Christmas Day

What the kids saw on Christmas morning...





What a spread! (It wasn't just us...there were 3 families involved in this! Still...I do think it may have been too much...)

Update with Links

So, since I got my wisdom teeth out and I'm all laid up here, I decided to do some updating. I have much of our last few weeks in Cameroon all posted. I will put the links here so that if you would like to, you may go and see! :)

A Golf outing

Bread

Pretty Flowers

African Beans

Traffic

Josh's Birthday

Thanksgiving

Story Time

A Night Out

Church Friends

A House Boxed Up

For those of you who are still waiting for my recipe for Gingerbread, well, I'm holding it captive until someone sends me some pictures of that story time! Ha! :)

Enjoy your reading! I think I may have a few more up my sleeve, but I'm rather tired at the moment, so this will have to suffice! :P

Jungle Jim's (part 2)

Why is this part 2? Well, because we went here last year when we were in the states. The kids loved it so much, we thought we'd do it again! And funnily enough, they loved it again! :)







What's not to love about a place built for kids to be themselves in?

We're BAAAAACK!

Well, here we are! And it’s been an eventful past couple of days. Unfortunately, we’ve had no internet. You’d think that we would have left those days of internet problems far behind us in Africa, but, no. Lack of internet seems to follow us around the globe. Oh well. I think, actually, that Devin just wants to keep me from sitting for hours on the computer… But I’ll show him! I’ll write it all up on Word and then cut and paste it later and make it so I spend MORE time on the computer instead of less! Ha! (Just kidding…)

Anyway, in case anyone was wondering, our flight out was actually quite good! I know, I’m surprised, too! All of our flights were on time! We had no problems with tickets (well, at least no major surprises, except for the one flight from Chicago to SLC where they seem to think we always have to have paper tickets. I mean, really. Who does that? I think the agency we go through at the embassy has no clue what they’re doing.)

(in the hotel room)

ANYWAY, I’m happy to report that the absolute worst part of our entire journey was the last flight. Thankfully, it was the shortest. Only 3 ½ hours. I think the kids were really ready to be done, and so were we! I remember hearing about friends traveling with small children and having diaper ‘blow outs’. Poop everywhere. Absolutely gross. I was worried that I might get that with Peter as he is struggling a bit in that area lately. I was worried about a bit of regression on the part of Andrew, too. Nope. Those two did a stellar job of keeping their bodily functions to themselves. However, CLAIRE had an accident! Weird? Yah, I thought so, too. I remember sitting there thinking that the two guys who were cuddling and snogging a bit in front of us were slightly nauseating and what was that nasty smell?? Then Claire starts crying and telling me she didn’t know what happened but she went in her pants. Fabulous. So, we made the trek down the aisle of the airplane to the bathroom… I thought about trying to wash her underwear. Then I contemplated flushing it. In the end, I actually just threw them away! Was that bad? I think it was better than trying to scrub it out with my bare hands and then where would I put it? At least it was just a pair of underwear. That was uber exciting. I just was completely shocked that it was Claire who gave me my fun story of the trip.

But, we made it. Freezing cold, but we made it! We even made it to church in the afternoon! Whew! We were SO tired! But, it was good to be in church with a great deal of other people who don’t expect you to try to find them their next job or to ‘loan’ them money…and to sit on padded chairs and have carpet, and listen to someone who is capable play the piano… And the kids LOVED primary! That was nice, too. I sat all by myself in Relief Society, and enjoyed it immensely! I didn’t have to teach the lesson or carry the whole conversation, or try to resolve everyone’s questions. I just sat and listened. Nice. Everyone should be able to do that once in awhile.

Devin got REALLY sick on Monday. Poor guy! He had a terrible case of the shivers, then a fever. I hate it when he’s sick. Makes me so sad and scared, because he is almost never sick. But, he did get better. The next day.

