try to get around the accident. Then, there was a traffic jam in the gas station parking lot. There was a tanker truck stretched across one side of the gas station with a taxi blocking the only exit to go in the opposite direction of the traffic jam. The taxi had room to back up, but it was just sitting there. So, Joe got out and kindly asked the man if he would back up so that cars could get out that way. The man decided to get upset that a white man knew how to ask the way a Ghanaian would ask, and he refused to move his taxi. There was another taxi a little ways behind his taxi. That driver got out to try to reason with the man as well. He had a small child in the front seat of his taxi. Most of the vehicles here are not automatics, but that one was. The little girl knocked the vehicle into drive, and the vehicle shot forward running into the taxi which had refused to move. The driver was wishing he would have moved his taxi! We were finally able to get out and go the way we wanted to go. We got to the school a few minutes late.

When we got home, Charlie had brought his kids down to our yard to play. Our kids got their clothes changed and went outside to play.

I read a couple days ago that today would be National Chocolate Cake Day in the States. We couldn't pass up that opportunity! I told Joe about it yesterday when he was on his way home from Accra. Martin was with him, and he said that he wanted to celebrate with us. So, we invited Martin for supper. I made pizza, and we had chocolate cake for dessert. This morning, Bonnie told Joe at the breakfast table, "Dad, we saved some national cake for you!" (We made the cake yesterday and had to sample it.)

L.F.'s dad died a couple weeks ago. This weekend is the funeral. The funerals last for three days here. On Friday night, they have a wake; the family stays up all night. Then, on Saturday, they have the burial. On Sunday, they have a Thanksgiving service. It is mainly just a reason to "party." Most of the time, there is music blaring over loud speakers for the entire three days. L.F. works for us and attends our church. Joe and some of the men from the church went to the wake for a little while tonight. They won't stay the whole night though.

Pray for Joe as he travels to the border in the morning. Mack Siekbert is going to follow Joe to the border. Our mechanic from Ivory Coast is going to take our old vehicle back to Ivory Coast, get it pass the inspection, and then sell it. Mack will drive our other vehicle so that Joe will have a way home and won't have to wait for a bus to fill up at the border before he can come home.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Thursday, January 26, 2012

2012-01-26T21:02:00.001Z

Bonjour,

Joe left the house a little after 4:00 this morning and got to Accra by 9:00. He was in and out of the first office by 9:15. He spent the next several hours at the DVLA and was able to get all of the car papers transferred over to his name. Since he got everything done that he needed to do, he decided to come on home. He hit some traffic coming out of Accra. He should be home within the next thirty minutes.

The kids rode in a taxi to school with Brother Dan. The taxi was late picking them up from school because he had some car problems. They got home about thirty minutes later than normal, but the kids all seemed to be in good spirits. They wanted to put their play clothes on and go play with the Luther kids.

I think I am finally caught up on the laundry, at least for the moment. I worked on some more of Joe's pants; they always have to be shortened. I had not gotten my sewing machine out since we had been back in Africa until Joe's mom was here. Since the machine is still out, I thought I should get some projects done.

Gilbert and Danny both had a rough time going to bed. They don't like it when Daddy isn't here. But, he's coming!

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

2012-01-25T22:19:00.001Z

Bonjour,

Joe took the kids to school this morning. Then, he worked on getting all of the paperwork ready to turn in to be approved to get on a quota; this is the first step toward getting our residents' visas. He had to have fifteen copies made of every document because it will be presented to a board for consideration. He then checked on what he needs to do to get the vehicle papers in our name. He found out that he has to go to Accra to do that.

I got a few things done around the house.

When the kids got home from school, we had them rest for a while. They have been so grouchy on Wednesday nights. Having them rest helped with that.

After naps, Danny had homework to do. Bonnie wanted to go over the alphabet cards. When we got to V, I said, "V says 'v,v, violin.'" Bonnie said, "Mom, that's not a violin; it's a target." I said, "A target?" Then, it hit me that she thought it was a guitar. I said, "Do you mean a guitar?" She said, "Yes, that's what it is."

We had a good service with ten in attendance. Joe started a series of messages about the armor of God tonight.

Pray for Joe and Martin as they travel to Accra early tomorrow morning. Joe wants to try to get to Accra about the time that the offices are opening so that they can get a lot accomplished in one day. He plans to come back home on Friday. Then, on Saturday, he needs to take our old vehicle to the border to meet the mechanic because the paperwork for crossing the border expires on Sunday. The mechanic is going to take the vehicle back to Ivory Coast and sell it for us. Pray for safety on the roads!

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

2012-01-24T22:46:00.001Z

Bonjour,

I came down with the stomach bug during the night last night. I started feeling better this evening.

Gilbert seemed to be feeling better this morning. So, he went on to school. They said that he had a rough morning, but he made it through.

Joe took Charlie into town to get all of the paperwork for his vehicle up to date. He was in town all day and then brought the kids home from school.

The kids went to play with the Luther kids.

After supper, I helped the kids put a puzzle together.

Gilbert said that he had homework. When he took his book out of his bag, he said, "Gilbert, I can't believe you; you brought the wrong book home." He had brought his seatwork book home instead of his homework.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Monday, January 23, 2012

2012-01-23T22:30:00.001Z

Bonjour,

Joe took the kids to school. Then, he went to get the windshield wiper fixed. It was just a loose screw. While he was there, he decided to get an oil change. Instead of just doing the oil change, they did the 60,000 kilometer tune-up. So, Joe was there a lot longer than he thought he would be. When he finished there, it was time to pick the kids up from school.

The power was off for a couple hours this morning. I called the electric company. They said that they were replacing our transformer. We have had a temporary transformer on wheels, and they finally put a new transformer in up on the pole. Maybe that will make a difference. I only got one load of laundry done with all of the power outages. I did some cleaning around the house.

Bonnie had to go to the office twice today. The teacher told her not to "remove" her shoes. We aren't sure if Bonnie knew what the word "remove" meant before today. After a while, she had to go back to the office for "removing" her shoes. When she was telling me about it, she had figured it out. She said, "Mom, they say 'remove' instead of 'take off' like you say." Then, she said, "I'm not going to remove my shoes or take them off during school any more. And my teacher said never, ever to wear those green shoes to school again."

The kids played with the Luther kids after school. Joe helped Charlie put chicken wire around the swimming pool for a temporary fence. I talked to Julie for a little while before heading home to start on supper.

Julie gave us a train game. None of the kids had homework tonight. So, I played the game with them after supper.

It must have been a stomach bug that Bonnie had on Friday night because Gilbert is throwing up now. When he went to bed, he said that he felt like he was going to puke. A little later, I heard a loud noise coming from their bedroom. He must have tried to get to the door while puking because puke was everywhere. The strange thing was that he was still asleep and was puking in his sleep.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Sunday, January 22, 2012

2012-01-22T22:48:00.001Z

Bonjour,

We had a good day at church. People trickled in, but we had a good group by church time.

I started out with just my three in my class but ended up with twenty-five. My helper did not come today. Sunday school went okay because I didn't have many. A lady offered to help me for junior church, and I was glad that she did. It helps to have a Fante speaker in the class because most of the kids in my class have not been to school yet and speak very little English if any.

After church, we went home, ate lunch, took naps, and got ready to go back to church. We are still learning Scripture songs during the evening services. We also have started learning a Fante hymn during the evening services. We are working on "What A Friend We Have in Jesus" right now. I also play my clarinet for the evening song services. So, I haven't picked up on all of the words yet. I can sing that song in Russian, French, and English; I'll know it in a fourth language soon, I hope. : )

Joe has been preaching about Gideon for the past few Sunday nights. The boys get excited hearing about Gideon going to war. Sometimes Joe asks questions during his sermon, but he isn't really looking for an answer. Danny always throws the answer out there at the top of his voice.

Bonnie took it upon herself to try to make some children behind her behave and got herself into trouble. She was sitting with one of the ladies in the church. She got up, went to the kids in the row behind her, and was trying to make the kids bow their heads when she was caught in the act. We weren't praying; I'm not sure why she thought they needed to bow their heads. She had to sit with Mommy after that.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Saturday, January 21, 2012

2012-01-21T22:49:00.001Z

Bonjour,

This morning, Joe went visiting with Dan. Joe has a new idea for Saturday mornings. He wants to start Neighborhood Bible Clubs in several different areas. They looked at several different places today. They want to start five new Bible Clubs next week. They will go from one place to the next. The goal is to get more people in the church involved and turn these over to people in the church while they start some new ones. When we get enough people coming on Saturdays, we will start picking them up for Sunday services.

We had forty at the Bible Club in our yard today. Passing out water sachets and candy can become a mess with that many children! (Here they package water in plastic bags instead of bottles because it is cheaper. Each bag contains half a liter of water, a little more than a pint.) While I was passing out candy, the children who had already gotten candy attacked the bag containing the remaining water sachets. Those sachets do explode!

After naps, the boys went up to play with the Luther boys. Bonnie was asleep underneath Danny's bed. She slept quite a bit longer than the boys. She went to play too when she woke up. Joe took our boys, the Luther boys, and Dan squirrel hunting. I think they scared them all away with that many people! : ) Actually, they said that someone had burned their trash, and the hawks were swooping down; that was why there weren't any little critters out and about.

We had tacos for supper. Then, we had popcorn and watched Monk.

Joe found some old video clips that we had posted on Facebook a few years ago. The boys thought it was funny to see themselves when they were so little. Bonnie wanted to know where she was.

Our internet connection is too slow to post video clips here. We have tried a couple times, but it says that it will take 72 hours, and it always shuts down about two hours into the upload. Oh well, at least we can send pictures.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Friday, January 20, 2012

2012-01-20T23:28:00.001Z

Bonjour,

Last night, the power went off at 10:30 and was off most of the night. We had the generator going all night. Bonnie woke up when the power went off and didn't go back to sleep until around midnight.

This morning, Joe took the kids to school. Then, he came back home and worked on the prayer letter. I worked on some long overdue sewing projects - mainly shortening and hemming Joe's pants.

Around noon, Joe took Charlie into town to get groceries. Charlie needs to bring his car papers up to date before he can drive his vehicle; they will work on that on Monday.

They picked the kids up from school. On their way home, Bonnie threw up in the car. Joe thought that she just got car sick because she was sitting in the back, and they got stuck in traffic. So, she went up to the Luthers' house with the boys to play with the Luther kids.

The boys played in the dirt with the Luther boys. They dug trenches and were having dirt clod wars. They had dirt from head to toe.

I made Cracker Barrel grilled chicken tenderloins for supper. They were pretty tasty!

After supper, Bonnie started throwing up again. She stood up from the table and puked in my lap; then, she puked all over the floor. Moments later, the power went off. Joe had everyone stay put while he got some candles lit. The power came back on for a little while and then went back off for four hours.

Bonnie threw up all evening. She did not have a fever. Maybe it is just a stomach bug. We will see how she is doing in the morning. She kept coming to sit in my lap and said, "You'll hold your sick baby girl, right Mom?" Poor baby!

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Thursday, January 19, 2012

2012-01-19T22:15:00.001Z

Bonjour,

Joe took the kids to school this morning. Then, he went into town to get some parts that he needed to fix a broken pipe at the Luthers' house and parts to get the well pump working how he wanted it to work. Martin came back home with him and helped him on all of his projects. Joe was able to fix it so that no one has to go down to the well to turn the pump on.

I spent the morning in the kitchen preparing a meal for the Luthers. I made supper for us too and put everything in the refrigerator.

When the kids got home from school, they helped Martin wash the car. Then, they went up the hill to wash the Luthers' vehicle.

Joe went to pick the Luthers up from the bus station at 4:30. The kids were so excited to see the Luther children. I walked up the hill to greet them too. Their new baby is cute. After we talked to them for a little bit, we headed home for supper.

None of the kids had homework again tonight. Gilbert said that his homework is going to start tomorrow.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

2012-01-18T22:13:00.001Z

Bonjour,

This morning, Joe took the kids to school. Then, we worked on paperwork. We are getting everything ready to apply to be added to an existing quota (NGO). This is the first step in obtaining our residents' visas. The Ministry of Interior gives you one original form. All of the information is to be typed on that form. We could have taken it into town and had it typed, but we decided to try to do it with the computer. After some trial and error, we got it lined up exactly. We have to wait for a letter and a signature from Brother Luther. Then, we have to have fifteen copies made of everything to be presented before the board in Accra. The Luthers should arrive tomorrow.

