Gingerbread Houses

Last night we made Gingerbread houses at the Nicholes house, it was my first time attempting it and I found out that it takes a while, but it is sooo much fun! Here are our end results:

Tyler's House: which is our actual house in Congo, complete with barb-wire, guard, banana tree, pool, columns, and big cockroaches!

Becca's house.

Spencer's train.
Stephanie's house.
Ally's whole countryside with castle!!!
Lilly and Daisy's castle.
Haylee working on her masterpiece. I loved the rocks on the back for the fireplace/chimney.

Jeanne's masterpiece. It is quite obvious that Haylee and Jeanne have the talent for this gingerbread house making. But it was all fun and very yummy! 

long time...

Sorry we haven't been on much lately, but we have been busy filling our time with family and friends! We have made it back to the States, for just a visit, but we are loving it! We have seen so many family members and friends since being here. It's been great! I'll have pictures up here soon enough of birthday parties, Christmas parties, family, battle of the bands (rock band) and twilight viewing. :) It's a wonder I have time to write anything on here. :) Oh and tune in on Dec. 29th to the Jazz game against the 76ers. Tyler and I scored COURTSIDE seats at the Jazz game!!!! Yes that's right, I think we are pretty much towards the middle of the court on the floor, so see if you can spot us (we'll be on the opposite side of the players). Anywho...pictures to come. 

Happy Birthday Becca!!!

Just so everyone knows it is Becca's birthday today. And since it is her birthday I wanted to let her know how much I love her and list the reasons I love her. She holds our family together and makes our home a peace full loving place even though we are in the middle of a war torn country. There never has been a day when I don't looking forward to going home after my work day is over. Having never left the United States, I wasn't sure how Becca would react when I told her that I wanted to work for the State Department and live overseas, but she knew it was something I wanted and supported me, even when we found out we would be going to the Congo. And even though she doesn't understand the language, hates all the spiders and cockroaches and doesn't like dealing with all the street kids knocking on our car windows asking for money, she has stayed here with me. She is constantly surprising me what she likes about this place.

Becca is wonderful, beautiful wife and mother who is always looking out for others. One of the things I admire about her the most is how much charity she has. She is always wanting to help those around us, and it was amazing to see her at the orphanage on Saturday, talking to the kids, asking questions about the program and trying to think of other ways we can help out.

Spencer loves his mom very much, in fact most morning when he wakes up he calls for her and if I go in there he says that he wants his mommy. Spencer is a good kid, and it is Becca's patience and loving personality that has put Spencer on the right track. Spencer wanted to right a few things so here is his message:

Spencer says "Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Mommy, Happy Birthday to you" Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Halloween and Happy Birthday. All of that stuff. Kisses, Kisses, I love you. I think my mommy is the greatest because she carries me, builds houses with me. Mommy is sharing and loving and she plays gold fish with me.

More Spencerisms....

I'm thinking we are going to start having weekly "Spencerisms" posts on here. What can I say...he's 4?!?! Kids definitely say the darnedest things. So here are the stories for this week.

-My mom wasn't feeling great this past weekend, and we called her on Sunday to see how she was doing. Spencer got on the phone and said, "Hey Grandma, how's that leg of yours going?" What kid begins a conversation that way?? :) Ours. He was remembering how this summer she had foot surgery and we were there, there was nothing wrong with her leg this time.

-Another one that happened on Sunday was at church. And the teacher asked Spencer if he was going to see his Great-Grandma Rigby in a couple of weeks. I reminded him that she is the one that played ping-pong with him. He said, "Yes I'm going to see Grandma, but Poppa died. It made me really sad and I cried. It still makes me sad sometimes." He is talking about my Grandpa Rigby who passed away in August. Although I told him that he had passed away, he didn't go up to Logan with me for the funeral or anything. It amazed me that he was so perceptive to realize what was going on. These little ones are special spirits that's for sure.

-Last one. Today Spencer and I had lots of boxes at the house so he figured out to use them as a car, and we cut and taped and got a big car made. Well he also decided that the car was going to drive us to the United States (his words not mine). I told him there was a big ocean between here and the United States. So he decided his car would be a plane also and could fly. Anyway, we start on our adventure and we "drive" to the airport, get our suitcases and proceed into the airport. He says to me, "Oh I hope we didn't miss the plane, we have to hurry." Then he gets up to the ticket counter (the coffee table) and asks "Are we too late?" We find out we just made the plane. So we rush onto the plane and put our suitcases in their proper places, have drinks, and watch TV. He then told me we have to take 3 planes to get to Ally's house (that's where we were going, Utah). So we continue rushing up to counters making sure we weren't late, and getting on airplanes, putting suitcases away, drinking drinks, watching TV and sleeping. Finally after our third airplane we get off the plane and he goes into the living room looking up and asking, "Now which one is it? Number two? Yes it's number two, it's this way Mom. We can get our suitcases there." Now....how does a 4-yr. old know these things!?!?!? Obviously one that has spent WAY too much time flying during his life. It's crazy!!! Finally we see Ally, which he runs up to (imaginary) her and we get into a car (that looks just like the one we made in Africa) and go to their house. He looks all around their house and went down for a rest. WHEW! What a morning! :) But look at all of that imagination!!! I love it! But really.....do any other 4-yr. olds play airplane/airport? I think we do at least once a week.