We finally followed up on our UAB shipment. The silly thing was packed out over a month ago. However, the guy who was in charge of shipping it out to the states, decided to repack it into two smaller packages, and let it sit in the warehouse for THREE WEEKS!!! Ummm, hello! I specifically had it sent out a month early so it would get here sooner and be waiting for us (so we wouldn’t be having the problem that we’re experiencing right now…) He then told Devin that as soon as he sent it out, it would get to DC in a matter of 2 or 3 days. Then, we were told the day before heading out of Yaounde, that our UAB was still THERE!! AH!!!

So, we waited and waited, and yesterday, Devin calls the Swiss office up, because the tracking on the airbill STILL said it was stuck in NY waiting for confirmation. Well, apparently, it got there, and they shipped it via some trucking company down to Dulles without telling anyone! Devin got the contact info for the trucking company and called them. They told him that, yes, the packages were there, had been since the THIRD OF DECEMBER, and they needed someone to come and pick it up soon because they were charging storage fees now! HELLO!!! Who is supposed to be tracking these things? I guess we are. Then Devin called the shipping office at the DoS and told them what he had learned, so the guy called the shipping company so they could tell him the same thing they told us. The guy called us back and said they were picking it up immediately and would have it on a truck and out to us within a week.

Meanwhile, we’re still here wearing 2 changes of clothing over and over again—we’d buy more, but why? We have more than enough already, it ‘s just not here!! That’s frustrating! And we’re all wishing we could go outside and play, but no one has their boots, scarves, snow pants, hats, or mittens/gloves yet! And again, we could easily get more, but I don’t want MORE, I want the ones that we bought specifically to use! Oh well. This too shall pass.

We’re getting a new van! We are so excited! The only problem: We thought you could get a temporary registration here in Utah, then use the van and ship it after 30 days. Apparently, that’s not true. I guess the DMV guy who told us that was sleeping at the screen or something. Because you can either get a 15 day registration—which still requires you to pay for an entire year registration PLUS the sales tax, PLUS everything else, BUT you can only use it for 15 days. Now, what sense does that make? OR you can pay $2.50 and get a 4 day temporary ‘registration’ to get it out of the state. Then, we have to get it up to Idaho. Then, after the 4 days are up, we just have to ship it. So, there goes our idea of using our new car here in the states, but, well, what can you do? Things rarely go as you plan them to, so it’s just important to know that, deal with it, and be flexible for new adventures that pop up. But, it’s a nice van. Once we get it, I’ll post some pics! It’s a 2006 Toyota Sienna. Nice!

Another fun thing we’ve had to do here, is the dentist! I was planning to do my dental work in Rexburg, but then my teeth were really bothering me, and we found out that Devin’s uncle was practicing again, so we decided to just do it and get it done with! I was 90% sure that I would have to have at LEAST one root canal (maybe two or three), so I was not looking forward to that. Well, I am pleased to announce that I don’t have to get any root canals! Yea!! I did have to have all the fillings from the last horrible dentist adventure replaced. We found the WORST dentist in the world in Virginia who really took us for a ride! I actually didn’t have to have a root canal in the first place (which she had insisted I had to have and caused me a great deal of pain for months afterward!!), and the stuff she used for the fillings…well none of us knows what it was she used, but it just didn’t cut it!

So, I have new fillings in my teeth, and they are so happy! I did have 7 cavities (how embarrassing!!) but those are easily fixed. AND I found out something fun and exciting: I have my top wisdom teeth coming in!! Oh dear. I saw the x-rays of them, and they are so cute…flying in diagonally straight into the tops of the roots of my back molars. Beautiful. I’m pretty sure that’s the cause of all my teeth pain and fairly constant headaches. So, next week, I’m getting them out. I’m REALLY excited (which is actually true) because I am almost positive that my headaches and toothaches will stop. Eventually. And that will be nice! Merry Christmas to me.

I have about 20 posts that I WILL get around to posting eventually. So, stay tuned. In the meantime, go here to see a sampling of some of the very fun things that we did our last few weeks in Cameroon!