The kids had a good day at school. No one had any homework today. Bonnie must not have taken much of a nap at school because she was a grouch.

After supper, we got ready for church. We had a good church service with eleven in attendance.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

2012-01-17T22:33:00.001Z

Bonjour,

This morning, the kids needed their jackets to go to school. They did not take them yesterday, and they had goose bumps. The teachers were concerned about them. During Harmattan, the mornings and evenings are much cooler than normal. It was in the 60's this morning; that is COLD for West Africa!!

Joe and I went into town this morning. First, we stopped to get some plumbing parts so that Joe could get everything working with the well pump. The Luthers will be coming to Takoradi on Thursday. We picked up a few groceries for them. I am going to make a meal for them on Thursday. I needed to get a few things for that too. We went to the grocery store. Then, we went to the market circle to divide and conquer. I ventured inside the circle to get vegetables. Joe went to the cold store which sells frozen chicken and hotdogs. Then, we headed back home.

After lunch, I worked on getting a couple of Joe's pairs of pants ready to hem. I rested for a little while when Joe left to pick the kids up from school.

No one had homework today. The kids helped Joe work on the pump outside while I got supper ready. Danny was excited when he found out that we were having sweet and sour meatballs and rice. He said, "That's my bestest thing, Mom! Thank you!"

After supper, we took a taxi to pick up our new vehicle. Everyone was excited about that. It rides very nice, and the AC gets very cold! Gilbert said that he guessed he was going to have to curl up in a ball to keep warm. There are vents for the back seat too. I had to point all of their vents up toward the ceiling because they got too cold.

The man who sold us the vehicle had another box of toys for each of the kids tonight. They could hardly wait until we got home so that they could check out those toys. Bonnie got a tea set for her dolls, and the boys got a mat that has a bunch of wooden pieces that go with it - houses, boats, trees, cars, etc. Bed time came around too soon for all of them.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Monday, January 16, 2012

2012-01-16T22:07:00.001Z

Bonjour,

We had a big blessing this morning. We are in the process of buying a newer vehicle. We had gotten a loan for it. We were hoping to sell our current vehicle to pay off part of the loan, but we were not sure how much we could get for it as it is not in the best of shape. We got a text from Joe's dad this morning saying that our church in Texas is going to buy the vehicle for us. They had some money set aside in an emergency fund, and the church members volunteered to give the remaining amount. Joe and I both got choked up as we read the text and then later heard the story.

Joe took the kids to school this morning. Then, he went to work on getting his Ghanaian driver's license. He got to the office at 8:30. He had to stand in thirteen different lines to complete all of the paperwork. After five hours of standing in all of those lines, he got his temporary license. The permanent one will be ready in two months.

I did some cleaning and laundry this morning. I am going to attempt to write a book; people have told us for years, "You should write a book." So, I am going to give it a whirl. I got my first page typed today; I think it is going to be a slow process. : )

The kids had a good day at school. Gilbert said that he didn't finish his Language page. Gilbert got to read the story of the big bad wolf today,and he got to be one of the little pigs. He was upset that girls were the other two pigs; he said, "Weren't all three pigs boys, Mom?" Danny said that he got all of his seatwork right. When Danny is telling about something that happened, his facial expressions are so funny. He raises his eyebrows and does all kinds of tricks. Bonnie's accomplishments for the day was no visit to the principal's office.

Joe worked on the pump for a little while after he brought the kids home from school. The switch needed to be replaced. He got that replaced, but something else broke. He will get that fixed tomorrow so that we can hopefully get the Luthers' water tank filled up before they return on Wednesday.

Joe helped the boys shoot the pellet gun. Gilbert said that he shot a water bag all by himself. Danny did it too with Daddy's help.

Bonnie helped me make pizza for a little while. Then, she ventured outside to see what the boys were doing.

Danny was the only one with homework tonight. He was practicing writing his name, and he also started doing addition. Gilbert was impressed that Danny could add too.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Sunday, January 15, 2012

2012-01-15T22:55:00.001Z

Bonjour,

This morning when we went to get in the car for church, we had a flat tire. It was the tire that Joe had replaced on Friday. It had a nail in it. He didn't have the tool he needed to remove the spare tire. So, we took a taxi to church.

Harmattan was very thick today. (Harmattan is the fallout from sandstorms in the Sahara Desert.) The sky was so full of dirt that it was a much cooler day. It was in the 70s when we got up this morning. The Ghanaians were so cold. One little girl in my class was all bundled up in a winter coat; she kept it on all morning with it zipped up to her chin. Our attendance was down due to the weather. But, we had good services. When Sunday school started, I just had my three kids, but I had 20 by Junior Church time in the six and under class. My helper did not come until church was almost over. So, there was no translator for the Fante speakers, but we made it through.

The taxi took us home after the services. After lunch, Joe went in search of a place to get the tire fixed. Not many places like that are open on Sunday. He finally found a place.

While Joe was out trying to get the tire fixed, Bonnie escaped from the house. She was supposed to be taking a nap. When Joe got home, Bonnie was out under the trees "teaching" her Bible Club. Joe said that she had a group of children lined up from tallest to shortest and was teaching them, "Oh be careful little hat whom you trust."

We got to go to church in our vehicle tonight. We had a good service with ten in attendance.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Saturday, January 14, 2012

2012-01-14T22:15:00.001Z

Bonjour,

Joe went up to the church for visitation, but no one came. Joe's parents gave us money to buy a mattress. So, he went to get that. The mattress that we have been using belongs to the Luthers. When he came home, we did some rearranging. He loaded up the mattresses that belong to the Luthers and took them up to their house. They will arrive here on Tuesday. We had some ladies do some deep cleaning up there, and we are working on getting everything ready for them.

I had twenty for Bible Club today. More of the children are participating now in learning the verses and songs.

This afternoon, a friend in Texas called. She was asking what we had done today. I was telling her about the new mattress. It is a king-sized mattress, and all of our sheets are queen-sized. I told her that we put a flat sheet sideways, and it covered the bed. She said, "Do you know what I have in my hand?" I said, "What?" She said, "The set of king-sized sheets that you gave me when we were packing your stuff up for Africa." She said that she had not opened them and that she will send those to me. It never ceases to amaze me how the Lord blesses us and takes care of even little things like sheets.

Bonnie learned a new verse to "Oh Be Careful" at school on Friday. She sang, "Oh be careful little 'hat' who you trust." I told her that I thought they were trying to say "heart." But, she was not convinced.

We watched the second Flipper movie after supper, dishes, and baths. The boys helped me do the dishes tonight. Bonnie was still sitting at the table finishing her supper while we were doing dishes.

At bed time, Gilbert said, "I wish I could put my mattress on the floor like yours because that is more fun." We told him that we have to have a bed frame made. He still thought it looked like more fun.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Friday, January 13, 2012

2012-01-13T22:46:00.001Z

Bonjour,

This morning, the kids all woke up on their own. They were in better moods today than they were yesterday. They were all ready when the taxi came.

Joe and Mack ate breakfast at the guest house and then headed to the airport to meet the Luthers. The Luthers' flight was delayed. They waited until they arrived. Then, they got all of their luggage loaded up in our car and got a taxi for the Luthers to ride to the guest house. When they got to the guest house, they unloaded what the Luthers need for the next few days. Joe kept the rest of their stuff in the car to bring it on home for them. Then, they loaded up their stuff that they had left at the guest house and headed out.

They stopped at the Immigration office to get the paperwork that we need to get started on our residents' visas. Then, they sat in traffic for almost three hours. There is road construction, and they had it narrowed down to two lanes - one lane going in each direction. So, it took forever to get out of Accra. Then, just as they were leaving Accra, Joe heard a strange noise. He pulled over to see what the problem was. One of the back shocks had broken and had dug into the tire. It happened at a good place though because they were able to get a new tire; then, they were on their way once again.

This morning, I walked to the taxi station and took a taxi to the post office. We had a package. I got the package. Then, I took a taxi to the store and got a drink and a snack for the ride home. I took another taxi back to Kansawarado, the area where we live, and walked home from the taxi station. The package weighed about fifteen pounds, and it seemed to get heavier as I walked along. It is only about 1/4 mile from the taxi station to the house. When it is over 100 degrees though, it seems like it is a lot farther.

Dan brought the kids home from school in a taxi. He told me that Bonnie had to go to the office today. Here, they think that the pronouns he/she are interchangeable. He was talking about Bonnie but said, "He had to go to the office." I thought he was talking about Danny, but it was Bonnie. She wasn't paying attention. Brother Morgan was there today; so, he talked to Bonnie. It was just a warning this time.

Gilbert was so excited that he got to read today. He said, "Mom, I did super!" Danny said that he did good with his blends today too. We worked on both of those things last night.

There were a couple movies in the package. The kids had fun watching Flipper.

Joe got home about 8:00 this evening. We were so happy to see him. He brought in a box of a dozen Dunkin Donuts! I thought maybe there was one in Accra now, but the Luthers had brought those donuts for us from the States. That was very nice of them! We will enjoy eating those for breakfast tomorrow. He had some other treasures that he found too. The store that gets some American products had some things that were about to go out of date; so, the prices were marked down quite a bit. Hooray!

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Thursday, January 12, 2012

2012-01-12T21:12:00.001Z

Bonjour,

This morning, the kids had a rough start. They all bawled when they got in the taxi to go to school. When they got home, they said that they stopped crying before they got to school. They had a good day at school.

I worked on our quarterly report this morning and got some laundry done too.

Joe and Mack had a good day in Accra. Joe took Mack to some of the stores that the Aarons showed us. Mack was impressed. They had to suffer and go to KFC for supper followed by the Italian ice cream place. The Luthers' flight was cancelled; they will now arrive tomorrow morning. So, Joe and Mack will meet them at the airport and help them with their luggage. Then, Joe and Mack will head this way.

I was patching a hole in Danny's pants this evening with the sewing machine. Gilbert decided to try his hand at sewing. He did pretty good for his first attempt. He kept unthreading the needle.

The boys read to me after supper. Danny had reading circle for the first time today. They are working on blends right now. Gilbert said that he hasn't been getting to read much at school; so, I had him read several pages to me tonight.

After we talked to Daddy on the phone, the boys went right to sleep. Bonnie keeps thinking of another reason to get out of bed. She takes a nap at school, but the boys don't.

Nana and Papa should be back in Houston now if all went well.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

2012-01-11T22:10:00.001Z

Bonjour,

Joe took the kids to school this morning. Danny was crying about Nana and Papa leaving. Joe told the teacher that they were leaving today and that Danny might have a rough day.

Joe and his parents left the house at 9:00 to head toward Accra. It was sad to say goodbye. We really enjoyed their visit.

They picked Mack Siekbert up and then headed toward Accra. They got stuck in traffic outside of Accra and sat still for a couple hours. But, they made it around 4:00. (It is a four-hour trip when there is not any traffic.) They ate at the mall and then went to the guest house for a little while. Then, they headed to the airport. Their flight should be taking off about now.

Joe and Mack will do some running around in the morning. Then, they will help pick up the Luthers' luggage tomorrow afternoon at the airport. Joe and Mack plan to head home early on Friday.

I just took it easy today. I did some laundry and read.

Dan brought the kids home in a taxi after school. Gilbert was worried about riding in the taxi, but he said that it was fun.

The kids played outside while I got supper ready.

We sang some songs and read a Bible story. The taxis quit running after dark; so, we weren't able to go to church tonight.

The boys were both asleep soon after they hit the pillow. It takes Bonnie a while to wind down.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

2012-01-10T23:14:00.001Z

Bonjour,

Today, Joe and Papa worked on things outside. They got the Luther's pump up and running. Then, they did some work on the switch for the pump in the well.

Nana finished hanging all of the curtains that she made. She did some other little sewing projects too. I did some cleaning and laundry.

The kids went back to school today. When they got to school, they were the first ones there. Bonnie said, "School is cancelled; let's go home." The boys had already taken off to the playground. The others started trickling in.

Joe took Nana and Papa with him to pick the kids up from the school. Nana and Papa got to visit the boys' classrooms. They said that Gilbert was all business; he just kept right on doing his work. Danny got a big grin on his face and jumped out of his seat to hug Nana. His teacher said, "Danny, are you out of your seat without permission?" Then, she told him she was just teasing. Bonnie's class was still napping. All the kids had a good day. When they got home, Danny said, "Mom, today was a special day." I asked him why it was special. He said, "I don't know; it was just special."

