Family, Faith, and the Final Countdown

Hi All,

Here are some pictures of my favorite granddaughter, Faith and a picture from Mother's Day at Wahlstroms.

We are waiting for some warm weather here. There's been snowflakes in the air today. Only 13 1/2 days left of school for me. {Not that I'm counting or anything} The kids are so done with school it makes the last days seem very long.

Love to all, Debbie

Happy Mother's Day

Grandma, Mom (Emily), Carol, Debbie, Joy, Addy, & Emily Ann

You're my special mother, my gift from God above.
You share your time and talent, and give freely of your love.
You're a best friend to all and even though you're sometimes hurt,
your loyalty will not budge.
My heart is always happier, whenever I hear your voice.
I pray God's angels surround you as He gives you reasons to rejoice.
You're a busy lady now. Your own life is filled with much but you'll always be close by as you're always in my heart.

(adapted from a poem my mom framed for me called "A Special Daughter.")

I love you, Mom!

Tender Flower

This picture captures Alaina just how I see her - so sweet - so tender - so beautiful.

the next Julia Child

I had a blast spending time with Alaina-loo the last weekend in April. One of our favorite activities was "cooking" with spoons, pots, and bowls. If you want to see the images closer up - double click on the image.

Top 10 Most Favorite Moments in Africa

In no particular order . . . these are my top 10 favorite moments in Africa. I have to say I love being there (although I miss you all terribly).

1. Being greeted at the airport by some of the African teens (they really are in their 20's but they are called teens). They came with open arms and were so excited to see us all again. How did they remember my name? I loved talking with mCopseni - for such a young man - he sure is wise. He insisted that he carry my carry-on bag wherever we went!!

2. Driving around Africa all day picking up kids for the clinic. I drove into the heart of the black townships and deep into the rural areas. The roads were atrocious - potholes, dirt holes, missing parts of the road, and roads that really weren't roads - just cow paths. At one point in the day I dropped 38 kids off at the clinic. Yes - 38 kids fit into my 10 passenger van. The kids would sing the entire way - I'll upload some video of that soon. By the way - African's drive on the left side of the road.

3. Praying with people before they left the clinic. The people were so receptive to prayer - many people were sick, tired, and worried about their futures - especially their children. One woman I prayed with was diagnosed with HIV, her husband died a few months ago and she was desperately trying to find a job so that she could leave her children with some money. She prayed along side me with great passion.

4. Seeing the African sky at night - the stars are mind boggling - they are "thick" and you feel that you could reach out and touch them. The milky way and the Southern Cross were in full view. (My camera does the sky no justice)

5. Laughing with my missionary host Mercy - she always makes me smile until my cheeks hurt.

6. Praying with people in the hospital in Empengeni. Our friend, Katie, has been a missionary in South Africa since the 1950's. She is now in her 80's battling breast cancer. Despite everything - she is an ACTIVE missionary (she is from the U.S. and speaks fluent Zulu). She visits the hospital regularly and is able to "get us in" to pray with people who are ill. It is a real privilege. This year a message was given in each ward, we then sang 2 Zulu songs, and then prayed with each person. One boy I prayed with asked Jesus into his heart and I was able to give him a Bible. Katie followed up with him after we visited and all of the boys I prayed with in that wing asked for Bibles. My friend Prasanth and I also prayed for a man in bed H28 who had been shot through the mouth. He was unable to speak and he was trembling with fear. Big wet tears rolled down his eyes as we prayed for him. I was really moved by God's power in that moment.

7. I loved my time with the grandmothers (gogo's) who are given the title of respect "mama". Two particular ladies warm my heart every year: Mama nKosi (her last name translates to Lord) and Mama Zima. They both always great me with huge open arms and we have lovely conversations about everything. They are very wise old women - they have been incredibly courageous - living through the apartheid - poverty - and many of her family members affected by HIV. Mama nKosi is a nurse - her husband has passed away and she takes care of many people in her household. She lives in a very rural area and I had the opportunity to drive her home with my friend Cebo late in the evening after a clinic. She normally rides in the back of the 4x4 truck and it is a very bumpy ride. She was so excited to be in the van (it was still bumpy to me) and she said that I drove so smoothly that she would like me to drive her all the way to Durban (3 hours away) so she could enjoy the smoothness. [Thanks Dad] Mama nKosi also drove in my front seat on the way up to the top of the mountain and I asked her all about her life. She had never been to the mountain but the doctors insisted that she go because she is the best interpreter. Mama Zima always gives me a hardy laugh and puts her hands on my hips and says "studla" which roughly translates to hearty and active girl. It's a real compliment in Africa - I'll take it!

