Elsa Potty Trains Herself, the Walls Go Up, and Ezra Gets His First Haircut

Yes, we've had some monumental happenings here at the Omo. How do you mark
the passage of time in a place where days run together and life melts
between one 'Church Day' and the next? I'll tell you how. You mark it by
accident-free potty days and the progress being made on the house!

Elsa decided to potty-train herself. Or rather, 'dirt-train' herself. Since
the kids go clothing-free here, instead of diapering them, I just put them
in underwear because it is so much easier to clean up a little wet spot than
wash out cloth diapers. So in the last week or so, Elsa decided that she
would take care of business herself by removing her princess panties (thank
you, Aunt Deni!) and taking herself outside--saying, 'it's okay I go pee in
the dirt?' We haven't had an accident since she started doing this on her
own. Who knew potty training could be so easy?

Caleb and Dick are making great progress on our house. The foundation is
finished and the framing for the walls are up. It is so exciting to see our
home take shape before our eyes. We're hopeful that it will be completed by
October.

One last milestone. Ezra got his first haircut. He has been plagued by some
crazy Einstein wings for quite some time now, but I've been hesitant to cut
them off because I didn't want to cut off all his personality! I finally let
Grandma give him a haircut, and she did a great job cleaning him up but
leaving all of his adorable curls in the back. He looks quite grown up.

So we mark time like you do...work gets done, kids do new things, we watch
as our babies reach milestones. Life is taking shape.

Sunday Morning Entertainment

Ez watching a monitor lizard

Elsa's Point of View

"I feel good today!"

We're Here

Four years ago today Caleb and I left Omo together after Caleb spent 6
months volunteering and I came to visit him for 6 weeks before we got
married. Four years...God is faithful.

Our trip went relatively smoothly--despite Caleb having an all-night
vomiting session the night before we left, and despite learning for the
first time that Elsa gets carsick. Elsa and Ezra did GREAT. (No small thanks
to portable DVD players!) We ask a lot of our kids and they've demonstrated
again and again their resiliency and flexibility.

I don't think I could adequtely put into words what it was like to pull up
under the big fig tree across the river from Dick and Donna's place and our
new home. I think all I can say is that we're here. And God is faithful.
And we're here.

Ready to Go

How many times in the last year have I written or said that? We're ready to
go! It is hard to believe that for the forseeable future, this will be the
last time I say that. So off we go...we've packed up our apartment here in
Addis Ababa, we've finished language school, we've said good-bye to friends,
and now we're ready to make the move to Omo. What awaits us we've been
dreaming about and planning for these last four years, but still we can't
quite imagine what it will be like to put our feet on that ground and say
"We're here to stay."

We'll spend the next two days on the road. It's 900 kilometers from Addis to
Omo, so we'll go the first day to a town called Arba Minch and stay in a
guesthouse there. The second day we'll travel the rest of the way and should
arrive at the Omo River mid-afternoon.

Please pray for safe travels and calm kids. Two days is a long time to be
strapped in a car seat!

We're ready to go...