my guys on our last trip to Kribi

A super fun Make Your Own Pasta party with some great friends!! (Sun taking photo)

A great group of kids that were at our NavJeunesse Camp for a week in July. Great kids!!

Should I even go there??

The hills are alive... :-)

I love Marg!! (and the flowers)

Josh, age 10 and Sam, age 8

A very special afternoon with dear missionary friends...they have all grown up so much. We miss you Starrs, already.

Gilles to Bamenda...without us

Gilles will head up to the NW region of Cameroon on Friday. He will be taking 6 other NavJeunesse team members from Yaounde up to meet with Vincent and his NavYouth workers from the Wum area. We, those left behind, are bemoaning the fact that we can't all go!! This is a beautiful time to be in the NW. There will be lots of driving for Gilles and a very busy meeting day on Saturday, but we hope he can get rejuvenated and breathe in that crisp air for us too. Parenthetically, the kids and I can't go because school finishes up on the 5th and Gaby has an exam Monday morning. School is almost out. We finish up here on Friday and then will be busy prepping our Switzerland trip. We are all so excited to be cold!

A new 'do

Gaby's new haircut and we were just getting ready to head to her recital. She played a Sonatina and did a beautiful job. The new "look" here is this "side bangs" haircut. Pretty cute. BTW-her teeth are looking so nice with all the work the braces are doing. No verdict yet, though, on when they come off, much to her chagrin!! It will probably be just in time to get Josh fitted with them.

Kribi Photos

A Cameroonian Rainstorm - by Gaby Naine

Black clouds
roll in like
Dark, angry waves.

They swoop in
covering all of
the bright
African sky.

The wind
picks up,
Blowing dust to
and fro.

Palm branches
bow low and
the only sound is
Of the clapping leaves.

A horrible silence
follows...
The cheering leaves have stopped...
They wait in fear.

The sound of the rain
Hitting in roofs
miles away,
Breaks the silence.

A wave of dust
precedes the
Wrath of the
storm.

Then it hits
With full fury,
As sheets of rain
Pummel the ground.

The deafening sound
of it hitting the roof;
I wait,
in anguish.

It fights to
take the place
of orange dust
on the frightened leaves.

Flooding inside
and outside;
Forming giant
puddles.

Orange water gushes down
the gutters
taking with it
Anything in its way.

The wind...
tearing off limbs of
the petrified trees
That hang on with all their might.

Then it starts to slow
Letting a soft, long rain
Take its
Place.

I unplug my ears
And look around to see
That once again,
The rain has won the battle against the dust.

And once again,
It's time to
Clean the water
Off the front porch.

Fun Vacation

We had a great visit with my parents (Mar. 28-April 9). We are so blessed that they are willing to invest not only funds, but their bodies too, to come and see us. There is no direct flight, yet, from the US to Cameroon. Travelling here requires a stop and plane change in Europe (typically either Zurich, Paris or Brussels). And we are so thankful that they did it. We greeted them at Nsimalen International Airport on Saturday night the 28th. Our officer friend went to the baggage claim with Gilles to assist them and we were glad that all worked out. The kids were obviously beside themselves and we were so happy to finally hug their necks, around 9:30pm.
While they were here we went to Kribi beach for about 5 days and thoroughly enjoyed that R&R time with them. We needed it so badly...to get out of Yaounde and be forced to relax. We were blessed with several eating out opportunities and ate our fair share of fish (Bar, Barracuda, Nile Perch). While there we had a whopper thunderstorm...a real tropical rainforest storm, unlike anything Dad and Mom had ever experienced before.
When we came back to Yaounde, we got to celebrate with Gaby as she turned 13 years old...oh my golly! Makes us feel very old. She had a fun day and again, we had some good eats. We also went to visit the Mefou Primate Reserve about 45 minutes outside of the city. This is the same place we went the with Elementary school kids, but the first time for my folks to go.
This past week we have been regrouping and getting ready for school to start up again. Gaby starts tomorrow (15th) and the boys and I begin again on the 20th. We are in the ending push to finish strong the year. Everyone looks forward to the summer break.
We are doing pretty well...not without our share of things to deal with, but God remains God and fully in control of all things. Thanks for loving us and for pressing in through prayer. Big hugs to you.

