Day with Jordan and random rambling

It is almost midnight but I was determined to get a blog up today and it looks like I might just make it. Jake took all the boys to Douala (5 hour drive) with him today to pick up his step-mum, Heidi. She is coming to visit for 10 days, we are really excited. I believe it is her first time out of the US so it is definitely going to be an adventure for her. Heidi is the one that got Jake interested in missions in the first place, so she is in a way responsible for us being here in Cameroon. So they'll all spend the night at the Baptist guest house, and then should be back here tomorrow by mid-afternoon. So I had all day to myself and Jordan, a real delight. I can't recall that I have had any special alone time with Jordan, I have really treasured today. We had a fun watering the garden together, petting and feeding the horses, eating lunch out on the verandah, and just being silly. All I can say is that Jordan certainly is "something else." Words can't express how much she means to me. Right now I'm laying in bed with her right next to me, her warm little hand on my arm as she sleeps, awwww. And it was incredible how my house stayed clean and clutter free today and how little dirty dishes there were! And man, getting ready for church tomorrow is going to be a cinch, I might even manage to get mascara on! 

Anyway, I also got caught up on most of my emails today, got the guest room all ready, washed lots of laundry, and started on our newsletter. The newsletter is going to be mostly about our upcoming furlough in June. It has got me thinking about it and I am finally starting to get excited about coming back. Of course it is always wonderful to be back and see family and friends, eat familiar food, and generally get spoiled by everyone. But it is also a lot of work and stress traveling with little ones, trying to manage a household with out your own house for an extended amount of time, and the challengages of homeschooling on the road. And like they say, there is nothing like your own bed. When we got back from furlough 3 years ago I never wanted to see another airplane again! But I am over it now and starting to really look forward to seeing everyone (especially a new nephew and niece I have never seen) and driving around the country, sharing what the Lord has been doing in our lives. One thing is for sure though, we're really going to miss our precious kids at Helping Hands, the longest I have been away from them is 10 days so six months is going to be a little different! 

We're back!

So we had an awesome time at the beach with our good friends the Youngs, very relaxing. Of course it didn't come without a few hiccups. Our exhaust fell off (again!) on the way there, thankfully we found a welder that quickly fixed it. The first night it rained (we were totally caught off guard) and our tent and foam mattresses got soaked. It was so warm so we just slept on wet mattresses till morning. 

What I love about this beach is that it is out in the middle of nowhere, you're only sharing the beach with a couple of fishermen in their dugout canoes. There is no cell phone reception, so even if your house burns down, you're not going to hear or worry about it till you leave. You have no choice but to relax.

New Year's eve was spent around the camp fire eating smores (with really Hershey's chocolate!), playing charades, strumming the guitar, singing worship songs, and sharing funny stories. A lovely way to ring in 2012! And on New Years Day we stopped at one of our favorite restaurants  on the way home, for shrimp, pizza, and ice-cream bars! My kinda way to start a new year.  Sadly, they are building a deep sea port literately a stone's throw from the camping site so this will be the last time we can go camping on the beach, at least in this area. So sad! And on the way back the wheel fender half fell off. We couldn't find anyone with a rivet gun so Jake just bungee corded it up. Always an adventure! I have put an album up on Facebook if your interested. Anyone can view it, even if you don't have an account. 

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2675180113662.130955.1080983117&type=1&l=94cdd959fa

A few other photos of the kiddos... We got the boys saddles for Christmas, some missionaries were leaving and they had had horses. These are beautiful western saddles, so we didn't want to pass the opportunity up. Well, we finally got a chance to put them on the horses yesterday. Take a look at the photos below to see how it went:

With a saddle:

Without a saddle!

Josh was not comfortable in a saddle! It's so funny, his pretty much only ridden with just a blanket. Hopefully he'll get used to it soon (wow, the dry season sure is hard on our lawn!).

I just finished learning about the Mongols and Genghis Khan with Josh in school. The boys decide to build their own Mongolian "Yurts." Obviously the beach wasn't enough camping for them. They were pretty cute!

(I know, Jude's feet are filthy! We haven't had much water lately)