Not planned for or dressed for, but we did finally spontaneously have someone take a picture of the entire family together. I am definitely becoming a picture-taking slacker!
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Family Picture
Not planned for or dressed for, but we did finally spontaneously have someone take a picture of the entire family together. I am definitely becoming a picture-taking slacker!
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
St. Lucia's Day
Kay spent the last two weeks of school learning about Christmas around the world. The great part about where we live is that we have a wealth of resource people from different countries. They talked about many different countries: Holland, France (with an accompanying bouche de noel), Mexico (with Mexican hot chocolate), England, Italy...
One of Kay's classmates is from Norway. Her mother came and explained St. Lucia's Day to the kids. I had to take a picture of this as every year my Swedish Dad tried to convince me to wear a wreath of candles in my hair and bring him St. Lucia's Day buns in bed. He was never successful. Too bad you are not closer Dad, maybe the genes skipped a generation! Here is Kay in her finery. She isn't the oldest daughter, and we didn't have a white dress, so a white tshirt had to suffice, but she enjoyed the celebration all the same!
One of Kay's classmates is from Norway. Her mother came and explained St. Lucia's Day to the kids. I had to take a picture of this as every year my Swedish Dad tried to convince me to wear a wreath of candles in my hair and bring him St. Lucia's Day buns in bed. He was never successful. Too bad you are not closer Dad, maybe the genes skipped a generation! Here is Kay in her finery. She isn't the oldest daughter, and we didn't have a white dress, so a white tshirt had to suffice, but she enjoyed the celebration all the same!
THE COW
We had to take pictures of this event to make my dad proud! You may have had pig experience Dad, but now, we have tried our hand at a cow... :)
Every December those of us living in Niamey are implicated in the preparation for SIM's spiritual life conference. It is a special time for our mission community to come together and worship, hear spiritual imput, fellowship together, laugh, cry, eat, and play together. We take advantage of the cooler weather and of school break to meet right after the new year. This means the weeks before Christmas are full of planning and preperations... moving furniture, cleaning houses, and this year, in an attempt to reduce our budget despite the soaring food prices, butchering!
This was a community effort for sure! Monday, one of our coworkers who lives about 45 minutes outside Niamey arranged for a cow from the market out there to be butchered for the price of the head, the skin and the hooves. He then brought the quarters in to town in the back of his truck. We were waiting in the Sahel dining hall kitchen with lots of dubious knives, several interested people, and very little experience! Here is Ian holding a piece as it is being weighed.
Thankfully, a collegue from another mission was a butcher before coming to Niger. He was an emense help in guiding the rest of us amatuers. He could make that knife fly! That is speedy Roberto on the left.
After the basic cutting the meat from the bones, we moved into meal preperation: bones went into enormous pots to make broth, meat was separated into quality for cubing (20 ki worth) and meat for grinding, and fat was trimmed and given to very happy canines. 
We attempted to do the actual grinding ourselves, but we didn't have a grinder that was sharp enough, so we had to give up on that. We did however, clean and cube 20 kilos of meat for conference sauce. We had a fun time together: lots of jokes and learning about animal anatomy! Here is Cindy finding the trechea... 
Ian very gleefully claimed the liver which he cooked quite expertly for our family last night. Much to my surprise, Tom and Kay both really enjoyed the liver and onions. Tom took four helpings! Unfortunatly, our total meal take was not quite enough for the meals we will share together at conference, so now we are looking into cow #2...
Every December those of us living in Niamey are implicated in the preparation for SIM's spiritual life conference. It is a special time for our mission community to come together and worship, hear spiritual imput, fellowship together, laugh, cry, eat, and play together. We take advantage of the cooler weather and of school break to meet right after the new year. This means the weeks before Christmas are full of planning and preperations... moving furniture, cleaning houses, and this year, in an attempt to reduce our budget despite the soaring food prices, butchering!
This was a community effort for sure! Monday, one of our coworkers who lives about 45 minutes outside Niamey arranged for a cow from the market out there to be butchered for the price of the head, the skin and the hooves. He then brought the quarters in to town in the back of his truck. We were waiting in the Sahel dining hall kitchen with lots of dubious knives, several interested people, and very little experience! Here is Ian holding a piece as it is being weighed.
Thankfully, a collegue from another mission was a butcher before coming to Niger. He was an emense help in guiding the rest of us amatuers. He could make that knife fly! That is speedy Roberto on the left.
