end of the first quarter...already!

I did not even post when school started and here we are at the end of the kids' first quarter already! They have had a great year so far, especially since they are back on their campus! There is still work that is happening around campus, but they have been able to start classes and work around some construction. We are very thankful for the kids' school. There was also a threat of a flood yet again this year, but fortunately, the campus stayed dry throughout rainy season.

First day of grade 4 and grade 1...yes, this was more than 2 months ago...sorry...

like mother like daughter

 Our truck, however, was not so lucky. This is right in front of our house. I got the truck stuck in some water. Thank goodness it was close to home and there were friends and a husband to come and rescue my friend and I!

Yes, this is our truck...I got it stuck during rainy season. It was quite the adventure! Again, this seems like a long time ago, but since this time, we have actually not had enough rain and it looks like Niger will have another famine year this year.

Spirit Week yet again. If you recall my creativeness from last year (can't seem to find the blog post in order to refer to it), this year was another great year of creative juices flowing. Unfortunately, I only took a picture of one day. At least it will give you a taste of what it was like.

Every year, the kids have "Spirit Week" at school where they dress up. This day was "Rubbish Day". They had to dress up as garbage.

 Birthday celebrations!

We officially have a 9 year old! (Those of you wondering, we also officially have a 6 year old but I was not able to upload the picture I took of him on his birthday)

Joint birthday parties are THE BEST!! These girls have their birthdays exactly 1 week apart. Why have we not done this before?!

 Softball!

Rog participated in a softball tournament (got recruited to play on a team from Burkina Faso)...and his team won the social league!! He hadn't played in 2 years and was a tad sore after, but kudos to him for playing in 40+C weather! He had fun and that's what counts! ;)

 Tabaski!

These poor sheep did not know that they only had 1 more day to live. The yearly holiday ("Tabaski") was this past week. Lots of sheep are sacrificed for this holiday.

We went to visit a friend who had sacrificed a sheep of their own. (I believe it is technically called a ram as they are male). We did not get to have any, as they take the whole day to roast, but after watching what was happening, I can't say I would have wanted to!

Well, that just about sums things up here. We are thankful for weather that seems to be cooling (daily highs this week are under 40C) but we pray for wisdom as we enter into a year of famine. How do we help so many people? There are definitely times when aid is needed, like in times of famine, but our hope is to do development here. Help with sustainability. It is so much easier said than done. Thanks for partnering with us.