I had a headache. I stayed and took a nap and felt better when I got up.

The kids had fun recording a book with Nana tonight. It is a book with a speaker in it, and it will record whatever you say on it. Whoever was not recording was playing Mother May I with Papa.

When it was bed time, Danny busted out bawling. He said, "We'll never get to play with everyone again." Nana and Papa leave tomorrow. : (

Joe will take Nana and Papa to Accra in the morning. Mack Siekbert is going to ride along with them. Nana and Papa fly out tomorrow night. Then, the Luthers arrive on Thursday night. Joe is staying to help them with their luggage. Then, he will come back home on Friday. Please pray for traveling safety.

Also, please pray for my brother, Tony Van Manen, and my nephew, Kody Van Manen. They are traveling to India on a missions trip.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Friday - Monday, January 6-9, 2012

2012-01-09T22:56:00.001Z

Bonjour,

Our internet has been down since Friday. We are back up and running today. I will try to bring you up to date on the recent happenings.

On Friday, Joe and Papa went into town to run errands. Nana did some sewing. I helped her cut some things out. She is making curtains to cover the bars on the windows. The kids were taking turns sitting under the table pushing the sewing machine pedal for Nana. I did some baking.

In the afternoon, I wasn't feeling very well. I had a bad headache. After I rested for a while, I felt better. We all went to Captain Hooks for supper. Captain Hooks is a good seafood restaurant. We got some big fish platters and shared them. As we were waiting for the bill, the waitress picked Bonnie up and said, "I'm going to take you home," as she walked away with Bonnie. Danny heard that and was about to tackle the lady; he wasn't going to let anyone take his sister away!

On Saturday morning, Joe and Papa went visiting. Nana came to Bible Club with us. We started out with seven and ended up with nineteen. After we finished, about twenty more children came to play in the field.

For supper, I made chicken chimichangas. That is one of Joe's favorites. Everyone liked them. I also made cinnamon rolls for Sunday morning breakfast.

We had a good day at church on Sunday. Nana came to Sunday school with me and the kids. My class is back up in numbers; we had twenty-seven by junior church time. Half of them were three and under; we had quite a time! In the morning service, Nana and Papa both gave a testimony. The people all stood and said, "Akwaba" to them, which means "Welcome." Joe had a meeting with one of the men after church. Then, we headed home. The chicken had to bake a while longer, but I got everything else ready while it baked.

After naps, we went back for the evening service. We had a good service with eighteen in attendance. Joe preached a good message about Gideon.

After the kids went to bed, we got a few more games of Monopoly Deal in.

This morning, we took some family pictures in our yard. Then, we went into town. Joe's dad wanted to find some African woods to take back to use in his wood shop. We also had to get juice for the kids' lunches and cleaning supplies; school starts tomorrow. Papa ventured into the market circle with me to get some more Velcro for the curtains that Nana is making. He said he was content to just stay in the car, but Nana told him that he really needed to experience the market.

Nana and Papa leave on Wednesday night. We will be sad to see them go, but we are so glad that they were able to come.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Thursday, January 5, 2012

2012-01-05T23:44:00.001Z

Bonjour,

We went to the ocean today. We had a great time. On our way out of town, we stopped to pick up some things from a missionary who is leaving the country. He gave the kids some toys. They were so excited. Gilbert and Danny were really wanting a knee board to ride the waves. One of the places where we have gone before provides boogie boards, but the place where we were going today does not. There were a couple boogie boards sitting in the garage. Gilbert spotted them. Since he was giving them all kinds of other things, Gilbert didn't think it would hurt to ask what he was going to do with those. He looked at the two and gave the boys the nicer board. Danny's eyes almost popped out of his head as he said, "Ya, man!" He also gave them some bats, balls, and baseball gloves. He gave Bonnie an American girl doll with a bunch of clothes and accessories. The kids were so excited. We decided to stop by there on our way home to pick up the stuff.

We went to a place about an hour away. The kids kept asking, "Are we going to park now?" Joe teasingly told them, "No, we are going home." Then, Danny and Bonnie would go into panic mode and say, "Really, Mom? We're not going to the ocean??"

We all had fun riding the waves. Papa enjoyed watching from underneath a shade tree. Gilbert was a little scared of the boogie board at first, but Danny did not want to get off of it. He would ride the wave in and go back out to do it again. Bonnie laughed the whole time she was on the board. Gilbert got brave enough to try it and decided he liked it too. I tried it once but didn't do so well. Then, it was Joe's turn. After that, Nana rode it; she had fun too. After a while, Joe asked Gilbert if he was ready for a turn. Gilbert said, "Not right now, Dad. I'm having a time!" He discovered that his flotation suit helped him get on top of the waves if he stuck his stomach out when a wave was coming.

Someone had told us of a French coffee shop in that town. We found it on our way out of town. There was a monkey at the restaurant. The kids were so excited about the monkey. Danny and Gilbert were petting it. Then, it went up the tree. The kids were all looking for the monkey, and it had come down and was sitting on our table. They came back to the table and petted it. Then, it went up on the roof of the building. Bonnie kept saying, "I want my monkey to come down." One of the French men got up and coaxed the monkey to come down. The monkey started picking at Danny's hair like he was looking for bugs. We got it on video. It was so funny. The monkey tried to show Danny that he was invading his space by shaking the tree, but Danny did not get the hint. The monkey nipped at Danny's finger. Danny said, "I was just trying to play with him." It did not draw blood. After that, we had them watch the monkey from afar.

We stopped to pick up the things that the other missionary gave us. He had found a few more treasures to add to the pile. As soon as we got home, the boys wanted to play baseball. After we got the car unloaded, Joe played with them for a few minutes.

I made pizza for supper. Nana played dolls with Bonnie. Papa, Joe, and the boys played with a tubular erector set with marbles.

After the kids went to bed, we played a few rounds of Monopoly Deal. Papa won the first two games, and Nana finally won a game.

We are so glad that Nana and Papa got to come. We are really enjoying our time with them.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Wednesday, January 4, 2012 (Our internet was down last night.)

2012-01-05T23:15:00.001Z

Bonjour,

This morning, we made another trip into town to get some sewing materials. We needed Velcro to hang curtains on our window bars. Joe, Papa, and the kids stayed in the car while Nana and I ventured into the market circle. We checked at a little sewing store. They did not know what Velcro was. Nana had some on her shoe and showed it to them. They told us that the sewing places did not have it but to try a shoe repair supply place. We found a little booth like that inside the circle, and they had Velcro! Then, we found some fabric for curtains.

When we got home, I worked on heating up the leftovers for lunch. Joe, Papa, and the kids walked to the neighborhood "hardware store." It is a 40-foot storage container that is used as a store. They bought some corner molding to make picture frames for some posters that I got for Christmas. The kids came back carrying it on their shoulders.

After naps, the guys worked on cutting plywood and molding for the picture frames. I made some vanilla wafers to make banana pudding. Then, I got supper ready. Nana started some sewing.

After supper, we got ready for church. The kids were excited to show Nana and Papa "their church." We had a good time at church with twelve in attendance.

We had banana pudding when we got home. The boys played with their remote controlled cars. Papa made a ramp for them and taped it to the living room floor. Joe and I have been sleeping on mattresses on the living room floor. Danny asked, "Where are you going to sleep tonight? Our ramp is in your spot." We moved the ramp for bed time.

Today is my Dad's birthday; he is 62. Happy Birthday, Dad!

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

2012-01-04T00:07:00.001Z

Bonjour,

This morning, Bonnie said, "Mom, is it tomorrow now?" Nana had told her yesterday that they would put the princess decals on the wall "tomorrow." They got that done right away.

We went into town to show Papa around. Nana was here five years ago when Danny was born. We went to the post office. After that, we drove around the market circle to get bulk sugar. Papa was satisfied to see the market from the car; he did not want to venture out inside the circle. Then, we went to the grocery store. When we got to the grocery store, we decided to go eat lunch first and then go back to get groceries. After lunch, we went back to the grocery store. We saw the Siekberts at the store. Today was Joseph Siekbert's tenth birthday. After we finished our grocery shopping, we headed home.

Everyone rested for a while. Then, the kids, Joe, and Papa went outside to do some more exploring. Nana and I came up with a plan for curtains. Then, I worked on supper while Nana worked on Bonnie's doll's hair. The men were playing with the boys new remote control cars; then, they let the boys have a turn.

After supper, Bonnie helped Nana and I do the dishes. Then, we watched part of "In Search of the Castaways." About 9:00, the kids got ready for bed. Bonnie wanted Nana to brush her hair, and they wanted Nana to read their bedtime story.

After the kids went to bed, we played a few rounds of Monopoly Deal.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Monday, January 2, 2012

2012-01-02T23:37:00.000Z

Bonjour,

The kids were up early this morning waiting for Daddy to get home with Nana and Papa. We did some last minute cleaning.

Joe and his parents got here about 10:40. We were so happy to see them.

I finished lunch preparations. After lunch, Papa, Nana, and the kids took a nap.

After naps, Joe, Papa, and the kids went outside while Nana and I wrapped presents. They had those four suitcases full of goodies! When they were ready to come inside, we were still wrapping. So, they went to get Lebanese pizza for supper. They got stuck behind a masquerade parade on the way home.

While Nana wrapped my presents, I refilled the water filter and made brownies. Nana was just finishing up wrapping when the others got home.

We had supper and then had Christmas. There were so many presents! Everyone got lots of good stuff. Everyone played and played after we finished. The kids did not go to bed until 10:30.

I don't know who had more fun with the remote control cars - the boys or Joe and Papa.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Sunday, January 1, 2011

2012-01-01T22:23:00.001Z

Bonjour,

Happy New Year!

This morning, Danny and I woke up with pink eye. So, the kids and I stayed home.

Joe went to church. He said that they had good services, although some people were quite sleepy.

As soon as church was over, Joe left for Accra. Dan rode with him. They did not run into much traffic and were at the guest house by 4:30.

The kids and I sang some songs and read some Bible stories.

Joe's parents arrived safely without any problems along the way. Their bags all made it.

The kids were so excited to talk to them on the phone. The kids may not sleep tonight! They are in bed, but they are far from asleep.

Pray for Joe and his parents as they drive to Takoradi in the morning. They should be here for lunch.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Saturday, December 31, 2011

2011-12-31T22:55:00.001Z

Bonjour,

Joe went visiting with Dan this morning. They had some good visits.

We had nineteen for Bible Club this morning. About twenty more kids came after we finished. They all played outside until it was time to go home.

The kids and I have been working on cleaning the house today. At lunch time, Gilbert reported that they were having a race in their bedroom to get it cleaned up. Gilbert was telling all that Danny and Bonnie had accomplished. I asked him what he was doing. He said, "I'm telling them what to do, and I'm helping them." Later, he reported that Danny was the winner.

This afternoon, there were some boys playing soccer out in the field. Some girls were playing over by the tire swing. Bonnie went down and was playing with the girls. In a few minutes, Joe went out on the porch. Bonnie had those girls sitting in a line and was having her own Bible Club. She was telling them to sing but kept changing the song right in the middle of the song that they were singing.

Gilbert came down with pink eye today. We got him started on the medicine right away. We will see how he is doing tomorrow.

Joe went to the Watchnight Service. We have about an hour to go before midnight.

Pray for Joe's parents as they are on their way here. They should arrive in Accra tomorrow night around 8:00 PM. Pray that we won't run into a lot of traffic tomorrow on our five-hour trip to Accra. We are planning to leave right after the morning service. If Gilbert isn't doing better, it might just be Joe going by himself.

Happy New Year!

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Friday, December 30, 2011

2011-12-30T23:28:00.001Z

Bonjour,

Joe did some paperwork at the house this morning. Then, he headed into town with Dan. They had been looking for one more ceiling fan for the church that was the same as the ones that were already there. They were able to find a fan. They spent the rest of the morning trying to get the Coke crate refilled for the Watchnight Service. They had to start buying them one bottle at a time and finally got the crate filled back up.

The Luthers will return in a couple weeks. Joe is working on getting things ready for their return. He went to get a car battery for their vehicle. Then, he worked on cleaning out their water tank. A squirrel had gotten inside the tank and died. So, it had to be scrubbed and disinfected.

The kids helped Joe clean out the pool this afternoon after naps.

I made pizza for supper. I am still not feeling very well with this sinus infection. Joe did the dishes for me, what a sweetheart!

