Please God, not Africa!

It has been a couple of weeks since I've posted and I apologize for my tardiness.  Much has been going on and we are excited to share all the things God has been doing in the last couple of weeks! 1.  Our Support! When it comes to support, we actually have three categories:  our monthly requirements for living overseas, our Outfit and Passage to get there, which includes flights, visas and immunizations, and our Outfit and Passage to get home.  Two out of the three are pretty much complete.  People have responded in big-time generosity and we have been overwhelmed!  Mountain moved. We have 99% of our monthly support and 100% of our Outfit and Passage to get over there.  We just need to raise a little more to get home -- but we have 2 years to do that.  Miracles! 2.  Our Flights! Because we have raised our support, we have also booked flights!  This seems like such a huge step in the process.  We are actually doing this!!...

We've been in the process of getting all our shots for Africa.  Africa really gets under your skin.   We've had 2 out of 3 shots for Hep A/B.  We've had a yellow fever shot.  Now we need Meningitis and perhaps Typhoid.   Doesn't that sound like a good time? Here's Nolan getting his shot.   Yes, we are getting our shots outside on someone's back porch.  Turns out my lovely neighbour across the road is an ER nurse and she did the shots for free, rather than charging us $50 per person like my doc would have.  Thank you, sweet neighbour lady! The needles are not fun.  Poor Jack just about loses his mind when he knows it's time to get one.  We had to go to the travel clinic this past week to get our yellow fever shot and it took a nurse and me to hold Jack while another nurse poked him in the arm.  He HATES it.  So do I, but I don't kick the nurse when she comes near me!  Poor Jack-o. Here's Ted...

84% Hello, Mr. Snake.... Here's what he looked like before: Here's what he looks like now:  Hello Rainbow Snake.  We're almost there!!  In other news, we have just posted our house to be rented, so please pray that the right people come along at the right time.  Our goal for departure is now August 17th, so we have a lot to do in 14 weeks! 

Today, Nate borrowed our friend's back-hoe to do a little work here at our house. It belongs to our friend, Stan, and looked a little like this one here: After using it, Nate decided to take it back to Stan's and give our two smallest boys a little ride. While they were on the road, heading over to Stan's, a fire started in the back hoe. And it went from looking like the above photo to this: And this: And this: (The above photo is where my babies were sitting with their daddy!) Nate, obviously, had time to get the kids and himself out, then he called the fire department who came and put out the fire. Because we live in a small village, I heard the air-raid siren that signals all the volunteer fire fighters to come to the hall. My sister and I heard the siren and I said to her that I wondered who that was for. Never did it occur to me that it was my husband and boys who were the ones. This is a miracle. And even more so because Stan, our very ...

I am beginning to feel, at times, a touch overwhelmed by this whole thing. Just being honest... I feel as though scotch tape (not the dollar store kind, the good stuff) is what is holding my brain together. The other day, I was sorting clothes: And packing boxes that I picked up from the grocery store: (if you can't decipher what this mess is, it's is a pile of empty boxes in our school room) There's just a lot to do right now. Sorting, packing, selling, buying, tossing.... And that's okay. I try not to stress about it. Really. But here's what my helpful children were doing in the backyard: What makes boys decide to dig a hole? And not just any hole, a big hole. You can't tell from this pic, but it's BIG! I found out however, it is not a hole. "It's a bunker, Mom! To play war!!" Oh goodness. I think I'll go crawl in it.

This is my seriously pathetic attempt at telling you something in a mysterious and cryptic manner. I'm not good at this (I think you'll agree...) It's bad. See if you can figure out what we're trying to tell you... I showed the kids how the above photo looked and they decided to try their own method of getting a message across to you. (don't you love how Teddy and Jack have their part in the "seven" ~ very helpful.) Much clearer: Yup. 75%! And I promise never to attempt cryptic or mysterious again. Scouts honour.

We are planning on sending a nice monthly update by email to those who are interested. Other than the blog, this will be a good way to keep people current with what's happening while we're in Togo. If you would like to be on this email list, just email me a quick note to let me know and I'll add you! In case you don't have it, our email is westonsintogo@gmail.com Thanks!