A Wonderful Day------

But it came to an end as the little red car drove off. The Rockford car had left earlier in the day to get back to their VBS. We had lots of fun together and made lots of memories. 

The Family Sport!

Of course, we had to get a game of minature golf in! Since we were 10, we went in two groups. One group analysed each move and only got to 9 holes--the other played like pros, finished the course and had a blast! The first group was even too intent to get pictures. Modesty prevents me from telling who won in each group, but I will say they are still in Wausau! 

Fun in Grandpa's Room!

We finally found the reason to have a king size bed! All ten of us congregated here for the evening. We had lots of fun--especially playing "catch phrase". You will have to ask Elise for the classic guess of the evening. 

Wassau, WI

The Rockford Bixbys drove due North for three and a half hours. The Minnesota Bixbys drove due East for about exactly the same amount of time and we ended up at almost exactly the same time in Wassau, WI at the Hampton Inn.

The Rockford Bixbys were caught in a torrential downpour. It was so bad we had to pull over to the side of the highway and wait it out for about twenty minutes. We heard later that flash floods had occurred in the area, causing five feet of flooding in downtown Madison.

First, we settled into our rooms, enjoyed the free, fresh-baked cookies that Hampton Inn offers, and then piled into two cars to go to Wal-mart. We got there straightaway because we had directions given to us by the hotel staff. However, on the way back we had to rely on Dan and Dad reading the directions backwards. It proved too challenging. Eventually, we made it back, but I must say that popping U-ies in the back seat of a Ford Focus is hard on a man's stomach. Jennie spied out the Hudson Grill and we decided to eat there, enjoying fried pickles for the first time in our storied lives. Wausa does have charms that Europe has never known.

The kids swam tonight. At first the pool was ours entirely. Unfortunately we were joined by a man who, though he seemed physically fit, was (as Jennie says) "a bubble short of a boil." Though you may not be cooks, you might get the gist. So swim time didn't last long.

Now we are in Dad and Mom's room, room 210. Bob and Jennie are in an adjoing room, room 208. Patience is fascinated with the two-door concept. Well, Phase 10 is coming up.

Unusual Sunday

We were in Bob's church on Sunday. It was a unique meeting in that there were six people present who have ministered with us in Pessac--Bob and Jennie (full time missionaries), Anouk (BYWAV), Christy Brunker (1st FOF team), Betsy (short-termer) and Crystal (tentmaker--English teacher). Then there were the Kilburns, Goodwins , Joy and Patience (!) who have been out there to visit! Betsy, Anouk and Crystal sang a trio in French. It was a special Sunday.

CPBC DRAFT 2006: A Call to Join God's Army

Well, another year of VBS is behind us! It was busy, as usual, yet good. We were a little disappointed at first by the numbers. (The Lord had given us an unusually large crowd last year, and so we just sort of expected we would have the same this year.) We averaged between 20 and 30 kids every night. But we were more and more encouraged as the week went by. There was a great spirit among the workers, and the Lord gave our people a number of lengthy witnessing opportunities with adults as well as children. One little boy who has attended our Bible club over the last two years made a profession of faith. We had our Friends and Family night during Sunday evening church last night, as we had done last year. Almost all of the children were there, a number of them with parents or other family members. We are encouraged that slowly, but surely, God seems to be cracking the door open into our church's community.

The pictures feature a few family highlights from the week: Miriam had fun with the nursery workers; Micaiah actually participated in a class for the first time (you see him getting his pennies ready for the offering); notice my army man taking the penny offering; Johanna was the missionary story teacher for her class (Donna taught the same story to her class, and I did to mine--so if anybody needs to know anything about Mary Slessor, just ask one of us! ;-); and Brian was our fabulous skit man! He did a great job as "Private Willie".

We had a great week. And now ... life returns to normal--whatever that is.

Familiar Faces????

