tour of the south

With all of this traveling, one makes sure to pack lots & lots of snacks. Isabelle, like her Mama & GB, loves popcorn! And, for some strange reason, whenever she couldn't get to sleep in her carseat for her nap, she'd ask for popcorn. Mark & I would usually look at each other & then at her & say, "Isabelle, you don't need a snack. You need to sleep!" But she would keep insisting on wanting popcorn. And here's why ...

Who knew that popcorn could induce a nap? And I'm telling y'all, this has worked on numerous occasions ... even since we've been back in Niger! 

 

So after leaving Branson, we headed south towards Montgomery, AL. We had an overnight stay in Tupelo, MS & then arrived in Montgomery on Father's Day. We were greeted by Mark's aunt Patty & then went to worship at FBC Montgomery with her that evening. Afterwards, we got to catch up with the whole Roper clan. It's always SO good to see that part of the family! The next day we relaxed a little, hung out some more, did a little shopping & then had an Ayorou reunion party with the team from FBC that came to Niger last February.

Mark's 15 year old cousin, Walker, did such a good job playing with Luke!

Now this is where our travels got a little loopy. We left Montgomery on Monday evening & headed to Anderson, SC to see my grandparents & uncles. We arrived there at 2 o'clock in the morning!! We woke up early that morning & started our visiting. First, with my maternal grandparents ...

My grandmother saved my sister & my's toys from way back when, so that her great grandchildren could play with them. It was perfect!! Isabelle had something to keep her occupied so that I could visit with my grandparents. And a little fact for you ... Isabelle was named after my grandmother's mother (Isabel Brown).

My grandfather was so sweet with both kiddos. He's been sick for a while & is still on the road to recovery, but he perked up enough to play with the kids.

Good grandma snuggles! After snuggling, playing & visiting for a while, we enjoyed a delicious homemade meal with poundcake for dessert! Yum!

We then headed to my paternal grandparents house. My "Mimi" is such a special, special lady to me. She had a stroke about 12 years ago & has not been able to do as much as she used to. But she is still sharp as a tack & we love to just talk & joke around. She's so sweet with the kids, too. We visited with her awhile & then went to one of our favorite Anderson establishments ... Pete's on Concord. Hamburger steak & gravy ... my, oh my!

I can't believe I actually got a picture of my Uncle Steve! He never lets me take his picture! I guess all I need to do is stick a baby in his arms & he forgets that anyone else is in the room!

Mimi,  Isabelle & Luke. Izzy was enjoying a "treat" from Sonic & also wearing a dress that Mimi bought her. And Mimi totally looks grumpy in this picture, but I tell ya, she is not a grumpy lady in the least. Anyone who's had the privilege of meeting her can tell you that! And another little fact for you ... Luke's middle name (Cleveland) is my Mimi's maiden name.

So if one late night travel wasn't enough, we decided to do it again! We left Anderson around 8 pm on Tuesday evening and made our way to our next destination ... Myrtle Beach!!

branson or bust!

A few days after JJ left, we packed our bags & headed to Branson, Missouri. And, no, we are not die-hard fans of Loretta Lynn impersonators. It was simply a halfway point between KY, KS & SD. Also, Mark's dad scored this awesome deal on one of the most beautiful cabins ever! Although Branson does look a little like a mini-Las Vegas at night, the area of the Ozarks is unbelievably beautiful! We had a great week of hanging out at the cabin, doing a few fun things around Branson & spending time with family!

Our daughter is so strange!

We forgot Luke's hat on one of our outings so we resorted to his bib! Stylish, don't ya think?

 After a huge meal, a fire & water show, long walks in the sun & a big ole snow cone, Isabelle passed out on our drive back to the cabin one day! She had red snow cone syrup on her bow, on her dress ... it was everywhere!

 Headin' to the go-cart track!! Although we actually never got to ride go-carts because it rained, we still had fun at the arcade! Who doesn't love ski ball?!

Gaga & Papa with their 4 favorite people in the world!

 I think Gaga seriously thought about calling the owners of the cabin & telling them we'd just stay another week! This was heaven on earth for her! I can't help but agree ... she does have some pretty cute grandkids!

