Marc and I were both scheduled to be out and about for a significant portion of this past week but, in God’s Providence, we were blessed with a bit of a break in that (for various reasons) the majority of our commitments were either cancelled or re-scheduled. So, we got to relax and enjoy some time at home as a family–a true blessing. My family has been asking for some updated photos of the children (though photos are not usually our strong point), but here’s what we ended up with:

We often tell Jubilee (age 3) that she has BEAUTIFUL hair, and sometimes we call it “scary hair” because it’s short in front and curly/bushy in back–looks especially interesting upon waking in the morning and after nap. So when a few of the children were visiting Auntie Jane one afternoon this week, here’s how Jubilee came home:

We are also praising God for some home improvements that we’ve been able to get done in the past week, the least of which is concreting in our clothesline (which was getting lower and lower as the post sagged under the weight of the clothes), AND we added a third line, which helps us better accommodate our day’s wash:

Also laundry-related, we had an outdoor wash table constructed, which allows us to do laundry in an upright position instead of squatting over the basin. AND, we FINALLY received our shipping crate a couple of weeks ago, which included a vintage wringer–mounted at the end of the wash table. I LOVE THIS, as now in rainy season, many days the sun has not been out long enough to completely dry the clothes (especially the cloth diapers and jeans). With the wringer, almost everything has been dry every day this week!

We also finally got our well developed (after a long wait and many various headaches), and after a few days of labor by Isaiah and his Dad, THIS is the much-anticipated result:

Indoor running water has got to be the biggest blessing!! Makes us feel so…American. 🙂

And last but not least, after months of having (literally!) NO counter space or drawers for storage, my kitchen now includes this:

You can see our Berkey water filter also arrived in the crate (YEAH!! Clean water without boiling or bleaching!!). Note the brownish color of the water from the well in the top (the water is still clearing up)…but perfectly clean coming out of the tap. Love it!

So, that’s what’s been happening on the home front…and lots happening recently on the ministry front as well. God is good!