Bonnie seems to have an ear infection now. Maybe one of these days we will all be healthy!

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Thursday, December 29, 2011

2011-12-29T22:39:00.001Z

Bonjour,

Joe went to get our propane bottles refilled. Then, he and Dan visited some of the church people to let them know the plans for the Watchnight Service. We didn't announce anything on Sunday since Joe was sick and was doing good just to be there.

Joe found out that the fuel prices went up by 14% today. They had been announcing that fuel prices would increase by 15 to 30%; they came in just under the predicted amount so that people would not be quite as angry.

The banks had been closed since December 23. They had posted signs that they would not reopen until January 4. But, they were forced by the government to reopen today because more money had been withdrawn through the ATMs than was left in the banks.

The kids are enjoying playing, but I think Gilbert is getting ready to go back to school. Gilbert asked if they could watch school DVDs today. I told him that I didn't have the first grade DVDs. He said, "That's fine; we can just do Kindergarten." I was working on cleaning their closet. Before I got out of the closet, he was on to other things. Danny looked at Gilbert like he was a little crazy to be asking to watch school DVDs.

Three more sleeps until Nana and Papa arrive!

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

2011-12-28T22:59:00.001Z

Bonjour,

Joe went into town this morning to get the parts for the pump and to run some other errands.

The kids watched Swiss Family Robinson for a while. Then, they rode their bikes on the porch. It poured down rain for a little while.

The power went off. Gilbert brought a little battery-operated fan that needed new batteries. We changed the batteries, but it still didn't work. He said, "That was the only thing to keep us cool, Mom." The power came back on a few minutes later.

Joe is feeling better. Now, I have a sinus infection. Bonnie is just about over pink eye. I kept Bonnie home tonight.

The boys had a good time at church with Joe.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

2011-12-27T23:21:00.001Z

Bonjour,

Today we did some things around the house. I did some more cleaning. I divided my 50 lb. bag of flour into smaller bags and put it in the freezer. We bought some big plastic containers with lids to store our bulk flour, sugar, milk powder, etc. The flour was the only thing that did not do very well in the plastic container. Toward the end of the last batch, we had to throw the flour out because it had so many weevils and worms.

Joe is feeling a little better today. He got the kids' bike tires all aired up and put Bonnie's bell on her bike. The kids rode bikes out on the porch most of the day. At one point, the front gate was opened. Danny overshot the runway when he tried to turn around and went down the steps with his bike. He and the bike both survived the crash.

The switch for the water pump burned up today. Joe worked on repairing that this afternoon. He will have to go to town to get some parts tomorrow.

After supper, we played some games. Danny and Joe won both games of Cadoo. Then, we played one round of Skipbo Jr. Gilbert won that one with a little help from Mom and Dad.

We are counting down the days until Nana and Papa get here - five more days!

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Monday, December 26, 2011

2011-12-26T23:07:00.001Z

Bonjour,

Joe is feeling a little better today. He started a treatment for a bacterial infection.

Bonnie has pink eye. It was going around at school before school got out. We thought we had escaped without getting it, but I forgot about the incubation period. Hopefully we can get rid of it before Nana and Papa arrive.

The kids are so excited about Nana and Papa coming. Yesterday, the boys asked how many more days until they get here. I said, "Seven." Gilbert said, "Pick me up, Danny, because we are so excited." Gilbert can't lift Danny; so, he wanted to Danny to pick him up. This morning, they asked how many more days until Nana comes. Bonnie said, "Well, Papa's coming too, isn't he?"

I did some cleaning and laundry today. The kids worked in their bedroom for a while. Then, they played outside. They are having fun with their new toys.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Sunday, December 25, 2011

2011-12-25T22:25:00.000Z

Bonjour,

Merry Christmas!!

Joe woke up early this morning with a bad case of the stomach bug. He was not sure if he would make it through the whole morning, but he decided to try. He made it through.

We started out with just a handful of kids this morning, but by the end of the morning service, there were over 100 children there. We had made up 100 goody bags to give away to the children. I wrote a number on each child's hand and stopped when we got to 100. I had some cookies and candy for the extras. I think we ended up with 114 children. There were quite a few adults and teens as well.

During the morning service, the three different Sunday school classes each sang a song and said a verse. The majority of my class is under the age of four now, and many of them don't participate yet. I sat on the front row and sang and said the verse with them, and we made it through.

Toward the end of Sunday school, Danny got a sucker for saying a verse. He dropped the sucker and it broke all over the floor. I told him he could get another one. Then, we lined up to go to the auditorium to sing. I thought we would be outside for a few minutes and did not think any more of Danny's sucker. When we went into the auditorium, he had the sucker in his hand. We sang "Angels We Have Heard on High" and did motions with it. Danny decided that he could not do the motions with the sucker in his hand; so, he just put the sucker in his mouth. Joe captured all of this on video.

After church, we were supposed to go visit Brother Blay. Joe was too sick and needed to get home. So, Dan headed up the group that went to visit Brother Blay. He took our plate of goodies for us. Dan said that Brother Blay was very touched by the gifts and the Christmas carols.

Most of the people went to their home village after the morning service. We did not have an evening service tonight. It was a good thing because Joe would not have been able to make it.

After naps, I finished up making homemade ice cream. Then, we opened presents. Joe sat in his chair and made it through the festivities.

Our sending church in Texas called to wish us a Merry Christmas and sang to us. That made us feel special!

We had pizza and ice cream. The ice cream did not turn out so well. My milk mixture must have been too hot and scrambled the eggs. Gilbert said, "Mom, this ice cream tastes a little weird; it is crunchy." Needless to say, we did not eat much ice cream. We will have to try it again some other day.

The kids had fun trying out all of their new toys. No one wanted to go to bed this evening, except Joe that is.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Saturday, December 24, 2011

2011-12-24T22:46:00.001Z

Bonjour,

Merry Christmas Eve!

Joe went visiting today. Then, he had to go into town. He took Dan and Stephen out to lunch and finished his errands from yesterday. He said that the traffic was terrible.

I made cookies and Koolaid for Bible Club this morning. Only nine came for Bible Club. About ten more showed up after we were finished. They did not want to leave at noon. I had to follow them off of the property to get them to leave.

Gilbert is feeling better today. He was starting to feel a little run down again around lunch time. But after a nap, he was fine.

Our cat disappeared while we were gone to Accra. LF was feeding her but said that after Tuesday night, he could not find her anywhere. Either a critter got her, or someone took her for Christmas dinner.

I made the dough for cream cheese bread for tomorrow morning. The dough has to chill overnight.

We made pizza for supper. The boys helped me put the dough in the pans and put the toppings on. Bonnie set the table.

After supper, we got the laundry folded and put away. Then, we sat down and read the Christmas story. We sang some Christmas carols. Then, the kids each opened one gift. They have been asking all day when it would be time to open one present. Joe was teasing them and telling them that we would just wait until Nana and Papa come. Joe's parents are coming to visit us January 1-11.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Friday, December 23, 2011

2011-12-23T23:28:00.001Z

Bonjour,

This morning, Joe went into town to run some errands. Before he got very far, the alternator died. He had to borrow a battery from a bank manager to start the car; then, he had to lock the throttle open, put our battery back in, and get to the mechanic all the while keeping his foot on the gas pedal through the traffic. They put a used alternator in, and he was back in business. We had several packages at the post office today. One of the packages had actually arrived in Takoradi on August 22, but a package slip was never put in the post office box to let us know about the package. Joe said that he gave out a lot of "Christmas gifts" today; everyone was looking for a handout. He got back home about 4:30 looking a bit done in.

The kids and I did some cleaning. Then, we made fudge. Danny could hardly wait for it to set up so that he could sample it.

Around 4:00 this afternoon, Gilbert started feeling puny. He started throwing up and was sick all evening. He finally went to sleep. Hopefully he will feel better in the morning.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Thursday, December 22, 2011

2011-12-22T22:35:00.001Z

Bonjour,

We left the guest house before 6:00 this morning and arrived in Takoradi a little before noon. It took a couple hours to get out of Accra, but the trip went smoothly. Joe is feeling a little better today but not back to normal yet. I am just hoping that the stomach bug does not go full circle!

The kids were happy to be home. They played outside most of the afternoon.

All of our Christmas decorations are still in Ivory Coast. We bought some decorations for a tree that we found in the garage, but it did not have a stand. Since we are coming down to the wire, we put a Christmas tree of lights on the window bars. When all else fails, improvise!! The kids had fun hanging the ornaments from the bars. I'll post some pictures later.

I was heading to the bedroom to wrap presents when that phase of the power went off. It came back on just before bed time. After I put the kids in bed, I took the presents out to the living room to start wrapping. Joe went to bed, but I am still wrapping.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

2011-12-21T17:12:00.000Z

Bonjour,

Yesterday after I sent the e-mail, Gilbert had a bad headache and puked a couple times. After he took a nap, he felt better. I think he just got too hot.

When the guys went to the bakery yesterday, they ordered a cheesecake. We had that for dessert last night. It was delicious!!

We had a good time of fellowship with the Aarons last night over supper and dessert. The Aarons went back to Kumasi today.

We went for breakfast at Frankie's this morning. Then, we went to the embassy to pick up my passport. I did not even have to wait in line. As soon as I walked up, they handed me my passport.

We got on the road to head home. After sitting still in traffic for over an hour, we decided it was going to take hours to get out of Accra at that rate. We decided to leave early tomorrow morning and went back to the guest house. Joe is not feeling well now; it is a good thing we decided to wait to travel home tomorrow.

Please pray that everyone will feel better in the morning and that we will be able to get home safely and in a timely manner.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Monday-Tuesday, December 19-20, 2011

2011-12-20T14:45:00.001Z

Bonjour,

On Monday morning, we traveled from Takoradi to Accra. We had a good trip. We did not run into heavy traffic until we got inside Accra. We met the Aarons at KFC. After lunch, we took our stuff to the guest house. Our brakes are still having some trouble. We decided to ride with the Aarons so that we would not have to worry about the brakes in the stop and go traffic. We went to La Hacienda. They were well stocked this time. It sounds like a Mexican restaurant, but it is actually a store that gets things in bulk from the States. I got a big bag of chocolate chips and some Dr. Pepper. They even had Velveeta, but I was not willing to pay 26 cedis for a brick! We did get a big can of nacho cheese. We can freeze it, and it lasts a long time. Then, we went to Hypermarket Palace. Joe got stocked up on coffee there. Then, we went to the mall. We let the kids play in the play area for an hour. The guys stayed with them for the first thirty minutes while Emily and I shopped. Then, we stayed with the kids while the guys shopped. We ate supper at a restaurant at the mall. The restaurant has a Monday night special - buy one hamburger and get one free. It was probably the best hamburger we have eaten here. Adam must have gotten too hot or something. Right as we sat down for supper, he said, "I'm going to puke." Andrew jumped up with him, but they did not make it very far. Andrew went and got Adam cleaned up. It took a little while for Andrew to recover. But, everyone was able to eat supper by the time it came. We went back to the guest house and crashed.

This morning, Joe and Andrew went to a bakery and got some things for breakfast. Then, Joe and I went to the US Embassy to get pages added to my passport. We will have to go back to pick it up tomorrow. From there, we went to get hair cuts. We picked up some lunch meat and headed back to the guest house for lunch. This afternoon, we are watching the Aaron children while they do some shopping. We are all going for pizza for supper. I guess I should go see how Joe is doing with all six children!

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Sunday, December 18, 2011

2011-12-18T23:18:00.001Z

Bonjour,

We had a good day at church. I started out with five in the six and under class and ended up with nineteen. Joe said that the morning service went well.

On the way home from church on Sunday morning, there are usually about ten kids who pile in the back to ride back to Kansawarado with us. From the back seat, Gilbert said, "Mom, someone freshened." He had his nose plugged. I said, "What?" About that time, the smell hit us too. It was definitely the opposite of fresh! I don't know where Gilbert picked up that term! We usually have the windows down, but since the AC is working, we had all of the windows rolled up. They didn't stay up for long!

We had lunch, took naps, and got ready to go back to church. We had a good evening service with fourteen in attendance.

On the way home from church tonight, Joe said, "Something is getting me wet. What is that?" Bonnie had found the Windex bottle in the back seat and was spraying the Windex between the front seats.

