Super L

Something I have to say about my number one child is that he is nothing if he's not creative. He is always thinking of a story. He thinks of the most fun ideas of things to do and make. He thinks of fun games for his friends to play. This was totally his idea one day: L's cafe. And his menu includes: pizza, pancakes, cherries (that's my favorite), pie, noodles, hamburgers...It includes pictures.

There's also a cold soda machine on the side of the cafe. For a mere 25 cents, you can have a cold Coke, too.

I always want to remember these days...

adopting

We are in the middle of the adoption process. We have turned in our dossier and have been told that we will get our referral sometime in the next few months. But now we have to decide (read: hear clearly from the Father) whether to do 1 child or 2 children. And we have always thought that we'd do 2. Because it's a little less expensive to do 2 at once. And we want 2 so that they will have each other to relate to and know what it's like to be adopted from Ethiopia together...

BUT we found out it is SIGNIFICANTLY more expensive to adopt 2. And we don't have the money for the second one. Sooo...we need a sign to appear hanging out our bedroom window.

People have, at one time, asked where we are in the process. That's where we are today.

Trip to the Temple

The areas that we most love to go are often closed. There are various reasons. And I can't go into all of it on here. But suffice it to say, we feel like it's a treat to get to travel to the mountains when they are open.

And I got the chance to travel out in August. It was a really great trip--I got to travel out with a friend, so I got to meet lots and lots of family and friends while I was there. We've found that traveling out with friends is so much more fun (and tiring) than just going on our own...

Anyway, our first day in town we drove out to a temple. And I watched my friends do all the rituals that are done in the temple. It was nothing I hadn't seen before. But it had been long enough that it was fresh, and watching my friends walk through the rituals actually drives the reality home a bit more. So, here are some pictures from the temple. They are a bit smoky just because of the incense burning (the oven that is shown is an incense burning oven)...

The last picture is a friend throwing up her prayer cards into the wind to carry them off to the gods, and she's surrounded by prayer flags. Such is the reality here...

"hospitality house"

We have it on our "to do" list this week to find an apartment that can serve as a home to folks that come from all over our province to go to the hospital in our city. Since medical bills are so expensive in and of themselves, it seemed that lots of our friends or friends' friends have needed a place to stay for free or for really cheap. And it's a bit of a shuffling game to get them in friends' empty apartments or whatever we can help them find here in town.

So, we felt that the Father was putting it on our hearts to find a place that can meet that need for at least 3 families at a time. Mostly for our people. But sometimes, maybe, for people coming in from the states, too...We are just beginning to think about and dream of this house. Really, we mostly hope that it will be used to help a lot of people (and connect us with new relationships as it's used).

As soon as we have pictures of our potential house, we'll put pictures up...

Entering the world of homeschooling

Our electricity is out so I'm writing at a local bakery. Enjoying their air conditioning for a while...

So this will be short.

We have started homeschool with Luke. We have done some reading, math, and a little science and social studies so far. We'll start our science and soc studies curriculums next week. It's taken us an hour and a half at most to finish everything. I'm okay with that. I know it won't last forever!!