We're hoping to make some changes on the blog. Hopefully it will be updated weekly and we'll have input from all of our family members, excluding Ian. Stay tuned... We'll do our best to include pictures as well.
From Eli...
Elianna got her own beads for Christmas and is excited about making jewelry. Aidan and Elianna watched Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
From Aidan...
Aidan was excited when we got packages this week. He and Elianna got flip flops that they could color on with special markers. His fit perfectly but Eli's are a tad bit big. Aidan just got a nice short haircut.
From Pete and Faith
Packages were a bit hit this week. We usually get them roughly once a month. We got 3 packages. We were only expecting one of them so it was a real treat. There were some gifts for the kids from one of our supporting churches and some goodies for all of us. A big bag of jelly bellies and some flavored coffee for Pete and I. We also received a bunch of Christmas cards earlier in the week. It was really nice to see some pictures of friends and family and read the notes and letters.
We had some really cool mornings this week also. One day we saw 54F and in the afternoon it was just shy of 100F. The afternoons are beginning to get hotter and it will only continue for the next few months. Elianna and I went into the village to visit and came home loaded down with gifts, some grapefruits, mandarin oranges and a squash.
You may not realize some of the 'extra' things we do in addition to being dorm parents. Each week we have a Sunday evening service here on our mission center. The missionary men who live here and one from a nearby village take turns teaching/preaching. So at least once a month Pete has to prepare for that. This week some of our coworkers are sick and need to go to the capital for medical attention so Pete is filling in on teaching. Nearly every week we also lead the music/worship for the service as Faith is the only one who plays an instrument. It's been a growing and stretching time but is good as well.
Ian got 2 big goose eggs on his head this week. He is walking really well and getting used to wearing shoes and walking outside. He's pretty good at not putting stones in his mouth but gets very dirty when outside. He hasn't been sleeping well and is waking up almost every night. It makes for some tiring days for Mom and Dad. We're planning to move him in with Aidan and partition our room with a wall and make a small room for Elianna. In time...it won't happen for a little while.
A few months ago our mission center, where we live, was blessed with some new play equipment. A church sent over some things and donated money to get stuff made. It's really nice and our kids and so many other enjoy it. Saturday morning we spent some time playing tag on the equipment with our kids. Our center also has a sports court, a cement fenced in area with a basketball court and option for volleyball and tennis. Recently a lot of the kids have been roller blading. Aidan and Elianna are learning as well. Eli is really determined to get it.