I had the kids help gather things for our trip to Accra. They were so excited about leaving in the morning that it took them forever to go to sleep. Bonnie kept coming out to say, "I'm trying to go to sleep." Then, Gilbert came to report that Bonnie was in her bed playing the harmonica. She was really trying hard to go to sleep!

You might not hear from us for a couple days. I may be able to get an update sent from Accra. If not, we will give a full report on Thursday.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Saturday, December 17, 2011

2011-12-17T22:55:00.001Z

Bonjour,

Joe went visiting this morning. He walked all the way to the church because he could not find a taxi. Then, they walked all over to make their visits. They walked all the way back to our turn off before they found a taxi on the way home. Joe was not coming home though; he was going to the mechanic to check on our vehicle. Our vehicle was ready! Joe waited around for them to finish Brother Arthur's vehicle; he came home for a while. Then, he took Brother Arthur back to get his car; they had to wait a while because it still was not ready.

The kids and I did some cleaning. Then, the kids played outside with the Bible Club kids. We had thirty-six for Bible Club today. Some older boys came today just as we were getting started; they had planned on just playing soccer. I told them that they had to come to Bible Club first; then, they could play soccer. They were cutting up a little during the lesson. I told them that they could sit quietly and listen or they could leave without playing soccer. They decided upon the first option.

I made pizza for supper. I also made some banana crumb muffins; everyone liked those except for Danny; he is not fond of bananas.

All of our Christmas decorations are still in Ivory Coast. We had found a Christmas tree in the garage. We tried to set it up tonight, but there was no tree stand. Joe will have to come up with one, but we couldn't put the tree up tonight. Gilbert was disappointed.

After supper, I played a couple rounds of Skipbo Jr. with Danny and Bonnie. Gilbert decided to play too after he heard Danny laughing about winning.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Friday, December 16, 2011

2011-12-16T23:08:00.001Z

Bonjour,

Today the teachers from the school came out here for a picnic. They played volleyball and soccer. The kids stayed outside with them all morning. We went down at lunch time and roasted hot dogs and had a picnic with them.

Joe took our vehicle to the mechanic this morning to get the back brake shoes replaced and get the air conditioner recharged. They got the brakes done. When they took it to the air conditioner people, they found a leak. They had looked for the leak before but could not find it. In trying to weld the pipe that was leaking, they melted some other part. We are praying that they get it fixed tomorrow because we are supposed to leave for Accra early Monday morning. They said it would be done by noon tomorrow, but that does not always mean anything in Africa!

I made some cookies this morning. The kids helped me make sugar cookies the other night. I made two other kinds today - cream wafers and chocolate chip. We took some down to the teachers for their picnic.

The children thought that they did not need a nap. But, they all slept for quite a while. Playing out in the sun all morning did them in.

Joe went to check on the vehicle this afternoon. Then, he took the kids up to help him drain the pool. It needs to be painted during the dry season so that it has plenty of time to dry. Bonnie tripped beside the pool and fell in head first. Danny jumped in and rescued her.

After supper, I did some addition and subtraction flashcards with Gilbert. Danny wanted to do some too; they have just started addition. Then, Danny got some word flashcards out. Bonnie took the letter magnets off of the refrigerator, and the magnets were her students. She comes up with some great things to use as her students - shoes, crayons, pretzels, and now magnets.

The electric phase that controls the fans and lights in the bedrooms and the AC in our bedroom went off this evening; maybe it will come back on tomorrow. Gilbert thought it was "scary" to take a bath by candle light; Danny thought it was great. They all went to bed with a glow stick. As I was tucking the kids in, Danny was singing "This little light of mine..." with his glow stick.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Thursday, December 15, 2011

2011-12-15T20:48:00.001Z

Bonjour,

Thank you to everyone who sent anniversary greetings to us. We have had a good eleventh anniversary.

This morning, I rode with Joe to take the kids to school. Then, we went to Planter's Lodge for breakfast. It is a hotel that has a breakfast buffet. We enjoyed it.

We went to the post office and had a package slip. The package people were not at work yet. So, we went to the Coke depot to get our crates filled. Then, we went back to the post office and got our package.

From there, we went to Melcoms, a store with a wide variety of things. I found some bags of American brand name clothes. I dug through the bags and found a couple things that were my size. There were some Christmas decorations out in front of the store. All of our Christmas stuff is still in Ivory Coast. We found a tree in the garage. Joe let me get some ornaments for an anniversary gift.

I walked around the market circle to take some material to a tailor to have shirts made for Joe and the boys for Christmas. Then, I stopped at the candy lady's shop to get some candy for church. As I was walking toward the grocery store to meet Joe, the market patrol must have been busy. Suddenly, a group of ladies put their bowls of things that they were selling on their heads and took off running. They sit around the circle without paying for a spot in the market. Then, the police come and chase them off every once in a while. I walked on the opposite side of the road so that I would not get trampled. : )

I met Joe back at the grocery store. I did my grocery shopping while he talked to one of the shop owners.

Then, we headed to school to get the kids. They got their report cards today since it was the end of the first trimester. They all passed. They are doing well in most subjects. Danny is strong in Math, and Gilbert is strong in Phonics and Science. Bonnie got a report card too; her lowest score was in Creative Activities because she tries to do things on her own instead of the way the teacher says to do it.

None of the children went to sleep at nap time. But, Danny and Bonnie both fell asleep later in the afternoon. Danny fell asleep doing a puzzle on the floor. Bonnie fell asleep at supper time. The boys wanted to do a project after supper. They finger painted boxes for a manger scene. Danny's was more like hand and arm painting than finger painting.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Tuesday - Wednesday, December 13-14, 2011

2011-12-14T22:09:00.001Z

Bonjour,

We were having technical difficulties yesterday. So, I did not get an e-mail sent. The electricity was doing strange things, and our computer had a virus and was not doing right either.

One of the three electrical phases went off on Monday night and came back on Tuesday night. When it came back on, the voltage was high. It was right on the borderline of being too high. Then, this morning, it spiked up to 400 volts. We turned everything off and called the power company. They did not fix the problem until about 4:00 this afternoon. Everything seems to be working fine now.

On Tuesday after Joe took the kids to school, Joe and I went up to the church to work on organizing the books and putting things back in the office and library. We did a lot of dusting. We did not make a lot of headway, but every little bit counts.

Joe's Christmas project is trying to help Brother Arthur get his vehicle up and running. Joe bought a car battery for him, and we took it to Brother Arthur. He said that he did not know how to put it in. Joe told him he would help him with that later.

Then, we picked up some canned milk for the Morgans. Brother Morgan has been very sick. He has a bad case of pink eye in both eyes and some type of other infection on top of that. We kept our distance. We visited with them for a little while before we headed to the school to get the kids.

I talked to Gilbert's teacher to see how he is doing with his tests. He said that Gilbert is not at the top of the class but that he is passing. He said that Gilbert does fine orally, but he has trouble when he has to write words down. We will have to start writing those spelling words more often.

Today, I worked on updating our mailing list most of the day. There are quite a few changes and corrections. The power was off all morning due to the high voltage issues; I finally started the generator about 1:00.

Joe went to help Brother Arthur with the battery. After Joe put the battery in, he had Brother Arthur follow him to the mechanic. There were several other things that needed to be fixed. Then, Joe took Brother Arthur to lunch. When they got back to Brother Arthur's house, he told Joe that it had been one of the best days of his life. (Brother Arthur is 66; he is the oldest man in our church.)

Joe picked the kids up from school. They found out today that they just have a half day tomorrow; it is their last day of school for the first trimester. Tomorrow is our eleventh wedding anniversary. We had planned to go out for lunch, but we are going to go out for breakfast instead after we take the kids to school. Then, we will do some shopping in town before we pick the kids up from school.

We had a good church service this evening. We are enjoying singing Christmas songs.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Monday, December 12, 2011

2011-12-12T22:19:00.001Z

Bonjour,

Joe took the kids to school this morning. Then, he watched a football game that he had recorded last night. The last two minutes of the game did not record; so, he had to listen to the end online.

I worked on getting caught up on the laundry. With all of the work going on last week, I kept putting all of the clean laundry in the closet until I could get rid of the dust so that I could fold the clothes and put them away.

When the kids got home from school, Gilbert's first words were, "Mom, I failed one of my exams." He said that they asked him who the first president of Ghana was, and he did not know. He said that there were five questions and that he got four of them wrong. They have not sent any work home for the past few days. So, we don't know what we should review. We'll have to check into it. The teachers are not used to having parents who want to be involved. I am sure that a lot of the parents cannot even read. He said he thinks he has done fine on the other tests. Then, Danny was telling us some of the questions that the teacher asked him today. He said that he got most of them right. He had some questions about Ghana too. I think they have been doing some Ghana history on the side since it is not on the American DVDs. Bonnie said that she doesn't do tests! : )

Joe has been telling the boys that when they learn to read, they can read his cowboy books. Danny is just now starting to sound out words, and he thought he was ready for a cowboy book tonight. He tried a couple words and decided that he was not quite ready yet. Danny and Bonnie did some puzzles. Gilbert watched a car show with Daddy.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Sunday, December 11, 2011

2011-12-11T22:36:00.001Z

Bonjour,

We had a good day at church. Dan is down with malaria; so, Joe led the singing today. Joe taught the adult Sunday school class and preached in the morning service. I miss out on his preaching on Sunday mornings since I am busy with the children's classes.

I had twenty-four in my class today. My helper came today. We have a lot of younger children in our class now; it is hard to keep their attention for long. I pulled some new songs out of the hat, and they liked those.

After church, we went home, had lunch, took naps, and got ready to go back to church.

The new guard was on time this evening. That was a blessing. We had a good service this evening as well with seventeen in attendance. Joe preached a good message about wisdom.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Saturday, December 10, 2011

2011-12-10T22:17:00.000Z

Bonjour,

Today we continued the cleaning process. I got the kids involved too. I had set aside the boys' box of tools and Bonnie's box of dishes so that they could wash them today to get rid of the cement dust. They thought that was great. For the tools, Danny washed, Gilbert rinsed, and Bonnie dried. They got those done before breakfast. After breakfast, Bonnie washed her dishes, and I rinsed and dried them.

Joe went visiting. Stephen is back in town for the holidays. He went visiting with Joe today. Dan was sick.

We started out with twenty-five for Bible Club and ended up with forty-two before it was over. No one wanted to leave when it was time to go home today.

After naps, we went into town. We got a few things at the grocery store and then went out to eat. On our way home, the traffic was crazy. We had a couple near misses. As we got closer to home, we noticed that the power was off. When we got to our road, it was blocked with a truck that was broken down. We sat and waited for about thirty minutes. Danny started crying because he thought we would never get home. Gilbert clapped when the traffic started moving.

When we got home, the power was off. Joe had fun trying to find all of the right keys to unlock the locks to get inside. Then, he fired up the generator. The power just came back on a few minutes ago. We think that they may be starting "load shedding" again because the power has been going off every other night around the same time and coming back on a few hours later.

Bonnie wanted us all to sit on the couch so that she could give us "presents." She gave each of the boys a stack of books, and I got a puzzle. We played a few rounds of Skipbo Junior and read a couple books before bed time.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Friday, December 9, 2011

2011-12-09T22:17:00.000Z

Bonjour,

Joe took the kids to school. Then, we started the cleaning process. My helper came today to help get rid of all the cement dust. We got our bedroom emptied, cleaned, and put back together. I also got everything from the kids' room wiped down and put back away. Joe made the boys' beds into bunk beds and did some rearranging with the dressers. I got everything put back in its place in the kitchen too. Getting rid of cement dust throughout the whole house is one way to go about doing "spring cleaning."

The welder came and finished the work today. One of the hinges on the back gate had to be cemented again; it must have gotten knocked loose and did not set up right. The carpenter also came this afternoon and put a door on the bathroom in the bedroom.

Gilbert said that they started exams today. We did not know he was having any exams. He said that he has five more next week. Neither one of the boys had any homework for the weekend. Danny has not had homework all week. Bonnie wanted to get her homework done as soon as she came in the door.

Gilbert and Danny have been wanting to make a fire outside. Joe helped them do that this afternoon. They gathered up the dry grass that LF had recently cut. Gilbert was doing a little jig when the flames shot up. I never played with matches or even wanted to light matches; Gilbert must take after his father in that regard!

Filling in the holes with cement after the bars were up

Here is some of that lovely cement dust!

Gates on front door

Bedroom window

Gilbert and Danny watching the fire

Gilbert was so happy!

