Joyeux anniversaire, Dan!!!

Hey there....Alicia again!

Well, birthdays in another country can be very interesting.  I tried to make Dan's birthday as fun as possible.  I think everyone started to catch the vibe...including Benie.  She was so hyper!  You see, every year on Dan's birthday I get him a cherry pie.  Key word...."get".  Since there are no Grand Traverse Pie Companies around the corner here in Gabon...my first mission was to make him a cherry pie (which would be my first pie that I have ever made).  

Luckily!  We had the Mertzes here for a short-term mission trip.  

John Mertz is an orthopedic surgeon, and his wife, Andrea, used to be a nurse.  I was able to steal Andrea away from the hospital on Monday afternoon for "Operation:  Dan's Birthday".  Let's just say, it took us 4 ovens to finally get the pie, apple crisp, and oatmeal cookies done for Dan's birthday.  (We were feeling a bit ambitious!)

Here's the final outcome....(A huge "thanks" to Andrea)

Dan's day started with breakfast in bed.  And yes, that is an oatmeal cookie with a side of hot chocolate.  Who says you have to be healthy on your birthday?

Dan's primary gift was a Puppy!  She has been so much fun.  Isn't she getting huge?

Dan received a Lego set from Aaron Dorn.  If you look closely, you can actually see a twinkle in Dan's eye!

This was the card/book that I made for Dan.  The picture on the cover is the first picture you saw on this blog post.  

SHOES!  Dan got new shoes from his mom and dad.  He's had them for about a month now, but I re-wrapped them for his birthday.  

The card on the Left is from my parents and the one on the Right is from his parents.  We thought the difference was really funny.  Dan got a new belt and a dress shirt from my parents that are back in the States waiting for Dan's future job interviews.  

An unexpected gift from another Missionary couple: The Hofmans.  It's funny that a pop from Michigan should end up in Africa :D  This picture is supposed to be a flash-back from when it was cool to rock your boom-box on your shoulder.

We made Bacon Cheeseburgers and Fries for Dinner.  It was really good!

Finally!  I close-up on the cherry pie.  Dan has been rationing it ever since his birthday.  

Yes, you read right.  It does say, "Birthday Girl".  Birthday candles aren't too common out here.  

So surprised.  He thought he was getting an apple pie.  (Which is why we had to make an apple crisp to throw him off.)  Hehe.  

Overall....I think the birthday went well :)

One last thought...we were trying to figure out what we were doing for Dan's birthday last year.  It turns out we had a wedding shower his birthday weekend a year ago.   Isn't it crazy to think back where you were a year ago.  Now, Dan is 24, has a wife, is living in Africa, with a puppy.  Crazy!

Love from the Jungle,

Alicia & Dan

Life is Changing...

(Alicia Typing...)

Wow!  It has been a busy summer, that is for sure!  Over the next few weeks we have full intentions of giving you all the details, but for now....

We have had a lot of changes in the past 9 months.  Below is a summary (mostly in pictures) of all that has unfolded.  Smaller, detailed posts of the summer to follow (eventually)... :)

In December 2010:

We graduated from Central Michigan University

We got married!

In January 2011:

We moved to Libreville, Gabon, West Africa
to study French and develop programming for EnVision

In April 2011: 

We moved down to Lebamba, Gabon to work at Bongolo Hospital with visiting Doctors, Nurses, etc.

In May 2011:

Our first team came in from CMU

We traveled home to Michigan for my lovely sister's wedding

In June 2011:

We welcomed a team made up of 4 families + 2 interns (Tohnya and Faith) 

+ our beautiful co-worker Hannah

Faith stayed with us for a few weeks to work 

at the hospital and absorb the culture here

In July 2011:

We hosted all of the interns down in Bongolo (11 total)

5 interns stayed for a while to work at the hospital and help us
prepare for the next rush of teams coming in:
Melody, Scarlett...

...Vicki...

...and Nathalie and Adam

We received the Faith Alliance team from Ohio along with 3 other team members from a group up in Libreville

and 2 other interns:  David and Alyssa

We attended a Field Forum (a retreat for all the missionaries in Gabon) in Lamberene

Yes...we are a fun group!

In August 2011:

The Trinity Alliance Team from Pennsylvania + 4 interns [(Cara, Jake, Isaac, and Roberta (from Alberta)]
stayed with us for just over a week

We got a puppy named Benie

Yes....this is a model shot of her! ;)

We got another puppy that we are now 

trying to find a home for...

Phil and Amy Lewan came to visit!  (so great to have family here!)

Aaron Dorn came to visit too!  (so great to have a friend here!)

And for Now....

We have our house to ourselves....it's definitely a weird feeling.

We are transitioning into different roles.  Last week, I shadowed a nurse named Rafael at the hospital, because for the month of September, I will officially be filling in his role as a circulating nurse in the O.R. while he is on vacation.  I am very excited to help out in this new way and to learn lots of new thing!

Dan was busy jungle-tromping, cave-exploring, and doing odds and ends jobs with Aaron.  Now that Aaron has left, Dan has plans to help Paul (the maintenance director).

Of course, we are still helping out with all the visitors that will be coming out in the next few months.  Should be fun!

Please pray for us as we transition into new roles at Bongolo Hospital.  It is going to be a great time of learning.  Also, we are in need of prayer for finding our replacements as Site Directors for EnVision in Bongolo.  Dan and I will not be here forever (as I start Physician Assistant school in June 2012).  We want our time here to be useful, so we want to be able to train our replacements for at least a few weeks before we leave.  (We plan to leave here in March at the latest.)

Stay tuned for more posts soon :)

Alicia & Dan