Tuesday, September 28, 2010

September in the Fader household

Enjoying good ol' McDonalds every now and then


The month of September has been full of joys and special gifts from the Lord. Isaac and Evan continue to LOVE school at Ben Lippen. Isaac got to go on a rodeo field trip last week and started his first football practice. So there have been a lot of firsts for him. Evan continues to wow us with his mechanical mind. Today Eli bought a 300 piece puzzle for Evan to tackle. That should keep him busy for a while. Joshua, our two year old, is newly potty trained which is exciting for us since we haven't had a child out of diapers for very long.


Eli has been working hard on a class about Islamic Theology. The other big project that's taken a lot of his time lately is purchasing our first home. Yes, you read this right. We just bought a house here in Columbia, SC. Usually when people first hear this, their next question is: "Aren't you going back to Africa?" Yes, we are still on target to return to Sudan in March 2011. However, Eli and I have always hoped to have a home base for our family to return to everytime we come back from the mission field. The Lord really provided at this time in our lives and blessed us with an incredible home in a great location. We're so thrilled. Closing day is October 15th and we'll move in soon after that.


Thank you for staying connected with our family. We can't fully express how much we're enjoying this season of rest and refreshment in the United States. In the same breath, I will say that we're already getting very eager to return to where God has called us: SUDAN. Sometimes the five months we have left seems like too long, but we will make the most of where we are. God can use each of us anywhere, right?!


Monday, September 13, 2010

Camping!!!

This weekend we went to Davidson River, NC with a large group from our home church here in Columbia. It was a blast except that it rained more than half the time we were there! Thankfully this tent kept us pretty dry (just got a few damp sleeping bags).

The boys helped Eli start the fire. Isaac especially loved helping finding kindling and fanning the flames.

Eli made some very tasty hotdogs and hamburgers!

Josh and Mommy roasted a marshmallow together.

Our friend Heike brought her 3 week old baby Samuel for his first camping trip!

Meal time with friends. Since we were with a group from church, people milled around visiting others in their campsites.

Since returning to the States Joshua has discovered that girls are so much fun to play with but especially the ones who dote over him. Joshua had plenty of "ladies in waiting" while we waded in the freezing river.

All the kids brought their bikes so there was constant traffic on the loop around the campsites. Josh wanted to join in so he pushed his stroller.

Isaac on his wheels, and let me mention that he kept riding his bike even through the rain.

Evan

Why does sickness like to hang around so long???

Only a few days after returning from our trip to Kenya, Judah started spiking high fevers. We took him to our clinic here in town for blood ...