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Thursday, December 8, 2011

2011-12-08T22:42:00.001Z

Bonjour,

The internet has been down most of the day. When it came back on, the electricity went off for four hours. It seems there is always something going on.

The welder and his workers came about 11:00 today. They finished the work inside the house and just have to hang the gates on the front door tomorrow. They couldn't hang them today because the cement has to dry for 24 hours, and we would have been trapped inside since the gate on the back door is in the drying process. We still have a big mess inside, but we are making headway. We got the kids' room all cleaned up today. It was the only room that was completely finished.

The kids had a good day at school. They played outside when they got home since there was still work going on everywhere. Martin came by. He and Joe played soccer with the boys. Danny fell right on his nose and skinned it all up again.

I made pizza for supper. Just as the last pizza was going into the oven, the power went off. Joe fired up the generator.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

2011-12-07T22:06:00.001Z

Bonjour,

Joe took the kids to school this morning. Then, he came home and waited for the welder to show up. He came with one helper about 10:00. They started knocking holes in the cement walls to install the bars on the windows. For some reason, I was thinking that they would just drill some holes and have nice little piles of debris. Boy, was I ever wrong! The whole house is covered in a thick layer of cement dust. We thought we might have to sleep downstairs in the guest room tonight, but we were able to get it cleaned up enough to at least sleep. They did not finish today. So, there will be more mess tomorrow. But, at least we will have bars on the windows and doors.

The power just went off in all of Takoradi. I'll close for now to conserve battery.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

2011-12-06T21:59:00.001Z

Bonjour,

Joe took the vehicle to the mechanic yesterday. They did not finish with it yesterday. Joe took the kids to school in a taxi.

They finally delivered the bars for our windows and doors today, but they could not install them today because their machine that cuts concrete was being repaired. We had planned to go up to the church today to start getting the library in order, but we would not have had much time to do anything after we waited for the bars to be delivered.

My youngest sister Sharon had a baby today. I have been checking on her all day to see what was happening. After being in labor for quite awhile, they had to do a c-section. The last word that I heard was that they were finishing up the surgery and that baby and Mommy are both doing fine. Brianna Marie weighs 9 lbs. 6 oz.

When the kids got home from school, Joe had the taxi take him to the mechanic. They had said that the vehicle would be ready at 3:00, but they were not finished with it. Joe waited and drove it home. They welded the radiator in place and put new shocks on the front end. They were going to replace the springs too but could not find them. Joe said that just with the new shocks it made a big difference.

Bonnie said that she had to go to the office today. She and a boy in her class were both in trouble for not paying attention. At least, that was what I gathered from her explanation.

I took the kids swimming. Then, Gilbert helped me make Mexican lasagna.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

The Ceiling - Before and After

2011-12-06T07:11:00.000Z

I failed to put a before picture of the ceiling in the last post. So, I thought I would give you a before and after look.

Before . . .

Going up . . .

After . . .

Praise the Lord for those who generously gave to make this possible!

Sunday-Monday, December 4-5, 2011

2011-12-05T22:17:00.000Z

Bonjour,

This was our first Sunday with the new ceiling. It was fun to watch people's faces as they came in the door and saw the ceiling.

My helper did not come. I had ten for Sunday School. Most of the children under six have not started school and do not speak English. For Junior Church, we combined with the Primary class so that there would be a Fante speaker. Danny was sad that I did not tell my Bible story; I let the other teacher teach his story.

The evening service went well too. After church, Joe listened to football games on the radio via the internet; so, I did not get an e-mail sent. I did not want to interrupt the game! : )

This morning, the kids went back to school. They were able to get a water truck to come to the school, and they are back in business. The kids had a good day. They were bouncing off the walls when they got home. Joe took them swimming so that they could use up some of that energy.

As I was getting supper ready, Gilbert came in and said, "Mom, you are going to just pass out when you see what I learned at school today. But, I can't show you until supper time." A little bit later, he came in and asked if he could set the table. I gave him the plates and cups. He got the silverware out himself and put everything in the proper place without any help. After he finished, he said, "What do you think, Mom? That is the first part of my thing that will make you faint." Then, during supper, he put his napkin in his lap and made sure that we saw that he was using his napkin properly (instead of a shirt sleeve or some such thing). He politely asked to be excused, cleared his things off the table, and gave me a hug and said, "Thank you for the supper, Mom!" Then, he said, "Now you can faint."

Danny fell asleep on the floor in the bedroom about 7:30. Gilbert and Bonnie made it until bed time.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Saturday, December 3, 2011

2011-12-03T21:27:00.001Z

Bonjour,

Joe went to a wedding this morning. One of the men whom we taught in Bible Institute a few years ago was getting married at Brother Morgan's church today. After the wedding was over, Joe and Dan went to the church to begin getting things set up for church tomorrow after the construction this week.

We only had seven for Bible Club this morning. About ten more showed up after we were done.

The kids and I took a nap. Everyone was tired from our trip yesterday. Joe went back up to the church for a while. Gilbert decided to try to start a fire on his own. Joe had just talked to him about fires the other day and told him that an adult had to be with him. Bonnie came to report that Gilbert was starting a fire. She went to tell him to come inside. He came in with a box of matches behind his back. He had to sit in a chair in his bedroom until Daddy got home. I don't think he will try that again!

There was a good turn out for the Bible Club at the church this afternoon. We have been having several children come to church on Sunday as a result of that Bible Club.

Joe requested beans and rice for supper. I made cornbread too. That was not Danny's favorite meal. He got it down but just barely!

Bonnie fell asleep in Joe's lap after supper. Danny was watching Peter Pan. I let them watch the end of it from bed; they thought that was great!

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Friday, December 2, 2011

2011-12-02T21:19:00.000Z

Bonjour,

We left the house this morning a little after 6:00 to head toward the border. We stopped at the car wash to have them hose off the vehicle. Everything is so dusty; Harmattan has begun. (Harmattan is the fallout from sand storms in the Sahara Desert.) Before we got to the main highway, Joe noticed that the vehicle was running a little hot. So, we stopped to check the fluids. After adding oil and water, we were on our way once again.

Today is Farmers' Day in Ghana. We saw some celebrations along the way with big piles of vegetables in the middle of crowds of people.

As we were traveling, Bonnie wanted a snack. I asked her where her snack bag was. She said, "I don't know; it must have flown the hoop."

The bathroom facilities at the border always makes me laugh. Up until a few years ago, the bathroom was just a building with holes in the floor. Now, they have actual toilets, but many people have never seen a real toilet before. So, they have a large painting on the wall showing people how the toilet operates. When the new building first opened, there was a copy of this painting on the inside of each bathroom door. A man sits inside at a table to take the money. It is a pay toilet! He does provide toilet paper.

We had to have an exit and entry stamp; so, we crossed into Ivory Coast, drove around a few minutes, tried to get insurance but discovered that it was a holiday there too, and then crossed back into Ghana. Joe had gotten multi-entry car papers the last time he came back in; so, the border process went much more quickly today than usual.

The kids did well today. They napped off and on throughout the day. Bonnie fell asleep eating lunch.

We were driving along and heard a noise. Joe pulled over to see what the problem was. He feared it might be the front axle. Instead, the radiator mounts had broken. The roads have gotten so bad that they finally did those mounts in. Joe found some little pieces of wire to hold it in place. We tried to take the potholes and bumps slowly. When we got to a town, Joe stopped and got some more wire to secure it a little better. We made it back to Takoradi.

We stopped at the church to check on the ceiling progress. They finished the inside and were working on the eaves outside. I did a little more organizing of the Sunday school lessons while the kids played and Joe inspected.

We just snacked throughout the day. We were all ready for an early supper when we got home. As soon as we walked in the door, Bonnie wanted to know if that food was ready.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Thursday, December 1, 2011

2011-12-01T23:07:00.001Z

Bonjour,

Gilbert wasn't feeling well last night or this morning, but he was feeling much better this afternoon.

Joe went up to the church for the day. They finished the ceiling in the auditorium and almost finished the library. They had to order some more materials, but they were delivered first thing this morning.

The kids and I worked on cleaning the house this morning. The kids have been helping me fold the laundry. Today, I had them take their piles to their room and put them away. I supervised, and they all did a good job. I told them that was their new job - to put their piles away every time we do laundry. Danny thought that "every time" was a bit extreme. : )

After the kids had been in bed for a little while, Bonnie came out to tell us something. She said, "There is a toad in our room, and he is going like this (as she demonstrated hopping)." We got the flashlight and went to check it out. Both boys were already asleep. Daddy caught the toad and let it go outside.

Tomorrow, we will be traveling to the border to renew paperwork. Please pray for safety on the road. We are planning to go to the border and come back home all in the same day. We still don't have the bars on the windows and don't want to leave the house overnight until we get those installed.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

2011-11-30T22:46:00.001Z

Bonjour,

At breakfast this morning, Danny was talking about a jet ski. He asked Joe if that was the fastest thing that goes on water. Joe told him that there are boats that race. Danny said, "Well, who won the race?'' Joe was stumped by that question since he did not even know who raced. : )

Since the kids did not have school today, we all went up to the church this morning. My project was wiping down all of the plastic sleeves containing the Sunday school materials and putting them in order. The kids helped me wipe them off. Then, I started the sorting process. We worked until noon. I didn't finish sorting, but I'll finish it another day. I like to organize things; that was right up my alley. The kids went back and forth between the auditorium. Joe had the boys pick up trash on the grounds. Then, the boys were building things with scraps from the ceiling project. Bonnie found a box of odds and ends that she could "sort."

We came home and had lunch. The kids and I took a nap, and Joe went back up to the church.

After supper, we all got ready for church. We usually leave at 6:30, but the guard wasn't here. We called him, and he said that he was on his way. He still wasn't here at 7:00, which is when church is supposed to start. Joe had called Dan and told him to start the singing without us. At 7:10, the guard still wasn't here. Bonnie and I stayed home to watch the house, and Joe and the boys went on to church. They met in one of the classrooms since the auditorium is still under construction. We are hoping to have the lights and fans back in place by Sunday. They should finish up the ceiling in the auditorium tomorrow.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

2011-11-29T22:35:00.001Z

Bonjour,

Joe took the kids to school. Then, he went up to the church to continue the work on the ceiling. They are almost halfway done with the auditorium now.

I did some work around the house. The third phase came back on this morning. I was able to get the laundry caught up.

When Joe went to get the kids from school, they told him that school is cancelled for the rest of the week due to water shortage. We did not know that there was a water shortage in town because the well has been keeping up just fine. With all the rain that we had, it is hard to believe that there is a water shortage. Maybe a pump to one of the wells is broken. People can usually have water trucked in, but even the trucks cannot get water right now.

I took the kids swimming, and Joe went back to the church. The boys helped me make supper. Gilbert stirred the meat and potatoes. He told Joe, "Dad, I cooked them until they were done." Danny handed me the tortilla balls. Then, Gilbert buttered the tortillas for quesadillas while I fried them. Bonnie set the table. After supper, Gilbert washed the dishes; Danny rinsed, and I dried and put away. Gilbert had a few rejects, but he did pretty good. I told him that something wasn't clean. He said, "Well, I'm trying to see that swamp show that Dad is watching." Joe told him that he would wait for him so that Gilbert could concentrate on washing the dishes. After supper, both boys read for a little while. Bonnie was hunting a particular book to read too.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Monday, November 28, 2011

2011-11-28T22:29:00.001Z

Bonjour,

Joe took the kids to school. He came back home for a few minutes. While he was here, he discovered that someone broke into the Scripture Center. It is a building up on the hill that has tracts, John and Romans, Bibles, etc. They broke into the part where Evans had been living; it is vacant now, and there was not anything in there to be taken. Joe made sure that LF was going to be here. Then, he went into town to get the materials for the church ceiling. They got started on that project today. Joe was up at the church all day.

I got some things done around the house - cleaning, laundry, etc.

After school, Joe brought the kids home. Then, he went back up to the church for a while. I took the kids swimming and then got supper ready.

Gilbert was the only one with homework tonight. He just had to go over his spelling words. Then, I had both boys do some reading. Gilbert is still sounding out the words, but he is moving faster than he was. Danny is just starting with three letter words. Bonnie was bouncing all over the place. She was playing with her imaginary students.

