This post is long overdue and I apologize. This year has gotten off to a busy start and we are enjoying it.

Here are some pictures of the first day of school:

The girls and LeAnne before school.

Amber Elizabeth (8th Grade)

Molly Grace (6th Grade)

Sarah Rose (1st Grade)

Amber Elizabeth with Mrs. Scharlie Carlisle (she is also married to our head master, Brian.) They are from South Carolina

Molly Grace with Mrs. Iris McFarland (aka Grandma Iris) She is from Washington.

Sarah Rose with Miss Christy Herbst. She is from Germany, the east coast, and the west coast.

We are all enjoying this year so much. I have a great group of kids and I am also able to teach Math to both 4th Grade classes and Jill Kyser is teaching Language/Literature to both classes. This is working out real well. We have nine different countries represented in our classroom.

Kool-Aid Stand

Here is a picture of Molly Grace and her Kool-Aid stand.

She only sold two cups (besides family members), but she enjoyed herself. She initially thought she would send the money to Japan, but now she’s not sure where she wants to send it due to all the tornado victims right here in the US.

Happy Birthday, Molly Grace!

Happy 11^th Birthday

Molly Grace!

We Q you!

Daddy, Mommy,

Amber Elizabeth, & Sarah Rose

Our "Giving" Child

Molly Grace is truly our “giving” child.

She had 10 inches of her hair cut off for Locks of Love. Here are some pictures and a video.

She is also having a Kook-Aid stand tomorrow and will donate the money she makes to needy people in Japan. I will post those pictures later.

Stuff in Warehouse

Here are some pictures of the warehouse where all the stuff is stored before putting it on a 40' container to ship to Malawi. As you can see there is a LOT of stuff and it must all get to Malawi. We will send a second container, but aren't sure when that will be. The first container will have all the college and academy textbooks and supplies, items for the mission in general, and then missionary stuff. Please pray that we can the get the majority of the stuff on the first one so it can be on its way to Malawi and hopefully arrive shortly after we arrive.

Loading of Container #1

To see the process of loading a container to ship to Malawi, visit Jeremy & Jill Kyser's blog. I didn't think to bring my camera and capture everything. Jill did an excellent job in doing this. Thanks Jill.

The Kysers are a family that are leaving when we leave to work with us at ABC. Jill will be teaching the other 4th grade class and Jeremy will be doing some administrative work at the clinic. They have three children, Annah Jane (she and Molly Grace are already great friends), Christian (he and Sarah Rose have the same exact birthday and have become good friends as well), and Sarah Marie (she's a cutie and all my girls just love her).

Please pray that the container will arrive safely and in a timely manner. It is suppose to take about three months to get there, so that should be really close to the time we arrive.

Academy Teachers Needed

We are in need of teachers at the ABC Christian Academy. If you feel called to help for one year, or longer, or if you know a teacher who would be able to join us, please contact us and we will get the process rolling. Here is a link that tells more about the academy. If you have any questions about teaching in Malawi, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us. Below is a postcard with some information.

Happy Birthday, Amber Elizabeth

Happy Birthday

Amber Elizabeth!

WOW, you’re 13!

We love you,

Daddy, Mama, Molly Grace, & Sarah Rose

Happy Birthday, Sarah Rose

Happy Birthday Sarah Rose!!! We hope you have a fantastic day!!! We love you!!!

Daddy, Mommy,

Amber Elizabeth, & Molly Grace

Update on Holli

Well, it has been a while since I have given an update on Holli. I would tell you, but I think you will get so much more reading her own words. I actually talked to her on the phone yesterday and she sounded great. We plan on visiting her and her family in November.

She is such an inspiration to me. I don’t know how I would handle news like this, but I pray that God would give me the assurance that He knows what’s best for me and He would be with me through it all. I believe Holli has this assurance. Sure, there have probably been times where she has felt scared, anxious, etc., but she has leaned on God and He has gotten her through this.

Anyway, you can read all about her journey on their blog.

Thanks for reading, praying for, and loving us.

LeAnne (for all 5 of us)

P.S. Here is a picture of her beautiful family

new post

Well, since we have arrived in the US, we have been busy and on the go. Our first week back, we were in Oregon for the wedding of two very special people, Megan Miller (now Passwater) and Andy Passwater. It was a beautiful wedding. Here are some pictures.

While in Oregon we got to see a lot of ABC families. We saw Michelle Halemeier; Lisa Kowalski; Annie Williams; Steve, Marion, and some of the Spencer kids; Jack and Nell Chinchen; Jay, Laura, Clara, Katherine, and Lauren Stoms; Dan, Bethany, and Eli Robbins;; Chuck and Joanne Wilson;; Jake Bray;; and Charisa Chinchen Haase. It was great being able to see so many of our friends from Malawi here in the US.

The next week, we spent three days in Denver with my brother, Tony. It was great to see him and Pil. They took us to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and to the Pedestrian Mall in downtown Denver. They also introduced us to Buca di Beppo. If you ever get a chance to eat there, you must do so. It’s wonderful. We got to sit at the kitchen table, which was a great experience. They brought by every dish that was ordered so we could see what it looked like.