Delicious seafood lunch! Thanks Gaga & Papa for a wonderful week!! 

calling all betty crockers!

Alright all you Betty Crockers out there ... I need your help!! See this lovely cake stand? Pretty isn't it? I sure do think so! I love to fill it with baked goods, especially breakfast items. It just happened to have the one & only cake in it (carrot cake, by the way) I've made since being back when I took the picture. Normally it just houses breakfast-y foods. It's had the privilege of having banana bread, applesauce bread, muffins (from a mix that I brought back in my suitcase), croissants (from the local bakery), sausage balls & mini pecan pies (not for breakfast, of course) all under it's dome.

 

Here's where I need you ... I'm running out of ideas!!! I can only handle so much banana bread if you know what I mean! Plus, I think this lovely glass dish is much prettier on my counter with something in it than just a plain ole empty cake stand. I need recipes ... preferably breakfast recipes, but any will do! I would LOVE a great homemade muffin recipe! I've tried my hand at a few & I don't think they taste nearly as good as a mix & they usually fall apart on me. Please keep in mind that we have limited ingredients here so I can't make things like blueberry muffins from scratch ... unless someone wants to send me some dried blueberries (wink, wink, wink)!

So any of the 5 of you who read this blog, could you please help a sister out & send me a tried & true recipe? Thanks!! I'd be most appreciative!

JJ comes to town!!

My cousin Jennifer came to visit us in South Dakota!! We have tried to see her almost everytime we've been to the States for the last 3 years but the girl lives in California, so it has never worked out.  Well she said she was not going to miss seeing us this time & flew from LA to little bitty Huron, SD to spend 3 days with us out on the farm.

Isabelle loved JJ from the minute she saw her & still has not forgotten her to this day. They had tea together every morning & played til their hearts delight. There's not much to do on & around the farm so we went to a park one day after eating Mexican for lunch and then we headed to Aberdeen the next day to visit Storybook Land (that's a whole post in itself!). JJ also helped me shop at Target while I was buying loads of stuff for our crate!

Thank you SOOOO much Jennifer for giving your time to come all the way to the boonies to see us!! We love you SO much!!

the new digs

Some of you have been asking to see pictures of our new house in Niamey. I just want to preface this post by saying that we are still in the process of getting settled in. We have hardly put anything on the walls & we still have furniture being made. But to oblige those of you who are asking, I'll post a few pictures of what we've got so far. 

 

 This is our living room. We have yet to put anything on the walls because we are waiting for our crate to come. The couch has just been recovered & we love it! I was a little leery about having a yellow couch because I'm more a "green" person, but we really like it. I'll do another post with a before/after picture. I also need some ideas on what to put behind the couch. So all you interior designers out there, holla back!

This is the view from sitting on the couch.  To the left is the entrance into the dining room.

 This is our entry table.

Dining room. We are waiting on our table & chairs to be delivered. They were supposed to be here tomorrow but the guy called & said it'd be Tuesday! We'll see! Oh & we're having those blue & red panes removed soon.

 From the dining room, you can walk into the kitchen. This is a view from the door. Would y'all believe that when we packed our first crate we put that kitchen table on it with only TWO chairs?! I mean, seriously, what were we thinking?! I guess we thought that it would just be Mark & I at every meal. Since then, we've had a need for so much extra seating at our house when we host volunteer teams ... hence the need for a new dining room table. Also, when we first had furniture made we thought it'd be more economical to just have benches made. Economical, yes; wise, no! It is not comfortable one bit to eat on a bench!

 The view from the table back towards the door to the dining room. Those bar stools were another unwise investment. Not comfy at all, my friends! We bought them at an auction our first spring here. The money went to a good cause but it was not a good choice on our part!

 This is a view from our front gate looking at our house. If anyone ever visited this house when it belonged to Brad & Sally, you will notice something ... there is no greenery and the fountain is gone!! Sad days! They had to pull up everything before they moved out because of termites. We have yet to plant anything & Isabelle is just enjoying roaming the yard freely.

A view from our porch back to the front gate. The building to the left is our garage & a storage building.

