Birthday and Anniversary

My birthday was last weekend
and on Friday evening Bruce had the entire CMU staff surprise me.  They were all waiting inside our house upon our return from running some errands.  They REALLY
surprised me and we had
cake and ice cream and sat
and talked.  Very fun!!
The next day... on Sat.
Lionel dropped by and he and Innocent and Bruce played Frisbee for a while.

No one has a Frisbee here so this is quite a novelty to learn.
During the time they were playing, Philip yelled from next door and asked to come over.
So he did too.  He managed to
throw the Frisbee over the wall a couple of times and Innocent
would retrieve.
It was good to be with Lionel.
Innocent and I miss being with him... He used to drive for us but he got a full time job... which is wonderful for him but...we still miss him.

Finally, time to rest and have
a drink.  Innocent brought this great drink... but i didn't know it was a MIX.   It was supposed
to be a 1 to 7 mixture but I just put it straight into glasses with ice for us.  IT WAS SO GOOD.

But after a few sips, Innocent very quietly said.. "I think this was supposed to be diluted".  Then I read the bottle.  It wasn't alcoholic or we might have been in trouble. Ha!  Just for the record....It was still better undiluted!   Thanks, Innocent!!

Philip loves to play hide 'n seek.. 

 from the camera....but i finally caught him.

Later David, a friend of Innocent's who had come for Innocent's party
also dropped by.  We had a very nice visit with him.

We had to cut our time short because we were invited 

to the 40th Wedding Anniversary of Anne and Geoffrey

Rugege. So, we finished our party and got ready to go. 

(I forgot to tell you Bruce had taken me out to breakfast and 

we'd done some shopping in the morning.  After that we spent a few hours at the pool 

so it was a great birthday!)  

So on to the Big Party at La Chateau.  It looked great. 

Almost all of the restaurants in Kigali are open air..
This was no exceptions and it was a beautiful setting.
And Crystal and Carol and Eva had decorated it perfectly! 

Family and Friends were gathering but no "special couple" yet.
 

We decided to sit down..  from left to right.   Faith and Roger, our friends from Church,
Mike, our friend from the Ministry of Education and Bruce, my friend of 37 years now..
but just 36 years of marriage.

Carol, Anne and Geoffrey's youngest daughter.

AND HERE THEY COME... Tony, Crystal's husband got them there
and they were surprised! 

Geoffrey and Anne smiling from ear to ear--
making their way into the restaurant.

Faith on left and Carol... so happy for her folks. 

John and Geoffrey

Anne taking it all in ....

Anne being greeted by family and friends.

And the same for Geoffrey.

 Philippa ( Faith's sister) and Anne.

Chantel and Anne and others, too.

Geoffrey with Eva... one of the party planners! 

Eva, Anne and Crystal...Anne and Geoffrey's 3rd daughter and
on the staff of CMU/Rwanda.

 I can't remember this beautiful girl's name..
but she had come all the way from Uganda. ( a niece, i think)
Right above her head on the TV screen is
the happy couple's wedding picture! 

Philippa gave a talk in honor of the couple.  They've been friends for years.
We were able to sit together at the dinner and
now I feel like we've been friends for years, too.

Eva and Carol.. still smiling.  We played some games
like the Newlywed game and some other games
we can't describe here. You just had to be there. 

Three happy guys:  Bruce, Roger and Geoffrey.

 The Beautiful Girls!  OK women!

One of Geoffrey's brothers!

And so the speeches began.  Crystal is telling us about Sunshine!
These pics aren't very good because i was so far away but at least you can see most of the
family together. (Tony is missing). The other 2 girls were not able to come from the States but sent their
messages via a video at the end of the program.   

This couple is indeed one to be honored.  Their lives have been full,
blessed, not untouched by trials yet full of love for so many others
that the Lord has put in their lives.  They've richly blessed and touched the
lives of many children --- caring for them as their own.  If you know them,
you could add your own story.  Bruce and I felt honored to be among the guests.
And honored to know these two and some of their family!!

 Wish I had a better picture of them.  They were
radiating all night! 

And at the end of the evening... Carol, Tony and Crystal announced that they
and the rest of the sisters and their families were giving their parents a trip to
Cape Town because they
had never or rarely taken a trip just by themselves.
Then they played a video of many family and friends sending their best wishes for their
40th.... and many of them said "and i hope you have 40 more"..  Well, that might
be asking for a lot but I know what the well-wishers meant.
When God gives two people this much capacity for loving each other
and all those around them, you want it to last forever. And I hope it will...

and then the dancing began.  "You are the Sunshine of my Life"!

May it never end for Anne and Geoffrey.

Thank you for a wonderful evening
and a wonderful tribute to who
both of you are.

I trust that all of us can learn from you!
love,
margie

PS.   If I've gotten names wrong, please let me know and I'll fix them.