We then drove to Lander, WY, for the rest of that week for another wedding. The daughter of our neighbors in Malawi, the Dehnerts, got married. It was also a beautiful wedding. Here are some pictures.



We then headed to San Diego for a week to visit some friends. We were able to see Bob, Amy Louise, Nya, and Analise Stauffacher;; Josh and Emily Ketchum; Lisa Kowalski; Michelle Halemeier;; Derek, Jeannette, and Dylan Breuninger; and Tina Kamkosi (an ABC 2010 graduate). Emily was kind enough to show us all the sights of San Diego. We went to the San Diego Zoo , Old Town, Fashion Valley Mall, and Seaport Village. Amy Louise took us to the beach at La Jolla. It was a cold day, but the girls enjoyed swimming in the Pacific Ocean. Here are some pictures.

We finally arrived in Mississippi, July 12. We enjoyed visiting and spending time with friends, but were glad to finally be home. We spent two nights in Terry with my mom and then headed to Brookhaven to Sam’s mom’s (where we will be living for the year).

On Friday, my mom fell and twisted her ankle and thought it was okay until she tried to walk again. She lost her balance and fell on her right side and ended up fracturing her hip. She had surgery on Sunday and had to have a complete hip replacement. Surgery went well and she is doing well. She started walking, with a walker, on Tuesday and the doctors and physical therapists said she was doing well that soon after surgery.

They told her it would be about three months before she was back to the way she was before the fall. That seems really quick to me. I have always thought that breaking your hip would mean you are bed ridden for a long, long time and then have a long rehab. I guess medicine is much more advanced than I thought.

She is now at home and doing well. Please continue to pray that her recovery continues to progress.

Our first conference that we will be attending is August 13-15 in Kosciusko, MS, at First Presbyterian Church. The Ebbers will also be there. They are home until September from Romania.

If you would like to catch up (and we would love to), send us a message and we will make a plan. You can reach us at 5slams@gmail.com or post a comment and we will get back in touch with you.

Thank you for all the prayers and support. We look forward to seeing as many of you as we can while we are home on furlough.

Q

LeAnne (for all 5 of us)

Happy 10^th Birthday Molly Grace!

Wow, double digits.

We Q you,

Dad, Mom, Amber Elizabeth, & Sarah Rose

There are several things that I would like to share, but didn’t want to do different posts, so I am including them all into one.

Update on Holli

Well, it’s been a while since I have given y’all an update on Holli. You can check out their blog and see the latest update from them. Please continue to pray for this dear family. It’s a testimony to me to see through all of this, the faith that they still have. They are a truly remarkable family. We miss them dearly here in Malawi.

Sad News

On another note, there has been another tragedy here on campus. Some of you have already heard, but about 2 1/2 weeks ago, Sylvester (Paul & Laura’s cook) was hit on the side of the head and suffered severe brain damage.

He and his wife were sitting on their front khonde (that’s Chichewa for porch) and this man came running up to them and hit Sylvester on the side of the head and then starting attacking Sylvester’s wife. The wife was screaming and finally some other people came to their rescue. Well, at the time, they thought Sylvester was going to be okay. He was talking and eating and even the next morning he seemed to be okay. Later that day (Sunday) he passed out and wouldn’t wake-up, so his family brought him to the clinic on campus and they admitted him to do some observation. Later that night or early the next morning, they found out that he had some bleeding on the brain, so they had to transfer him to KCH (Kamuzu Central Hospital) to do surgery. Well, KCH is not like any hospital in the States. It’s a really sad and depressing sight to see.

Sylvester had been in a coma ever since and they didn’t think he would make it more than 2-3 days. He lived on a ventilator for about 2 1/2 weeks and early Monday morning he died.

His funeral was Wednesday, so please pray for his family. Here in Malawi, the laws are completely different than in the States. Sometimes family distant family members have the right to just come and claim what they want. They can take away his personal belongings from his wife and children. Please pray this won’t happen and his wife will have peace that she will be taken care of instead of taken advantage of.

Also, please pray for the Chinchens. Sylvester had worked for them for over 20 years, so he was kind of like a member of the family.

Happier News

Sorry for all the sad news. There are good and happy things happening here in Malawi as well. Tuesday night the band and ballet from the academy had their yearly recital. It was so cute and showed a lot of talent from a lot of the students. Here are some pictures.

This is Sarah Rose after the recital.

This is Amber Elizabeth on stage with her teacher, Whitney Mack.

This is Amber Elizabeth on stage with the other girls after the recital.

Q

LeAnne (for all 5 of us)

Proud Mama

The academy has several after school activities for the students to participate in; anything from rugby, netball, swimming, arts & crafts, drama, etc. One of the activities is an outreach to an orphanage that COTN sponsors and Amber Elizabeth (on her own) decided to get involved with. She goes every week to spend time with these kids. They range in age from infant to eighteen. She really enjoys it. I have to say that I am really proud of her to get involved with a ministry without being forced to by her dad or me. I will have her write about it soon, so you can get her perspective. Anyway, here are some pictures of her and some of the kids.

Q

LeAnne (for all 5 of us)

ABCGF