Kylie at Five Months (and Eating Cereal for First Time)

Going to London to Visit the Queen

It's been almost two weeks since Deron returned from London, but we've been so busy we just haven't had time to post pictures. Sorry!

He really did get to see the Queen while he was there -- she was riding in her carriage on the way to address Parliament. There was quite a lot of pomp and circumstance!

Although Deron was there for meetings, he was able to do sightseeing before and after the meetings, including visits to Westminster Abbey, London Bridge, Trafalgar Square, the Tower of London and Big Ben.

For more photos, visit www.flickr.com/photos/globalnomads/

Happy Thanksgiving!

This year, we are so thankful for:

• a wonderful baby daughter who's enriched our lives in so many ways
• the blessing of living in the same place as my parents (and a special visit from Deron's parents)
• food, shelter, health insurance and many other provisions for our physical needs
• a God who loves and accepts us the way we are
• the opportunity to serve Him in this new place

London

Tonight Deron is flying to London for some training on security and crisis management. He'll only be gone for four days, which isn't too bad, but Kylie and I will still miss having him around. He's traveling with some colleagues from here and they'll have time to do some quick-paced sight-seeing, so I'm trying not to be envious! Stayed tuned for pictures from his trip.

Please pray:

• for safety as Deron flies tonight and again Saturday night (11-hour flight each way)
• for good retention of this important training
• for energy as I play "single mom" for awhile

Waffle Night

Last week we hosted a waffle night for all the young, single journeyman-types who live on our side of town. We had a lot of fun talking, laughing and gorging ourselves on the waffle buffet. Yummm!

Latest Project: AfricaStories

Check out the latest project of the Africa Communications Team:

www.africastories.org

My creative teammates traveled throughout the continent to pull together some really cool stories for the site. Then I worked with William, our volunteer web guru, to put the site together. The goal is to update it with new stories every couple of weeks, so keep checking back for more!

There is also an accompanying 8-page tabloid magazine called "AfricaStories" that is currently being printed. I'll let you know when it's available for order through the IMB Resource Center.

Kylie at Four Months

Family Vacation: Kruger & Blyde River

We had a great time visiting with Deron's parents over the last couple of weeks. Kylie enjoyed getting to know her grandparents, and they enjoyed loving on her.
We were also spoiled by Grandma's good cooking, babysitting and willingness to keep the kitchen clean. Thanks! We were definitely sad to see them go (not because of the help, but because we really enjoyed hanging out with them!).

We all enjoyed our visit to Kruger National Park, one of the largest game reserves in Africa. The days of game viewing were long (5:30 am to 6 pm most days!) but we were rewarded with lots of animal sightings.
On an African safari, everyone wants to see the Big Five -- lion, leopard, elephant, rhino and cape buffalo. We managed to see everything but a leopard, although we searched valiantly. We did see two cheetahs, though, which was exciting because they are also pretty "elusive."

On the way to Kruger we drove along Blyde River Canyon, the third largest canyon in the world.
For more pictures from our trip, visit www.flickr.com/photos/globalnomads.

Finally, an Update

Sorry it's been sooo long since we've given a proper update! Here's some info on what's been going on over the last few weeks:

New Responsibilities / Trip to US
Deron accepted new responsibilities in assisting the personnel director for the Africa Support Center. He'll continue counseling as his primary responsibility, but has now added some administrative tasks as well. In late Sept., he made a week-long trip to the US for some training in how to use a database program.

Big Project
I've been working on the content and design for a new "AfricaStories" magazine and accompanying multi-media website, which should both be launched in November. Stay tuned!

Parenthood
Kylie continues to be a joy and also a lot of work! She smiles a lot and recently started giggling, which always make us laugh, too. She doesn't sleep much during the day and likes to be constantly entertained, so we're always trying to come up with new songs, books, toys or other ways to keep her occupied. She's usually a happy and peaceful baby, so we feel very blessed. A little more sleep would be nice, but over all we can't complain. :)

Visit from the Parents!
We are excited to have Deron's parents here visiting for a couple of weeks. It's great to see them again, and of course they are happy to finally meet and spend time with Kylie. This week we're heading to Kruger National Park, one of the largest game parks in Africa. We're hoping to see LOTS of animals!

Kylie at Three Months

Working Weekend / Weekend Away

We spent the weekend helping out at a retreat for our colleagues who work on the finance team. These are the missionaries who "keep the world running" by processing funds for ministries, rent, gas and many other needs. Without them, our job would be a lot more difficult.

Just like the rest of us, Africa's finance group is a new team, so they planned a weekend team-building retreat, and we went along to look after the kids. It was a busy time running around with six kids ages 3-12 (and little Kylie made seven), but we had lots of fun, too. It was great to spend so much time outside -- even Kylie enjoyed the breeze and the sunshine.


I even got some complimentary pampering at the hotel's spa -- what a treat!

Kylie at Two Months

Famine in Kenya

As you may know, drought has caused severe starvation for thousands of people in Kenya. My teammate Debbie made a short video about it here:



You can help provide food for hungry Kenyans by giving to the Southern Baptist World Hunger Fund and by promoting World Hunger Sunday in your church.

Learn more about the situation in Kenya here.

Yay! Daddy's Home!

Deron made it home safely on Saturday, much to the joy of his wife and daughter. Our week at home was not too stressful, thanks to a wonderful Grandma who came to stay with us several times, but we still missed Daddy a lot.

The trip to Burkina Faso was busy but productive. Deron had a great time visiting with lots of old friends and colleagues, who all enjoyed seeing photos and videos of Kylie. Deron said it was like he didn't even matter anymore -- everyone just wanted to know about the baby!

On the way to and from Burkina, he had to spend the night in Ethiopia, where he got to see some cool sites, like this orthodox church:

Lion Park

Last week we visited the Lion Park with the new teams of HandsOn missionaries who'll be serving in South Africa this semester. What a fun group of people! We also had a great time seeing the lions, feeding giraffe and ostrich, and even playing with lion cubs.

You can see some of our photos on our Flickr site. You might also enjoy the videos of me kissing a giraffe and getting "attacked" by a cub: