Newsletter

Well, we finally got our newsletter mailed and emailed.  If you did not receive a newsletter and you would like to read it, you can click on the Newsletter tab at the top of the blog to view it.  You can also click the Sign Up for Newsletter tab to get on our email list for future newsletters.  We are so grateful for those of you who support us financially and through prayer and we want to stay in touch with you.

Ode to James

(It is not really an ode.  I don't actually know how to write an ode, but I do know how to write clever blog post titles.)

Today our gardener James killed THE MOUSE with his bare hands.  He didn't think he needed to wash his hands afterwords, but I insisted.  I may not be the doctor in the house, but I do know that one should always wash their hands after they use them to kill a mouse. 

Since James is my hero, today's blog post is in his honor!

Here is James having chai with his BFF.

Here is James' most loyal assistant.

 

This guy's job security is now in jeopardy. 

Family Pictures!

We are way overdue for sending out our prayer letter to update our friends, family and supporters about what is going on in our lives so a few weeks ago we sat down and wrote out the newsletter and got it all ready to go except for a family picture.  We realized that we hadn't taken a decent family picture since December so we needed to do that and wanted to include it in the newsletter.  Anyone who has young children knows how hard this can be.  First you have to find a time when the children are all clean and dressed appropriately.  Since the hobo look seems to be quite the trend around our house, this proved to be a real problem.  Then you have to have an extra body around who can actually take the picture.  We've set out to do this a few times, but have failed for one reason or another.  Finally this morning we announced to the children that we were going to get these pictures done today and all children had to look presentable.  After some whaling and gnashing of teeth, we had all the kids dressed and were anticipating catching someone during the day to capture the big moment.  Unfortunately, breakfast messed up our plans since the kids ate chocolate doughnuts and our 2 year old used his khaki shorts as a napkin.  Tonight we had friends over so I made our daughter change out of her hula dancer outfit (although we did allow her to keep the flowers in her hair), I put on some lipstick and we headed outside to find a pretty spot for some pictures.  I thought you might enjoy seeing some of the process.

Trying to get everyone in position.  I never imagined that we'd be one of those families that included our pets in the family pictures.

Oops - we lost a kid.  This is actually my favorite of all the pictures - the REAL Hansen family.

Trying to regroup - I think I'll hold the 2 year old this time.

The cat decided he didn't want to be in the picture - there he goes.

We have to break up a fight.  I also like that you can see one of our friends in the background wearing a shirt that is identical to our 8 year old's.

Well, 1/2 of us look good.

I think this is about as good as it will get!

Happy Kids!

We are so thankful for the wonderful box of goodies that we received from The Church at Brook Hills.  It was filled with American treats that we are not able to get here and it has been so much fun to enjoy things that we've been missing.  They also included hundreds of handmade bracelets that were made by the children for kids in the hospital here.  The Shirley family and our family had the privilege of delivering the bracelets to the children at the hospital.  We were able to visit with the moms and kids, pray with them and sing songs with them.  Each child was so excited about the bracelets and were so thankful.  We wanted to share some of the happy faces with you. 

Pictures!

Someone found Mommy's makeup.  I think he needs a different shade.

Mom being tickled by 3 boys at one time!

Gotta capture these moments when you can.  Don't you love our entertainment system?

Must find the perfect pear

No, this isn't our new pet - just a dog the kids adored.

These baboons think they are our pets, but I'm trying to convince them otherwise.

The container of donated medical supplies has arrived!   It was a little like Christmas around here when the container finally arrived and was unloaded.  We are so thankful for the donors that helped us fill and send this container!

The doctors waiting to see what new toys they have to play with!

It was all hands on deck to unload this huge container.

There were several very heavy anesthesia machines that didn't roll well on the loose gravel so they used backboards (also from the container) to make tracks for the machines so they could push them into the hospital.