New News

I have been very anxious to write this blog. Christi and I were worried that someday Mili's sibling would not be able to say they lived in Africa and be jealous, but at least he/she will be able to say he/she was conceived in Africa. We are very excited about the whole thing. Christi is due on September 20^th. We had an ultrasound today and everything is looking really good. The nice thing is that a parent of one of my students is a midwife and is helping Christi and keeping a chart that she can take back to the States. A missionary lady here has an ultrasound machine and did it for us for free. You can even go to the doctor and get a 3-D ultrasound for $30 which insurance often doesn't cover in the States. We are in good hands and things are going well. Christi has had morning sickness- or maybe all day everyday sickness for a several weeks now. We are hoping that clears up soon. She is very tired and craving a lot of food you can't get here in Rwanda, but otherwise things are good.

Mili is growing up so fast. She is saying so many words, some alphabet, numbers, colors and lots of nouns. She is a lot of fun these days. Rainy season is here so we haven't been able to have our evening playtime outside and look forward to when we can start that up again. A lady who started the year at our school as the secretary watched Mili two weekends ago for her first overnight. Christi and I had our first date since being here and went out for Chinese, watched a movie and enjoyed a quiet night. Then she watched her again last Friday night while Christi and I went out for dinner with another couple. We felt so blessed and it was nice to not have to chase Mili all over a restaurant. She's a mover that one!

School has been going really well. I have a Rwandan student who has been struggling academically even with many interventions and one-on-one tutoring by a volunteer. The school has a policy that if it cannot meet a students needs they will not take the parents money so that they can go elsewhere and have their needs met. Unfortunately the support from home had been lacking and the school was seriously considering withdrawing him. I came up with a compromise and I started tutoring the student and his mother two days a week before school to teach her how to support his learning at home and hopefully get him where he needs to be. We have a goal set that he needs to make in five weeks. Please pray that he would be able to meet this goal and continue with our class.

Some of you may have seen in the news that there were some grenades thrown here in Kigali. We still feel safe here, but there is some tension rising from the upcoming elections that will take place in August. Please pray that things will continue peacefully and that it remain calm here.

We are extremely excited that my parents will be coming out in two weeks. They will be here from March 7-23. It will be so great to see them. We thank the church for blessing us in sending them here. It has been very hard for us with not being able to see family. My aunt Vicki just passed away. She was literally one of the most amazing women who ever lived. She was an amazing mother, teacher, grandmother, and wife. She has been struggling with cancer and health problems for some time. She always had a positive attitude and put others before herself even when she was in pain. She is leaving a big hole in this planet, but we celebrate that we will see her again some day. We wished we could have been at the funeral and seen family during this time. Thank you all for your support.