May 8: fun Friday

We had fun this afternoon with (little) girls (and their parents) over for tea. We girls enjoyed a lovely table and banished the guys to the living room, where they put up a sign for a "boys only" meeting! Then we got to attend another performance of to the "Seussical" (this spring's musical) at D.A. So great to watch kids who have worked hard for months perform so well!

January 21: Bible study girls

I've had the privilege of meeting with these girls on Wednesday afternoons to study God's word together, pray, and share our hearts. What a blessing they've been in my life!

January 13: international friends

These are some of the students that our family enjoys spending time with. We are blessed by living in an international community! They are from Rwanda, Ethiopia, Mexico...

January 31: end of year celebration

We enjoyed celebrating New Year's Eve as is our tradition with families and friends, and fireworks on the roof of the Hengers!

December 23: fun with friends

It's been so much fun to hang out at home, playing games with friends and family, and just enjoying the break from school!

Welcome Levia Rose!

We are rejoicing today in the news received of the birth of Levia Rose, to our dear friends and support team members Karlyn and Haddon. Many blessings to this dear family. We wish we could be with you!

Liberia: my friend Mary

Mary, an elementary school teacher, has been one of my best friends since 1995. She was married to one of our Liberian "sons" in 1999, and was widowed when he was struck by a car in 2004. She has been a testimony of God's faithfulness as she raises her children on her own, and looks to the Lord for provision of her needs. It was a great joy for me to spend a bit of time with her, and bittersweet to be able to visit TC's grave along with two more of our Liberian sons, Reuben and Doco.

Liberia: Ma Kortee's girls

Ma Kortee invited me and a few friends to her house for lunch! She treated us royally with check rice, boiled plantain and gravy. We enjoyed her company and enjoyed being pampered by her too!

It was so special for me to see Elizabeth, Sis Pate, and Linda after many years-- all daughters and nieces of the Ol'Ma who has been special in all of our lives!



(I'm having trouble formatting this post with captions. )

(photo 1-- Christina, Naomi, Sheila)

(photo 2 Elizabeth, Mary, Ma Kortee)

(photo 3 Sis Pate and Linda)

liberia day 2

Ma Kortee, my Liberian "Ol'Ma"






















Valarie and Blessing






(too tired at the end of this day to write anything but will continue to try post pics-- hopefully will add text, as well as higher resolution pictures when I'm back to "normal" life.

liberia day 1: airport fun

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These sweet girls, Alison and Kiara, were going out on the flight I came in on... but Doco worked out a way for us to see one another. What a fun moment!! I'm going to sleep.. for the first time in 4 1/2 years... in Liberia! More tomorrow if all goes well! (im going to try to upload the pics in low quality from here and will replace them when i get back to a faster connection.)

August 4: Abidjan

croquet with Dakar friends!

croquet with Adamsons, originally uploaded by MaryD SN-MN.

The guys enjoyed a game of croquet with our friends the Adamsons, who were with us both in Abidjan and Dakar. They're on home assignment this year as well.

Benjamin

We were happy (especially Joey!) to host Benjamin for a few days in his transition between Senegal and college in Texas!

fun with friends

Jacob has been enjoying some time with Mitch, and their friend Ethan who has been gone from Senegal for about two years, and is back for a visit.

Support team on web cam!

One blessing for which we are very thankful is our support team from our home church. They pray for us, and encourage us in many ways. On Sunday evening, we got to visit with members of our support team via Skype, and for the first time we were able to see them as we talked, with their web-cam. (And I guess I should say that "Skype" is a blessing as well!)

It was very cool to "see" them, almost like looking in a window, as we talked! The kids made funny faces, showed us Lego people and stuffed animals, and we really enjoyed it. And it was fun to "meet" the new fiance of one of our team members too! We are looking forward to spending time with these dear friends when we return to the States!

April 7: Aliens?

Can you guess what Jacob, Mitchell and Uncle Dave are up to?

(Jeremiah, these pictures are for YOU!)


For the rest of you who didn't talk to Uncle Dave on Skype yesterday, these pictures are of the guys "Paintball" expedition. They went with about 30 other guys and had a wild time with four teams... amazing that you can do that here in Senegal!

March 30-April 3 vacation: GAMES!

Many games were played during our four days at the beach! Varieties of football, soccer, volleyball, badminton... as well as favorites like Rage, Settlers of Cataan and even Axis and Allies!

February 23: porch puppies

We visited the puppies to see how they'd grown. They are so funny, so cute! If only they could stay this cute forever!

February 2: Axis and Allies

Although Jacob definitely misses his brothers, he finds some benefit in their absence... Danny's Axis and Allies game has become a great favorite for Jacob... and Joey's room (now empty, and with the piano inside) provides a great playing space!

January 16: Rugby on the beach (vacation flashback photos)

Joey is loving rugby at his college, and he taught the group to play the game (in a very elementary fashion, of course! ) joey was a great coach, patient with everyone, he helped us all enjoy the game!