Our two sweet doggies!! Smokey just turned 4 and Milka will be a year old at the end of February. They are so much fun and are both doing GREAT.

Josh and Sam chillin' playing cards...great fun!

A NICE Red Snapper! Tasted yummy...if only there were about 5 more...haha

Here is our family with Bazil, on Christmas Eve. He is Hedrine's junior brother. Hedrine and her family left shortly after we came back from the US. What a dear young man of God he is.

This was such a beautiful Christmas tree...and smelled so good! The photo is not super, but you get the idea.

This is just a shot of the bent and busted wheel thingy. We were so thankful that we had a tall, big car...the damage (car and bodily) could have been so much worse!!

This is the whole Jackson Village and then some. This includes their employees and their families, adopted Cameroonians, some other missionaries and their family + us. What a lot of fun this was!

Stuffing the bird for Thanksgiving Dinner...we had two whopper turkeys, Cameroonian grown. Surprisingly they were really good!

Been some time

Happy New Year 2009! It has been way too long since I blogged. So sorry, if you are a follower. I am back and want to update you on the past 2+ months. I just looked back and saw that I last wrote at the end of October...pitiful. So, here we go.

We had a great Thanksgiving at the Jackson Village up in Bamenda. I think we were a total of 25 for Thanksgiving dinner and had so much fun! As usual, it was a refreshing time with great friends...cool weather, picnics, laughs and good food.

In early December, on the way to schoo, the kids and I (Wendy) were hit head on by an oncoming car trying to pass a big truck. It was a scarey thing, but thank God, we were not hurt. The guy in the other car got a scratch on his head that bled like the dickens so it appeared much worse. We have since had our car repaired and the body looks great! We are not sure the motor is 100% yet, but are working on it. Here's the kicker...will insurance pay?? The other guy was found to be at fault, however we do live in Africa!! So, we have begun the process for getting things filed, but honestly, don't expect a penny in return. That can be frustrating, but we are choosing not to focus on that and to thank Uncle Sam for a nice tax refund that has subsequently paid for these repairs. He does know exactly what we NEED doesn't He?

Christmas came and went with lots of hosting. We had people over for the three days before Christmas day and then spent a very lazy 25th. It was so nice for us. One of our highlights was having Bazil, our house helper, over on Christmas Eve for a meal and singing. He is such a delightful young man and we are truly blessed to have him here.

Just after Christmas, my good friend Jeanne-Marthe loaned us her truck, as our was in the shop, to go to Kribi. We headed down on the 27th and joined our friends, the Jacksons. We primitively camped for about a week. What a great trip - it far surpassed our expectations! We were a bit apprehensive about it all, but it turned out so great. The kids could go and go and we could sit and sit!! Gilles had a chance to go out on Dan's boat and caught a very nice Red Snapper one morning. And it tasted great...

We got back from Kribi and had another 10 days before school started. Once school started back up, we have been going and going. The kids are glad to be back, except for homework. They are all doing well in school and we are working on areas of weakness...

Ministry wise, exciting things...without giving too much away, we are seeing a couple of our youth catch the vision for spiritual reproduction and generations...it is really cool. We continue with our regular meetings, Bible Studies and training meetings with Cameroonian nationals to equip them to go the next mile. We struggle with a lack of passion for this ministry, from them, but know that is God given and so we press on.

Can't believe that it is 2009...Gaby turns 13 this year!! And Sam will almost be 10...dag, I am old, huh?

Thanks for reading and I commit to doing better at keeping you informed!! :-) Enjoy the photos above.