Spencerisms

Spencer keeps us laughing everyday, but last night he was on top of his game! So I decided to write some more stories of Spencer.

-We were having Chili last night for dinner, and this was mine and Spencer's conversation:

Spencer: What are those things? (pointing at the chili)

Mom: Beans.

S: And what's that?

M: Other beans, and there's meat in here too.

S: It's like salsa.

M: Kind of, but it's called Chili.

S: But it's hot. Why do you call it chilly if it's hot???

M: I don't know...that's a good question.

S: It should be called Bean Salsa, that's what it is.

-For Family Home Evening last night we had Spencer write a letter to Santa Claus, to tell him what he wants for Christmas. He asked me to write, since he doesn't know how to read or write yet (and yes, he did say that to me). So I start writing his letter: Dear Santa, I want for Christmas is a bouncy ball and a new big bike. Oh by the way I'm going to give you milk and cookies. (the funny part about this is, that he actually wanted me to write Oh by the way. I had to have him slow down so I could write it all, and he let me finish the first sentence and I asked him what was next and he said "Oh by the way..." it was dang cute). I tried to be a good boy this year. (Tyler told him to write something about how he's trying to be good, so Spencer came up with this sentence, but while I was writing the sentence he said "I tried to be a good boy this year, but I just didn't do it." I told him I was going to write that and he kept saying, No Mom, you can't write that, then I won't get presents, I've been good.) Then we finished the letter. But it was so funny to hear him say "but I just didn't do it" after saying he tried to be a good boy. :)

Well hope this has brighten you day some. Spencer is getting VERY excited for Christmas to see all of his family and his cousins.

Info on the Congo

Our good friend Alexis Cox works for a news program and saw this AP article come across the wire. Hopefully it will provide you with some information you didn't already know. Thanks again Alexis.

Eastern Congo's brutal conflict is a result of decades-old ethnic tensions and a modern-day scramble for the region's mineral wealth. Some questions and answers on the region's complex history:

Q: Who are the Congolese?
A: Congo's population of more than 66 million is made up of more than 200 ethnic groups. About 70 percent are Christian, 10 percent Muslim and the rest adherents of indigenous beliefs. French is the official language, but dozens of African languages and dialects are widely spoken.

Q: What is Congo's economy based on?
A: Cobalt, copper, diamonds, gold, silver, tin and coltan, the essential ingredient of cell phones, make Congo one of Africa's most mineral-rich countries. It is also rich in coffee, rubber and palm oil. Its wealth, however, has only partially been exploited due to poor infrastructure and years of conflict.

Q: What is the origin of the conflict in eastern Congo?
A: The roots of Congo's instability trace back to the 1994 Rwandan genocide, in which hundreds of thousands of minority Tutsi were slaughtered. Tutsi rebels from Rwanda then overthrew the Hutu-dominated Rwandan government in an ensuing civil war, forcing millions of Hutu to flee to Congo.

Among the refugees were top Rwandan army and government officials, as well as militias who together had orchestrated the mass slaughter. They later set up bases on Congolese soil, where many remain today.
Rwanda invaded Congo twice in an effort to rout the Rwandan Hutu extremists, first in a 1996-1997 war, and again in a 1998-2002 war. Many accused Rwanda of getting sidetracked, however, in pursuit of diamonds, gold and other minerals.

Q: Since 1994, Congo's civil war and tribal conflicts have left some 4 million people dead through fighting, famine or disease. Who is behind the current fighting?
A: The current fighting pits Congo's army against rebels loyal to Laurent Nkunda, an ethnic Tutsi.
The former general quit the army several years ago, claiming the government of President Joseph Kabila was not doing enough to protect minority Tutsi from Hutu extremists, whose continued presence has given him a reason to fight.
Nkunda has accused the army of allying itself on the battlefield with the Hutu militias. The government denies the claims. Critics say Nkunda is a proxy of Rwanda's government and has exaggerated claims there is a serious threat to Tutsi in Congo. Nkunda's army has been accused of numerous human rights abuses, including rape campaigns and attacks on villages -- as have army soldiers and militias.

