Thanksgiving in Colorado !

We spent thanksgiving this year in Colorado Springs with some wonderful friends of ours - Orla - the great Dane from Denmark and his lovely wife May-Britt who is from Sweden. We met Orla when he came to visit the AFM while we were in Liberia last year.

Miriam feeding a giraffe in the Cheyenne mountain Zoo, the only mountain Zoo in the US which happened to be right next to our friends house. What an exciting Zoo and cold ...

Taking the Cog wheel train up to Pikes Peak mountain 14 110 Feet high...ohoho, was it cold up there !

Having deer running around wild in the back yard was quite an experience.

Garden of the Gods - very beautiful mountain formation where Kelly and Miriam try to ''safe''a rock from falling.

First snow for Miriam and she had a blast playing with Papa in it. We had to bundle up the girls.

What has been going on in Texas ?

Miriam had her two friends Joy and Lucy over and where is Betty Lou sitting ? Oh, she fit in Miriam's dolly stroller....



Mmmmh, Zuckerwatte, for my german friends, cotton candy is what they call it over here.

Last weekend was Miriam's first trip to the circus here in Tyler. She got to ride on a pony twice and see the Elefants , acrobats and clowns. She enjoyed herself so much and after each act she would ask me'' Mama, is it over yet ?'' She did'nt want it to end.

This is the car that the LORD has blessed us with, a 2001 Pontiac Montana and it has a lot of room which was especially handy coming back from Mississippi when we were loaded with our ''stuff''.

Betty Lou is growing and is a joy to everyone. She smiles and talks her baby talk,it is the cutest thing ever and I could listen to it all day long.

Just look at that smile ?

Miriam is such a good big sister and still loves holding her little sis under Mom's supervision.

After a long hot season Miriam enjoys a mud bath after the rain... soo much fun that she did not have the time to put her swimsuit or something more decent on ...!

Grizzardos new edition !

The Big sister takes good care of her little ONE !!

With Susu and Papa in Ocean Springs were we stayed for 6 weeks and had a good time. Miriam had such a good time with her Susu and Papa really liked holding little Betty Lou - who was born on his birthday.

Daddy is a big helper and has a little one to help him now too - he is just the best Papa ever and his little girls like him so much!This is our Betty Lou - she was born July 20th. and is a healthy and happy baby - so are Mommy and Big sister !

This is our new pet- just kidding! It is a neighbors dog who started coming to visit us . Miriam brings him water and walks around with him as if it would be her dog.

Kelly and Miriam taking of for church - using our new ''vehicle'' that comes in very handy...!
We are going to a church next door of us called CCF - Christian Community Fellowship and we have really enjoyed it. God is so evident there and they are very mission oriented which we find very refreshing.
They just sent a team of Basketball players out to Peru and we got to see them on our Wednesday night prayer meetings via satellite.

Miriam's favorite hangout place for the last 4 weeks - she already got a nice tan ...

Our new home in Texas - a great 2 bedroom appartment on the Mercy Ships base, with lots of room to run around for a 3 year old and our very ''own'' swimmingpool that we are using almost everyday since the temperatures are at 103 F.

We didn't see them in Africa but here in Texas when we visited the Tyler Zoo with our friends.

They are really beautiful and impressive animals - in the East Africa section. How ironic that we were on the other side... in West Africa !!

Back in good old Texas !!

Miriam's new friends in Texas Joy and Lucy Holden. We had a great sunday afternoon together and this is Miriam's new swingset all for herself. After she had to share 2 swings with about 25 other kids on the ship - it is quite the treat for her and she sometimes wants to use all 3 at one time.

The weather has been so fantastic and pleasent for Texas' conditions and I just thank the Lord for that - now that I sweat for two!

Traveling in stile ...! Miriam was so happy to use her new Dora suitcase with rolls.

Here we are on our way back from Benin to Texas with sleep over in Cincinati. After our plane was delayed from Paris which turned out to be a big blessing because we would not have been able to fly into Dallas anyway due to a severe thunder storm.

Is'nt it great to have a GOD that is always in control ? We start to appreciate that fact more and more !!

Last Pics from Benin :-)

We went on a nice little boat ride the last weekend to a place called ''Bab's Dock'' ! It was so beautiful and Miriam learned how to swim under the water without holding her nose and without her floaties - of course she could stand in the water :-).

We were so proud of her and she held her breath for quite a long time - for a 3 year old.

Here she is in our little kiddi pool on Deck 8 on the Africa Mercy. She likes to play with her friends there !

I wanted to give you some more pics, but for some reason my computer does'nt let me download them. So I'll have to try another day again.

Greetings to all of you that are reading or viewing our blog - God bless !!

Sorry friends, I have not been very good with our blog lately. Partly because of health reasons and I guess looking after a toddler seems to keep me busier than I thought :-) !!!
Here are some new pics - enjoy !


Kelly is hosting the german ambassador here on board the AFM. It was a very good visit, too bad I wasn't here, hanging out in New York. But he is coming back next week, so I get to ''hang out'' with him too. It is always fun to have ambassadors here - they are always so amazed of what we do and who we are .

These are some of our beautiful VVF ladies during the dress ceremony. Aren't they just stunning ?! We love to see them change after they receive the surgery and will have such a different outlook on life.

Our Dental clinic is of the ship about a 30 min. drive away in a beautiful facility that was built by missionaries.It has never been used by the Beninian government because of lack of staff and equipment. It comes in very handy for us now - don't you like te little boys sunglasses ?

This is one of our firedrills when we have to master outside on the dock in an event of a fire - part of living on a ship. It can be fun but sometimes it gets quite hot outside !!

New York - the big apple !

So this is New York - the big apple;
impressive, vibrant, big, cold and a bit rainy, lots of foreigners like our waiter in the little italian cafe who was from Equador. It was my first time to NY and I was impressed!
on our way home we saw the ''naked cowboy'' - that's why I look so ...you can name it. I guess nothing is impossible in America !

Even though it was quite cold in the beginning, I enjoyed it after the heat in Benin.







St.Patrick's cathedral - a very beautiful church. And the look at these buildings ? Can they be any taller ?!