Gifts For The Boys

Another surprise of the week was when I weighed the boys...what's your guess?



Caden - 30.5 lbs.
Corban - 25 lbs.

Hey Caden, watch out for your "little" brother!

Morning Face

This is what the boys look like for the first 30 minutes or so after they get up in the morning...all they need is milk and a video and they totally zone out...

Soooooo Sleepy

I think every parent has a video of their child falling asleep in the highchair. Here's ours:

sleepy corban

Well, OK, he doesn't actually fall asleep...but it's still pretty cute.
(FYI: the sign for "all done" is twisting both hands)

Caden's World

Come on in, just remember: It's his world, and we all just happen to live in it...
You're gonna see some really cool stuff...There are hot dogs in C1's world...And a momma...And a daddy...A little brother...A few friends...And lots of smiles...
And just when you want him so say something fun and 3-year old-ish...It's his world, and he'll say what he thinks, when he wants!

Water Fun

Bath time with bubbles is the best...and make some fun pictures too!

...and here's a fun video simply because most people don't go swimming in January.

Just For Fun

I know, I know...you're wondering if it was really cold enough to wear long sleeves and pants, plus a winter hat in Africa. No, not really...but the long-clothing helps with the mosquitoes and when it's cold we take every chance we get to dress our kids up in "winter" clothing. It's a form of entertainment for us. ;)

Yes, I found him this way. I don't think any true "potty-ing" occurred.
Oh, and sorry Betsy, but I cut his hair....not a lot, but one day the tangles were too much for me and Caden. (the dry season was zapping the curls...I'll post newer pics soon)

Warning: Lots of Corban Ahead

That's right, this is a Corban is a cutie post. Enjoy the pics and the video!

I feel the need to inform our viewers that the following video is slightly boring...unless you're family, then I'm sure you'll love it.

Baking Firsts

I've had two "firsts" in the last few weeks that I am quite proud of. So many of you ask about our daily life that I'd thought I'd share some of the exciting parts...at least exciting to me.


Having two little boys in the house, we don't have many "girly" things around and definitely no pink. So when I had the opportunity to make a Barbie cake for a friend of ours, I couldn't think of a better color for frosting than PINK. Let me tell you, my kitchen has never seen so much pink! I wasn't sure how it was going to go....but it was actually a lot easier than I thought. I enjoyed it and Sydney was quite excited to see her Barbie cake.
We had a group of 17 adults and 19 children to serve cake to and I knew the Barbie cake wasn't going to cut it. I had plenty of pink icing, so the cupcakes received the same flower shapes of frosting as the Barbie did. I told you it was a lot of pink!
The other thing I did for the first time was bake bread. I have lived here for 2 years and always let my houseworker make my bread for us. I figured, in the States, I would just buy it from the store so it's not really different if I don't make it myself. Well, recently, we've stopped liking the flavor of her recipe so I got ambitious and attempted to make homemade white bread myself.

The loaves turned out great! Brett couldn't stop talking about how good it was. When I asked Caden what he thought, he said, "it good, Momma" and then proceeded to ask for more bread all day.

Before moving to Africa I always wanted to enjoy cooking but couldn't bring myself to make anything that required too many ingredients or too much effort. Living here and not having convienences has required me to get in the kitchen and just try things. I now LOVE to cook and have become very interested in cookbooks and new recipes. I actually wish I had more time in the kitchen by myself to just cook. Nearly all my cooking requires me to make a lot of extra ingredients...true "scratch" cooking. But I love the feeling when someone compliments my cooking and I know that I made that dish myself. It's funny to me that after a few months of living here I would tell people that the cooking was the hardest thing for me to adjust to...now it's one of my favorites.

Happy New Year

For a special New Year's treat, make sure your speakers are turn on...but not too loud.

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 :)