After the basic cutting the meat from the bones, we moved into meal preperation: bones went into enormous pots to make broth, meat was separated into quality for cubing (20 ki worth) and meat for grinding, and fat was trimmed and given to very happy canines. 
We attempted to do the actual grinding ourselves, but we didn't have a grinder that was sharp enough, so we had to give up on that. We did however, clean and cube 20 kilos of meat for conference sauce. We had a fun time together: lots of jokes and learning about animal anatomy! Here is Cindy finding the trechea... 
Ian very gleefully claimed the liver which he cooked quite expertly for our family last night. Much to my surprise, Tom and Kay both really enjoyed the liver and onions. Tom took four helpings! Unfortunatly, our total meal take was not quite enough for the meals we will share together at conference, so now we are looking into cow #2...
Piano Recital
Our girls have been taking piano lessons this fall from one of the ladies in our community. Just before Christmas break, there was a small recital after school where students taking instrument lessons were able to perform. The variety was lots of fun, ranging from violin and piano to clarinet and flute. The girls each played several Christmas carols they had been working on. In fact, the majority of the students played carols which made the occasion a very festive end to the semester of lessons. Heidi has performed in recitals several times before and was very confident. Kay, however, was nervous! Thankfully, she did fine. Once the first song was successfully behind her, her tummy ache diminished and she enjoyed the rest of her performance as is evidenced by the big smile in this last picture below. If that doesn't say success, what does!? Afterward the girls enjoyed yummy Christmas goodies and the even sweeter taste of practice that had paid off! :) We appreciate the many people in our
community that graciously share their talents with our kids enabling them to grow in different areas and have new experiences.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
I'll be there!
One thing we have continued to learn more and more in this culture is the importance of "being there." Back in the US, if you are invited to a special occasion, but you have to work, or your kids are small and ornery, or you have a really busy weekend, or you just don't feel like going to your neighbor's kid's piano recital, you can give a polite excuse and no one thinks anything of it. Here an event is AN EVENT with new clothes and lots of food, and to show you care, you must show your face, early though it be, tired as you are- being there for even a very short length of time is really important. I've thought about this in the context of Christmas. Isn't that what Jesus did for us? He came and dwelt among us, a physical presence testifying to God's love for us. We are slowly learning that our physical presence testifies our love for a person, and hopefully God's love as well.
This last month and a half we have had the opportunity to attend two different baby dedications. They were very different! The first was for our house worker. Salamatou has worked for us since our arrival here in 2001. She and her family are special to us, so we were excited to help celebrate the arrival of her fifth child, Zeeadd (spelled phonetically as I have NO idea how to spell it!). Idriss and Salamatou are Muslims, so typically a week after the birth of a child, there is a naming ceremony. The short ceremony is held outside among the men. The women are visiting with the mother and baby inside. The baby is brought out and the Muslium teacher, or maribou will chant some special things and the baby will be given his or her name. As here children "belong" to the father, often the mother has no idea what name will be given to her child until the grand announcement. This has been the case with our friends. After this comes the party! Often popcorn (with sugar) and cola nuts and dates are distributed to everyone. The women of the family or close friends will prepare a big feast, if the family can afford it, a sheep is slaughtered for the occation. Though we didn't stay for the feast later in the day, we enjoyed being a part of the celebration of little Zeeadd's birth! Here he is with his proud Mama and only sister (he has 3 older brothers.)
The other baptim we were invited to this month, Ian served as the family rep. Not only was he family rep, but also chauffeur! Fidel, a carpenter that Ian has worked with on several projects had another little boy. Fidel is from a Catholic background, so this was different than the majority of baby naming ceremonies we have attended. It was held in a local Catholic church. Ian used the SIMAIR van to transport the family over to the church. Little Sovereign was baptised and named much like a baby dedication back home. Here is a picture of his family (Fidel and his wife are in the yellow outfits and the little girl is their oldest.) with a few close friends.
After being together at the church, Ian drove a very FULL van back to Fidel's house where they celebrated the new little life in their family by, what else!? eating food!
We are greatful for the relationships of all sorts that we have here. Pray for us as we learn to "be there" in tangible ways that we would clearly show both our love and Jesus' love.