8. I had two different opportunities to "perform"! I was the lead actress in the skit about depression for the community. The doctors held a 1/2 day seminar on the topic. I decided to just go for it and be as dramatic as I could be [yes mom - I know this is not a stretch for me] and it went off without a hitch. I think people were surprised. Several teenagers came up to me afterward and expressed how they could relate to my "character" so it made me feel good that I didn't hold back. I also was invited to sing at the Easter service. The kids had heard the songs from the CD that my church put together last year and they insisted that I sing "cease striving". It was such an honor since my African friends can REALLY SING. The Easter service was a true highlight for me - there was an ABUNDANCE of JOY in the people. The wooden church was packed to the gills - there was singing - rejoicing and testimonies. The teenagers - ran the whole thing under the watchful eye of Baba (father) Mafu (Isaiah to us). We served South African sausages, a pasta like salad and homemade cake with the entire congregation. It may have been the only meal that day for many of the people attending. We also hid Easter eggs (empty) and handed out candy and then played games with the kids. It was so much fun. Several of the little girls wanted to hold my hand so I just took 3 or 4 hands into each one of mine and ran and ran and ran with them. I loved it!!

9. I loved seeing the animals - Giraffes (my favorite), elephants (my favorite too), warthogs, zebras, a LION, cape buffalo, rhinos, hyena, a leopard (I swear), blue guinea, exotic butterflies, vultures, baboons, monkeys and these gorgeous iridescent blue birds.

10. Handing out medicine to the people who needed it so badly. What an honor to be God's hands and feet. I loved explaining to the kids how to take their medicine and coding the dispensing cups with symbols so that mom's and grandmother's could keep track of what medicine went with which dropper. I loved shaking the hand of each patient and even getting and occasional hug when I was able. I loved when the old ladies would listen in on what I was saying to the patient in the next chair and hearing them chime in. I loved meeting all of the different people. The pharmacy is a really hectic place to work - but I love the pace and I loved that I have to be serious there - it's just who I am. I loved improving my Zulu. It was thrilling when I was able to hand over the pain medicine we provided for the cleaning staff at the game park after all of our clinics were done. Mercy stood by and I was able to explain, rudimentaly, what I was giving her and how to use the medicine. The woman was so thrilled and said that I must be Zulu I spoke so well. It was really cool!!

I have so many other wonderful memories - but these are my current highlights. God moved mysteriously on this trip - we were without luggage and water and we faced many challenges - but God's mighty arm led us. He worked in marvelous ways - feeding the community, healing the community, giving hope to the community and bringing me Joy even when I hadn't showered in days!

Had a Great Time in Florida

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter! Paul and I really enjoyed seeing Emily Ann, Peter, and Alaina. Emily Ann's parents joined us this year and what great people they are. I saw my sister Yvonne and Dick and they are doing fine. Thought you would enjoy seeing some pictures.

Tim's new house

I bought a new house!

Tim's new "blue" is:
3450 Ellenboro
Troy, MI 48083

It is only 10 minutes away from Tracy, and less than 15 minutes from school.
I cannot wait to have you all over to swim in the...wait for it... pool!

The specs: 1971, 3 bedroom, 1600sq ft, original owner, ranch, full basement, above ground pool, .25 acres, and blue!

I used the time during my spring break to move in. Luckily I don't have much "big stuff", therefore I've taken my time to bring things over and unpack bit by bit.

Lindsey the teacher!

Here is Faith coloring eggs for Easter. Wishing all of you a very Happy Easter!

Hi All,

Here are some pictures of Lindsey's class which we visited when we were in Phoenix. The kids just love Lindsey and were excited to meet her parents. We had a great time on our trip. Pete and I both liked flying. We had smooth flights and loved coming into Phoenix at night with all the lights.

Love, Debbie

In one minute it will be tomorrow . . .

and tomorrow is the day I leave for South Africa!

I can't wait to tell you all about my adventures - I am sure I'll have a few blog worth stories and adventures. Flat Adam arrived today just in time to make the trip (I am so relieved!)

I'll also fill you in on all the adventures leading up to the trip including my guinea pigs gigantor bladder stone removal!!

I will miss you all while I am gone - keep on postin' and keep on prayin' - can't wait to see you soon.

Love, Tracy

Adam

Adam was so excited when he got home from school and found out his glasses were ready!!! As soon as Ryan got home a few minutes later we all jumped in the car to hurry of to get them. Here's the handsome little guy...

Can you tell he likes them?

He lost a tooth at dinner tonight too! Glasses and a lost tooth all in one day! That's BIG for an eight year old! He said he'd always remember today ... and I think he will! I sure love him!

Glasses for Adam

Tonight Adam had an appointment with the eye doctor and our little guy is getting glasses. We had no idea he was having any issues with his sight until last Thursday. Adam was reading all about the adventures of Flat Adam that Tracy wrote for his class. He kept holding the papers in front of his face and his teacher would say, "Adam, we want to see your face! Lower the paper!" And he would...for a little while and slowly it would creep back up. She called me that afternoon, I made an appointment for him and sure enough, he's far-sighted.

