Big guy's 12!

We had a great time celebrating Josh yesterday!  Can't believe he is already 12 - almost a teen!!!  AAAHHHHH!  We had a fantastic ice cream cake from Baskin-Robbins complete with a boat and fisherman on the cake.  We had a great visit to the Denver Aquarium.  THEN....we scouted out and visited Krispy Kreme right when the donuts were hot off the belt.  Woohoo - it's been 3 years and we wonder how on earth we managed without them.  Well, not really, but they were truly heavenly.

Today is the last day of Enrichment classes with our High Country home school group, for the semester.  Sadness.  The kids have thoroughly enjoyed Tae Kwon Do, yearbook class, baking cookies, sportszone, puppets (show is today), and Human Music Video class.  Will be nice to reclaim our Tuesdays but the kids will miss their new buddies.  Makes me realize we will have to be INTENTIONAL about connecting with them over the next 2 months.  (BTW, I really like that word - intentional....tons of meaning there.)

Blessings and thanks for all your thoughts and prayers.

God's up to something

Today's message in church was a wrap-up of a many week teaching on Another Dimension and waking us up the reality of Spiritual Warfare:  disarming the tactics of the enemy.  We are in such a real battle - in our minds, families, marriages, ministries, churches, and did I say our minds?  Just a REAL thing.

Getting cooler here today - crazy wind.  BUT it still reached 75.  However, Tuesday predicts a high of...42!  So, yeesh!

Making veggie soup-smells yummy!

Fantastic Marriage Seminar and Book

Gilles and I went to an amazing marriage seminar today.  We had the privilege of seeing John and Stasi Eldredge talk about the truths of Love & War (their new book) out at New Life Church.  Man - we have enemy who has NOTHING good for us or our marriages.  Uncovering his schemes brings so much leverage over him.  We are looking forward to new patterns in our marriage.  I am so blessed by my man - so very blessed.  So...go out and get the book Love and War: Finding the Marriage You've Dreamed Of.  If you can't get it where you are...order it.  Fantastic truths and life giving thoughts.

Besides that - lots of fishing for the boys, lots of coffee (amazing how America is LAND of coffee everywhere), tons of outside time (but not enough exercise), fun baking and learning to manage baking at high altitude.

Stay tuned!

Wrapping up & Preparation

Our kids have only 5 days left of school.  Time is flying by at break neck speed and we are trying to hang on tight!  :-)  Gaby has finals next Monday and Tuesday, but the boys finish up this Friday.  We are proud of them as they are really trying to stay on task and finish strong.  That is such a tough job as a missionary kid (MK).  The end of the school year, every year, is filled with transitions for our kids.  Whether it is simply moving up a grade or having to say good-bye to students you may never see again, it is just so tough.  And then add on top of that our trip to the US for 6 months and the mix gets particularly sticky. We'd so appreciate your prayers in this time.  Gaby takes it particularly hard because of how central her friends are in her life right now.  For Josh this year is a toughy as his best buddy, Peter is leaving Cameroon definitively.  You may remember back in December that his other closest friend, Jedidja, left Cameroon as well.  Bless his heart!  May Gilles and I be found taking good care of their hearts and spirits in this time.

We will be flying out of Yaounde on the 29th of June and will come to VA first for about 3 weeks.  Then on the 18th of July, we will road trip to Colorado Springs.  We serve an amazingly awesome God!  He has provided a fabulously furnished house for us to rent, from some other NavStaff, for the time we are in the Springs.  It is really beautiful and more than we ever thought we would live in.  Thanks so much for carrying this with us.  We will be able to move right in when we arrive on the 20th.  Then we will all go over to Glen Eyrie for a retreat for furloughing Navigator missionaries until the 29th.  Our kids will head out to Eagle Lake, the Navigator camping ministry from August 1-6.  We are thrilled for them to get a chance to do this!!

Please pray as we wrap up here and get things in order for Wilson and Rose, who will stay in our house as well as run the NavYouth ministry in our absence.  They are a precious couple expecting their first child in late July.  We are thrilled for them to be here while we are away.

Enjoy these photos of the kids and some of their closest friends.

These are the ladies that helped me celebrate my big 4-0!!

Gaby and some of the friends that helped celebrate her 14th!

Josh and his buddy, Peter, doing what they do best.

  

Up and Coming

Here is just some family news - the kids finish up this week and then have a bit over two weeks of Spring Break.  The breaks are longer here than in the US as many of the students at Gaby's school stay in hostels here and have families that live outside of Yaounde or outside of Cameroon, even.  So, the extended breaks give them a chance to fly home to their village and spend more than just a few days with their families before flying back to Yaounde for school.  The first week of break, Gaby will go up to the Jackson's in Bamenda to spend a week with her good buddy Katelyn.  Here are Gaby and Katelyn at the pool: 

Then, after she gets back, our family will go to Kribi to spend a whole WEEK!!  We are very excited and realize this is the longest Kribi vacation we have taken since we have been in Cameroon.  Here is a pic on the beach where we go.  Think LOST - minus the polar bears and Others...