Well, life is good. Change is constant. Growth is optional. We’re cold, but doing well. We miss all our wonderful Yaounde friends. The kids are slowly getting over the jet lag. Everyone slept past 2:30am this morning, which was nice. Devin and I decided to stay up until TEN last night. We went to the store to find a few things (a small space heater fan for the kids’ room), and found ourselves singing “Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam” and skipping through the aisles. Maybe we’re not ready to be up that late yet.

What I've Learned In Cameroon...

• If you walk in the rain, you will get malaria.
• Eating too many mangoes gives you Yellow Fever.
• Pumpkin doesn't actually come in a can.
• You can make spaghetti sauce with actual tomatoes (not from a can).
• Pineapple isn't actually acidic.
• Hazard lights are there on your car so that you can drive as fast as you want.
• If it's not dark outside (yet) you should use the lights INSIDE your car instead of your headlights.
• It's ok to change your tire in the middle of the road. Just put a clump of grass out on the road to let everyone know that you're there.
• A right turn signal can mean a right turn, left turn, or (more likely) a complete stop.
  
• The more oil you add, the better your food tastes.
• The more salt you add, the better your food tastes.
  
• If you are sick, it's because your neighbor probably put a curse on you.
• Toilets are for rich people.
• So is deodorant.
• Women should shave their eyebrows, not their legs.
  
• Ants on your bread? No biggie. Just brush them off.
• You should change your hairstyle at least weekly. (This includes all manner of wigs, extensions, colorings, etc., but NEVER your actual hair!)
• Men should shave their heads.
• ANY time you are sick, you HAVE to go to the hospital. That is the only option.
• Parsley isn't just a dried up leaf in a bottle.
• Papayas taste GOOD!!!!!!!
• Mangoes taste GOOD!!!!!!
• Bananas? Heavenly!!!!!
• All good butter is imported from France.
• You can make the most fantastic spaghetti sauce using FRESH tomatoes... Who knew?
• Having a housekeeper can seriously help you on your way to becoming OCD.
• Babies should never cry. (What??!?!? This seriously impedes naptime, and they all wonder why their kids never sleep...)
• Peanuts in the wine bottles are not alcoholic. They're seriously yummy!
• You get ringworm from being bitten by a small black and red bug.
  

I will miss Cameroon. A big hug and kiss to all our friends (our Family) there. We will remember you forever! Thank you for enriching our lives!

That's how we do!!

Early Christmas

It's always strange to celebrate Christmas in Cameroon, as it still feels like July to me. Normally, Josh's school has their annual Christmas choir concert around the day or so before Christmas break. This year, however, the music teacher was mysteriously called back to France before then. So, they moved the concert up a few weeks and we got to go!





The concert started an hour late, and ended an hour and a half later than what I had hoped for(I think it was much later than many people had hoped for--especially the pre-k kids, as many of them just laid down on the ground and fell asleep before the whole thing ended...), but, hey, what can you do? Josh was so happy that he got to be in his concert, and it was fun to watch his enthusiasm! :)

Inside the Box

This is how we think inside the box:




These boxes are super huge! It took 7 of them to pack all our 'worldly goods' into! Whew!

The truck backed into our driveway--but the top hit the wires! So, when it backed into the driveway, Napoleon, our guard, used his nightstick to hold all the wires up! Zap!!



Then, when the truck went out, instead of making Napoleon stand 'en haut', he stood on the ground and used a super long stick to lift the power lines out of the way. I'm just glad no one was seriously injured doing that...but then, it is Africa...



(It's hard to see the guy with the stick, so you have to look really closely...)

Holy Bread, Batman!

I just love the size of these loaves of bread:




I also love the idea of Rotisserie chicken in Cameroon. You cook it in the rotisserie thing, then when someone picks one out to buy, you have to chop it up in little pieces and throw it in the deep fry. When we told her 'no thanks' to the deep fry, she looked at us really strangely. 'Can you do that?' Um, yes, please. Then she tried to spread mayonnaise on it, and we said no, and once again she looked at us like we were from outer space...which is pretty close, I suppose. Ah, the joys of 'fast food' in Cameroon!

All Packed Up

Our house is packed up.





