Life in the States

We are sorry it has been so long since our last post - life is flying by in the States.  We have traveled lots and put lots of miles on the van.  We have been traveling up and down the East Coast.  It has been fun meeting new people at different churches.  We also have been visiting colleges for Zach. Currently Ron and Zach are visiting Liberty for a program called "College for a Weekend" where Zach stays in the dorm for the weekend, going to classes, eating in the dining room and hanging out with college students.  He has been having a great time, and so has Ron.  Louis Giglio spoke at chapel and they said that was awesome.  Also the band Switchfoot was there.  They seem like they are having a good time.  We only have 2 months left here in the States.  We are going to be spending a lot of time with family and friends and stocking up on supplies we are bringing back to Senegal.  We are very excited to be able to spend Christmas with our families. 

We will try to be better about posting on life in Senegal and sharing different aspects of our life there!
Here are some pics from the summer:

Happenings

We continue to be busy, busy, busy!  We have 30 days until graduation and 34 days until we fly out - it is going so fast.  Kids are doing great.  Zach is currently playing a brother in the musical Joseph.  Luke is playing intermediate basketball and Faith just turned 11.  We are heading into our birthday season and it is hard to believe that Zach will be turning 16.  We are going to celebrate with some of his friends by going bowling.  Here are some pictures of the kids:

Coming Home

In 76 days we will touch down on American soil for the first time in 3 years and 8 months. We are very excited and are ready for some touches of home! We have so missed our family and friends and can't wait to just hang out and relax. Our kids are ready too! They know that they will miss their friends here, but are excited to see their family and old friends. In asking what they miss most of course they say "family and friends", but they are also looking forward to seeing green grass, fast food restaurants and movies. I am most looking forward to walking through Target, being able to shop off the rack and not through a pile of used clothes. I have missed being able to shop for clothes and running to Target or Walmart for something quick. I look forward to being able to get a fountain diet coke and not have to think twice if the ice is okay. There are so many great things about living here, but there are so many things that you have to deal with it will be nice to not have to think about some of the inconveniences for awhile.

Our time here is going well. School continues to be great and we still love what we are doing. The girls are great and our transition has been smooth. The kids are doing well - Zach is doing great with grades and is going to be one of the brothers in the upcoming Spring musical "Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat", Luke is also doing well with grades and has recently started basketball, Faith loves being in the dorm and also is doing well in school. Her transition to the dorm has been great and loves being surrounded by so many big sisters.

We passed our language evaluations, but still have a strong desire to speak better. When we are home we are going to be looking for ways to learn and practice our speaking. Upon returning we are going to restart language lessons.

So here is our plan: we will come home June 10th into Dulles and be living in an apartment supplied by some awesome people from our church. We will be traveling quite a bit through North Carolina and up the coast. We will home school the kids due to the traveling. We want to be able to see as many people as we can and reconnect with our churches. We will stay in the US through the beginning of January and then head back to Senegal for the second semester.

The current news in Senegal is that we had a peaceful election and a new President was elected. Pray for a peaceful transition of power. The current President has called for peace and has asked all of his supporters to be at peace and cause no problems. That is a huge answer to prayer for this country!!

We are so thankful for your prayers for our family and look forward to connecting with many of you!!

Hellos and Goodbyes

Our team from Northwest Baptist Church from Reisterstown, Maryland arrived on January 18th. Their main mission was to facilitate and lead the Spiritual Emphasis Week (SEW) for the entire school. We showed them some sights and then that Friday we whisked them off to the bush for 2 days. They worked on different teams and experienced the bush in every way. When we returned home, they were knee deep in preparations for SEW. Every day part of the team led middle and high school including the music and then the other part led the elementary kids. It was a huge undertaking and they did it well! We were so proud of them and the impact they had on this school. Northwest should be proud! Here are some pics from the week. (not in the correct order)














The next few months 5 to be exact are going to be very busy for us. School is jammed pack with lots of activities.

The kids are doing great in school and are looking forward to being home for a few months. But are enjoying lots of fun activities and making great friends. Will try to be better about posting pics.