Samuel's Birthday - Part 2

Opening his present from Pake and Beppe with personalized wrapping paper. What will they think of next?

Reading his new book from Aunt Theresa and Uncle Joe.

Checking out his bubble train from Oma and Opa. Could there be a noisier, wetter toy?

Trying to blow out his candles. The cake looks rather sad, some how I made fancier cakes in Nigeria. Can I blame it on having a baby 6 days before?

We took a trip to the Dollar store and Samuel picked out noise makers and his birthday candles himself. The hats are being reused from Oma's birthday in November.

Samuel's 3rd Birthday - Part 1

Yummy birthday dinner at McDonalds. Who knew that you could get grilled cheese there?

Discussing how to put the tracks together.

He has learned to open the card first already!

Our little guy is 3 already! It was good for him to have some special attention. He had been waiting for his birthday since we were getting ready to leave Nigeria!

Snow!!

Sledding off the back porch.

The three boys outside during our 3 day snowstorm last week.

All ready to head outside. It definitely takes a long time to get 3 boys ready to play in the snow!

Pictures

Here is Esther in her first non-sleeper outfit. Please ignore the messy change table.

Here is a four generation picture taken this past Monday. My Beppe is holding Esther who is her first great-granddaughter (after 15 great-grandsons!). My mom is Beppe's oldest daughter and I am my mom's oldest daughter. Silas just wanted to be in the picture too!

Esther Ruth

Well, the 9-month wait is finally over. Esther Ruth was born on December 5, 2009. She arrived just after 4am. When the boys woke up a couple hours later the got to meet here. Each of them wanted to hold her, of course. They are going to be great big brothers.
Beppe was there just in case the boys woke up and then she took them to her place for a sleepover! How nice to have the house to ourselves for a day. We do thank God for another miracle in our lives.

Oma's birthday

Here is the birthday girl after dinner. She has yet to see the wonderful cake!

The spread put together by Evelyn and Janice with some help from the guys. Decorations were taken care of by the sons and grandsons.

Uncle Dan having fun with his nephews!

A tired Samuel - he didn't even finish his sandwich!

Carving pumpkins

Here are Bob and Larry. Just so you know, Bob has ears and Larry has a mustache and hair!

Janice's 31st birthday

Jono has loved the options for ice cream in Canada. It seems that there is never enough in the freezer. His other favourite food - cereal - has been enjoyed by all. The boys love it as much as their father!
This was from my actual birthday dinner at Jono's parent's place.

We are alive and well in Canada!

I think we have 3 boys who dream of being farmers - they all love tractors and combines. Living in the country has kept them quite busy watching all the farm machinery.
Went to a local farm to pick out pumpkins for Thanksgiving/Fall. The boys had a great time with all the "toys".
Playing in the leaves with daddy at Oma and Opa's house. Thank you Beppe Great for the hats, mitts, and scarfs. We have used them a lot!

A Bunch of Firsts for the Barnhoorns

Well, Stephen's tooth finally fell out sometime yesterday while he was playing outside. The new one is already visible. He is quite excited to have a nice space between his teeth.
I had a few firsts yesterday as well.
1.There was no line up at the pre-natal clinic. Turns out the clinic wasn't on because of the national holiday for the end of Ramadan. Thankfully I was still able to see my doctor.
2. The doctor said I was looking a little thin. I don't think anyone has ever said that to me before!
3. The doctor also took my blood pressure and said it was low and that I needed to eat and drink more! I don't think anyone has ever told me that I needed to eat and drink more either!
Well, all in all yesterday was a good day! We also put all three boys in the same bedroom so that we can have some room to pack. All three eventually went to sleep. Unfortunately we didn't get any packing done because we played Ticket to Ride last night.

Big news in our house...

The big news in our house is that Stephen has a loose tooth!
Oh, and we fly out on October 8th! Time to pack up and get ready for Canada!

More village

Here the boys are eating one of our last dinners in the village. I make chips from pita bread and we were dipping them in our chili. Its one of the few ways we can get them to eat chili!
Samuel and Stephen would always ask to play in the rain because they would stay dry in their rain coats and boots. It always turns out that their torsos would stay mainly dry but their boots would be full of water! Then a few days later they would have colds. Is it worth it? Still undecided on that one!

Our last time in the village.

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Our last time in the village proved to be quite eventful. As most of you know, our truck was in an accident. Thankfully we were not in the truck. This termite "invasion" also happened on a Monday morning. That was after two ant "invasions" Saturday and Sunday nights. (see next picture - there are ants and baby sacs which is quite gross) Needless to say, by lunchtime, our house was a lot cleaner but my tolerance level of village life was a LOT lower!

Watermelon Anyone?

And one of Silas crawling.

More, more, more

Oma reading to the boys before breakfast.

The four musketeers at our last bonfire. Can we say troubleÉ

Silas enjoying dinner at the bonfire with Oma. Stephen had fun roasting his marshmellow.

It is happening!

Here are two trucks on the road. I guess there are no weight limits or height limits here!
Here is Stephen with a warthog at Yankari Game Reserve. This was after the baboons ate all the food I packed for them! But, before getting sick and a flat tire on the way home!

Samuel was sick on this trip so here he was sleeping on Daddy in the water. Relaxing and comfy.

And more ... is this really happeningÉ

Jono and Stephen and Samuel and their new bikes!
Janice canning spaghetti sauce, salsa, and pizza sauce. Thanks Mom B for all your help!