 

 View from our porch to the right side of our yard. A nice sand/water table was handed down to us when we got here! Isabelle just fills the whole thing with water & splashes in it. Again, no more greenery! Boo!

 Luke's room. I'm not a big "themed" bedding person but when we finally got settled into the missions house in Bowling Green, I had all of 3 weeks to get a nursery up and no time to order something. I really just wanted something blue & brown but couldn't find anything anywhere. I was in Target one day & found this bedding for $45 (comforter, dust ruffle, sheet, & bumper). It was a steal I couldn't pass up. When we got to Niamey, I had totally forgot about the giraffe painting we had & it went perfect with his room!

 Izzy's big girl room! The lump in her bed is pillows we've stuffed under her sheets so she doesn't roll out of the bed in the middle of the night! We've got a nightstand being built to put in between the 2 beds & a bookcase on the crate that'll fill in the room, too.

The bookcase will go in that bare corner on the right. I bought these curtains in America at Target because they are supposed to block out light & heat. I don't know about the heat part but they do fantastic on the light. When she takes her afternoon nap, it is so stinkin' dark in her room! I just tie them back with ribbons during the day.

And just a little picture of the happiest baby on the block!

Okay and one more of the craziest, cutest kids in the world!

So that's our house so far. I'll post some pictures once we get our dining room table delivered & definitely once our crate comes & we get stuff up on the walls!

hitting the lanes

On a lazy afternoon in late May, I thought it would be a fun idea to take Isabelle bowling. I'll have y'all know that I was the only one who thought this would be a good idea (well, only adult that is). And I'll also have y'all know that it indeed was not only a good idea but a GREAT idea!! Isabelle loved bowling & we had a blast! She was a tiny bit impatient waiting her turn so she probably played more than 10 frames but no one cared because none of us are that serious about bowling. And Luke had fun being passed from person to person while everyone took their turns!

I'm pretty sure this was a 4 pound ball. Isn't she precious in her bowling shoes? They were a little big but it was the smallest size they had. I guess too many people don't take 2 year olds bowling!

Isabelle loved watching her ball go down the lane

Sometimes she would even do her African squat while she waited. If you look closely, you can see that she had a "plumber" problem that day! Woops!!



And we waited & we waited & we waited! One of the ups to bowling with a 2 year old is that you totally get your money's worth because it takes forever for their balls to actually touch the pins!



Luke didn't mind the trip to the bowling alley one bit. Nope, not one bit!

GB thought Isabelle did so well that she deserved her own bag of Gummi Worms!

happy birthday - part 2

On Saturday, May 22, we had a birthday party for Isabelle at my parent's house. We invited the neighbors & our friends who live in Aberdeen, SD (about 75 miles away). I'm not too big on "theme" birthdays yet but I knew I wanted to incorporate Elmo into it in some way, shape or form. Isabelle was in love with Elmo at the time (it's so funny because she's totally gone through phases of who she loves & right now, she'd probably pick Dora the Explorer). So we just went with a red & white party and some Elmo cookies. We also had a gargantuan amount of food as my Dad is "King of the Grill" & cooked ribs, chicken, brats & a ton of other meat ... mostly red & white, to go with the party, of course!

Her made-from-scratch birthday cake. I think she may have preferred the store bought over this one!



Cake Pops. I'd been dying to make these but never had a chance (or the necessary ingredients & tools) to do it in Niger. They don't look too pretty but they are delicious! Red velvet cake, cream cheese frosting & white chocolate ... delicious flavors & perfect color combo for the party!



Besides the plates, this was the only "Elmo" at the party.



Isabelle blowing out her candle with the help of Callie. I just realized that she had 2 birthday parties last year, too. We did one with just family & close friends and then one where we invited a lot of other missionaries & their kids. Guess this is becoming a tradition, too!



So Isabelle liked the cake pops better than her cake. I think I did, too!!



Izzy is always so good to make friends fast. She had never met Callie before this day but she instantly loved her. As you saw above, she even let Callie hold her while she blew out her candles.



Showing off her new cowgirl hat beside the big tractor!

And it was astronomically windy! That hat didn't last 2 seconds on her head!