                                        

Our family will be coming to the US for a Home Ministry Assignment beginning this July.  We have been asked to locate in Colorado Springs for this time.  After a very brief couple of weeks in VA connecting with Todd and his family, Tim and his family and Wendy's parents, we will drive out to Colorado.  We will attend the Family Gathering - a conference/retreat for furloughing Navigator missionaries - at the end of July.  Then all three kids will get the privilege to attend a week (Aug. 1-6) at Eagle Lake Camp (www.eaglelake.org), the camping ministry of The Navigators.  We are really excited for them!  We'd ask you to pray for our housing situation while in Colorado.  We don't yet have a lead and since we have no belongings in the US, we really need a furnished place.  God has made it very clear He wants us there for that period of time, so we are trusting He will provide the perfect place for our family.

Hugs, love and blessings on your week!  Thanks for your love and prayers for us.

Pippi :-)

Here is Gaby on "Fictional Character Day" for Wacky Week.  I thought it was pretty cute!  She won awards or Twin Day and for Fake Injury Day.  Woohoo!

**Addendum of Clarification**

I want to just clarify from a previous post (It's Stinkin' Hot...) regarding the "relational conflict." This is a conflict NOT between Gilles and myself. We are helping as a third party to work towards reconciliation of the people involved. Thank you for all your prayers as we continue to seek God's best and His face for these folks.

Wacky Week

The Valentine's Dance at RFIS was last weekend. Here is a precious pic of Gaby and Gilles.

The early rains have started and we are so very thankful! We love the side effects of the rain - like beautiful sunrises, lots of new "grass" (actually weeds, but it's green nonetheless), cool breezes to fall asleep by and no water cuts. The really rains are not supposed to begin until the middle of the month, but we are definitely NOT complaining!

This week is Wacky Week at RFIS, Gaby's school. Stay tuned for many photos of total wackiness. The first installment is today - it is twin day and she and her friend, Rachael, decided to dye their hair (the temporary stuff) RED. She and I had fun doing it yesterday. Here is a final photo - she actually looks really cute!

Thank you so much for your continued prayer and love for our family! We are so humbled...

Stinkin; Hot

Man---it's stinkin' hot here. We did get three days of rain showers last week, but the heat has returned with a vengeance! Sam prays nightly for the Lord to send rain. We are waiting and hoping for some showers again soon.

Gilles and I are helping to navigate a very sticky and tough relational conflict. It's tough going, but we are seeing God's hand in it. He has pushed us deeper in prayer over this issue. We are trusting God to see lives changed and reconciliation come in force. We are hoping and believing. Tomorrow night (20th) is the RFIS Valentine's Dance and our family will attend. Can't wait to post some photos when we get done. Stay tuned.

My dear friend Kerry, that we got to visit with while Gilles and I were in Colorado Springs. She is battling a very aggressive form of Melanoma. Please visit the Praying for Kerry Keels Facebook page and pray with us for God's touch.

A beautiful morning shot of Gilles and I in front of the Garden of the Gods (middle ground) and Pike's Peak (background) while in Colorado. What an amazing God we serve.

Rain came---

We had about 10 minutes of rain on Sunday morning and then a very definite storm the night of Sunday to Monday. Then, this morning it even "spit" out a few drops. We are so grateful for God's love by sending even a small bit of rain. It has perked up not only trees, grass and flowers, but also the spirits of so many. The temps have dropped several degrees and so it takes us back to only 1-2 shower days. :-)

This week is the Middle School Retreat for Gaby. They have no academics all week and focus on community building with the students, leading those to Christ who may not know Him and also there is a focus on service projects. This afternoon Gaby's group (the students are divided into 4 different groups) will go help teach English at a school for the blind. Gaby was quite nervous as she was going to have to do translation from French to English and vice versa. Then tonight they have a bonfire!

At the primary school there is also a special emphasis this week on spiritual things - more so than usual. Each day begins with an hour-long chapel service. Gilles and I are leading the kids in about 20 minutes of worship and then there is a guest speaker. Each class then has a chance to present a skit, song or something related to the day's topic. Yesterday Sam's class did a skit from John 9. Sam was Jesus in the skit.

Blessings and thanks for your prayers!

Hot and Dusty

Gaby is now playing Junior Girls' Volleyball for the RFIS Goldencats. She is loving it and is getting an amazing amount of exercise. We have to really work to keep her well hydrated because of this heat!!

We are hot and dusty here in Yaounde, Cameroon. We are in the Big Dry season with typically should last from December until mid-March. Our last rain of any consequence was November 16, 2009. Bazil (our dear house helper and special friend) said it "tried" to rain while we were in the US, but only for about 10 minutes. So, we are hoping and praying for some precipitation. Temps are really hot now and again, we are charting the heat by whether it is a one, two or three shower day! :-) Doesn't that make you want to come visit? We do love our fans!

Josh and Milka enjoying a moment in our brown, burnt grass!

Back in the Saddle

Well --- it's been some time since I have posted. Sorry about that! We have decided to turn this blog into more of a family update blog and will put lots of family photos and info here. Come back again and again to see how they kids are growing, what they are involved in at school, and so on. For today, I want to share with you a few pics of our time in the US over Christmas and New Year's. We arrived in the States with the East coast snowstorm and got delayed an extra day in New York. We were clearly not dressed for the occasion, but man, did God show up and bless us amazingly!! When we finally arrived in Richmond, the kids had been blessed with clothes to borrow and so got all changed into snow attire and headed for the hills! What a blessing the clothes were and what a sweet treat the snow was!!

We loved getting time with our newest family member, Isaiah Carter Withers. He was only about 4 months old while we were there and so we had multiple occasions to hold and rock him. Such sweet memories!