bonjour

Bonjour!

It has been awhile since you’ve heard from us. Our laptop computer died

again the day after my parents left. Our desktop computer works for typing,

but we still cannot get it to connect to the internet. We have tried

several different modems. A computer man came and said that the mother

board on the computer is bad. We haven’t been able to get that replaced

yet. So, we are going to send this e-mail from a friend’s computer.

My parents made it home safely without any difficulties. We are so glad

that they got to come. We had a great time with them.

We have really enjoyed having Lori, Joe’s sister, here as well. She will

leave on Monday. We will be sad to see her go.

I will give a brief description of the last week and a half. On Wednesday,

May 30, Joe took the vehicle into town to get the clutch repaired. He took

a taxi back home. Then, he and Roger cleaned out the garage. Lori and I

started sorting barrels. I found all of my decorations. It was fun to

start getting those things arranged. We had a good evening at church that

night.

Gilbert was searching for Grandpa and Grandma. He wanted to see them on the

TV. We had been watching what Dad had videoed on the TV. We put a DVD in.

Each time that he saw my dad, he clapped and said, “Yeah! Grandpa!” Then

he was looking for Grandma to do “This little piggy” with his toes.

On Thursday, May 31, we went into Anyama. Lori wanted to find some material

to have some outfits made. We met one of the girls from church in town to

help us get a good price on the material. The material is right in the

middle of the food market. It rained while we were at the market. After

that, we went to the Anyama grocery store so that Lori could see what they

had to offer. They have the basic supplies there.

Danny’s two front bottom teeth came in. He is also pulling up on things and

standing up now.

On Friday, June 1, we headed back to Bassam to do some more souvenir

shopping. We stopped to see the Posts; they offered to keep the boys for

us. The souvenir huts are right next to a very busy and dangerous road. Lori

found the rest of the souvenirs that she needed. Furniture is also made

there. Joe bought a corner cabinet for me for all of my bear collection. We

went to get the boys. Then, we stopped to get the cabinet. It wasn’t ready

yet. So, Lori and I walked around with Gilbert while Joe held Danny and

kept the carpenters busy on the cabinet. We stopped in Abidjan to eat

lunch. Then, we headed home. Joe worked on putting the cabinet

together. Gilbert

was a great helper! The boards that went on the sides weren’t the right

size; so, Joe had to do some trimming before he could put everything

together. The cabinet looks very nice.

On Saturday, June 2, the computer man was supposed to come a 9:00. He

didn’t come until 10:00. Then, he was here all day long. He was loading

some programs, and the power went off. Joe ran outside and got the

generator fired up before the battery back up on the computer went off.

Sunday, June 3 ,was Mother’s Day here. We had combined Sunday School with a

lesson about mothers. The morning message was also about mothers.

On Sunday night, I had taken Danny out to feed him. Gilbert was with “Aunt

Punky” (Lori). He wasn’t obeying her. She sent Gilbert to sit with Joe. He

was on the front row. When Gilbert got about halfway up the aisle, he

turned around, pointed at Lori, and said, “Punky, Obey!” He kept pointing

at her until he got to where Joe was sitting. The preaching was over; they

were giving some announcements. So, he didn’t cause too much of a scene!

On Monday, we went into Abidjan to get a family picture taken. The pictures

turned out nice. We went to eat lunch at a Lebanese restaurant. Then, we

went to a couple of stores that are on that street. We found one store

where we had never been before. We went back to get the pictures and then

headed home.

On Tuesday, we went to the Machs’ house in Bingerville. They had a group of

14 people here from the States. They were going to an orphanage to do a

clinic. Joe and Lori went with them. The boys and I stayed with Becky

Mach. Gilbert had a good time playing with Luc and Morganne. I helped

Becky grade some papers so that she could get her grades finalized. We went

grocery shopping on the way home.

In the middle of the night, some kind of a stomach bug got me. I vomited

all night and didn’t feel well all day on Wednesday. Joe and Lori held the

fort. Danny came down with a cold, but he didn’t run a fever at all.

I felt better on Thursday but thought that Danny and I should stay at home.

Joe and Lori took Gilbert with them to Bassam. Bob Mach’s group was going

souvenir shopping. Joe helped them with translating and getting the vendors

to come down on their prices. Gilbert played with the Post boys. The whole

group ate lunch with the Posts.

On Friday, we had the Posts over for lunch. About an hour before lunch time,

the power went off. I had potatoes in the crockpot and the roast on the

rotisserie. So, we had to improvise and just put everything in the oven. It

turned out okay. We had a good time of fellowship with the Posts. After

lunch, we had the Litsons and the Engelharts over for dessert. Everyone

stayed until after 5:00. We had a good time.

Today, we tried to go to a National Park in Asagny, which is about two hours

away. None of the other missionaries had been there before, but they wanted

us to check it out. There are supposed to be animals there. We are now

into the rainy season. Once we got off the main road, it was quite a ride! We

got to the park and found that it is closed right now due to the rainy

season. The man told us that we could not drive in there right now but that

we could walk. We didn’t think that sounded like a good idea. We found out

that the best time of year to go there is December to February. Maybe we

will try it again sometime.

In that same area, there is a place that you can take a ferry across the

lagoon to an island. We went there, but the ferry was broken down. We had

seen a sign for a resort. So, we stopped to check that out. It was nothing

fancy, but they had a nice play area. It was right next to the lagoon. We

saw some fishermen out on the water in their dug-out canoes.

That should bring you up to date on the happenings here. We’re not sure

when our computer will be up and running to send e-mails. Don’t worry if

you don’t hear from us for several days.

A demain,

Joe, Laura, Gilbert, and Danny