This last month and a half we have had the opportunity to attend two different baby dedications. They were very different! The first was for our house worker. Salamatou has worked for us since our arrival here in 2001. She and her family are special to us, so we were excited to help celebrate the arrival of her fifth child, Zeeadd (spelled phonetically as I have NO idea how to spell it!). Idriss and Salamatou are Muslims, so typically a week after the birth of a child, there is a naming ceremony. The short ceremony is held outside among the men. The women are visiting with the mother and baby inside. The baby is brought out and the Muslium teacher, or maribou will chant some special things and the baby will be given his or her name. As here children "belong" to the father, often the mother has no idea what name will be given to her child until the grand announcement. This has been the case with our friends. After this comes the party! Often popcorn (with sugar) and cola nuts and dates are distributed to everyone. The women of the family or close friends will prepare a big feast, if the family can afford it, a sheep is slaughtered for the occation. Though we didn't stay for the feast later in the day, we enjoyed being a part of the celebration of little Zeeadd's birth! Here he is with his proud Mama and only sister (he has 3 older brothers.)
The other baptim we were invited to this month, Ian served as the family rep. Not only was he family rep, but also chauffeur! Fidel, a carpenter that Ian has worked with on several projects had another little boy. Fidel is from a Catholic background, so this was different than the majority of baby naming ceremonies we have attended. It was held in a local Catholic church. Ian used the SIMAIR van to transport the family over to the church. Little Sovereign was baptised and named much like a baby dedication back home. Here is a picture of his family (Fidel and his wife are in the yellow outfits and the little girl is their oldest.) with a few close friends.
After being together at the church, Ian drove a very FULL van back to Fidel's house where they celebrated the new little life in their family by, what else!? eating food!
We are greatful for the relationships of all sorts that we have here. Pray for us as we learn to "be there" in tangible ways that we would clearly show both our love and Jesus' love.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Neighbor's Yard Sale
The last few months we have enjoyed having some new neighbors in the back yard. The kids have been especially thrilled as they had new play mates! J has been in Tom's kindergarten class too. In fact, as I type, they are all playing dress up! Little A enjoys all the girly toys that my girls are outgrowing. She loves coming and parading around with the doll carriage in pink frilly dresses. Tom & J have played everything from soccer to legos to makebelieve. They get along really well. When they moved in, we knew they were only in the neighborhood temporarily and unfortunately that time is coming to an end. At the end of this month their family heads back to New Zealand. As the photo above shows, J & A recently had a "tag sale" selling some of the toys they were not taking with them. We will miss them and their easy availabilty as play mates!
Track & Field Day
This past Friday was one of our favorite events of the year: Track and Field Day! For those of you who know Ian and I from the past, you know we both competed on track teams in high school, so we always enjoy helping out. This was the second year Ian has been the starter. I always enjoy helping coach the jumps and relays in the weeks leading up to the big day. For a few weeks now the kids have worked hard during PE class to practice various Track and Field events. The entire school is divided into four teams. Each team chooses a color and team name and creates a team cheer. This year Heidi was on the "Blue Baracudas".
Kay was a member of "The Big Red",
and Tom's first ever field day team was the "Green Mambas". 
All three of them had a fantastic time!
The day begins at the National Stadium; all the teams enter marching together, after each presents their cheers, the sport begins! At our school, we don't have a track, so it is extra special that we have this day of competition in such a fine facility! Most of the traditional track and field events are represented, and though three weeks doesn't make anyone an expert, we have a lot of fun. The younger crowd (K-2)chose from the 200m, 100m, & 60m races, a shuttle relay, the hula hoop toss (the younger version of the discus), and broad jump. 3rd-4th grade also can participate in the long jump,a team relay and the 400m. Heidi's class (5/6)also add the high jump, shot put, a 4x 100m relay, 1500, and 800 onto their possibilities. Kay and Tom's ages also have lots of fun games in the infield such as a sack race & three legged race, among others. For each event you enter, you receive a point for your team. You also get points if you win an event in your age category. Given that we are a small school, sometimes you place just because you enter!
Kay and Tom participated in everything. They both said their favorite race was the "long curvy one" (ie the 200m). They both did a great job, even staying in their lanes, which is a feat in and of itself for the younger elementary kids! It will be interesting to see how they develop physically as they grow older, both of them were on the faster end of their classes. Heidi signed up to do the 1500m this year, among other things. I was very proud of her! She did a great job in her first ever long distance race: holding her form and running hard to the very end. She wasn't sure if the 1500m was her favorite or if the 100m was her favorite. It is fun having her take more of an interest in athletic things and even choosing to try something that is difficult and requires lots of effort and training!