Just before bed time, the phase for the bedrooms went off. The kids' AC is on a different phase, and we have an oscillating fan that we can put in our room.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Sunday, November 27, 2011

2011-11-27T22:42:00.001Z

Bonjour,

We had a good day at church. This morning, we promoted the seven and eight year olds out of my class up to the next class. So, I had ten for Sunday School and fifteen for Junior Church. We have been working on learning the ten commandments. I had told the class that the first five people to say all ten commandments without any help would win a special prize. Today, Danny and Gilbert were the first two to say all ten. Now, I have to decide what the special prize will be so that I can present it to them next week. Bonnie said that when she says all ten, she wants a baby doll that makes a crying noise.

There are twin three-year-old girls who have been coming for the past couple weeks. Danny wanted to sit next to them today. He really likes the little kids. Bonnie was upset because she wanted to sit by her brother. They made room for her on the bench.

Joe has been going through the church constitution in the adult Sunday School class. There are several young adults in there. They were talking about abortion. People started asking questions, and Joe ended up talking about purity. Many of them have never been taught anything about that subject. Joe was able to answer quite a few questions before they ran out of time.

The morning service went well. Dan's dad visited again today. Continue to pray for him; he is a devout Catholic and needs to be saved.

This evening during the testimony time, Danny raised his hand and was thankful that he was saved and that he could put his trust in Jesus. His voice got shaky, and he had tears in his eyes as he said it. He can be so ornery at times, but he has such a tender heart. Joe preached out of Psalm 119:165. It was a good sermon. There were eighteen in attendance tonight.

Please pray for our pastor and his family. Brother Dodson's mother died yesterday, and the funeral will be tomorrow.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Saturday, November 26, 2011

2011-11-26T23:13:00.001Z

Bonjour,

Gilbert requested Dutch pancakes for breakfast this morning. Those boys can put away the Dutch pancakes!

Joe went visiting this morning. They stopped by the church and discovered a "bucket brigade" in the church yard. People had come through a broken rung in the gate and were helping themselves to the well water. So, Joe and Dan went to get some locks and found a welder to repair the gate. When the welder was almost finished with the welding, the power went off. It went off at home too and was off until 8:30 this evening.

The kids did their homework and played. I worked on cleaning up the kitchen and doing laundry. We had Bible Club at 11:00. There were sixteen in attendance today.

As I was fixing lunch, the power went off. When Joe got home, he fired up the generator. The power was off for eight hours this time.

After naps, Joe took the kids up to the church for the 4:00 Bible Club up there. They had over 150 children. Joe said that the kids did not stay in one place long enough for him to get an exact count. Gilbert and Danny ran their little hearts out playing soccer. Bonnie said that she was the cheerleader. She was trying to teach some girls how to play hopscotch, but she said that they did not do it right. I stayed home and made pizza for supper.

After supper, Joe went with one of the men in the church to visit the guy who was guarding when someone tried to break in. He said that he had gone up the hill and heard a vehicle. He said that he thought that it was our vehicle, but when he came down the hill, it was a different vehicle. He said that it drove off as he came down the hill. Something does not add up about his story, especially since he has been avoiding Joe at all costs for the past couple weeks. Even the young man's father thought that the story sounded fishy. Joe told the former guard that he needed to stay off of our property. The father said that if he sent him to the farm that he would send someone to accompany him to make sure that he did not step foot off of the path. Joe got back home about 9:00.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Friday, November 25, 2011

2011-11-25T22:33:00.001Z

Bonjour,

When I was working on fixing the kids' lunches and getting breakfast ready this morning, I discovered that the deep freezer did not get plugged back in yesterday after all of the power spikes and outages. The freezer had defrosted, but most of the food was still frozen. Joe finished up the kids lunches and helped the kids with breakfast while I worked on the freezer.

About an hour after Joe took the kids to school, the principal called to ask about Bonnie's snack. We looked around, and her lunch bag was on the floor in the living room. The kids were helping Dad put the lunch bags in the backpacks, and Bonnie's got left behind. So, Joe took Bonnie's lunch to school. Gilbert said that he had to take some water up to Bonnie before her lunch bag came. He said that Bonnie was crying. Bonnie insisted that she wasn't crying. Gilbert said, "Well, she was wiping the tears away."

Other than the missing lunch bag, the kids had a good day at school. I worked on getting caught up on the laundry after not having power for the past couple days.

After school, Joe took the kids swimming. Danny got banged up trying to jump into the pool when he wasn't close enough to the edge.

After supper, I said, "Who will help me eat the supper? Who will help me wash the dishes?" Danny said, "'I' said the dog." He jumped up in a chair and started rinsing for me. We enlisted Gilbert's help too. Bonnie cleared the table for us.

We watched Monk after the dishes. Danny fell asleep on the couch with his legs dangling over the edge.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Thursday, November 24, 2011 - Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T20:59:00.001Z

Bonjour,

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a good day. The power was off quite a bit today, but it is back on for the moment. We thought that the high voltage had zapped the air conditioner in the kids' room, but it seems to be working fine today.

I worked in the kitchen all morning. Joe helped me out. We got everything done except the dishes before the company arrived.

The Siekberts and the Morgans came. The food was delicious. We had a good time of fellowship. The kids had fun playing together.

The company left about 3:30. Joe took the kids swimming, and I rested for a little while. I am quite sore from my fall last night.

The kids were hungry for supper. I got some leftovers out for them. Joe and I just had a piece of pie.

Gilbert was the only one with homework. Just as we were getting ready to do it, the power went off. We were waiting to see if it would come back on before starting the generator. So, Gilbert did his homework by flashlight. The kids all had glow sticks too.

Danny and Gilbert both fell asleep on the couch. Bonnie was asleep not long after she hit the pillow.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

2011-11-23T23:17:00.001Z

Bonjour,

The storm knocked our power out last night. It was off for 24 hours. When it did come back on this evening, the phase that controls the bedrooms fans and AC did not come back on. Then, the voltage shot up to 400 volts. We shut everything down. Joe fired up the generator once again. Then, we saw that the power was back on. We turned it back on to see what it was doing. Everything seemed to be okay, but the bedroom phase is still off.

Joe took the kids to school this morning. Then, he went into town to run some errands.

I started on my pies. I made two pumpkin pies, a buttermilk pie, and a chocolate meringue pie.

After school, the kids played outside. Then, they worked on cleaning their bedroom.

After supper, we got ready for church. Joe preached a good sermon about living a victorious Christian life. There were nine in attendance.

When we got home, I worked on getting the dining room table ready. Then, I decided to hang some fall leaves. I was standing on a plastic chair. One chair leg gave way. The next thing I knew, I was flat on my back on the floor. My left elbow, my lower back, and my right heel seem to have taken the brunt of the fall. I don't think anything is broken, just bruised. Leave it to me to add some excitement!

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

2011-11-22T22:57:00.001Z

Bonjour,

Joe took the kids to school this morning. We headed into town around 10:30 to do the rest of my Thanksgiving grocery shopping. We saw some interesting sights today. We saw a big flatbed truck carrying twenty one-ton bags of Ammonium Nitrate which was being tailgated by a "highly inflammable" diesel tanker. That is an accident waiting to happen!! Then, there was some road construction. The road was blocked off with a sign that said, "Do Not Entry." When we were eating lunch at one of the finer restaurants in town, the waitress came to the table with a mouth full of chicken bones. She was chomping down on the bone as she was asking us if the meal was okay. When she walked away, Joe got tickled and asked me what would happen in America to a waitress who waited on a table with her mouth full of food.

We went to the Market Circle today in search of celery. There is a whole row of people that sell vegetables. I asked at the first booth, and the lady told me to keep going. I asked another lady, and she showed me a basket of dried, shriveled green stuff. I told her I was looking for the big, fresh ones. She told me to keep going. The next lady had some that was still green but just small little pieces with leaves on them. We came to the conclusion that celery does not mature here. It smells like celery; I'm sure it will add some flavor to the stuffing.

After school today, Bonnie said, "Mom, today I learned about my smelly body." I said, "Oh! Are you supposed to wash it with soap?" She said, "No, we didn't learn about that. We learned that you are supposed to drink lots of water." I asked, "Did you mean 'healthy body'?" She replied, "That's what it was! A healthy body!"

Gilbert was so excited about doing well on his speed drill today. He said that he got a check mark and a smiley face and that the teacher was going to put a sticker on it. Danny said that he spelled "kid" and spelled it for me.

Joe took the kids swimming while I put groceries away and worked on supper.

The kids got a new card game in the mail today. It is called Pass the Ugly Sweater. It is like Old Maid. We played several games of that. Danny kept trying to peek to make sure that he was not getting the ugly sweater.

One phase of the power went off about 8:00 this evening. Now, it is pouring down rain. We haven't had any rain for a couple weeks. The power just went off completely.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Monday, November 21, 2011

2011-11-21T22:18:00.001Z

Bonjour,

Our power was off from 8:00 to 4:00 today. The contractors must be back at work. The kids said that the power was off at school this morning for a little while too.

My project today was organizing the pantry. I found a place for all of the canning stuff that we bought from another missionary. After Thanksgiving, we will have to have another canning day.

A new school in our neighborhood opened today. Joe said that the road was filled with school students as he left to go get the kids from school. He will have to start leaving before that school lets out so that he won't have trouble getting through. They were all asking for rides. They were going to a school in Sekondi, and they divided the students in half. Now, they have to find their own transportation to get to this school. The taxi drops them off at the pavement; then, they have to walk a mile down the dirt road to the school.

Joe took the kids swimming while I worked on supper.

Gilbert was the only one with homework today. Danny wrote from 1-80 on a blank piece of paper of his own accord while Gilbert did his homework. When Danny got to 50, he started asking which family came next, but he got to 50 all on his own. I think it is funny that he does busy work like that when he doesn't have homework. Bonnie pulls out a coloring book to do her "homework."

I played a game with the kids after I finished the dishes. Then, we watched Monk before bed time. We started a new Bible story book yesterday. It tells what verses to read from the Bible. Bonnie wanted me to use her Bible tonight because "it is white, and it is nicer than the brothers' Bibles."

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Sunday, November 20, 2011

2011-11-21T12:07:00.001Z

Bonjour,

We had a good day at church. There are several young adults in Joe's Sunday school class. Today, they had a lot of questions. It is a blessing to see them growing spiritually and wanting to do right. One of the teenage boys who came to the new Bible Club on Saturday got saved this morning.

I had 28 in my class. Some of them will be promoted to the next class next week. I have about twelve seven and eight year olds who did not get promoted last year. It will be sad to see them go because they are some of the best participators.

After church, we had lunch and took naps. We got up early to await a phone call from our sending church in the States. It was the last day of their missions conference. We all got to talk for a minute.

After the evening service, Joe stopped at Elma to get a rotisserie chicken and fries for supper.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Saturday, November 19, 2011

2011-11-19T22:44:00.001Z

Bonjour,

Joe went visiting this morning. They had one good visit; the other people that they tried to visit were not home. Dan started a Bible Club at the church today. So, Joe got a soccer ball and a whistle for him to use.

The kids got their homework done and played until Bible Club. We had 35 today. They were all on time today. Gilbert and Danny are warming up to the Bible Club kids and stayed outside to play until lunch time. Bonnie came in to color.

Dan walked through the neighborhood by the church with the soccer ball and ended up with 150 at his Bible Club. He broke them up into four teams. They played soccer for a while and then had a lesson.

Joe was supposed to meet with someone at the house this afternoon, but they did not come. He will go up to the church for Dan's Bible Club next week.

The kids went swimming. I made pizza pockets for supper.

The kids watched Tangled after supper. Then, we were talking to Grandpa, and Danny was telling him all about Tangled. Grandpa could not quite follow it all.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Friday, November 18, 2011

2011-11-18T22:07:00.001Z

Bonjour,

Joe took the kids to school. Then, he went with one of the men in the church to check on prices for putting the ceiling in the church building.

We went into town to run errands. After we went to the post office, a lady in our church called. She is a Customs official at the port. Sometimes there are vehicles that people have shipped in, and then they cannot afford to pay the duty to get them out of port. So, they sell the vehicle to pay their duty fees. Joe had asked her to keep an eye out on those vehicles for us. Eventually, we would like to get something that gets better gas mileage. We do not usually carry our passports with us around town. Technically, we were supposed to have those to be allowed to go inside the gate at the port. But, she did some talking and was able to get us in. The vehicle was all locked up; so, we could just see it from the outside. After thinking it over for a little bit, we told her that we were not ready to get anything right now.

