Happy New Year

I hope that everyone had a great Christmas and New Year! I have been fairly absent from posting because we have been busy enjoying our first major holiday abroad. Christmas was fairly quiet and we spent the morning checking out the neat stuff Santa Claus brought. Sofia enjoyed all her gifts especially the Mermaid Tail from Santa and all the fun new projects from Lita and Buela. Here are some pictures from Christmas morning.

Yes, that is a real mermaid tail!

New Year's Eve was lots of fun! We went to a party that had great music and great friends. We danced and rang in the New Year with our new friends here in Cameroon!

We also took a trip to Kribi, which is a small beach town on the Gulf of Guinea. We enjoyed swimming at the beach and ate lots of seafood. Here are a couple of pictures from that weekend.

We had such a great time at the beach and are already planning when we can go back.

Life pretty much gets back to normal this week, so I will post an update as soon as we have something new to share.

Until next time...

Christmas and Hope

I am sitting here this morning, far away from home, listening to Christmas music, air conditioner blasting since it is already warming up outside and thinking about blessings and hope. Most of you who read this know that I don't usually have deep thoughts and opinions here. However, I think today is going to have a bit of both.

I am blessed to have the opportunity to pursue a career that challenges me and pays me on time. So many people are without work, without prospects, and without hope.

However, each one must live his life in the situation the Lord assigned when God called him.

1 Corinthians 7:17

I am blessed to be in a place where although life is hard, family is important. Time is spent focused on making the best of the situation and loving each other. I get to spend real, quality time with my husband and daughter. So many people don't know the love of God and the love of family, or have hope that there is something better.

For the Lord is good, and His love eternal; His faithfulness ensures through all generations.

Psalm 100:5

 I am blessed that I have a family at home that loves and supports me in my choices. Although we are far apart this Christmas, I know that I am always in their hearts and minds. I know that best wishes are sent to me and mine each day. My family is without us this Christmas, but they are not without us for all time. So many people will never see their children, father, or mother again. They will never have another hug, kiss, or phone call from their loved ones.

For everyone who still has their loved ones near, give them lots of hugs and tell them how much they mean to you during this Christmas season. And when it is no longer Christmas season, tell them again, because love is not just for the holidays it is for all days.

And now, enough deep thinking. I leave you with a picture of my sweet girl. We love and miss everyone at home. 

Have a Merry Christmas!

What's Happening Now....

So if has been awhile since I had anything to post, but I wanted to catch everyone up on the exciting world of Yaounde.

First up, Alberto and I went on a Management retreat to a place called Nkolandam. It was a beautiful retreat center, out in the middle of nowhere. It reminded me a lot of the church retreat locations that we used to go to when I was younger. It is famous for the rocks and other statues. Here are a few pictures.




















Sofia's school had Friday Night Live, which was a talent show of sorts. Her music class sang a song: Beware the Music Teacher and then other students performed their talents.

It was dark so I don't have great pictures, but this is a good one of Sofia.

Finally, last night the embassy hosted the first ever Marine Ball for Kids in Cameroon. The kids had a great time and so did we. Perfectly honest, the food and music were better at the kid's ball than at our grown-up ball. Fun was had by all.

A beautiful dress that her daddy bought her in Mexico

She is always trying for an action shot!

My daddy is the best!

And now, to leave you with this... a little fun was had today, as Alberto and Sofia attempt to dance like Michael Jackson with the Wii.

Can you hear the song Thriller playing in the background...

Imagine they are zombies....

Thriller, Thriller Night

So that's all folks, Until next time....

Halloween in Africa

So it is our first holiday in Africa...Halloween. You might say, what is Halloween like in Cameroon? Well, for Cameroonians, Halloween is not anything. No one recognizes it and the ghosts and ghouls creep them out. But for the American community from the embassy, it was pretty much business as usual. We had superman, transformers, princesses, Minnie Mouse, and my personal favorite, a beautiful ballerina. Here are some of my favorite pictures of Sofia from Halloween this year. 

By the way, we celebrated it yesterday, Saturday, October 26th, because Halloween falls on Wednesday and there was no way to decorate the haunted house in the middle of the week. So here are the pictures of my beautiful ballerina!

We were trying for an action shot. Leap!

Leap!

This is one of my favorites

And now for the truly frightening portion of our program. Al's costume....

So Halloween, before Halloween was fun. Sofia had a great time and the kids got plenty of candy. Thanksgiving is just around the corner and the Africa version will be different but still great. I have a turkey, green bean casserole, and who knows, I may actually make pumpkin pie. I haven't ever done that. 


Until next time...

Planet of the Apes

Today we went to the Mefou Primate Sanctuary. It is about 30 minutes outside of Yaounde, but it takes and hour and a half to get there because it takes an hour to get out of Yaounde. 

We saw lots of really interesting primates. Here are some pictures.

The Primate Sanctuary is run by a non-profit from Britain and staffed by Cameroonians.

Which one is Sofia?

Mandrill - very aggressive ape 

Isn't he cute?

This is a mustache monkey.

Sofia was swinging on the fence, just like the monkeys.

Both of my monkeys!

He seems deep in thought.

Silverback Gorilla - posing for the camera

An Albino Chimpanzee - he looked pretty cool!

Home again and enjoying our beautiful Hibiscus

We had a great time visiting the Mefou Primate Sanctuary.

Until next time.....

Stay tuned..tomorrow, pictures from the Mefou Primate Sanctuary

Tomorrow, we will send pictures from the Mefou Primate Sanctuary

Cameroon - 1st blog post from a new world

So we are here in Yaounde, Cameroon, having arrived on August 23rd. And yes, I know, that is a long time without a blog update. We just got the internet connection set up in the apartment yesterday, so I will ask for a little slack on that front. 

I have some pictures and will include them below, but honestly, we haven't done much other than work and try to figure this place out. The biggest thing for us, right now, is that Sofia loves her school; we are making friends; and we are learning to live in our new home.

Hopefully in another couple of weeks, we will have our truck and then we can go out and explore our environment. I will send lots of pictures then. But it seems that right now the internet connection is really slow, so only a couple of pictures today.

This is all of our things as we were making our way through the Dulles Airport

A view of Yaounde from the top of Mount Febe

The front balcony at our apartment on a rainy day.

Sofia's butterfly garden that we put on her wall.

Sofia on her bed

Our bedroom with palms for a view out the window

The Unity Monument in Yaounde

Welcome to Cameroon! Join us on our journey!

Until next time.....