After the morning at the track, we adjourn to the school for lunch and fun games in the afternoon. The kids played a very fun game with water. It was especially fun as everyone was so hot! After arranging their teams in height order, they were each given a plastic cup. The first person in line filled their cup, then had to pour the water into the next person's cup HOLDING THE CUP ON THEIR HEAD the whole time. The recipient also had to keep their own cup on their own head. They were trying to fill a small bowl at the end of the line. It was funny to see the littlest trying so hard to aim for the bowl and to successfully pour... nothing! or only little drips into the bowl. As you can imagine, everyone got quite wet! The game ruptured into a big water fight when near the end the principal got out the hose and hosed everyone down. Much fun was had by all! Here is Tom at the end of the green team line waiting for the water to come his way.
The thing I love best about field day every year is the glimpse of true community I come away with: a member of one team cheering on his competitor on another, the gracious welcoming and inclusion of home schoolers from all over Niger (and even Burkina this year!)on the various teams. The littlest kids are cheered for and helped by the big ones whether it be in showing them where to go for their leg of the relay or helping them find their water bottle. The big ones, in turn, have the respect and all the cheers the littlest kids can muster while they are competing. It is truly a joint effort and every member is valued whether they can contribute point wise or not. Each year, I appreciate the healthy competition that I see lived out and am so thankful for the models my children have in the realms of winning losing with grace, encouraging one another, and valuing every member.
Kay was a member of "The Big Red",
and Tom's first ever field day team was the "Green Mambas". 
All three of them had a fantastic time!The day begins at the National Stadium; all the teams enter marching together, after each presents their cheers, the sport begins! At our school, we don't have a track, so it is extra special that we have this day of competition in such a fine facility! Most of the traditional track and field events are represented, and though three weeks doesn't make anyone an expert, we have a lot of fun. The younger crowd (K-2)chose from the 200m, 100m, & 60m races, a shuttle relay, the hula hoop toss (the younger version of the discus), and broad jump. 3rd-4th grade also can participate in the long jump,a team relay and the 400m. Heidi's class (5/6)also add the high jump, shot put, a 4x 100m relay, 1500, and 800 onto their possibilities. Kay and Tom's ages also have lots of fun games in the infield such as a sack race & three legged race, among others. For each event you enter, you receive a point for your team. You also get points if you win an event in your age category. Given that we are a small school, sometimes you place just because you enter!
Kay and Tom participated in everything. They both said their favorite race was the "long curvy one" (ie the 200m). They both did a great job, even staying in their lanes, which is a feat in and of itself for the younger elementary kids! It will be interesting to see how they develop physically as they grow older, both of them were on the faster end of their classes. Heidi signed up to do the 1500m this year, among other things. I was very proud of her! She did a great job in her first ever long distance race: holding her form and running hard to the very end. She wasn't sure if the 1500m was her favorite or if the 100m was her favorite. It is fun having her take more of an interest in athletic things and even choosing to try something that is difficult and requires lots of effort and training!
After the morning at the track, we adjourn to the school for lunch and fun games in the afternoon. The kids played a very fun game with water. It was especially fun as everyone was so hot! After arranging their teams in height order, they were each given a plastic cup. The first person in line filled their cup, then had to pour the water into the next person's cup HOLDING THE CUP ON THEIR HEAD the whole time. The recipient also had to keep their own cup on their own head. They were trying to fill a small bowl at the end of the line. It was funny to see the littlest trying so hard to aim for the bowl and to successfully pour... nothing! or only little drips into the bowl. As you can imagine, everyone got quite wet! The game ruptured into a big water fight when near the end the principal got out the hose and hosed everyone down. Much fun was had by all! Here is Tom at the end of the green team line waiting for the water to come his way.
The thing I love best about field day every year is the glimpse of true community I come away with: a member of one team cheering on his competitor on another, the gracious welcoming and inclusion of home schoolers from all over Niger (and even Burkina this year!)on the various teams. The littlest kids are cheered for and helped by the big ones whether it be in showing them where to go for their leg of the relay or helping them find their water bottle. The big ones, in turn, have the respect and all the cheers the littlest kids can muster while they are competing. It is truly a joint effort and every member is valued whether they can contribute point wise or not. Each year, I appreciate the healthy competition that I see lived out and am so thankful for the models my children have in the realms of winning losing with grace, encouraging one another, and valuing every member.
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