Bridge Update

Today was a special day as we finished putting the wood decking across our bridge here in Yabus. It has been a dream for so long and to finally get to see people cross has been great. To watch people cross for the first time has been entertaining too. From the timid woman who preferred scooting to the crowd of children who thought it best to run, it has been a great day to people watch. Check out more pictures on our bridge blog: http://www.yabusbridge.blogspot.com/

Bethany's 28th!

It's amazing how birthdays can be special no matter where you are with just a little creativity. Even though both Joshua and I weren't feeling very well, it ended up being a really nice day. Eli took the day off from working on the bridge and the first thing he did was send me away for some time alone and he stayed with the boys. One of our teammates is out of town so I went and sat on her porch with my Bible and journal. It was very refreshing.

Later in the afternoon we packed a snack picnic with lemonade and a few treats and the whole family got on the quad bike and ventured to one of our new family getaway spots. It's a nice place with lots of trees and big rocks to climb on. We chose one that had a tree at the top that provided some nice shade and we had a lovely picnic.

When we got home, the ladies on the team had prepared a special meal, and we had a lovely birthday dinner, complete with cake! Eli surprised me further by giving a speech!!! It meant so much to me that he showed his love and honor for me in front of our team and family - by far it was the best birthday gift!

Our growing boy

Lately my heart has been so full of thanks for my children. God has given me such a deep feeling of contentment during this past week. I've felt like there's truly no where else I'd rather be and nothing I'd rather be doing with my life. Some of the highlights have been:
1. Getting henna (herbal dye) on the bottoms of my feet and on my fingernails by my dear friend, Hakima.
2. Watching Joshua take his first steps alone yesterday.
3. Planting a vegetable garden and planting flowers all over the compound now that the rains are finally here!
4. Doing preschool with my boys
5. Visiting Eli at the bridge and constantly being amazed at the incredible man God gave me.

Here are a few pictures of Joshua:

Aunt Canberra is one of Joshua's favorite people. I'm so thankful for all the special "aunts" and "uncles" our children have since we're so far away from the rest of our family.

The great thing about life in Sudan for little boys: DIRT! And when it rains...there's MUD!

It's been fun to get involved with the bridge work - as a family. Some afternoons the boys and I walk down to the river to check on Eli and see how the bridge is coming along. In this picture, Josh was ready to drive us all home.

And here he is: almost one year old and he knows he's cute and he knows he's big.

Back to the good Sudan life

We've been back in Yabus for two weeks now. It's already been quite eventful but this is the land we love - where our hearts really belong, so we try to take it all in stride.

On June 6th we celebrated Eli's 28th birthday with a big pan of monkey bread - his request.