We Must Go To Fetch The Water...

Does anybody know what that is from?

You got it...Jungle Book. This song was in my head almost constantly for 3 days while we were in Africa.

I mentioned a couple African posts ago that the way our trip was designed by Vernon was that he wanted us to REALLY experience life as a widow running an orphanage in Sudan. So we lived beside them for 3 days, helping them with every bit of their daily responsibilities.

WELL...one of those daily responsibilities is (or I should say 3 TIMES daily) is fetching water from their water hole that is about 1/2 mile away from the orphanage. No big deal, right? WRONG. It was by far the hardest physical thing I have ever done and I didn't even have to walk the 1/2 mile back to the orphanage. I just had to walk the water back about 50 yards to a truck that we brought that was parked with 3 giant metal drums that we poured the water in.

Their water hole.






The road they walk from the orphanage to the water hole.








Carrying the 5 gallon jugs of water! The hardest thing I have ever done! That's a fake smile.






This is what my feet and skirt looked like after fetching the water. The amazing thing is, the widows don't have a drop of mud on them after doing this.


This video is about 2 1/2 minutes long and it shows almost exactly what we had to do to fetch the water. It is of my husband carrying the water from the water hole to the truck. The only difference was usually we were carrying TWO 5 gallon jugs instead of one. They weighed about 20 - 25 lbs each.

Sudan - Fetching water from the water hole from Janelle on Vimeo.

The first time I fetched the water, I truly thought my body was not capable of doing it. I was going to give up, but Vernon really made me push myself and kept telling me, "You have no idea what your body is capable of doing." In other words, the precious ladies in Africa do so much that is so strenuous on their bodies. And even though some of the ridiculously strength enduring things they have to do seem impossible to me, they do it because they must for survivor. They are amazing!! And my hands were definitely bruised the next day, but it was a good reminder for me to be SO grateful for what I have.

My hands have never been bruised by turning on the faucet in my own home! It's all about perspective.

I miss those ladies so much!

Playdate at the Airport

We have had some fun playdates the last few weeks. Last Thursday we went to the airport observation park and got to have a picnic and watch the planes land. It was so cool.



"It's a plane!" Ella kept saying, "Joshua, did you see the plane?" in her cute little voice.


Gabe and Ella had sweet picnic moments.


Look at Gabe's face checking out Ella's sandwich. It was cracking me up!




Tobey and Joshua had some serious fun running up and down this hill.


Then later that day, we got to watch Joshua for a little bit while Melissa, Peter and Gabe went to a meeting. They got back a lot earlier than expected so we were able to all spend some time together.

Ella loves trying to hold Gabe.


Joshua is really into smelling candles. Since he could walk, he would find his way to a candle just so he could smell it. It's really cute. Ella always follows his lead with the candles and they thought it was the funniest thing to smell them and then laugh really hard.




It was a really fun day!!

Sing-a-Long

A couple of Thursdays ago, Joshua and Ella had their playdate at a park that we love to go to by my house. They are such sweet friends and had a blast playing together...

...on the swings!






...on the merry-go-round!






...on the slides!


...and racing their cars!




Joshua and Ella were in a singing mood this day because they sang through all of the above activities!

This is Ella singing Jesus Loves Me while swinging.

Josh & Ella Swinging While Ella Sings Jesus Loves Me 9-18-08 from Janelle on Vimeo.

Here they are both singing Jesus Loves Me while sliding!

Josh & Ella Sliding @ Singing Jesus Loves Me 9-18-08 from Janelle on Vimeo.

Here they are sliding and singing Twinkle, Twinkle. I love wathing their hands and feet crawling up the slide from the outside. It's so cute.

Josh & Ella Sliding While Ella Sings Twinkle, Twinkle 9-18-08 from Janelle on Vimeo.

I love the end of this video!

Josh & Ella Sliding While Josh Sings "Jesus Loves the Little Children" 9-18-08 from Janelle on Vimeo.

Then later that night, we got to meet Laney and Kristin at chick-fil-a for dinner. Ella for the FIRST time ever, was able to climb up the platforms to the top all by herself. As you can see, she was very excited.

Hello Mr. Milestone

Ella is officially in a big girl bed. Last week, Heath and I got her the cutest little toddler bed and made the plunch last night putting it together. I was NERVOUS, but more than that, I was sad! It's like the crib was the little bit of baby I had left to hold on to. And now the crib is in pieces and there's a bed in it's place.

But it's exciting! I love her little bed and it fits perfectly in her little room.





Ella's reaction when she first saw it.



As you can see, she was SO excited about her surprise.



She immediately had to make sure this bed bounced as well as her crib.




I think she's satisfied.






A family pic:


She did great in it last night. After we put her in bed, she played for about 30 minutes laying down with her stuffed animals, which is normal. At that time, I went in to check on her and sat on her bed and was talking with her for a minute, when she looked at me and said so sweetly:
"Mama, go out the door."
"What?", I said.
And she repeated, "Mama, go out the door."
I said, "Do you want me to leave?" She looked up at me with those sweet eyes and said,
"Yes."
So I guess a new independence has come with a new bed. But I'm okay with it. Really, I am. Really, I promise. I'm fine.


Bye, bye sweet crib!

My Girl

My good friend, Amber, so sweetly took these precious pictures of Ella Monday night! I am in such awe of her talent!







































FYI: Amber is the wife of Vernon, who lead us on our Sudan trip. It is her and her husband who started the ministry His Voice For Sudan, which is the ministry our group went through to the Sudan in July. They are an awesome couple and it is an honor to call them my friends.

Amber, how can I thank you enough? You have captured the complete sweetness of the girl that I love so much! I am so grateful for the gift you possess and the gift you have given me.