Well, yesterday I killed my first snake. I was on my way to get hot water from the outdoor firepot at about 8 pm and found a puff adder sitting just a few feet from the firepot. Unfortunately for him and fortunately for me, he had just eaten something and was moving VERY slowly toward the wood pile to hide while he digested. Needless to say, we are all much more careful when picking up a stick of firewood now. :) We also found a scorpion hole within twenty feet of our house two days before that. Mr.Y.Y. had seen it while I was trying to do an eye examination on him. (It would appear that he has a very bad cataract in his right eye. Needless to say, his left eye is VERY good since he spotted the scorpion.) However, he tried to help me dig up the scorpion and found a baby scorpion, but not the mother. The bad news is that scorpions don't have just one baby - where there is one, there are many many more. We are all being very careful. God's umbrella of protection is very appreciated.
It is pineapple season and we are thouroughly enjoying it. We are even getting inventive with it now as we are all hungry for new flavors. We made pineapple syrup and ate it over crepes for breakfast the other day. Not perfect, since this is all done over a campfire, but we sure enjoyed it. :) We also made a pineapple cake, and some mango sauce. We haven't had any meat in several weeks, so what we all really want is a big juicy hamburger!!!

To all you dear people out there - a big hello! It has been an interesting past two weeks. Caleb, Seth and Roy have all broken out in some sort of interesting rash. I am hoping that it is just heat rash or a grass allergy. Abby has been spending her time helping various people plant their dry season farm (groundnuts) and has been enjoying it immensely. Roy and I have been busy writing and administering the final exams for the semester here at the school. It is really challenging writing a good test to begin with, and becomes even more challenging when you throw in a language barrier. It is hard to write the questions so that you can be sure that everyone will understand the question. We are also finding out what classes we will be teaching in the next semester, which starts in a week. Needless to say, there is a lot to be done. Please continue to pray for us. These past few weeks have been hard, I am not going to lie. Dad has been quite sick, without much improvement for about 10 days. I am happy to say that he is now on the mend, but is still weak and tired quite a lot of the time. In addition that, we have experienced significant stress from an unexpected quarter. I can't really explain, but I can tell you that false accusations are hard to bear, but I thank God for keeping us above reproach in every way so that the truth was revealed. It is not over, and there are still repercussions that affect us greatly, but we serve God not man. It is great knowing that you work for the BOSS of all Bosses! :) A friend just e-mailed me and encouraged me more than she may possibly know. She reminded me that she had not forgotten us (that's BIG) and that God does not forsake us as long as we seek Him! WOW! I can't tell you how much that gave me a spring in my step (even more than chocolate would have):) Thank you!
Sorry I am not as light today - but I wanted to let you all know that when you pray for your missionaries, or anyone that you are apart from for that matter - it is a big deal that you thought of them. It means more than you may realize. Send a note to a friend, family, or random missionary today, and you will have made a BIG difference in somone's life. After all, isn't that what we all want to do with our lives? You don't have to go somewhere hot and eat monkey meat to do it, just send an e-mail instead :)

We made it safely to Kamaron and got to enjoy a two day visit. The kids really enjoyed the experience of four-wheel-drive travel. We even got to see some animals in the wild: harness antelope, monkeys, a duiker, and some bush fowl. We caught a lot of interesting butterflies, too. It was so neat to be able to show Roy and the kids where I grew up, even though it has completely changed. I was able to see several people from my childhood, one of whom lives in a nearby village. I have known Sona since I was eight years old and we have a very special connection. She is a deaf mute - some of you who have been to our home in Niles have seen the painting I had of her in our living room. It has been 22 years since I saw her last and it was SO good to see her. She started dancing and clapping and picking me up and jumping up and down. She is such a neat lady now and I cannot begin to tell you what it meant to me to see her again.
The second day we were there it rained and soaked our sleeping bags and our tent so we had to dry it out and then we strung it up with rope from the rafters of a nearby veranda and used rocks to hold down the edges. It was a lot of fun and the kids have decided that they want to move there. I tried to explain to them that they couldn't expect to get soaked every time ... just kidding! They really loved the people there and the area. People need so much and have so little, and yet their first thought is to give whatever they have in order to welcome you and show their appreciation. Sona gave us her last chicken, all the others had died. It is so humbling and yet such a blessing. We all realized how blessed we are, in that we have SO much, yet we hold things so tightly - why? Why not give them to bless someone else? Isn't SO much more
fun? :)
Anyway, yesterday was Mother's Day - so a happy Mother's Day to all of you moms out there. The kids cooked supper for us and we ate it out under the bafa (a open hut with thatch roof and no walls) It truly was a special memory. We had chili and corn bread - and the best waiters in the whole world!!! What a lucky mom I am.