It’s hard to believe we are only 6 weeks away from the end of the school year! Last weekend (Easter) was a long weekend, with Good Friday and Monday both days off from school.
Gary has been very busy the past few weeks practicing/playing bass for the school play, “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown!”. On Monday the kids came from Rafiki to watch the first dress rehearsal, and on Tuesday the Hillcrest elementary students watched the second dress rehearsal. There are double parts cast for some of the roles (Lucy, Sally and Snoopy), so the casts alternate performances. There are four performances this week, Wednesday through Saturday evenings. We are excited to watch the performances on both Wednesday and Saturday so we can see both casts!
Gary and I took a few hours to ourselves, borrowed a car, drove on our own, and enjoyed a queit, leisurely lunch for our 15th wedding anniversary. We’re hoping to have our own car/van in the near future, especially since there will likely be several available in the next few weeks as missionaries prepare to leave on furlough.
I am meeting with a local Nigerian woman (Lottie, who sells potatoes/puf pufs here on campus) one to two times a week to teach her how to read. She recognizes letters and knows some sounds but has trouble putting the sounds together to read words. I can’t imagine! The progress may be slow…I hope to keep her dedicated and encouraged. She wants to be able to read her Bible!
We had trouble locating white eggs to dye for Easter, so we finally gave in and dyed brown eggs. They turned out beautiful! I brought dye tablets from home since I love egg dying. We had fun hiding them for the kids and then the kids hid them for Gary and I. We did not have any candy or Easter baskets and the kids handled it GREAT (better than expected!). We read ‘Benjamin’s Box’, a little boy’s view of Jesus’ last week in Jerusalem (a great book for kids at Easter!), and opened the Resurrection Eggs. Jordan and I also had the opportunity to share the story and resurrection eggs with a local group of kids.
Have I mentioned we make our own yoghurt? It is a very simple, quick recipe and we love the creamy (full fat!) yogurt. Since the girls don’t like to drink either the powdered or boxed milk available here, it’s how they get their calcium. I don’t think I could come home and buy the expensive yogurt in the stores anymore. If anyone would like the recipe, drop me a note!
We thought of Camano Chapel on Good Friday and Sunday morning and missed it a lot!
Hope you all had a Happy Easter, and are continuing to celebrate and glorify our risen King every day!
The Paynes 
Hi everyone! It was fun to catch up on your blog site. Those bugs remind me a bit of Haiti – especially the dropping on you part! We think of you all alot – glad to hear that the heat let up a little bit. We actually sat outside on our deck tonight – yippee! Love you all!!
Berna (and Mich and Jess and Austin)
The eggs do look great! It was fun to see Cypress in the rain too, quite a “shower”…just take a little soap with you.
You probably know that the MOPS auction was Friday night. Items were slow coming in at the beginning, but we ended up with more attending than ever and more money came in then ever before! We’re thankful for God’s financial blessings for the program. Only three more MOPS before summer, we only have one in May this year.
Lefty Wootten was taken to the hospital with pneumonia on Friday, but Virginia says he is improving.
The daffodils have been out for the Skagit “Tulip Fest”, but now with our days of warmer weather the tulips are opening as well. It was amazing weather today, mid to upper 60’s, you know the kind of day which we treasure around here.
Bless you, Amy Perkins
Gary and Kimberly,
Happy Anniversary!!
I just love keeping up with all of you on this blog. We too dye the brown eggs and light blue eggs. It makes for a more vibrant color. Yours were beautiful.
We actually have sunshine today and no rain. Maybe our spring has finally arrived. What is the time difference for you? Just curious.
Blessings to all of you.
Hi Kim, Gary, and kids! The eggs are beautiful. 🙂 We missed you on Easter Sunday, too. It was fun reading about Jordan using the resurrection eggs story- that’s one of our favorites too. Here’s a funny story for you- Spencer decided to make our Easter dinner- rather than ham he made “resurrection enchiladas”- one of them was supposed to have no chicken inside (he got on a roll and forgot and put the chicken in) to represent no Jesus in the tomb. It was funny- we all loved having him cook! Please let me know when your box arrives- I sent it last Friday. Here’s a hug for each of you!
love, J, R, Sp, C, and SJ