Sorry, no treat for you today

I can hardly resist taking pictures of Don.  He's such a handsome dog!

Soakin' up some sun.  Hmm, that sounds pretty good to me, too!

{Aw}

Being popular is so tiring.

"Don, look over here!"

Hehehe.

:)

_

A sketch, sketch here, and a sketch, sketch there...

Well, well!  It seems a post is overdue.  *sighs*  It seems I just haven't had much to blog about lately.

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Anyway, I've wished that I was more of the "artsy" type (We all know one!).  In particular, I've wished that I was good at drawing.  I've never really drawn anything, besides my regular doodles - yep the whole kit and caboodle!  (*long pause*  Never mind, I just wanted to rhyme "doodle" with "caboodle".)  

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Strange, but I've never really even tried to draw, just assumed that I couldn't.  Sooooo, I decided that I would try my best to become good at it.  For the past three days I've been sketching away, mainly looking at other sketches and trying to duplicate them.  {It's true, pencil is more forgiving than ink} 

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Sketch #1: An eye.  I think it looks slightly upset, or maybe confused.  Or grieved.

Sketches #s 2-7: Yeeah.  I'm feeling less like posting these the farther along I get with this.  Feel free to laugh, especially at the lone smiling mouth.  *Run for your lives!!*

A face...with part of an eyebrow at the bottom of the page - it's not a goatee that fell off her face. 

Another eye.  This is the most decent looking drawing I did, but it only takes up the upper left corner of my paper.

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So there you have 'em!  

:)

Hope everyone's having a good week!

The Sendoff

We had Julia's bridal shower\"sendoff" Sunday afternoon, and it was amazing.  

 

 The table looked beautiful!

~*~

I had gone back with  Mrs. Stephanie to her house after services so I could help with some last minute preparations.  Mom and Julia got there at 2p.m., and then Mrs. Trina and the Gee girls came a bit later.  The Arusha ladies were about an hour late since services went longer than normal, and they had to get presents.  I was the "gate-girl", so when I heard them at the gate I went to get it.  When I opened it, all the ladies were in single file, standing in two rows.  They were figuring out who would stand where, and what song they should sing.  {NOTE: Please keep in mind that it was all ladies at the shower - no men were present!!! :)}  Once they had that figured out, they started singing and walking\dancing through the yard and onto the front porch.  After they'd taken their shoes off, they went inside and starting walking in a circle around the table in the dining room while they sang.  I was so glad to see them all come!  

After they had finished their song, they went into the living room and sat down.  At that point, some ladies from Moshi arrived.  It meant alot to us that they came - it's a long way from Moshi...I was so glad to see them!!!

We ate a nice lunch of little sandwiches, roasted nuts, fruit, and cake {nom nom}.  After all the dirty plates and cups were cleared away, Julia {looking absolutely beautiful} opened her presents from the missionary ladies.  The African ladies sang a little bit while she opened her gifts, but everything was very reserved. 

Then the ladies asked Mom to sit in a chair to the left of Julia, and told us that they weren't leaving, but had to go outside to get organized.  Mrs. Trina and the girl had to leave, so I went out and opened the gate for them.  When I got back to the porch, all the women were crowded close, holding their gifts - wooden spoons, khangas, baskets, etc.  Then, forming a line, they starting singing "It's a present for the girl, it's a present, even if it's small, a present!", and dancing into the house.  It was too crowded to get back in, so I joined line, and started singing and dancing as well.  Since I didn't have my present in my hand, I made my way to a empty spot, slipped out of the line and danced there instead.  If I would have thought of it at the time, I would've snatched up my present again, and continued in the line.  Oh well!

