...Strike??...

UPDATE: The blog of one of Tim's team member says that they got to Paris and found that they are confirmed for their regularly scheduled flight to Seattle. WOOHOO!!!

I just caught word of a pilot strike in France.

The strike starts tonight and goes through Monday night.

There's a chance Tim's mission team won't make it home Sunday night.

Please pray that the team is able to find a way to get back to the US without too many issues.

Chat with Tim #2

I got to talk to Tim this morning again. :)
This picture of him was from September,
but again it felt fitting.
I feel like he's so far away,
yet when we're on the phone...
he's as close as the other side of the "tunnel."

His first thing to say was, "I'm TOTALLY RELAXED."
Everyone's healthy and (for the most part) rested.
They spent today in the market buying stuff and looking around.
They're staying at a Baptist mission tonight
and then taking a bus tomorrow to somewhere that I can't spell.
Then late Friday night they'll get to Paris
where they also get to spend Saturday wondering around
and then fly to Seattle and Fargo on Sunday.
He said that the last couple days were AMAZING.
He's going to get video from some others that are on the trip,
and they're going to get a photo website
to share pictures between everyone on the trip.

Again we only talked a few minutes because of the cost,
so he didn't tell any specific stories....

But he's happy, healthy, and starting his trip home.

What more can I ask for??

Message from Tim

This is an old picture.
But it kind of fits because it's only kind of a message from Tim...
as I am the messenger.
Tim called today - many thanks to Kari for letting him use her phone!
So we got to chat.

This is what I will say on his behalf:
He's having a BLAST
and is having quite the emotional experience
being WITH the African people
and not just seeing them on TV and in articles.
The traveling went smoothly and he is safely in Cameroon.
His camera broke after ONE role of film.
So as many of you would guess, he's bummed.
But, his hotel roomie is a photography student
and is taking great pics.
He also asked for the Viking/Packer score.

I will get to talk to him again on Wednesday...Kari, you rock.

Oh, and he's probably hairier than the above picture right about now.
If anyone wants to place bets on how far
his beard will hang from his chin when he get's home,
the winner will get a prize...
maybe the shaved beard in a baggie...
I'm not sure yet.

Carousel

We took Ellie to the Mall of America to ride the carousel today.
I had intended to take her but then found out that pregnant women are not allowed to ride the carousel....so Grandpa graciously took her.

And she LOVED it.

Africa

Well, Tim has officially left MN for Africa.

Sorry, no picture taking was going on at 4:30 this morning...WAY too early for Jenny and her camera...

So far, so good though. I think he's in Seattle right now, about to board a plane to Paris (jealousy is on the rise!!!).

Prayer ideas:
-Safe traveling
-That Tim can sleep on the plane(s)
-That he (we) didn't forget anything...
-For God's will to be accomplished through the whole group

Our Homer!

This year we tried to think something she could be for Halloween
that she would MAYBE understand.
Grandma Mathiesen has this book that Ellie loves called,

So we thought that she would LOVE to be Homer the Pest from the book.
Grandma Larsen knit her a hat just like Homer's...

We got her all dressed up (didn't take much)
and had her practice at Grandma and Grandpa Larsen's house...

When she was a pro, we took her to a couple houses to get her "stash."

These lovely folks were Ellie's first stop...

When we were done we posed next to her pumpkin.

This is where funny-at-first-but-not-so-funny-later part begins. When we finished outside with her pictures, Tim and I left for a friend's Halloween party and my parents began to answer the door. Well, Ellie answered the door...the first time. The doorbell rang and she ran and said "I'll get it!" Which was promptly followed by a shriek.

Because of a skeleton waiting for her at the door,
she spent most of the rest of the evening in Grandpa's lap.

They did get her up a couple times. But in the end, we had to come home from our party and I had to "sleep" in her bed ALL NIGHT LONG. When I say sleep, I mean doze in between being slapped and kicked and snored at ALL NIGHT LONG.

Pumpkins!