Bible Story from Keenan

This morning while we were snuggling on the couch together Keenan and I had this conversation

“Keenan, can you tell me a story?”
“Sure! One time there was a guy named Josephine and he went to Mineveh because the situation was dark. God said, 'go to Mineveh because people are mean.' So, he got in a boat and flew to Mineveh.”
“Oh Keenan, I think that you are talking about Jonah.”
“No, it’s Josephine now.”
“Oh, OK, it’s his code name?”
“Yeah. When he got there the situation was dark. But it was not only dark it was red and blue and green and yellow. And then the panda came and took care of all the mean people and then the situation was not dark anymore.”
Craig turned to us and asked, “What are you guys talking about?
“Josephine going to Mineveh”
“Jonah?”
“No, Josephine”
I turned to Craig and explained “Its his code name.”
“I see. Keenan, what is a code name?
“Its when you put your code on and go outside to play.”
At this point I was crying trying to hold my laughter in and just couldnt do it anymore. Love conversations with that guy!!

Its about time

Hello from a new country! Wow. If I could write life a letter I think it would go something like this:
Dear Life,
Please slow down. I need to catch my breath.
Love
Bryn
We are now in France in the freezing cold but still loving seeing the Lord move. We got here the 2nd of Jan, we had placement testing on the 3rd, then right away classes started full swing. Craig is doing really well and soaking it all in while I on the other hand have realized that time does not take away the hatred of the classroom. Hatred might be too strong of a word, but I really dislike being a student especially in a class where it seems like everyone else loves learning and gets French. I have realized the billion holes that I have in my grammar and in line with the French system and way of teaching have been laughed at in class by the teacher because I forgot something simple. Boo. Language is so stinkin hard and we are both at a place in our language learning that it is just enriching, making it more conversational and fluid AKA not sounding like a kindergarden text book. But it is so hard because I find myself sitting in class thinking of ways that I can avoid using the new things they are teaching by saying it differently because I dont understand them fully. So I continue to use a lot of hand gestures and sound like a kindergarden text book. I am not a good language learner or student for that matter. Yet, we press on! I want to know French really really badly I just struggle with the whole dedication and discipline thing that has to happen in order for me to learn. Oh, the cycle!! The Lord has definitely blessed us while being here a ton already though and we are constantly humbled by His kindness. We have connected with Craig's old language partner and his wife who have become dear friends. They have had us over to their house often and just stopped by our place to say hello or to see if we need anything. Their daughter has two sons and she gave three big bags of winter clothes and a huge garbage sack of diapers (the exact size that Elliot wears now I might add and we didnt say a thing about it beforehand!) They have been amazing and have treated us like family. The wife, Michelle, comes to Keenan's school a couple of times a week as well when he is getting out to walk home with us and chat on the way. They are so dear. And for the Keenan, the Lord has provided a sweet friend, Aidan, who lives across the hall from us. He is 4 and they love being together. And Elliot just goes with the flow. He enjoys going to the nursery and my favorite moment of the day is going to pick him up because at that time they are having snack and he is sitting in his high chair. The moment he sees me he starts laughing hysterically and dancing around in his seat. Love it!
The pictures here are from our beautiful Saturday. We got Keenan a bike a couple of weeks ago and he wants to ride it day and night. He could not figure out how to ride a bike for the life of him for the longest time and he would get on his friend's bikes here and just end up frustrated that he would not go anywhere but one day we were in a store and he hopped on a bike and just started riding it around and around the store. He was so proud of himself and the bike was big time on sale so, he is the proud owner of a blue and red bike!
See how proud?
Keenan and Aidan riding together
Aidan's sister Amelie who adores Elliot and Elliot might have a thing for her too :)
Michelle also gave Elliot this walker thingy which he roams around everywhere with.
We found this hat here!! How fun is it that there is a brand Elliot?! We also got him a couple shirts with his name on them!
Super smiles
Keenan goofing off on the tire swing

And Craig joined in with the kiddos on bike riding extravaganza. He looks awesome :)

So, there you have it! I realized there are no pictures of me this time. I was the one behind the camera. Maybe next time! Love to you all!!