  

They went in a circle around the coffee table, until Mkunde (The lady at the beginning of the line) was in front again.  She danced, and waved her big basket around, twirling it in front of Julia's face, and above her head, then set it down at Mom's feet.  Each woman in line then, would demonstrate what her gift was {for example, if it was a khanga, wrap it around Jewels or themselves}, then put it in the basket.  It was loud.  Really loud!  Everyone was so happy, singing, dancing, and showing their gifts, along with the constant steam of "Aiyee! Aiyee! Aiyee!" sounds.  {Those sounds are so great to make, by the way!  Mom was able to edit some of the videos to make them decent to post a sample of} 

After everyone had put their gift in the basket, they all came and stood near me, and asked her to stand up and present the basket to Julia.  So, Mom took the basket, and handed it to Jewels.  All of us started singing, clapping, and swaying behind them.  If someone outside hadn't have known better, they would've thought that some indians were on the war-path with all that was going on in there!  

Once again, they asked Mom to sit in her chair, and said that they were going outside to "refresh".  :)  Then, they came in as before - singing\dancing single file, but this time held a long khanga over their heads.  This they brought and wrapped around Mom with much whooping and clapping.  Mom, Jewels, and I were having a really hard time keeping ourselves together.  After everyone sat again, a lady from each congregation took a turn making a little speech.  Most of them were about how well Mom has done with raising Julia to this point of her marriage.

Then people started going home, and after cleaning up a bit and stuffing some leftover cake in a tupperware, we went home as well.  It was a wonderful shower...none of us will forget it in a hurry, and Julia has wonderful presents reminding her of the people here.

:)

*Love you Jewels!*

A new week!

What a beautiful Sunday it's been!  We went to Kisongo this morning for worship, because Jacob was asked to preach.  He did a wonderful job!  It was a really nice treat.  Our evening devo with the missionaries was canceled, because almost everyone wasn't going to be able to make it, but our family still had a devo with just us, which was nice. :)

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 I started my Romans\Galatians class on Thursday, and I really enjoyed the first class!  At 8am there's a devo for all the students (*insert me shuffling to a chair trying to look inconspicuous*), and at 8:30 we go in and have class until 10, when there's a half hour break for tea {Mwahaha!  It's great, and especially useful for thawing you out once you've become an ice cube}.  Then we go back in until noon, then we break for lunch.  After lunch, it's class from 1 until 3.   

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On Saturday, the Samfords had a "fish fry" at their house, and it was alot of fun!  They had bought some fish and cooked them {they fixed most of the fish how they like them here - whole fish, minus the insides}, and invited a bunch of people over.  Almost all that came were from the Arusha congregation, but most of the ACSOP students came as well, along with a few others.  In all, there was about 80 people.

The Samfords have a trampoline, so a game that Bonnie had the guys play was the "Masai jumping contest".  By far, my favorite part of the day, haha!  When she first told them they were going to have a Masai jumping contest, they got all excited, because most of them have had real practice!  They had alot of fun trying to do it on the trampoline, though.  Joseph was my favorite {he's actually a Masai}, because he got onto the trampoline, took the jumping stance, and started jumping, doing the Masai "Eeo!" sound at the top of his jump, then starting doing another sound that's made by sucking air in and out of your throat  {Yes, sorry it's so hard to describe!}.  After that, the women played musical chairs, and they loved it!  We all had alot of fun.  :)

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I hope you all are having a wonderful Sunday!

Dun dun duuun

Our internet is finally back, yay!

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Not too much has been going on, just the usual things.  I went with Jacob today on his Bible studies.  He has two really good ones going on right now.  One is a lady who's husband is a member of the church at Kisongo (they're newly married), and the other is a girl who also lives in Kisongo.  Jake's been studying with the second lady's husband as well, but unfortunately the husband wasn't able to be there today.  We weren't able to stay and study long at all today with the second lady, so we're going back tomorrow morning.  Please pray that these women and also the husband will have honest hearts, open to the gospel.  

I might take one of Dad's classes (Romans and Galatians, I think) at the school, starting next week. 

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It's the rainy season, so we've been getting tons of it lately, which is really nice, because that means we have plenty of water.  We get to do laundry and everything! :)  Gray, dark, rainy days always make we want to snuggle up with a blanket and either read or take a nap.  {happy sigh}

(By the way, how do you all spell "Gray" with an "a" or an "e"?  Just curious, because how I spell it always changes.)

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{What a wimpy little post! :D}