I want to start by saying a BIG CONGRATULATIONS to my consin Brandon and his new bride Jessica! They married yesterday and although we were not there, we were thinking of you. Many, many happy years!
Today has been a quiet day for us. We slept a little later than our usuall 7am breakfast call, which was ok with me since the heavens opened last night and it POURED! Did I mention before that it rains more than I have ever seen it rain anywhere here?!?! Yes, it is rainy season and they are not exagerating! Needless, none of us slept much. It was also very windy and the "zinc" on our roof kept rattling around and making noise as well. I honestly was waiting for the tornado siren to go off, a bit apprehensive now I guess (they assure me they do not have tornados here Dorothy!) Try to go back to sleep.
Mom woke to find the laundry she started yesterday and left to soak needed a bit of tending to. She found that Brian's red fancy panties had turned his white tee pink in the overnight washtub. She tried bleaching, but that didn't help much. Guess mom needs to keep working on hand washing skills or Brian needs a different color of fancy panties! Oops! Good thing it really doesn't matter what you wear here, it's kinda just what you have is what you put on. Pink will work ok.
Started the morning rallying the troops to sign the Father's Day card I so proudly remembered to pack. Only to find out later that Father's day is not for two more weeks! Not sure what I was thinking, Brian's Super Dad sticker from the kids sure looked nice in church though. Oh well, better early than never?!?!
Went to church and once again moved by the Holy Spirit in me when we started singing, "What a Mighty God we serve"! An ocean apart, other side of the world, different culture, different people, different church, but we all sang from our own hearts the same song, "What a mighty God we serve". We all serve the same God. Again the people here have me in awe of them and their child like faith, because that is what they have, that is what they have to have, that is what they choose to have!
After church Brian and Grace went to visit our friends the Palmers'. While there Grace climbs the tree in their yard, picks some fruit, and starts eating it. Daddy has to ask her what it is, "Dad...it's guava!!" In her gracie way! She is taking to the African way quite nicely.
 |
| Monkey Grace and her Guava snack |
The kids and Brian went to a gathering at one of the other Dr. house, to my surprise brought home some ice cream for Grandma and myself. Yummy! Homemade icecream never tasted so good.
I got a nice surprise from my amazing friends today in Joplin. They snuck a care package in Brian's luggage for us to open when we got here. Wonderful goodies inside. M&M's, books, card games, bubbles, colors, lip gloss (not sure who liked them more Grace or Toby!), a battery fan (very handy), all sorts of great stuff. They are so awesome and thoughtful! I love them so much. Thank you friends. It truely made my day!
Speaking of friends, we're are making many here. Yesterday we met a couple that are here doing same as us. Melissa is a pediatrician and her husband Jeff is here with her. They are from Tennessee. We invited them over for a fun noncompetitive game of farkle this evening. Oh the fun! Unfortunately Jeff won (beginners luck) so we will have to invite them again for a rematch!
While we were farkling, Joe decided he wanted to play chess. So, he (with little help from daddy) built chess pieces out of his legos and daddy made a board. I was very impressed! I think daddy was too, especially when Joe beat him!!! They played after our guest left, it was fun for them both. Grace then used the board to play checkers with the bottle caps she has been collecting. Good times!
Don't know that I know too much more. Update on Brian's patients... The baby with the compartment syndrome was moving his fingers on Friday! The full arm fasciotomy procedure looks to be a success!
Not so good news, the girl that came from away to see Brian with the spinal injury that developed into hydrocephalus passes away last night. It is very sad to hear, but she was in pain and too ill to heal here on earth. We pray for that family, I was told that it was very traumatic for them.
This week will be busy. Surgeries scheduled, dinners to attend, parties to plan, you know the typical day in Africa!
Here are a few other pics from this weekend, just interesting stuff.
 |
| Boy playing with wheel |
 |
| Lychee Fruit |
 |
| Grace eating Lychee fruit |
 |
| 50ish people crowded around 1 TV to watch Cameroon vs. Senegal "football" game. You could hear them shouting all over campus. |
 |
| Our view of hospital walking from our house |
 |
| Farther up road, same view |
Hope you all are enjoying the blog. I changed the settings cause I heard you were having trouble posting comments. You all should be able to now. It is nice to hear from you. We check back for replies probably as much as you check for post. This and FB are about the only contact we have to you! Love to you all!
-al
8 comments:
It sounds as though you all are having a lot of adventures! We are all enjoying the pics and they are beautiful. We haven't accomplished much today. Too hot to be outside. Yesterday had our garage sale and of course we did not get rich. However we did get rid of some stuff. I'm sure you would all agree that there is more to get rid of. We have had Bradyn here for several hours. Frank and Jen are working on cleaning out Scott Gerken's garage. I think Frank is finally going to take the plunge and go into business. We wish him well! Hope your week goes well and we look forward to more posts. Love you all!
I am impressed with Grace's adventurous eating... it's a far cry from the apples and peaches she can get off the trees in Missouri! So happy to hear that Africa is creating so many good memories. Had you not left Joplin I think it would have been more traumatic for the kids. Joplin is definitely devastated. I was looking at the Big Picture photo blog on Boston.com today and they had a bunch of pictures of the aftermath and it just makes your jaw drop. The sun was definitely shining on your family to live through a record setting tornado and to turn around and go to Africa and change both your lives and the lives of all the people you impact there... its a pretty powerful message when you really think about it!
As for our family... Eli is army crawling (just barely) Noah is full of 2 year old charm :-/ (but is TOTALLY potty trained... woot woot) and Jamie is killing himself working too many hours... but in 5 days we set off on a trip with Jamie's family to Washington D.C. The highlight of my week sadly is that I got a new double stroller so I have been taking the boys out for walks... its been nice (my rear has expanded exponentially so it is much needed)
I shared your blog with a few interested people... some from work and of course Bethany. She too is jealous and said if Brian ever has a need for a pediatric physical therapist on one of these trips to let her know. We love you bunches - Allison
Also have you guys seen this?
http://www.outpatientsurgery.net/news/2011/05/24-Operating-Through-the-Tornado
Allison- Yes we say that article. Amazing story! Your life will be crazy busy now with Eli movin'. Can't wait to see him again!
hey, am enjoying the blog sooo much! was sooo great to talk to roxy this morning!! you are having such an amazing life changing adventure!! tell her i'm sorry we got cut off and i will call again soon!! love n and j
Hey Ipsen clan! I am thrilled to be following your adventures in Africa. The pictures are awesome... it looks beautiful there! Seeing your kiddos playing and interacting with the local children is such a wonderful thing. The experiences you will all bring home with you will be unforgetable. Truly a changed perspective of this world and your life in the states. I look forward to following you as you continue to serve the people of your village, and from it sounds, from all over. Tell Brian and all the kids we say "hello". Rosedale is down so you are not missing that. But if that was the only sad news here in Joplin... Take care and I will pray for some extra breeze to dry that clothes. I will think of you as I do my laundry and feel like I am hating it. Love to you all.
Thank you so much for the thoughts! We just got back from Italy for our honeymoon so I just got caught up on all your adventures. It really seems like quite a learning experience.
Africa has a new breed of Afrikaner. They are from Missouri and they actually walk the walk. God bless you all and keep you safe.
Post a Comment