Q: Why has violence escalated in recent months?
A: Nkunda's forces signed a Jan. 23 peace deal, but mistrust remains deep. The deal committed all armed groups in the region to an immediate cease-fire, followed by the pullback of fighters from key areas that would then become a U.N.-patrolled buffer zone.
But the pullback was messy, with government forces routinely facing off with Nkunda's men. The rebels have since accused the Congolese army of abandoning positions to Hutu militias. Caught in the middle, villagers have fled en masse.

Q: Why the recent attacks on U.N. buildings and tanks?
A: Villagers feel the 17,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping force has failed to protect them. The rebel and army pullback was supposed to create U.N.-monitored buffer zones, but few, if any, of these zones are operational. In many areas, the pullback led to an escalation of violence.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

I hope you are all having a great halloween. I miss being able to carve pumpkins and see all the halloween decorations, so I decided to decorate our blog. :) And I'll share Spencer's halloween costumes he had for last year and this year. We are going out trick or treating tonight and it will be hot, but we'll love it! Happy Halloween to you all!!!

This was last year's halloween costume, but the camera that had the pictures of him in it last year was stolen. But he still (kinda) fits in it!!! :) He LOVES the Care Bears, and still wants to wear this one this year. This is Bedtime Bear. Isn't he just darling!!! :)

This year's costume is Spongebob Squarepants. I'll put that picture up tomorrow after I get another picture of him in it. Whenever he puts the Spongebob costume on he just starts to laugh, it's quite funny. So look again tomorrow for that picture.

Fall Carnival

Yesterday the American and Canadian communities in Kinshasa had a fall carnival at the US Ambassador's house. As we were getting ready for the carnival and walking over to the Ambassador's house in 90 degrees weather I couldn't help but laugh. Having grown up in Wyoming and Utah, where half the time for Halloween you might as well be a skier or an Eskimo for Halloween since you were going to be wearing gloves and a parka anyways because it was going to be cold and even snowing, it was funny that I was attending a "Fall" carnival in sandals, shorts, and a short sleeve shirt, complaining that I didn't wear a hat.

Usually when I think of a Fall I think of leaves changing colors, pumpkins, warm apple cider, corn mazes, hay rides, and maybe a haunted house. So it was very strange that we had a BBQ for a "Fall" carnival. We had grilled chicken, potato salads and pasta salad. To drink, we had ice cold soda and everybody was searching for shade. There were some carnival games like throwing darts at balloons, ping pong balls into buckets, and a fishing pond. So at least the games brought some nostalgic memories of going to the church culture hall and playing some of the same games.

I do have to say I was quite impressed with Spencer and his ability to win tickets in the carnival games. One game as mentioned above was throwing ping pong balls into 5 different buckets. The buckets all had different point values, with the closest being 1 point and the furthest being 5 points. With Spencer's first throw he won two points and with his second throw he won 5 points. The lady running this game said he was the only person so far to make the 5 point bucket. He ended up with so many points (they could be turned in for prizes) that we ended up giving like 10 of his points to some other kids.

For all those who keep up with the news you might have heard that there has been increased fighting in Congo between rebels and the military. Rest assured that the fighting is all happening in eastern Congo far away from where we live. I have noticed it pop up on yahoo news every once and awhile. Anyone that wants a good web page to visit to get news on the Congo, please visit www.monuc.org.

On a side note, both Becca and I now have callings. Becca is the primary teacher for the English speaking kids, Spencer and three kids from another family. My calling is Young Men's Consultant. Not yet 100% sure what my calling responsibilities are, but so far it has been helping out the young men's presidency on Sunday and translating for two investigators who don't speak french. Last of all we thank everyone for their patience while we were held hostage by the ABA, they finally let us go so thanks for your support.

Go JAZZ!!!

Okay so the basketball season is about to start and we are Jazz fans. As such, we are planning on going to a Jazz game when we are in Utah for Christmas. We are trying to get the best seats possible. The reason for this post is to see if any of our friends happen to know anyone with really good seats who would let us buy two tickets from them. I have looked online and they don't sale the tickets we want at ticketmaster. We are looking for tickets that are courtside and within the first few rows. I did find a ticket exchange webisite where we can get 3rd row, right behind the visitors bench, but wasn't sure how legit that was. So if anyone has any ideas, let me know. Thanks
Tyler

Happy Birthday Tyler!!

