Christmas 2008 - Part 1

Christmas 2008-Part 1

Merry Christmas! We wanted to share some pictures of a party and program we were glad to attend. First, we enjoyed a Christmas party with other IMB missionaries last Friday evening. On Sunday Lucas and Alexis were part of the children's program at the French church where we attend. Alexis was an adorable angel and Lucas was quite the happy wise man. Check out these cute pics by clicking on our family picture above.

Tree Baths and Snowballs

Tree bath and Snowballs

We have incorporated new traditions into our Christmas season and we'd like to share them with you. The first thing we did this year was give our Christmas tree a bath. Yes, in a bathtub! Another missionary family let us borrow their tree but we had to get all the dust off it first. Lucas and Alexis loved helping with that! Then we taught the kids how to have a snowball fight with cottonballs. This was even more fun one evening when the kids and I hid behind a mat and surprised Dan with a bunch of "snowballs" when he came home from work! I (Allison) have also had fun making paper Christmas crafts with the kids like stars, candy canes, stockings, reindeer and a wreath. Plus it helps us decorate our home! We have also enjoyed using an advent calendar each evening as we prepare to celebrate (as Lucas calls it) "God's Birthday".

We also have a few pictures from an adventure we had last weekend as we visited Goree Island. This is a famous tourist attraction for an infamous reason as it was a huge part of the slave trade. But we enjoyed visiting the island on a beautiful Saturday morning.

To Sleep or Not to Sleep

Part of our weekly routine here in Dakar includes taking medications for the prevention of malaria. This is particularly important since we live one block from a swamp. Well, most medicines have side effects and what we take to prevent malaria is no exception. Only Alexis seems to suffer from a side effect and unfortunately it seems to be insomnia. So, what do you do with a child who isn't the tiniest bit tired from 12:30am to 6:00am? Well, we had to figure that out yesterday so let me tell you! For the first two hours we kept calling to her and telling her to go back to sleep. After she cried and asked for water the 9th time we let her sit in our bed. Yes, she sat between Dan and I for 2 hours and then started wiggling. That was too much for me so Dan got up and read a book with her for 30 minutes in the living room. Now it's 5am and we bring her back to our bed. She lays there some more and finally falls asleep at 6am for a whole 2 hours. It was unbelievable and we were so tired. Guess who wasn't? Lucas AND Alexis! What a day it was!

Happy Thanksgiving!

November Happenings

Thanks for your patience in looking at our Thanksgiving pictures as we quickly approach Christmas! We had a great Thanksgiving meal with over 50 IMB personnel. We had quite the food spread as well as a worship time, craft time and football time (these are DVDs of past games). We also had some extra time for shopping so you'll have to check out Lucas' new outfit!

November Happenings

November Happenings

Here's part one of pictures we took in November. Here's a fun quote for you! We were eating mandarin oranges the other day and Lucas said, "Mom, I don't like them. They're too orangey!" Have a super day!

Praying for our friends

Alexis praying

Alexis is here praying for our really good friends who are IMB missionaries in Costa Rica. Please join us in praying for Aaron, Gabrielle, Mylee and Evie Woods as they work through language school. Hey, we love you guys! We also have a link to their blog if you would like to read more about their family.

Nice Sunny Days!

October 2008 family pics

We have been taking so many pictures that we didn't realize we were getting behind putting them on the blog. These are pictures from the end of October. Enjoy...we'll have more soon!