Car, Visitors, Christmas and More

 So we will start with a HUGE THANK YOU to all our family and friends who helped to get our car here! As many of you know it was quite a wait but after being in Liberia for almost seven months we finally received our car. We are so grateful to you all for your support!

After plenty of rain the container truck got stuck in the mud while trying to turn around. They tried to get unstuck but finally decided to just unload in the middle of the road at ELWA. Fortunately it was evening so no traffic to worry about.

 You can see how packed in they get things. All the stuff hanging above our car is insulation Rusty had shipped and put in our house here.

This part was particularly nerve racking for Jamie as they didn't quite have the ramps in the right spot so the passenger side tires were riding on the outer edge!

              Kobe and Blessing having some fun in the plane Kobe and Christopher built on the beach.

Christopher goofing around with the twins.

Rusty getting ready to fillet a very large barracuda we bought. It made good fish and chips!

 Rusty's parents came for a visit. We had a great time but didn't get many pictures (sorry Jack). Grandma     reading Blessing her new book.

Rusty's brother Ric and friend Nick also came. They did some work at the hospital. Sorry guys it's the only picture we have of the two of you.

The kids at Master's home of Champions (formerly Addy's Hope) performing a dance for us.

Our nieces Megan and Morgan came for a visit. Morgan raised money as part of her senior project to purchase gifts for two different orphanage homes we visit on occasion. Here they are with all the clothes we were able to purchase.

Some of the toys.

More toys, bathroom essentials, craft supplies, etc...

Distributing all the gifts the girls purchased.

I think they like what's inside...

The girls with the kids at Master's home of Champions.

                               Making sure everyone has the right sized "slippers" aka flip flops.

The girls with the kids at Love a Child Orphanage.

For those of you who helped us back in 2010 to build this home for Fatu. Finally got a picture of it finished.

Morgan and Kobe at Kpatawee falls

                                            Megan, Colton and Kobe hanging out on a pipe?

Some scenic shots on the way home.

 

The sun setting on the way home just before we got a flat tire. Never a dull moment here!

Christmas Eve fun. Potluck, games and bonfire at our friends the Ngenda's house.

Christmas day fun on the beach with (most of) the Shank kids. No snow, No problem we have sand.

All the cousins before taking Megan and Morgan to the airport.

The twins with the twins.

                                    Megan getting one last drink of coconut water before she left.

Grace!

   Hair day with Blessing is getting easier and faster for the most part. I can't believe how much hair she has!                        

                                     
                                                                      All done!

                                                          Blessing loves her beads.

                                                  Kasen with a mouth full of food.

                 If you would like to see more photos check out Christopher's Facebook page.

Emmanuel

This is Emmanuel.  He was born with a 0.9cm hole in his heart.  We are raising money to send Emmanuel to Ghana to see a pediatric cardiologist.  With a diagnosis from a pediatric cardiologist we are hopeful that Gift of Life International will accept him into their children's heart surgery program, so he can get the life saving surgery that he needs.  If you would like to contribute please mail a check to "Sterling Drive Church" to:

Jack Laird
1468 E. Smith Rd
Bellingham, WA 98226

We need about $1,500 for the airfare, lodging and testing that needs to be done.  Thank you.

October Update

A couple months have slipped by since our last update.  In fact it's been so long my parents have booked tickets out here just to make sure we're still alive.  December will be busy here with a total of 6 people coming out for visits.  

We are now officially out of rainy season.  Although somebody forgot to tell the rain that was falling most of the day yesterday and through the night.  The boys took a "if you can't beat it join it" approach and made a slip-n-slide out of a tarp.  A little water, soap and friends and they had a fun afternoon of sliding.

The twins continue to grow.  While they seem to be bulking up, they started out a bit behind and at 4 months of age they were still both in single digit percentile territory for length and weight.  Here they are at their latest photo op.

And with Christopher and Kobe helping Grace into her best George Costanza impression.

Jamie and Blessing have a bi-monthly wrestling match where Jamie tries to take out Blessing's old braids and re-braid her hair.  Today was gameday.  Below is Blessing after winning the first round.

The hospital continues to progress, but we had another side project in September.  A new SP staff member and family were heading out and there was no available housing, so we had to renovate a house that has not been renovated since the war, and has not been lived in for over a year.  In four weeks our contractor managed to install a new roof, ceiling, plumbing, windows, window bars, doors, electrical, flooring and paint.

The living room before.

and after.

The kitchen/laundry building will be finishing up in the next month.  The contractor has the walls up to ceiling level.  A few pictures from the past month or two...

We received 2 containers with the roofing for the building a couple weeks ago.  Each roof panel weighs about 275 lbs.  A crane would have cost over $1,500 to rent, so we just used man-power.  They had all 50+ sheets unloaded in about 2 hours.

Now the next challenge, getting them up on the roof!

We are among royalty

We received a call in the middle of July from a friend who manages an orphanage just outside Monrovia.  Someone had come to him looking for help with a set of twins. His daughter had passed away shortly after delivering the twins, leaving them and 6 other siblings orphaned.  This orphanage does not take infants, so he contacted us to see if we would be willing to help.

We went with him and his wife to a nearby hospital where the twins were being treated for "runny stomach" and undernourishment.  They were a month old but only weighed about 4 lbs each.  After discussions with the grandparents and the Ministry of Health we decided to provide foster care for them.

Here they are at about 6 weeks old, shortly after coming into our home. Their grandparents had given them "temporary" names, Prince and Princess. We have decided to call them Kasen and Grace.

The proud Big Sister. (and boy does she look big now)

And here they are today, about 3 weeks later, with Blessing. They are gaining slowly, Kasen is up to a little over 8 lbs. and Grace is about 6 1/2 lbs.

All six of the children together.  Not an easy picture...  And when Jamie said we need a picture of all SIX, I asked who was taking the picture if all of us were in it...wait there are SIX children in our house?

Pictures with the three boys were hard enough.

After a little coaching and bribing they all finally looked at the camera.