Tyler is 29 today!!! Along with his twin brother, Dannon. I just wanted to get on here and wish him a wonderful birthday, he deserves it. Tyler is amazing and has done so much for our family, even though he took us to Congo, we still love him. :) We love birthdays so we have been celebrating all weekend....which Tyler AND Spencer have loved. I think Spencer has sung him the Happy Birthday song at least 5 times this weekend. Too cute! Anywho....happy birthday honey!!! We love you!

Two more...

Two more funny stories of Spencer:
-On our way home from the airport when we got here, I was talking with my parents on the phone. They asked me if I was happy to see my husband again. I told them "Yes, I'm very happy to see my husband." Spencer looked over at Tyler then looked back to me and asked, "Mommy, is daddy your husband?"

-Spencer went to the doctors last week to get his 4 year checkup. While there, they told us AGAIN that he has lots of ear wax. So the doctor gave me some drops to put in his ear, and if that didn't work then we'd have to go back and get his ears flushed out. Well, a day or two after the appointment, and we have to put 5 drops in each ear twice a day, he was putting up a fight about not getting the drops. So I told him, "If you don't let me do this, then I'll have to take you back to the doctors to get your ear flushed." He looked at me, and said, "Mommy, I don't want to get my ear flushed at the doctors, what if the potty is dirty! Is the potty dirty?" I couldn't help but laugh and explained that flushing his ear would not involve the toilet, but just shooting a whole bunch of water into his ear and letting it come out. :)

Zimbabwe here we come!!!

So most of you guessed it, we are going to Zimbabwe. I guess next time I will have to make the question tougher. We won't be going there until summer/fall of 2009. We plan on going on Safaris, feeding elephents, learning Cricket, going to Victoria Falls, raft down the Zambezi river, go to Kruger National Park in South Africa, and go to the Johanasburg Temple.

Unlike the Congo, Zimbabwe has tons of tourist attractions and we will welcome any visitors to our home and show you a good time. If you are planning on visiting us, and again we love visitors, let us know that you plan on coming and we will reserve some of the fun things for when you get here.

We are excited because it is English speaking and there are malls, and bowling alleys, and movie theatres there, unlike the Congo. Here are a few picutes and links to show you the fun stuff we plan on doing.

These links are to some youtube videos of Devils Pool at Victoria Falls, Becca and I plan on doing this, yes we are crazy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVN9KnWy-H8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uu5nlu4IBN8&feature=relateduu5nlu4IBN8&feature=related

Here are some pictures

A Picture of the Harare Skyline

Some of the scenery.

One of the safari lodges I hope to stay in.

Picture from a

Safari

A local and don't worry I plan on getting the whole costume and wearing it in the states.

A picture of Vicotira Falls

All About Spencer

So this past week has been a week full of funny Spencer stories, enjoy!

- At church (in Chesapeake) he was sitting on my lap looking at the people behind us during one of the talks. He lifted his head and looked at me then asked "Is someone saying a prayer, mommy?" and I told him "No." Then he looked around again and asked me "Then why do people have their arms folded and their eyes closed?" I smiled and told him that I thought they were just thinking really hard. He looked back at me and said, "No, I don't think that's what they are doing."

-He spilled my water on the table, and I wasn't in the room when he did it, but he told me to come clean it up. When I asked him why he did that he said "I didn't do it, Tiki did." (Tiki is his imaginary friend.) Then I told him, "No, Tiki couldn't do that, he doesn't have any arms." While I started to clean up the water he stood there and thought, then said, "Yes Tiki did it, he just took off his arms so you couldn't see them." Then showed me how Tiki took off his arms and hid them.

-When he plays airport he tells me to go up to the counter and talk to the lady to switch our seats. We had to do that on one of our MANY flights this summer, he is too well-traveled.

-When playing store, he has to make the food go across the scanner and 'beep' before putting it in the bag. Sometimes it doesn't 'beep' so then he has to keep scanning it till it does. Sometimes the food doesn't have a 'tag' on it so he has to put a sticket on it or type in numbers to get the price. Too smart!!!

Hopes these bring a smile to your face, like Spencer does to us everday with the things he says.

Where are we going????

Where are we going? Yes that is the question. We have been in the Congo for almost a year, and we just found out where we are going next. (We will most likely only spend 2 years in every place we go? Instead of telling you everybody where we are going flat out I thought I would make you guess. I will give you all clues, and then next week, or maybe sooner I will tell you where we are going. (My clues should give it away.) If you think you can be honest, only read as as little as you can before you guess, and when you post your answer you can tell me at what question did you guess.

