A few more from the New Year's Eve Party

More New Year's Eve

Isabelle is too tired to eat her doughnut sitting up. Caleb and Kelly seem energized by all of the sugar though!

Belated New Year's Eve Party

Our New Year's Eve party at the Harvey's house was canceled at the last minute. Fortunately, we had a make-up party. Becky and her daughters made lots of yummy doughnuts. We played games and watched a movie.

Ian's Photography

These are a few of the pictures I found on the camera after letting Ian have it. He seems to have enjoyed himself.

Company Girl Coffee and Guinea Pig Pictures

Today we are having cinnamon flavored sun tea instead of coffee. It's very nice on a hot day likeou today.
Last Saturday we had an impromptu belated New Year's Eve party at the Harvey's house. Becky Harvey made lots of yummy doughnuts, and we played games and watched a movie. (Pictures to come.)
We had some more short term people arrive on Saturday. That brings us up to a total of 5 in addition to our regular team. Since most the short term people plus 5 of the long term people eat lunch here on Monday- Friday, we have had quite a busy week. But it's been a fun one, as we get to know new friends.y
The guinea pig pictures are from last Friday. At the end of the work day, they moved to the Harvey's house. I have to admit that I was quite relieved to see them go.
Today someone came to sell us honey. I bought it- all five liters- which had to have bees, honeycomb and dirt strained out. I think word is getting out that I can't say no. :)
After a little bit of a break from hearing gunfire, we have heard a little bit since Sunday morning. It's still on the other side of the river, and we are not concerned at this point. We are just taking the usual precautions- not going out after dark unless necessary, not going out alone, etc.
I have started to try to work on Lingala a little bit every day. I was trying before, but now I have it on my schedule. Hopefully, that will help! :)
We had a really enjoyable Wednesday morning. Stephen had the morning off, and we went for a bike ride as a family. We rode from the hospital to the bridge at Hippo River. I wish I could capture the looks on people's faces when they see us coming! We provide lots of entertainment.
Stephen is not on call this weekend, so I am hoping for a nice relaxing weekend. Maybe even another bike ride.
How did your week go?

Ciska

Another of Ciska's yummy creations!
Ciska makes lunch everyday for our family and the other missionary staff at the hospital. Sometimes, we have quite a crowd. Besides the five of us, there can be up to 12 other people for lunch. Usually, people don't all come at once. When they can take time out to eat, they come. When everyone comes at once, we just crowd around the two tables and enjoy our time together!
When we first moved, I wasn't sure if I would want to have a cook. It takes some time to become accustomed to the idea of someone else in your kitchen.
However, we have become fond of her in the time that we have known her. She is is attached to the children, especially Isabelle.
She is patient with our halting French, and our attempts to learn Lingala. She has a kind heart, and I am glad that we have had the chance to get to know her.

Making Your Home a Haven: Start with God

Last week, I was happy to see that Monica at Homespun Heart is starting her Making Your Home a Haven series again. It fits in well with my focus on "sanctuary" this year.
Yesterday, the kids and I did a prayer walk through are house. I kept it simple, because their attention spans are short. We walked through each room, and talked about what we could pray for in that room. I was glad that I decided to ask for their ideas, because they had an interesting perspective. It was fun to hear each kids' thoughts as we went through the house.
Isabelle and Caleb were reluctant to pray, but Ian was excited to pray in each room. This may be something regular that we add in to our school schedule once or twice a month.

To view other posts and see next week's challenge, you can visit The Homespun Heart.

Motion

These are pictures that Stephen took the day after Christmas. I love the captured motion!

Making Your Home a Haven

Monica at The Homespun Heart is bringing back her "Making Your Home a Haven" series. If you would like to join in, you can visit her blog to get the details. Next Friday will be the first link-up.

Sewing

Time for another cup of Company Girl Coffee. This week I'm actually having Diet Coke. Rachel (our hospital administrator) brought me back four from Brazzaville, and there are six more on the way.
What we did this week:

1) Our "Small Things" included working on a schedule. I have a good schedule for our morning routine, school day, and up through lunch. The rest of the day is still a work in progress. I did, at least, get a tentative schedule down on paper. The problem is that I don't think it's very realistic. There are things that I really want to accomplish (like studying Lingala), and I need to figure out where to fit them.
2) We have been busy with some new short term people, and two more are arriving today. They are staying anywhere from three weeks to one year. It's always fun to meet new friends and have more people on our team. I will be posting pictures and job descriptions on our mission blog.
3) As of last Friday, the big generator for the hospital is working. That means that I can use my sewing machine. When Isabelle saw my sewing box come out, she wanted to help. In the picture below she is mending her skirt. (with help, of course!)
I have a dress for her almost finished, but my sewing machine is having problems now. Hopefully, it will be easily fixed.

4) Friday, someone came to the door selling Guinea Pigs. At first, I said no. But the lady selling them looked so poor, I changed my mind. I bought the two that she had. People here raise them for food, but I wasn't going to go that route. I didn't want to keep them as pets either. I found someone willing to take them (as a pet, not as a supper!) But the kids had fun playing with them throughout the day, and they fit in with our Biology lessons on mammals.

