The Burgh!!

Rosanne had some of our friends over for a great dinner on Friday night and during the evening we tried on jewelry that a friend from Kigali had made.  The jewelry was a hit!  So, let me know if you want to order any!  We had a great time catching up.... but it seems the time was still too short!  Thanks for coming everyone.
 It was great to be with you!
And for all of you that I didn't see or talk to, I'm so sorry.  The days just flew by too fast.

 Linda, MaryAnne, Rosanne, Jeannie, Sally and Peggy
showing off some of the jewelry.

This one was a big hit! 

The next day I took Joel, a Rwandan and one of the staff from CMU/Rwanda
out to lunch and to do a little sightseeing and shopping.  He had been here for 10 days
working and training with the CMU staff but hadn't seen anything of Pittsburgh. 
That was too bad!   We went to the Hofbrauhaus for lunch. 
 Turns out Joel really likes German food!  Here he is in front of the restaurant 
with the back drop of downtown. He liked all the bridges, too!

We drove up to the top of Mt. Washington and it was one
of the clearest days I ever remember in the Burgh.
Thought I had a picture of the Pirate Baseball Stadium
but it is too far away to point out. 

The yellow off to the right is the Pittsburgh Steelers Football Stadium
and the platform the wedding party is standing on is a lookout over the city.
We couldn't get out there since they were on it.  

So we just took pictures from where we were.  Looking
at downtown Pittsburgh and the skyscrapers next to
one of the rivers.

Now you can see it...the Monongahela River.  Way off in the distance is a tall building.
That is the Cathedral of Learning on the University of Pittsburgh campus.  
Carnegie Mellon sets right next to that location.

 Looks like a post card, huh?

Another beautiful day in Pittsburgh. There were a lot of them while I was home.

Joel takes off on Sunday to head back to Kigali so I'm glad that he had 

a chance to see a little piece of Pittsburgh.

 At this writing, Joel and I are both back in Kigali.  

It was great to be home and see and be in our great city! 

And it is good to be back in our "2nd city" in our 2nd home! 

Have to admit though-- I'm having a rough time on re-entry. 

Miss you all a ton! 

love,

margie

And Then There Was the House... the Bouncy House!

After lots and lots of activities and running around we decided to rest at home for a day!

Iris got up early and found her
"seat" with her buddy.  The seat really belongs in a chair but she liked it just fine on the floor.

 It had been awhile since we had the bouncy house out
so on this gorgeous day we brought it out!

                      

We soon learned that "only 2 at a time" was the only way to go!

 

The slide was fast and short!

Empty for the moment... but only a moment!

The balls and shooting hoops caused all kinds of fun.
Still 3 in there!!  

         

But just one wasn't any fun!

Henry taking a break and giving Oscar
some room to jump and shoot!

You can't jump all the time in the bouncy house so
then it was just time to bounce & shoot!  

Perseverance was Oscar's word for the day! 

 Landing on each other was great fun...

until it got too rough...But they were still giggling!  

Iris finally tried.  She was the only girl at the house today.

At first she was sort of cautious...

but then she just jumped over the side of the slide right towards me.
Glad I was there.

Isaac was guarding the opening so she wouldn't bounce out.

But then he just grabbed her and they both just flopped down.

Barney was just taking in all the activity. 

 Took these when baseball was going on....
before the bouncy house went up.
It was great to have the boys at the house and be with them.
Wyatt!

Henry!

and Oscar!   

Check out his glove.

 Later in the day I headed to Rob and Michelle's for dinner.
Henry and Rob were pulling out some vines.

 Oscar had found the bubbles!

                            

                      And was happy all by himself.

Henry just chilling in his chair!

 After the hot dogs over the fire... it was time for the s'mores!

We all had a great time with Wyatt and Rob and everyone... sitting around the fire and talking....and eating...

                                                                                       "I Like S'Mores!"

 Love this picture of Henry!

Oh, that 'mallow was tooooo hot! 

"I AM SO WORN OUT!!!"
( but i can't let anyone know)

It was a fun day to relax... bounce, jump, bump heads, eat....

and just be together.  Thanks for another great day guys! 

I love being with you all! 

love,

mom and gramma 

Ride 'em Cowboy!

Happy Anniversary, Bruce!!!  Aug. 14th, 1976--36 years ago we 

married and it has been quite a ride.  If you would have asked me 

then if I thought Bruce would ever take me to Africa even for a visit,

I couldn't have imagined it.  But the Lord has taken us quite a few 

places in the world in those 36 years.  So... today... he is in Rwanda

and I am in the US.  Guess that wasn't very good planning... but he did 

send me these beautiful roses to remind me that it was our big day. 

Before we headed for the rodeo and since Iris wasn't going to 

go with us... she wanted in on the ride, too!  So, 

she jumped on Isaac's back!  He seemed to be used to this

idea because he didn't even flinch!

After a long drive and dinner at King's on the way, 

we arrived at the North Washington Rodeo.  

Isaac and Elizabeth standing ahead of the mechanical bull..

in their new cowboy/cowgirl hats!  

The Big Four Watching the opening show and

 taking in the new pick-ups behind them after

throwing their new...freebie frisbies.

Rob putting the rodeo numbers on the boys' backs so
they will be ready for the stick-horse race when it starts.

Finally the sun is setting and the rodeo will begin.
It had been raining a lot throughout the day... but
by rodeo time everything was dry except the seats!

 The Star Spangled Flag is riding by as we are listening to a little
girl sing the National Anthem in a key higher than anyone can sing it.
But she does!  Patriotism and Prayer are as much a part of the rodeo as the horses.

The boys take off their hats as the flag goes by...

and Wyatt who has been to more than one rodeo, knew
to fold his hands for the Cowboys' Prayer.

And with that the first buckin' bronco flies out of the shoot,
trying his best to unseat the cowboy!

No luck yet!  It was quite a ride and the Cowboy won!

 This little miniature did all sorts of cute tricks.

 At break time... the kids had their stick-horse race.
Henry was pretty sad that he wasn't old enough to be in the arena... But next year.....

The younger kids watching the BIG KIDS do their race!  What fun!!

Great picture of Henry!

After we had some root beer...
the girl's barrel racing started.

This horse was almost laying down going around
the barrel.  She was the champion.

 The highlight for Elizabeth... was meeting the rodeo queen...
This picture became her prized posession!

 So... Elizabeth couldn't be the only one with her picture... Henry just
marched right over and asked for her autograph, too!  Too cute!

But then the real highlight of the night...

This Palomino!! 

No reins... just voice commands and this horse did anything
his owner said--right, left, go forward, backward, in a circle, etc.

He even threw the crowd kisses!

 He took the saddle off and told him to trot or gallup around the area.
When he said, "Whoa" the horse would come to a DEAD stop! 

 Then he told him to jump into the pick-up truck and he did!
If you've ever tried to "load up" a horse into a trailer you know
just how hard it is to get a horse to go into anything!  

AMAZING!!!

 But more impressive was when he jumped into the MOVING truck!
It was an incredible thing to see first hand.
A beauty of a horse and oh so intelligent!

For the big finale the bull riding...( my favorite) started!

This guy was flippin'!  This bull stood the cowboy on his head...
But not to worry.. he landed fine.  Just happened to catch him in mid-air.

We were a long way from where the bulls were
riding so these shots aren't too good.

To end the rodeo.. they let all the horses free to run in the arena.

Quite a great sight!

But sadly,  the end of the rodeo.  We had a long ride home and
I took Isaac and Henry.  They talked all the way home... right up to midnight.
The rodeo had obviously given them some energy.

But they sure kept me awake all the ride home.

Another fun outing....

love,
margie