The Beginning of a lot!!

Wow!! Was the last time I posted really Keenan’s birthday?!?! So much has happened since then so I will split all of this up in a few posts and add lots of pictures along the way!! We’ll start with Halloween :) We had a make-shift fall festival and had a great time! We had bobbing for apples, pin the nose on the jack-o-lantern, a ball toss into baby food jars, caramel apple bar, hide and seek trick or treating, and carving zuccini. The boys had so much fun and we were happy to have something special for them!

Whittaker going for it
J got one!!
Keenan was really nervous about doing it at first but in the end he got one.





Keenan attempting to make the same face as his jack-o-lantern :)

Trick or treat!!!
And all the jack-o-lanterns all lined up together! It was a really great day!!!
Now on to more events in the past few months!!!

Transition time

This is bunch of randomness as our lives got messy! We will start with our lives finally settled in Cote d"Ivoire and go from there. After Halloween we moved into our new houses which we love! There is plenty of space to run and run for the boys and space for everyone to be comfortable inside. The houses are such a blessing to us since they are right next door to eachother and we had them put a hole in the wall separating our backyards so the boys can go back and forth all day long with no problem! We set up Christmas right after Thanksgiving to get into the spirit since it is so so hot that it did not feel at all like Christmas to us. So here are pictures of tree decorating!
Elliot wanted to "help" :)


Concentrating so hard!

Here is a tree in our backyard that Keenan loves to climb and sit in. Just practicing senior pictures!
Right before we had to leave Cote d'Ivoire we went outside and found these huge guys all over our tree! Keenan called them dinosaur cata-pillars and they were all over. Craig started wacking them off with a stick but then changed to spraying poison all over right before we left. So maybe when we get back we will have tons of dead lizards from eating poisonous dinosaurs.

Then comes our big transition. The political tension in Cote d'Ivoire was getting much and there is growing tension for internationals as one of the presidents blames the west for all wrong doing so we were sadly forced to leave for the moment. We moved to Ghana where we are waiting to see what will happen with this country we love so much. It was a very very heartbreaking goodbye knowing that so many friends cannot leave and many are nervous as well. We are unsure of what happens next or when we will decide where to go from here but for the meantime we are livin life and enjoying our time and ministry here. So, here are some pictures so far from our time here.
Keenan running on campus
Us at the second guest house that we stayed in. We have now stayed in three places since moving here and that brings our grand total of moves to 8 in the past 6 and a half months. Crazyness!!! Yet the Lord is so so faithful and provides every detail in the exact time that we need something and that has been so sweet to watch.
Me and my sweet boys!!
Our Christmas card picture
Our amazing team! Sadly, the Glendennings left a week ago back to the states to wait this out. It was so so sad to see them leave and they are dearly missed but we are looking forward to being reunited in our homes in Cote d'Ivoire!!! We continue to wait and beg the Lord for peace!

Christmas Morning!!

Merry Christmas!!!!! Just wanted to share a few pictures of Christmas morning with the Hauquitzesesssess! We have most of it on video so here are the few we have of our Christmas in Ghana :)!!

No tree, but we did have stocking and lights!
Elliot's
Keenan's
Keenan's face coming out of the room
Elliot's excitment!
The aftermath
Concentrating on some new treasures
So happy he doesnt know what to do with himself! Right after this picture was taken Elliot actually took his first step! It was so fun!!

The Beach

Yesterday we went to the beach and had a blast!! So fun going to the beach the day after Christmas! The weather was perfect with a great breeze and the water was nice and warm not freezing like some beaches. Keenan loved the waves and could have jumped in the water all day and Elliot loved the sand and could have eaten it all day! Here are some pictures of the crazy guys!!


Such a sweet face!




As we were eating lunch there were some performers who were singing and dancing there which was so cool to watch. Keenan could not take his eyes off of them.

He could not get enough!

Yuck!!



Craig even got some surfing in which topped off his day! Great day in the sun! Ok, now we are all caught up for the moment! Hope everyone is great and had a wonderful Christmas!!!!!