We had planned to go grocery shopping but just had time to get a few quick things before going to get the kids from school. Gilbert had been playing outside just before school got out, and his little cheeks were bright red. He takes after his mother in that regard. Everyone had a good day.

When we got home, Joe took the kids swimming. I got supper ready.

After supper, Joe went with one of the men in the church to try to talk to the guard who had something to do with trying to break into our house. As soon as the guy saw them coming, he jumped up and took off running. He is definitely guilty!!

Danny fell asleep on the floor in their bedroom after supper. I played the big bad wolf with Gilbert and Bonnie. Then, we watched Ramona and Beezus. As we were sitting there, we were chewing gum. I was blowing bubbles. Bonnie said, "Mom, watch this! I'm going to spit a bubble at you." She spit her whole piece of gum out trying to "spit a bubble."

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Thursday, November 17, 2011

2011-11-17T22:30:00.001Z

Bonjour,

Joe took the kids to school this morning. Then, he did some work on the computer. We thought that our internet provider had totally shut down, but they must have just been having technical difficulties because it was back up and running around 10:00 this morning. I did some cleaning and got caught up on laundry.

Joe was able to get the pool chemicals on Tuesday. So, the kids got to go swimming today for the first time in a couple weeks. They were excited about that.

Danny got in trouble at school today. I asked him what he did. He said, "I was just dragging behind, Mom." He will have to pick up his pace a little.

After supper, the boys did their homework. Gilbert had a new spelling list tonight and was counting by twos in his Math homework. Danny just had numbers to write tonight. It was funny that after they finished their homework, they sat on the floor and played school. Gilbert was telling Danny what to write. Gilbert was the principal and was keeping Danny and Bonnie in line.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

2011-11-17T15:25:00.002Z

Bonjour,

Joe took the kids to school this morning. Then, he did some office work. I worked on sorting the boys' clothes; they are finally outgrowing the size 4 clothes. Then, I made some cookies.

The kids had a good day at school. They did their homework. Then, we ate supper and got ready for church.

We had a good church service with twelve in attendance. Joe preached a good message about traits that a Christian should have. We took a couple people home after church and got home around 9:30.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

(Our internet went down last night and just came back up.)

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

2011-11-15T21:55:00.001Z

Bonjour,

Joe took the kids to school. Then, he met Nixon and showed him where a good mechanic is. After that, he brought the welder home with him. The welder almost finished the back porch today; he should finish it up tomorrow.

Joe went into town this afternoon to run a couple errands before he picked the kids up from school.

Gilbert had a long face when he came in the door after school today. He made his first trip to the principal's office. He had told Joe that it wasn't his fault. But, the truth came out. He was doing something when the teacher wasn't looking. Two other boys in the class decided to copy Gilbert. When the teacher looked up, they were all three doing it. So, they all three went to the office. Gilbert told the principal that those boys were copying him. The principal told Gilbert to keep his eyes on the TV screen and that he would be watching those other two boys. One of the boys is named "Silafu." At least, that is how Gilbert pronounces it. He could not remember the other boy's name; it is probably just an every-day, ordinary name.

This evening, Danny fell in the bedroom and skinned the side of his nose. He came into the living room, and I said, "Danny, you really did a number on your nose!" He said, "What number is it, Mom?"

Then, I was clipping the kids' fingernails and toenails. Gilbert said, "Mom, my toes are frightened." I asked him what frightened meant to make sure he knew. He said, "It means scared, Mom." I asked him why his toes were scared. He said, "Because they know it is going to hurt." I had never heard of a frightened toe before!

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Monday, November 14, 2011

2011-11-14T22:52:00.001Z

Bonjour,

Joe took the kids to school this morning. Then, he had a couple meetings.

The power came back on about 10:30 this morning. I got some things done around the house.

The kids had a good day at school. Danny said that he spelled some words and that he got them right on the first try. Bonnie must not have taken a very long nap today because she was all out of sorts. Gilbert said that he had a good day.

After school, the boys worked out in the yard with Joe for a while. Bonnie helped me make supper. We use powdered milk here, and we keep the milk in a pitcher in the refrigerator. The pitcher was almost empty. I told Bonnie to get it out so that I could use it for the mashed potatoes. She said, "Well, maybe I could drink some; it's not 'nextacarily' for the potatoes; is it?" I asked her about 'necessarily." She said, "Can you say that word, Mom? Yes, that's right, 'nextacarily.'" She is a mess!

After supper, the boys did their homework. Gilbert was working with the value of money; I think he has forgotten what a penny, nickel, and dime look like. Here, they have a 1 pesewa, 5 pesewas, 10 pesewas, 20 pesewas, 50 pesewas, and 1 cedis in change. Because they are using the A Beka DVDs, they are learning the American money system.

Danny always wants to know how many rows he has left to write. He got it all done.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Sunday, November 13, 2011

2011-11-13T23:01:00.001Z

Bonjour,

The power went off at 5:00 this morning. It came back on while we were at church. It went back off at 8:00 this evening and looks like it will be off for the night. Oh well, at least we can turn the fans on with the generator.

We had a good day at church. Joe had lined up other men to preach today since he had planned to be in Ivory Coast for the fifth anniversary Sunday of the church in Belleville. Due to the attempted robbery at our house last Sunday, Joe cancelled his trip and has been working all week on beefing up the security.

Brother Fred from Brother Morgan's church preached this morning. I was in junior church, but Joe said that he did a good job. We had thirty-three in the six and under class today.

Brother Dan preached tonight. He did a good job too. We are doing some Scripture songs on Sunday nights and Wednesday nights. So, I am playing my clarinet for the evening services. Tonight, Joe let people request a hymn before we did the Scripture songs. The boys just say a number that sounds good to them; so far, we have known all the ones that they have chosen randomly. By the last Scripture song, my lip was done in; but, I made it through.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Saturday, November 12, 2011

2011-11-12T22:32:00.001Z

Bonjour,

The welder came this morning and worked all day. He finished with the front porch. Now, just the back porch is left.

Joe went visiting after he got the welder set up. He said that he and Dan had some good visits. They went to see a lady who has not been to church in awhile. Then, they went to visit Dan's dad. His dad is a devout Catholic and is unsaved; he visited the church about a month ago.

We started out with ten for Bible Club. Just as we finished the story, more kids came. So, I told the story again. About halfway through the story the second time, another group of kids came, but I just kept going. We ended up with twenty-seven by the end of the hour.

After naps, Joe played football with the kids while I made pizza for supper. Gilbert said, "Dad carried us like a football and charged down the field with us." They had fun and worked up an appetite. After supper, the kids helped in the kitchen. Bonnie cleared the table. I washed the dishes; Danny rinsed, and Gilbert dried.

About 8:00 this evening the power went off. There were no lights on all over town. We broke out the glow sticks. The kids think it is great to have their own light when the power goes off. (Thank you for the glow sticks, Mrs, Lydia!) At 9:00, Joe fired up the generator so that the kids could go to bed. At 10:30, the power came back on. Hooray!

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Friday, November 11, 2011 (I have to time this just right to send it at 11:11 on 11/11/11.)

2011-11-11T23:11:00.001Z

Bonjour,

Happy Veterans' Day! We would like to thank all those who have fought and are fighting for the freedom and safety of our country.

Joe took the kids to school this morning. The power went off at 7:30 and stayed off until 4:30. So, the welder was not able to do any work today.

Around 11:30, Joe and I went into town. LF stayed at the house. Joe took me to lunch. Then, we went grocery shopping.

The place that sells the chemicals for the pool has been out of chemicals. So, the kids have not been able to swim for a few days. Gilbert asked what special thing we could do for Soldier Day if we couldn't swim. I remembered that I had some water balloons. So, we took them outside to fill them up. Joe was the official filler. He managed to get all of us wet. We had a lot of fun. I think it was a close race between me and Gilbert for the wettest person. Then, the boys worked some more on burning the dead tree.

After supper, the kids played. Danny was the dog. Gilbert was talking to him in his Ghanaian voice. Bonnie was in on the action too.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Thursday, November 10, 2011

2011-11-10T21:51:00.001Z

Bonjour,

Joe took the kids to school this morning. When he got back, the welder came. The welder worked on the porch for about an hour. Then, the power went off. It was off from 10:00 this morning until 7:00 tonight. The generator was not powerful enough to run the welding machine. So, he will have to come back another day. The contractors worked on the power lines today; they will probably be doing it tomorrow too.

I got some things done around the house. My helper came this morning. She comes twice a week.

This afternoon, Joe went to get the kids from school. Danny said that he almost had to go see the principal, but he stood in the back of the classroom instead. He said that he didn't write his letters like the teacher said to do it. Bonnie said that she didn't have to go see the principal. Gilbert did not have homework tonight, but Danny did.

LF watched the house while we went into town for a little while this evening. We ate at Elma, a little Lebanese restaurant; got fuel so that they would not run out on the way to school in the morning; and headed back home. The power was still off when we got home but came back on shortly thereafter.

Bonnie is only three but has quite the vocabulary. Her new words lately have been "frustrated" and "aggravated."

Gilbert was telling me that Bonnie broke Joe's sunglasses on the way home from school. I asked Gilbert if Daddy knew that she had done that. He said, "Yes, he knows; he was grumpy and jealous." I explained to him what jealous meant, and he remembered hearing that in his lesson about Jacob and Esau. As soon as Danny heard mention of Jacob and Esau, he needed to tell me the whole story about them. After all of that, Gilbert said, "Well, he wasn't jealous, but he was grumpy."

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

2011-11-09T21:39:00.001Z

Bonjour,

Joe took the kids to school this morning. Then, he went to get the welder. They worked all day on putting up horizontal bars on the existing vertical bars on the porch.

The kids had a good day at school. They are always full of energy when they get home from sitting still all day.

Danny did not have homework today. He said that his teacher told him it was a free day. Gilbert had some homework. He was working on it, and Bonnie bumped his arm. He told her that she should be ashamed for making him mess up on his paper. Bonnie said, "Well, you shouldn't say be ashamed to Danny's sister!"

We got ready for church this evening, but the guard never came. Joe called and had someone cover the service for him. We think that whoever tried to break in did it on Sunday when that guard was here. We are thinking now that he may have had something to do with it. Joe got a couple guys to go with him to look for the guard. They went to his house, and he was not there. When Joe got back home, the guard was sitting on the tire swing. He had been hiding in the bushes when they were out looking for him. He said he did not know anything about the break in. Joe sent him home and told him that if he came back, he would take him to the police. He will probably take some men with him tomorrow and go see him at his house to talk to him more.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

2011-11-08T22:06:00.001Z

Bonjour,

The kids went back to school today. They were not too excited about getting up, but once they got going they were fine. They had a good day at school. Gilbert said that the power was off at school most of the day; they were all hot and sweaty when they got home. The temperature is back in the 100s now. It was 93 degrees in the kitchen this afternoon.

Joe spent the day getting estimates on horizontal bars for the porch, bars to go on the inside of all the windows and doors, and a dog. The welder will start working on the horizontal bars tomorrow. The vet is looking for a dog for us.

I worked on cleaning and laundry.

When the kids got home from school, Joe took them swimming while I worked on supper. After supper, the boys did their homework. Danny was discouraged because Gilbert only had a half page of homework and Danny had two pages. Bonnie was bragging that she did not have any homework.

Danny fell asleep on the couch and was about to fall off. So, he moved to the floor. Bonnie thought that if she pretended she was asleep too that she could get out of brushing her teeth.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie

2011-11-07T23:11:00.000Z

Bonjour,

Joe had planned to leave for Ivory Coast today, but the brakes went out on the vehicle. He took the vehicle to the mechanic this morning and came home in a taxi.

LF, a man who works for us, found one of the bars from the porch in the bushes today. There was a long board in the bushes as well which had been used as a pry bar to break the bar out. On closer inspection, we found that the screen from the kids' bedroom window had been ripped out, and the window was slightly ajar. At some point during the weekend, someone tried to break into our house. We have a guard at the house when we are not here, but he must not have heard them. We must have come home just as they were getting the window open and scared them away. Praise the Lord that the brakes went out so that Joe was still here today! The welder came and put the bar back in place. We are thinking about what to do to make the house more secure. Joe has cancelled his trip to Ivory Coast for the time being.

The kids did not have school today. The teachers needed a day to put their classrooms back together after the revival last week. The kids enjoyed another day to play.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, Danny, and Bonnie