Planting Flowers

Isabelle and Caleb decided to plant some flowers on one of their breaks from school. They were picking little flowers and planting them in the dirt. Later this year we will be studying plants in science (including planting seeds.) I think they will enjoy it.

Happy Birthday, Caleb!

Caleb's 4th birthday is today. He has been able to pick various treats throughout the day.
We had doughnuts for breakfast. (I was up at 5:30 battling ants that had invaded the refrigerator, then making chocolate and plain glazed doughnuts, baking cinnamon rolls, and washing dishes, all before 8:00 AM. I know everyone is impressed.)
The kids all had outside recess before school- fun for me and them.
He got a special treat of M&M's after lunch.
He got one of his presents, the bucket pictured below. I know it seems strange, but there's not much available here. He has had fun pretending to be an animal rescuer. He uses the bucket to lift animals to the tree house.
We are going to have a special supper for him tonight, and give him his presents.

New Wheels

New Year-- New Wheels
Of course, that doesn't mean exactly the same thing here as it would in the States. The main form of transportation is walking, followed by biking. Our problem was that Caleb can only ride around for fun, and Isabelle can do short distances, but not long.
The Harveys had a bike trailer that they offered to us. After Art Ralston made a few repairs to it, he brought it by our house. Isabelle and Caleb were excited to see it. We've already taken quite a few rides around the hospital compound.

In other news, things remain calm here. This was an uneventful week, and I'm hoping things remain uneventful at least a little longer.
There is a new short term person, a pediatrician, who arrived Thursday- bearing M&M's. You can imagine I was happy about that! Two more short term people will be arriving Tuesday. I plan to post pictures, names and descriptions on our mission blog next week... in my spare time...
I've been keeping up with the small things from Home Sanctuary. You may notice the Company Girl Coffee button on the side of the blog. That has been a fun thing to do, and I want to try to keep it going.

Ian turns 10!

Today is Ian's 10th birthday. It's hard to believe that 10 years have gone by already.
I still remember when he was just a baby, and would cry if I left the room.
Now he's growing fast-- constantly moving, thinking, talking.
Sometimes he amazes me with his maturity and insight... and other times, well, he's still a young boy. But I like to see the glimpses of the man he will become one day.

He had a sleepover this weekend. It was just with one other boy (Michael Ralston), but they had fun. Noah Harvey was in Brazzaville, so we plan to do another one after he comes back.
Michael gave him a notebook and markers, and Ian has started filling the notebook with drawings and descriptions of super heroes that he has imagined.

New Year's Goals

I tend to not make specific New Year's Resolutions or Goals, but I always have areas in which I am trying to improve. The turn of the year is a good time to look back, reflect and evaluate.
The pictures have nothing to do with the words; they are just pretty. Stephen managed to capture another sunset.

My long term goals are the following:
1. Focus on the Word "Sanctuary" throughout the year. This is a word that I have been coming across lately. I've been reading the blog Home Sanctuary, and I want my home to be a sanctuary for my family. I want to be more intentional in the decisions that I make for our home. Starting in a new house is a good time to do that.
As part of this, I am going to try to do the "small things" on the blog mentioned above. I started reading it this summer and fall, but couldn't really participate while traveling for months on end.
I'm also going to write down various quotes or verses that pertain to Sanctuary in my journal.
I also have been thinking about the word "sanctuary" while we deal with the situation here. Being in a potential crisis makes you think about our true sanctuary- God.
I want the hospital here to be a sanctuary for the hurting, whether they be refugees, war wounded, or just ordinary people hurting in some way. (Side note: War wounded is what I am calling the rebels. It helps me to remember that they are people that God loves in spite of what they may have done.)
2. I want to try to blog two times per week on this blog and at least once a week on our mission blog. I have some ideas of things that I want to put on our mission blog, it is just a matter of implementing them.
I'm hoping we can stay in one place for a year-- no moving, no excessive traveling. (I'm being hopeful, yet practical. Our evacuation bags remain packed!)
3. Read the Bible through this year. I borrowed a one year study Bible and I am working on reading it in English, and then reading the corresponding passages (from the NT and Psalms) in French. I want to get a Bible in Lingala and add that in as well.
4. Work on my French and Lingala. I can't say that I will become fluent in both by the end of the year, but I would like to make significant progress. I am taking Lingala lessons once a week, but I still have trouble working on it outside of the lessons.

My short term goals are the following:
1. Set up a working budget. We have a general budget, but I am working on tracking our daily expenses and making sure the budget that we have is realistic. I also want to be aware if there are areas where we can reduce spending.
2. Raise chickens. We have a chicken coop behind our house, it just needs to be cleaned out. I think that our cook will be able to help me with the logistics.

Christmas Day

We started Christmas morning with homemade doughnuts with cinnamon glaze. They were a big hit. :)
Then Stephen went to round at the hospital, while I wrapped the Christmas presents. The kids took copy paper and worked on making more wrapping paper for me to use.
We had the opportunity to pass out gifts to the patients at the hospital. Pictures and more details about that are in the post Christmas in Congo on our mission blog.
By the time we finished that it was about 12:30. The kids were very anxious to open their presents, and they finally had a chance.
They spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying their new things, and I made some cinnamon rolls to take over to the pediatric patients.
We ended the day by having the Ralstons over for supper.
Our first Christmas here was enjoyable for everyone.