Moving to Africa

Happy New Year!

We had a terrific Christmas here in San Luis Obispo and a very relaxing week-after-Christmas in Medford, Oregon at a family reunion. Back to work tomorrow.

So you probably know by now that we're moving to Africa this year. Project #1 scheduled for Spring 2009 is in Sudan (see yabusbridge.blogspot.com for details). Project #2 starts in the Summer in Jinja, Uganda. We are very excited about moving back to Africa and cannot wait to see what God has in store for us there.

What is beginning to sink in is the reality of leaving San Luis Obispo, our dear church family, friends and neighbors. Sad. Our roots have gone deep here and it will hurt to leave. On the other hand, we wouldn't want to be unrooted here just for ease in transition. We are thankful for our San Luis family and will miss them when we go.

One thing we'll do when we go (yes I'm writing this down in a public online venue so you can keep us accoutable) is to update this blog monthly. Check back here for updates as we go, and updates from the field.

Some recent pictures of the kids...

Evelyn's new word is "bee-bee" (baby). She loves her baby dolls! I have found her reading books to them, wiping their bottoms with baby wipes, feeding them, rocking and singing to them. Today she proudly carried one of her dolls around in her sling. It was too cute!

Fun at the park!



Cheeeese!!

Susanna from Estonia

We had the privilege of hosting an exchange student for the month of July through the international program, EF. Susanna came to us from Estonia to get a little taste of life and culture in America. We loved getting to know this very smart, very sweet 15 year old who loved shopping, cinnamon raisin bagels for breakfast, diet coke anytime, and a nightly bowl of mint chocolate chip ice cream. We got her rocking with Guitar Hero, had a fun trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, picnicked at Montana de Oro State park among many other fun things! We said a sad goodbye to her today. On the way home from dropping her off Jonathan said, "I wish she could stay for ALL the nights!" I think this was his way of describing 'forever'.

Triathlon Man

This Sunday Phil participated in the annual SLO triathlon (sprint course) and came in 412th place out of 1,200 people with an overall time of 1:51:04. Unfortunately the kids and I weren't there to cheer him on because of other engagements, but our dear friends David (pictured here) and Lindsay were there to count laps for, run along side of, and cheer on Phil at the finish line.
Way to go Phil!

Super Hero Wife

No pictures this time.

I just wanted to spend a few words praising my superhero wife. This morning, Tuesday morning, she babysat two young kids of a friend of ours (yes, in addition to watching our own two youthful and trouble-making kids), then made lunch for the whole group and the other mother. Then she cleaned the house and prepared a delicious taco feast for some dinner guests, complete with brownies, ice cream and coffee for dessert. And now that the dishes are done, she's out running errands with our foreign exchange student, Susanna.

Isn't she amazing?

This very bright, very beautiful, and very energetic servant wife that God gave me is my true love. I thank her and thank God for her.

The Beach!

This beach, Avila Beach, is one of our favorite spots, and we count ourselves very blessed to live so close to it. Evelyn is walking now, so it's roughly a thrill-a-minute around here, and her smile and laughter are priceless. As we discovered on this beach day, there is no such thing as a little bit of beach - both kids were soaked and covered in sand by the end.

What are little boys made of?

...snakes, snails and puppy dog tails. Jonathan can't get enough of the snails in our backyard. He knows where they all live and checks up on them daily. Many weeks ago he introduced me to a mommy and baby snail, and when I asked him how he knew which one was which, he looked at me blankly, pointing at the smaller snail and said, "This one's Which."
It takes hard scrubbing with soap and a scrub brush to get the snail goo off of his hands. Yech. Em does this several times a day, but it is absolutely worth the hours of free entertainment.




Note big bruise on forehead and hot new haircut!