Extra Pictures

Ben and Daisy relaxing on a sick day.  Ben had an ear infection a couple of weeks ago, so he propped back with his two favorite things on earth, his dog and his juice cup.

Here's another picture of some of our kids and Bamba's kids.

Ben got his turn holding the monkey at our new friends' house.  Too bad they live so far away.

Karis and one of her new buddies with some cute little puppies.  If we lived in San Pedro, I could just send the kids over to their house for an animal fix!  They have lots of cute pets.

Local Church

Mike got to preach again last Sunday in one of our churches.  They were having a prayer time with an evangelism push, so thought it would be a good week to have the missionary speak! ;)

We have a few local Baptist churches here in town and they are all very different.  Some of them have a lot of sound equipment and instruments and some have just the basic things they need.  This church doesn't have a lot, but they worship with what they do have.  There is one microphone that gets passed around and all of their instruments are rhythm instruments, metal bowls with little rings attached around the edges, a gourd with beads wrapped around it and a few locally made drums.  In whatever church we worship, it is always fun to praise the maker of heaven and earth alongside of brothers and sisters!

A little mudding on the way to and from church makes the day interesting too.   We are so thankful to those Lottie Moon givers that helped us to have a 4 wheel drive truck to get around in or we wouldn't have made it.

With love,
Heather

Bamba's Baby

Mike's friend Bamba has a new baby.  When they come for a visit, everybody wants a turn with the baby!

Stalker

If I had known that day two weeks ago when I went out, that I would be assaulted, I would never have left the house.  Caleb asked me to take him to go play soccer.  I grabbed Ben's shoes and shorts, since he doesn't like to wear clothes in the house, and off we went. 

Everything went fine.  Caleb was off playing soccer with his friends on the court and Ben was with me under the tree playing with his little pack of friends and his soccer ball.  I had no idea that while I watched Ben play, someone watched me.  Putting the pieces together now, I assume he was hiding in the tree watching and waiting for his chance. 

He must have dropped out of the tree with feet so light I didn't even hear him.  While I was yet unaware, he had me by the neck.  Oddly enough, I never knew what he was up to until it was all over.  My first clue to his presence was when my neck began to itch. 

Yes, itch!  I broke out in terrible hives that went all around my neck, up onto my face and down my back and arms.  This was no ordinary stalker, you see.  It seems that a caterpillar must have been the culprit.  After 2 days of intense suffering, burning and itching, I went to the doctor.  She told me what she would piece together from my story and the nature of the hives.  A caterpillar must have been in the tree under which I was sitting.  He must have dropped down on me and made a quick getaway shortly after. 

I'm sure you are wondering now, why all the dramatics.  Well, if I just told you a stupid caterpillar fell on my head and made me itch, you wouldn't have understood the extent of my suffering and that would have been a boring story!

Now I know you want to visit and enjoy the wonders of our beautiful tropical garden.  Just don't forget your Benedryl!

With love,
Heather

Vacation at San Pedro!!!!!

Well, we decided if we were going to take vacation it was now or never.  October is filled with new M's coming for language training and Ben's birthday and a mission team from Tennessee.  Heather is traveling to Egypt for 2 weeks in November to do more language training.  It is looking like we will become the Urban training center for those coming to stay in the Western part of Africa.  We will be responsible for training them in language and Urban work.  December is filled with 2 teams coming from the States.  One the first of December and the other during Christmas.  We will also have our Christmas party as well.  So it was now or never.

These pictures probably make this look a lot better than it is, but this was a nice place to visit and relax some.  Sadly we only got the camera out once and Caleb and Karis were not around for the pictures.  This is our little hotel room.  It was pretty on the outside, but it needed a little help on the inside.  Mosquitoes 

 Yes the pool has a nice green tint to it.  We swam in it the first few days, but by Thursday we decided it was just too green for our taste and our health.  Next time I will stop by our local store here and take some chlorine drops to slip in the pool when no one is watching!!!  ;-)

 Ben loved the pool and would have spent his entire time in the pool if we let him.  I believe he thinks he is a fish!!!!

 Heather looking beautiful as always, sitting just outside of our 2 rooms waiting for her turn to get cleaned up from the morning at the Beach.

 This is a pretty flower that was next to one of the rooms.  They did a great job on the outside of the hotel.

 more outside shots of the hotel.

I know you are saying, so what did the inside look like.  Well, the doors didn't close properly and let in any type of bug you can imagine.  We sprayed for mosquitoes and such, but it didn't do a lot of good.  The bathrooms were missing the seat on the commode, so maybe next time we will take one with us.  We also forgot what it was like traveling to hotels.  You have to take a lot of personal items that you just wouldn't think to take in the states.  We did have fun and we did relax, which was the point.  We also met another Missionary family that is independent Baptist, and we ate supper with them a couple of nights.  They only have 12 kids, so I don't think they really noticed us too much.

Baby Update

I appreciate all of the prayers and well wishes sent for Baby Eden.  Sadly, he passed away last night.  I'm glad that he will never again feel the pain of hunger or difficulty breathing, but am immensely sorry for those left behind. 

Serving Him,
Heather

Sick Baby

This one pulls my heart strings.  This precious 19 day old baby is near death's door.  I've prayed for his healing, will you join me?  He has a problem that keeps food from entering his stomach.  His parents have done everything to help him, but he's back at home waiting for his miracle.

Happy 11th Birthday Karis!!!!

We had a great time celebrating Karis' 11th birthday.  Saturday we went swimming at her favorite swimming pool and Sunday she opened her presents.  It's hard to believe she is already 11!!!  She is very much a young lady and likes all sorts of earrings, clothes, makeup and fingernail polish!!!