Twelve Days with Melissa

We just dropped Melissa off at the airport. Tears.  Where did the twelve days go?  We had such a good time, didn't we Liss.   I just sat down to re-look at the many pictures we took and that brought smiles.  So many great memories.

Here are a few:  (check out her blog for more pictures at melissadorsch.blogspot.com)

We had taxied all around town.  There is no lack of interesting sights.

 We shopped for food and fabric and souvenirs. 

My awesome tailor's shop:  Madame Comfort

Melissa hadn't lost her bargaining skills.

We hung out with neighbors and friends.

Melissa, thanks for letting me use a couple of these pictures.  You are an amazing photographer. 

We had an awesome out-of-town adventure seeing giraffes on the open plains.

We were horrified at the devastation of the flooding.

 

Refugees are living at the local elementary schools. 

Water was over the road for several days.  

Mud brick houses just "melted" away.

Canoes are replacing taxis and motorcycles in the hardest hit areas. 

 

We laughed and talked and talked and laughed.  Thanks for coming. 

I miss you already!

Kansas Days

The six weeks (four weeks for Tom) we spent in Kansas were filled with awesome times that made for great memories:

• The joy of early morning walks.  My goal was to see the sunrise each morning.  

• Family walks in the cool evenings.  We always loved to walk down to one of my brothers' farms.

...and then coming home to our own special place. 

• Eating rice and peanut butter sauce with cokes that once again traveled in Tom's socks all the way from Niger.  Andrew was able to come home for a few days and we were all together as a family for 2.5 days before he had to go back to MN and Melissa back to France. 

.  

•  We played a competitive game of croquet.  The Dorsch rules and the Wiebe rules just don't always coincide.  Tom always wins.  Maybe if he'd play by the Wiebe rules...

A great game of bowling...how many strikes did you get, Andrew?

•   Anytime spent with the farmer uncles and cousins was treasured. 

• We moved Lindsay into her apartment and got to see her high school French classroom. It's hard to believe my girl is a high school French teacher. 

•  It was wonderful to spend time with the Dorsch family in Bird City.  A weekend with most of the family and then a few days later with Mom.  We even had time for coffee at the cafe.

• Our last weekend in Kansas was spent with my siblings.  Marvelous times of sharing and praying together, culminated with most of the nieces and nephews coming for Sunday night supper. 

• Hot summers always remind me of the many nights we children slept outside on a hayrack to escape the heat of our upstairs bedrooms.  Two nights before we left Kansas, Casey pulled up with the hayrack and after dragging our mattresses outside, we spent a glorious night under the stars.  I think I smiled all night.     

                                                   A perfect end to our visit to Kansas.

Water, water everywhere

After a loooonnnng blogging absence due to a 6 week visit to the USA, we are back in Niamey, Niger and the blogging is resuming.

We are glad to be back in our house and the new road in front is progressing nicely.  The neighborhood continues to enjoy our driveway to sell their wares and visit.  The heavy rain this month has steadily been washing away our driveway.

Our national director met us at the airport and within minutes of arriving at our home, his incredible wife arrived with enough food to last us for days.  It served us well for the next three days as the stores were closed due to the celebration of Ramadan. 

Now for some good news and bad news.

The good news is that Melissa met us in the waiting room of the airport in Paris and has joined us here for 12 days. We are enjoying her cheery laugh and willingness to experience our life here with us.

 We have been doing some craft projects together and this afternoon we shopped at the market near our home.  Gorgeous fabrics.

And we stocked up on onions, of course.  

Then Melissa entertained the neighborhood children with a new box of crayons.  Her picture of a tree and a river was a huge hit!

 The bad news is that Niamey is experiencing serious flooding.  Very serious.  After a super dry summer in Kansas, we arrived back in Niamey to rain and more rain.  Our house is high enough that we are not having problems, but Sahel Academy where Lindsay taught last year is flooding.  Our national staff are also experiencing difficulties and one of the families moved to our office as the water was getting too high at their home.  We'd certainly appreciate your prayers.  Rain is normally the heaviest in August and continues into September, so we have a long time to go yet.

 People are trying to move their belongings to higher ground. 

**Highlights of our time on the other side of the ocean coming soon.