FYI: Africa Has Lions!

Enjoy these pics and video from Brett's latest weekend safari trip! Seeing lions in action is a gift from God... Two beautiful beasts...Look closely, this war veteran has only one eyeball...I believe that in literary circles this is known as "rising action"...Still rising...BOOM! The climax...And now, the video!

WhenLionsAttack
Uploaded by emersonstogo

Oh By the way, they have elephants there too...

Let It Snow?

Caden has been all about this fireman costume lately (thanks Gamma!). He also likes this "Let It Snow" sign on his wrist. Irony anyone?

Merry Christmas!

This year we are celebrating in Accra, Ghana with our dear friends the Crowsons and the Koonces. It's 90, it's very humid and we had cheeseburgers for lunch, but the company is great and feels almost like family :)Here are some shots of the boys opening presents and enjoying the season. Caden doesn't quite get it just yet, but he does walk around telling whomever he sees, "Ho, ho, ho, Merry Christmas everybody!". We are going to spend the rest of our day watching Christmas movies and talking with our families on the phone. May God's blessings be on you all as you celebrate the gift of Jesus to all the world!

Caden Darrel

These pictures should have been posted back in October, fortunately, Caden has changed very little in two months...

Caden, our three year old.....
boy, toddler, crazy man, sweetheart, temper tantrum thrower, funny guy, son.

Ever wondered why we took Maddie pictures? For moments like this...

His smile is contagious.His giggles are precious.
His dimple is from Daddy.
His brown eyes and curls from Momma.


So what is Caden up to these days? You mean besides disagreeing with Mommy and Daddy? He recognizes all upper and lower case letters, can count to 20 (sometimes needing help around 15-17), can spell his name, can spell Corban's name, loves his dot-to-dot book, knows his shapes and colors, loves to say "I don't like it" about everything, occasionally shares with Corban, loves milk, apples, pizza, and cheese and has a repertoire of songs that he prefers to sing by himself unless he invites you to sing along. Oh, and he loves his movies...which can be anything from Blues Clues, Little Einsteins, Backyardigans, Curious George, Caillou, Bob The Builder, Micky Mouse Clubhouse, Winnie The Pooh, Boz, Toy Story, Finding Nemo, The Sound of Music (a select few scenes), or various Christmas videos.

Trimming the Tree

Brett and the boys suprised April by assembling the tree last week while she was out of the house. Madness ensued, and good times were had by all! Caden was displaying his trademark intense concentration...Corban is usually just glad to be there, no matter where there is...Caden was content until......Corban ran off with one of his tree pieces. Look closely and you can sort of make out Caden's look of desperation, and seconds after this he tried to tackle his little brother like he was playing linebacker for a Pee Wee football team...Once momma came home, the decorating got under way..."Which one should I pull off and destroy first..." So far his ornament death count is 5!

Family pics to follow soon, Merry Christmas!

How Am I Judged?

We hope and pray that it is by the company that we keep...

Here are some examples, and the list is far from exhaustive, of what our friends are doing all over the world (you now who you are!):

- modeling Christ and His church in inner city LA
- bringing life into the world
- bring TWIN lives into the world!
- enduring riots in Greece
- preparing to move from one side of Africa to the other
- adjusting to and thriving in a South American culture
- struggling along side us in Togo
- living in the States after years in Africa and trying to make sense of it all
- wading through American culture while finding ways to love those around them
- living and loving others in China
- flying under the radar in Muslim countries and making disciples of their neighbors
- dealing with the absence of loved ones serving God overseas
- healing wounds in American churches
- etc., etc., etc....

Thank you Lord for our friends, our brothers and sisters in Christ. May the bond we share be strong and last forever...

Sunday Morning Worship

Here's a photo essay of our Sunday worship time out in the village of N'Djei. It was wonderful, as always!Caden got kind of bored during service...they were studying the genealogy in Matthew 1 so we can't really blame him :) Corban presiding over the table He thinks he did a pretty good job! April was scheduled for the nursery this quarter :) Sweet, sleeping babies Corban makes friends pretty easily Communion Closing prayer, Corban being held by one of the elders The whole church after service posing with the bike that my nephew, Owen, bought for them to do evangelism Lunch in the car on the way home. It's hot out there and we worked up some serious appetites!
Here is a short video of some singing we did. Our hearts are full this morning :)

Corban is ONE!

Remember this little guy?Because he's one now!

I was reminded again today of what a special gift this little guy is to us. Brett was explaining Corban's name to one of the students that occasionally works for us. Instead of searching for other ways to explain his name, we pulled out our French Bible (Mark 7:11).

"Corban - offrande reservee a Dieu" an offering reserved for God.

Our little man is the the Lord's first and then ours. We thank God for the blessing he has been to our lives this past year.

Family Resemblance

While my parents were here, we noticed that Corban is definitely looking like an Emerson. Caden started out looking like me, but he has started to trend towards April (lucky for him!). I've always been told that I look like my dad, and it looks like Corban won't be too far behind. Lucky for him he's got a beautiful mother to take him to that next level :)

For those who keep track of these things, this is post #400 on our blog. We are seriously prolific!

Our Thanksgiving

I'm sure our Thanksgiving was a bit different than yours...but you might be surprised to hear that was probably very similar too. We celebrated with other Americans at the West African Conference Center down in Lome.
Here's the highlights:

• we at turkey, dressing, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, and other "traditional" dishes
• we had more pumpkin pies and fruit pies than could be eaten
• we celebrated with family - probably the thing that made it feel most "normal"!
• there were lots of kids
• we ate too much and were tired afterwards (thank you turkey)
• it was close to 100 degrees
• black Friday shopping...ok, it wasn't really black Friday here...but we did do a little shopping
  

Our black Friday shopping included 2 new bouncy balls....a big one for Caden, and a small one for Corban. (Thank you Gamma and Papa!)
Gamma's Thanksgiving was complete with her Diet Pepsi...who knew you could find Diet Pepsi in Togo, West Africa. ;)
The boys had cute matching "Happy Fall" shirts...unfortunately, they were white. If you can see the red dirt on Corban's feet, you can imagine what the shirts looked like when we took them off.


Yes, it was different....but it was still Thanksgiving. I'm thankful for all the people that helped make it just that...a day of thanks.

Look At Me!

Corban Walks
Uploaded by emersonstogo

Sorry for the quality. I'm not sure if I didn't have enough lights on, if we have a problem with our camera, or if you are witnessing Harmattan.

Where...what...how did he do that?

It's happening again...

What is it with boys and climbing?!

Tree Planting Photo Documentary

We have a small tree outside our gate that Brett decided to move to a new place in our yard.
Of course, Caden is his trusty sidekick.

Materials needed: big shovel AND little shovel
Task one accomplished. Big tree, little tree.
Tree...umbrella...what's the difference? It's still cool to carry it myself!
New home for big tree and little tree.
Add a little dirt...
...and a little water...

....and voila! Project completed.
Thanks guys!