His doctor said his teacher is astute, and I agree. Adam does a vocabulary assignment each week in which he finds a word in the book he's reading that he doesn't know, uses context clues to guess the meaning, and then looks it up in the dictionary. I don't think Mrs. B will mind if he looks up a word from his eye doctor, especially if it describes her!

Thank you Tracy for the wonderful report! The class loved it and ... it helped us realize that Adam needs glasses! Little did you know how important Flat Adam would be!

I'll follow up later this week with a picture of Adam in his new glasses! He looks handsome!!!

Hi All, Here are the cousins on a recent visit. They sure enjoy being with each other. Here is pictures from Faith's first mitting {knitting} lesson.

Grandma helping Faith! Faith thinks it's kind of tricky!

Here is Faith in her spring outfit looking very cute!!!

We are all waiting for spring here. We still have dirty snow on the ground but a lot of it has melted.

Happy Birthday to Emily Ann!!!!!!! Hope you enjoy your day!

Pete and I are looking forward to out trip to Arizona to see Lindsey in a couple of weeks. Neither of us have flown before so it should be quite an adventure. I hope we have smooth flights. Lindsey said its been in the low 90's in Tempe so we will get a good dose of heat.

Love to all, Debbie

Destination Imagination

The kids and I have been busy since October with Destination Imagination. I co-coach a team of seven kids including Isaac and Adam. DI is all about kids of all ages working together to problem solve, use their creativity and imaginations to come up with a solution to a challenge. This year, the challenge they chose is called "ViDIo Lit Hits." Their challenge was to take a piece of literature and make it into a music video to dramatically retell the story. The kids do ALL the work themselves without any adult help!
Our team chose Hansel & Gretel. They made scenery, a gingerbread house, had a teammate play all the music on a keyboard, rewrote lyrics to four songs to tell the story and had an oven bubble over when the witch (Isaac) was pushed in. They had to incorporate a "technical method" into their skit which was the bubbling -- baking soda and vinegar. The audience oooohed and ahhhhed!

My favorite song is the Imperial March from Star Wars. This is the song Isaac sings when he (the witch) sees Hansel and Gretel. The team worked soooo hard and recently at the regional competition they got 1st place out of 12 teams in their division!!! They will compete at the state competition on April 18th. If they receive 1st or 2nd there, they will qualify for globals which is in Nashville!!! Here are some pictures of the team...

Here is Adam as one of the trees in the forest and a background singer. Notice the great forest the kids painted! They built two structures out of PVC pipe to hold the background.

Here are Hansel and Gretel in front of the gingerbread house. The kids have been collecting more food to add to it. So far they're going to add Peeps and McDonalds french fries. Yum!

There's Isaac singing the Imperial March ... "I am the witch I will eat you all! Dinner, dessert; I will fatten you up! I am the boss you're the cocktail sauce!" This is inside the gingerbread house. They've decided to decorate it for the state competition using healthy foods -- that's what they think the evil witch would use to decorate his house... You know those evil foods like raisins, peanuts, brocolli. Like I said earlier, the kids make all the decisions!!!


Here the kids are singing and dancing the final song: Celebration. They're singing: "Celebrate the witch is dead!" They did their own choreography! It was so cute!

"We're going to State!!! We all get to stay in a hotel together! We even get to eat at Wendy's AND order pizza. Our coaches said they'd take us swimming! We get to miss a 1/2 day of school?! Yahoo! Can we stay up all night?"

I love my team!

Flat Adam Returns to Wisconsin

It was a sad day to see Flat Adam return to Wisconsin. I sure have enjoyed having him here in Detroit. Follow this link to read a little bit about what Flat Adam did while he was in Detroit. You can see the pictures of Flat Adam here.

Isaac's Winning Billboard

We had a wonderfully warm (relatively speaking -- it was 44 degrees) and sunny day today...a perfect day to go take Isaac's picture with his billboard. There was an awards ceremony on March 1st in which Isaac and the other two winners were honored for their winning entries. The theme of the contest for Youth Art Month was "Art: A New Way of Seeing." All of the Manitowoc 5th graders drew a design and the art teachers and someone from the billboard company served as the judges.

Here's the artist with his artwork -- wow! We've been told that when the billboard comes down at the end of the month, Isaac will get to take home the material it's printed on -- it's like a thin, sturdy plastic. I'll take any and all ideas about what we should do with it!!! Isaac said today, "I don't care what anyone says -- I'm saving this for my grandchildren!" Someone had the suggestion to wallpaper his ceiling with it -- a good idea, but his room isn't big enough. Isaac's teacher has decided we just need to build an addition to our home for it!

Here's a close up of it. It's amazing to be driving down the road and see this! Congrats Isaac!!!

Update on Chuck Apap

Hi Everyone - This is just a quick update - I thought you might be interested in the article about my Godfather - Chuck Apap - who you prayed for earlier this year. It is a nice article about his recovery from a heart attack, heart surgery, and a mini-stroke.


TN