More photos (Daniel's choice)

Caleb busting a gut















'Tili















The pickup after I had gone to fetch the reeds for our fence. I drove it like this all the way from the resevoir - and there isn't much tarmac between there and home!

Photos

Kids in the hammock in our compound
Joshua and Caleb reading together
Caleb asleep on Daniel

Currently...

I have copied this blog format from someone else's blog ( hope that's OK Jocelyn) because I think it gives a good idea of what's going on with us at the moment.

Currently enjoying :
- The perfect weather, warm in the day but cold enough at night to use a duvet
- The kids being able to play outside so much and with other children
- Living in a house with no fleas
- Having all our own stuff now the container has arrived [well, almost all - someone swiped our supply of print cartridges]
- Caleb beginning to talk. His current words are: mummy, daddy, ball, baby, Boo, car, dog, cat, Barbie (Bethany is very pleased about this), more, Oh dear and juice
- Appreciating simple things - I was so pleased to get broccoli the other day that the pilots brought back from Dar, and the strawberries from Mbeya
- Work

Currently watching:
- 24 season 3, highly recommended, but quite addictive
- The Wiggles/Barney (nothing changes...)

Currently reading
- 'The Grapes of Wrath' by John Steinbeck (actually, just finished)
- 'The Incredibles' by Disney Pixar (Joshua)
- My first ABC (Caleb)
- The Weekly Telegraph
- 'The Indispensable Calvin and Hobbes' by Bill Watterson (or at least Daniel is in the bathroom!!!)

Currently preferred food:
- Anything I don't have to make
- Daniel's granary bread (made in the bread maker)
- Yogurt made with the yogurt maker
- Homemade peanut butter
- Cold sodas
- Fresh tomato soup with chapatis

Currently working on projects:
- Trying to write to as many people as possible, sorry if you haven't received anything yet, I am working on it
- Trying to sort out the house and find homes for all our stuff.
- The first official newsletter

Currently praying about:
- Which church to go to
- Kids behaviour - is it Larium related?
- My paranoia about fleas and head lice

Currently wishing for:
- Being able to shop without everyone starring at me and begging for money or trying to sell me spears and drums
- Tesco's chocolate muffins
- Take-away restaurants
- Nice places to take small chhildren
- Starbucks
- Family and friends
- Being able to speak Swahili better

(this list isn't in order of priority!)

Swingy people

Just to prove that the kids are all still alive, here are some pictures of them on the swings in front of our new house. They would be quite happy to be pushed on them all day. However, they have a very mean mother who actually has other things to do besides pushing children. They are yet to be convinced. Our new house is actually better than the old one, so everything has worked out quite well. We have more rooms and a bath, which is so much better with small children. The children have more space to play and ride their bikes and there is lots of shade so they don't get too much sun. Daniel now has to cycle to work, but it's only 1Km so it's good exercise and he can still come home for lunch. There are four houses in a row on this compound. We have an Australian family with three boys on one side, (they work for SIL) and a Dutch family on the other with two boys. The MAF programme manager also lives here with his wife.

The picture is of our house and the other one is outside the house looking down the compound. I hope the pictures give you some idea of where we live.

The last few weeks have been really tough, but thank you to everyone who has prayed for us and e-mailed. We really appreciate the support. It makes it a little bit easier to know that there are people praying for us back home.

Back in action (almost)

Hello folks. Here we are again. I hope you haven't all given up checking the site!Our computer is almost back in action, and the MAF internet connection is now fully restored (just). So here's a brief blog, just before I go to bed.

Life's been a bit rough over the last few weeks. Those who get our Prayer Points will know most of the details (by the way, if you don't, please let us know if you wish to be added to our mailing list).

The situation at the moment is that we are now living in 'Compound B', in the former Programme Manager's house, and are flea-free! (Although far from fly-free). Our belongings arrived last Wednesday, all present and correct (amazingly) and most of them have now found a place in our house (except all the study things, which are waiting for me to get a grip).

Libby, Joshua and I are still struggling with the tail end of our sickness/diarrhoea bug, which seems to drag on. [Unnecessary detail: we have got through 11 rolls of toilet paper since last Thursday]. Please pray that this would clear up, and that the other two would not succumb. Caleb so far seems to be impervious to everything, despite drinking gallons of unfiltered water and eating any old rubbish he finds on the ground.

I started work officially yesterday, and am trying to get my priorities in order. I realised this evening (not for the first time) that as a matter of principal there will always be more things to do than time to do them; hence the inportance or prioritisation.

Our new laptop is on order and should be with us when Libby's parents come out mid-August. It should hopefully be all-singing, all-dancing, so we should be back on Skype by then (at the latest) and be posting pictures to the blog. [The latter should be possible before then, I just have to find the right disks].

Thank you to everyone who has been praying for us, and for those who've e-mailed us.