I think Peter shows here how we all feel.

The English Branch Goodbyes

Here are some of our friends from the English branch. We had a special dinner with many of our good friends!

The Ndongo Family (they were the rest of my primary!): Ephraim, Agnes, Alma, Abinidi, and Frank



The Minyem Family: Alain, Hortense, Leila, and Naomi

(Also pictured here are Claire and Jerry--another member of the branch)

The English Branch Presidency:



Dev and me with Frere Zang and Lilian

(They are the ones who bought our van)

We will miss our wonderful Cameroonian friends! We wish them well in their endeavors and hope for the best for them and their families and futures!

African Night

What fun this night was! We planned a fun evening out, dressed up in our African ensembles, eating African Food, and playing tennis, skiing, baseball, and catching fish on the Wii! :)


(Jo, I hope you don't mind that I stole this pic from your blog!!!)



A nice African ride home--just up the street on the back of a truck!! :)

Thank you, Jo, Tim, Mellow and Bruno! We love you!! How we will miss you!!!!!!!!

My Favorites

We enjoyed our very last storytime... It was so sad to say goodbye to that fun time on Friday mornings! Our theme was 'My Favorites', and everyone brought their favorite book to share! We danced to some of our favorite songs, and made pictures of our favorite things, which were then made into paper airplanes to fly about the room! :)










Thank you all for making story time a wonderful and fun success!

Thanksgiving

This year for Thanksgiving, we had oodles of people over! Yea!! We had all 8 of the Elders (young missionaries), the senior couple, and even a couple who are in Cameroon as missionaries for the Mennonite church! We also had our housekeeper and her husband and our nanny here. We even fed our guard and our neighbor's guard! (And we even still had the wonderful leftovers!!!)

It was such a wonderful and joyous occasion. I'm grateful that they could all come and enjoy a day of cooking and playing and eating! Sadly, I didn't get any pictures with everyone together. However, the elders stayed to play some games (they played 'Curses' with the kids) and I got a nice picture of the fun:



They were all laughing hysterically! It is now one of Josh's favorite games! He certainly got a kick out of it!

Since it is Thanksgiving, I want to write a list of things that I personally am grateful for:

• My husband
• My children
• Our Family (parents, siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews....)
• A place to live
• The gospel!!! I'm so grateful for the gospel! What peace it brings in troubled times!
• Jesus Christ How thankful I am for His atoning sacrifice for each of us! For His loving care no matter where you live or who you are! For the knowledge that He lives and loves us more than we will ever know!

These, to me, are the most important things in my life. More important than anything else. If everything we have were to be suddenly taken away, and we were left with this list, I would still be happy and content. I know this is true, as it has happened to us a few times! :) Things are things and they come and go, but family and the gospel are eternal.

Joshie's Birthday Weekend

I cannot get over the fact that my little boy is SEVEN YEARS OLD!! I cannot have a son that old. I'm only 12, after all!

However much I am in denial, he really did turn 7, and here are some highlights from his happy day(s)!

On Friday, I went to his classroom at school. I read a book about Thanksgiving,






Then we made some 'turkeys' out of Nilla Wafers, candy corns, Mike & Ike's, marshmallows, and frosting. Incredibly healthy, but the kids LOVED them (for obvious reasons!)




(Josh and his class! How he will miss them!)

Saturday was his actual birthday. We had a progressive party! First, the kids all came here to play a few games and gather. Then they went to our friends' house for a dip in the pool:







While they were all swimming, I made pizza crust dough. When I finished that, I took that and all our toppings over and the kids all made their very own pizzas for lunch!









After the swimming and pizzas, we dragged them all back to our place for cake, presents, and pick-ups!



I think Josh really enjoyed his day, as after his party, we went to another house for another swimming party (it was Devin's farewell party). All in all, I think he made out just fine! :)



Unfortunately, I didn't really participate in that one, as Peter was super sick, and I took him to the Health Unit for a malaria check. I'm happy to report that he does not have malaria. But the poor kid has been a little lump for about 3 days. Sad.