A few picture sof the past week

This is a picture of the piece of stick we got out of the 'cut' on Aidan's eye. It's been there for about a month now. Lately it's been getting pussy and we've been able to get junk out and tonight the piece of stick came out. It's about a 1/2 cm long and about the thickness of a sharp pencil lead. Hopefully there's not more, we shall see. Mixing paint, the old fashioned way. Add the color or colors you need to achieve your goal and stir and pour.
There are no commercial mixers in Guinea, that we're aware of.

Getting the color you want can be tricky especially if it's in the brown family, it often has a purple or rose tint to it.

It's a trick to add enough color but not too much. Once you've added to much then you try to add more white and the story goes on...

We're working on painting the dorm before we move in.

We buy oil based paint in 5 gallon buckets and color it ourselves. Then the painters add some gas to it, not completely sure why.

Our creature lover Aidan spotted this monitor lizard behind the guesthouse where we're living currently.

Pete was able to sneak up and take a few pictures.

One week in

I should apologize for not posting sooner. It's hard to believe that we've been here for a week already. Unless you've been overseas it's hard to understand the utter contrast between the different worlds. In ways we're quite familiar with both but in other ways not so much.
Some things we've been readjusting to are: the heat, sweating, ants, dirt, did I say heat?, sweat?, ants? These are the main things. Some coworkers provided meals for our first few days so that was a great help. It take a while to remember how to cook here, or rather just what there is available and how long it takes etc.
Overall we're doing really well. We came up to our mission center this past Tuesday and starting assessing the work that we need/want to do on the dorm before we move in. Pete hired a couple guys from town to do some painting so our wing is painted. Yesterday we moved in a bunch of our furniture. Tommorow they'll paint the main room/kitchen living room and then hopefully we'll move in later this week. There is some electrical to be done and some cleaning and stuff. We haven't gotten our stuff from storage yet, with the exception of our bikes and the jogging stroller.
People have been coming to great us for the last few days. It's been great to see our African friends. Pray for us to be able to develop deeper relationships with them.
I would attach some pictures but the cord for my camera is in the room where Ian's sleeping, so that will have to wait.
Thanks so much for all your prayers for us. TTFN

Two more sleeps

We're down to our last few days. The pictures below will catch you up on the last few weeks of our lives. This has been a great time here in North America. Now we're headed back to our other home, Guinea, West Africa. Pray for us as we have a long trip and many adjustments ahead. Ian has a bit of a cold so hopefully it won't get any worse. We'll try to do better at updating once we are in Guinea. Bon Voyage. Aidan turns 7.
A last visit to Faith's family cabin in PA.

A great picture of Ian and Grammie at the cabin.

Always searching for creatures. This was an especially pretty one.

A beautiful salamander that Aidan found.

Blowing dandelion fluff.

A big tractor.

In the max for the ride across the river. Ian was on my back for a good 30 min hike.

Some of the cousins, our kids with Kira.

All of these kids used this exersaucer at one point or another.

One of Aidan's birthday celebrations with a campfire and s'mores.

Practicing carrying Ian on my back for Guinea.

Smiles with Daddy. He's such a happy good baby. He's now 5 1/2 months old.

Some playing with fire that Pete got to do with Derek (faith's sisters husband).

Isn't he cute!

The Countdown is ON

It's hard to believe that we are down to our last month here. Our tickets are booked for June 4th and we are in the process of getting our visas. We would appreciate your prayers during this time. It's exciting and overwhelming. It's hard to wrap our minds and hearts around what's happening now and what we're heading towards. Thanks for all your prayers. I'll try to post some picture in the near future.

In Georgia

It was so nice to be in Georgia with Jeff, Sarah and the boys. We participated in the missions conference at their church. Pete was able to help a bit at their house. The kids had a great time playing together. It was as if no time had lapsed at all since we last say them. Memories to store up for the years ahead. The boys playing with light sabers. Taking apart electronics.

Ian with Auntie Sarh and Uncle Jeff. It was nice to experience springtime early.

Forsythia.

Daffodils.

Grape hyacinth, one of my favorites.

Fun at the park.

The crew, Ian's hiding behind Corton.

Eli and Savannah dressed up for a tea party.

The superhero/princess tea party.

More of our trip

Some more pictures of our trip.

A beautiful view in Missouri. Our friends, Aaron and Megan Schaffner.

Aidan got to go on a scooter ride with Aaron.

It did make me a bit nervous b/c we were driving behind them.

Daffadils blooming in Missouri.

Day 2

Day 2 went pretty well. Although we had less miles to travel it seemed just as long. The kids did really well again but we were all a bit more tired. We had a minor car delay, more about that later.

We arrived in Branson, MO sometime around 5:15. We successfully with the help of his wife surprised our friend Aaron Schaffner. We had a great supper with them and then went for a walk at the Branson Landing. The kids had a blast and we got to see a neat fountain show with fire. We're all exhausted so I'm not going to download pictures tonight. I'm glad we don't have to travel again tommorow.

Good Night.