I won't make you guess--here goes
1. Gayle King (Ivory Coast. They were in France for 6 months and Jeanine went to IC with them.)
2. Aunt June and Aunt Polly--no explanation needed!
3. Dr. Anderson, president of BMM
4. Ruth (the American girl that was saved in France a year and a half ago--lives in Ohio and came to see us one evening)
5. Jim and Rosie Johnson (now in Ghana)
6. Uncle Vernon (and that is the speaker Kevin Bauder beside him)
7. Connie Johnson (something else, she is married--she is Tim's age. Her mom and I were expecting "together" in CAR!) Jonathan and Cherith Teachout and their second child (Back in CAR)
8. Mrs. Seymour and her son Mark, who works in Chad. (We told her about you making "real" coffee for her husband, Daniel, once we were out of the house! We had not seen her since we evacuated her from Chad many years ago!)
9. Aunt Jan à la African! We didn't get a picture of Julie, who was the coordinator for the conference and did a great job. 

Your Great Aunt Mary

On Friday, after our mission conference, we drove down to Columbus. We stopped by to see Aunt Mary. She lives in a beautiful retirement home and is still very active and alert at 92! We had a really nice visit with her. Uncle John, 93, is still living but he requires around the clock care so he is in a nursing home. We were not able to see him. It was great to see her again and we are commissioned to get Grandma up there--after all, she still drives and Aunt Mary quit a couple of years ago!

BMM Conference

Well, for the first time in the history of the mission, we had an annual conference (it has always been 3times a year!). It was a huge success with almost 400 missionaries present. Dr. Kevin Bauder, from Central, was the speaker and he was excellent. It was great to see some people that we haven't seen in over 20 years! Lots of CAR people (June Stone, Polly Strong, Dick Teachouts, Clarissa Barton, Elmers, Rosenaus, etc.) It was especially fun ending the evenings with the Elmers in our hotel room. Donella, a friend of Donna's, joined us tonight, too. Another highlight was getting our 35 year pins. Tonight in the "inner circle" (for those returning to the field before another conference), only the Stauffachers had more years than we did! 

Charleston, SC

Brian and I went to Charleston this past Saturday. We had so much fun walking around the historic part of the town, visiting the Waterfront Park, the Battery, the Slave Market, etc. One of the best things we did was a boat ride. We even got to see quite a few dolphins. It was tricky trying to get pictures of them, but I think you can see them a little anyway! We ended the day at the beach. We didn't spend a lot of time there, but enough to put our feet in the water as the sun was setting, before we headed back to Greenville. It was beautiful, and we had a wonderful time together! 

My first REAL motorcycle ride

When we were at my Uncle David's house, I drove a motorcycle for the first time! I have ridden on the back of one, but I haven't drove one.
AT first I was scared, but then I got better at it. At first I didn't want to go on the trail, but then I did.
It was a lot of fun.

- Benjamin 

Fabulous Floors laid by Dauntless Dad

Our vacation turned into laying new floors. Of course, Dad did 98% of the work, and I helped a lot, too, but we only seem to have pics of Jo and Brian working! The floors look great and make the room seem a lot bigger. We aren't totally done--trim work, etc... and I want to do the office, but for the most part it is done, and we can start putting the house back together. Of course, everything stopped when the soccer games came on, so we had plenty of breaks! 

ALLEZ LES BLEUS! ALLEZ LES BLEUS!

 
Who will it be? France? Portugal? We expect to hear your cheers for France this afternoon at kickoff time! I'm sure you'll hear ours! 

Stone Mountain State Park, Georgia

Mom and Dad had a meeting in Georgia on Sunday night, so Jo and I went with and Tim, Ruth, Micaiah, Miriam, and Brian came down and met us a Stone Mountain on Monday morning. We had a WONDERFUL day, which climaxed with a beautiful fireworks exhibition in front of the monument (with over 50,000 people!). We got home around 2am! It was a great family place to go, and we all had lots of fun. So, when you northerners come next, be ready! From trains, to cable cars, to boats, to 4-D, to ragtime....it's almost better than the MOA!!
By the way, HAPPY FOURTH TO ALL OF YOU! 

France - 1, Brazil - 0

Yippeeeeeeeeeeee!

I finally got to watch a whole game. I got in from L.A. at 1:00. Brenda's niece and her husband (from Brazil) were already at the house to watch the game with us. We had fun. France pretty much dominated the game until the last 8 minutes, when my heart almost stopped a few times.
- Daniel

I can't believe France won! I didn't think they had much of a chance. It was a cool game. Zinadine Zidane was very, very cool to watch. I can't wait until Wednesday! It was fun to watch it with my cousins. I made a French flag and Brazilian flag.
Picture me screaming when France scored!

- Elise 

... and still madly in love!