Clues

1. They had a presidential Election in the last year.

2. The population of the country is 12,382,920.

3. Coal is one of its main resources, along with a whole bunch of metals like ore, gold, and platinum.

4. English is the official language.

5. The land mass of the country is slightly larger then Montana.
6. Platinum is the main export.

7. This is the flag:

8. The capital city starts with an H.

9. I believe one of Becca's friends mom once lived here.
10. They won 3 or 4 medals at the Olympics this year.

11. This is a famous landmark in the country

12. The main ethnic group is Shona

13. It was called Southern Rhodesia at one time.

14. We will see lions, elephants, hippos, rhinos, and all sorts of other animals.

15. The first letter in the country name is either one of the first 5 letters, or last 5 letters.

16. The Zambezi is a river on its border.

17. It's inflation is around 2,200,000%.

I think that is enough clues. Let's see who can guess it the quickest. Also anyone, and I mean anyone is welcome to come visit us. We will most likely have a guest bedroom and swimming pool at our house. It might be a little expensive getting there, but it will be free room and board when you get there. Also we will take you on a Safari and take you to see the other sites in the country.

My Masterpiece

He was impressed with all I did with his decorations. :)

 
Spongebob Squarepants....pretty good, eh? I think so. I did it!!! I actually made a Spongebob Squarepants cake!! Although it was fortunate that he is square already. 

Decorations!! We were spongebobed out! 

Poppa, Wyatt and Spencer ready to eat and party!

Waiting patiently for the pinata.

Trying to pull the string off.....yes the one that opened it all. He got it on the first try!!!! Sorry Wyatt for not getting a good turn. 

Grabbing as much as they can get....can you tell Wyatt loves Snickers? 

Happy Birthday Spencer! His wish: to go back to Africa...too cute! 

So happy about all of the presents he got. Spencer had a great birthday!!!

Spencer is 4 today!!

Just had to put the spotlight on Spencer for his 4th birthday!! I can't believe he is already 4, he will be starting school soon, and then become a young man, then dating, and then he'll be gone off on his mission!?!!? I never did like the idea that a mom only got her son for nineteen years. So unfair. But we'll enjoy today and all the Spongebob we can get! Pictures to follow soon! 

Use The Force

Okay, so from Becca's posts, you know that the Congo isn't the greatest place in the Foreign Service to be posted, but there are some things that bring us laughter and the following story is one that at times makes life here beareable.

There is an American at the embassy who's son loves Star Wars. His son had one of those light sabers that lights up and makes noises. After the son played with it often and the dog chewed on it, the dad decided to give it away. There are several different ways he could enrich the lives of those in the Congo with this light saber. He could give it to an orphanage, give it to a one of the several kids who live on the street, and he could probably even give it to the Ndjili (Kinshasa's Airport) air traffic controllers, who could definitely use it.
Out of all of the choices he had, he chose to give it to the police. You may ask why the police when he could give it to a needy child. Well I will tell you why. There are very few stoplights in town (4) and even fewer that work (2). So at most busy intersections you have a police officer. Some police officers are nice and don't harass the drivers, others surround your car and claim you did something wrong and try to make you pay a bribe to get out of it.

But what these police officers do is stand in the middle of the intersection, either on the ground or on these little four foot stands. The rule (one of only two real traffic rules here in the Congo) is if the police officer is facing you, or his back is to you then you stop. If it is his profile that is facing you, then you have the right away.
So this American gave the light saber to one of the police officers and explained to her how to use it. She instantly took pride in her new gadget, walked out in the middle of traffic and used the light saber, and in my mind the force, to stop the traffic and let this American through. Because this light saber was so popular, this American then decided to start the LSI, the Light Saber Initiative and had friends send him some more light sabers and has started dispersing them through the city. These light sabers enable the police to do a better job and provides them with safety as the light saber is highly visible, but most of all it brings a smile to our faces because they have no idea that they are using a light saber to direct traffic. I will try and get a picture of one of these police officers for this blog in the future.
So today on my way home from work, a traffic cop (one of the nicer ones) was proudly holding his blue light saber, fearlessly directing traffic. And even though I am in the Congo, I couldn't help but laugh, possibly the work of the force from this Congolese Jedi, as the police officer waved me through with his light saber.

Pictures of my trip

Austin exploring in Grandpa and Grandma Rigby's back yard. 

Seth having a hummingbird ALMOST sit on his finger!!! They were getting really close to him, it was awesome!
Birdhouse in G and G Rigby's back yard. I really like this picture.
The field behind my grandparents house. That red barn has become a memory of grandpa and grandma's house. Love the mountains! 

Grandpa Rigby

I found out today that my Grandpa Rigby died at the age of 88, with his wife and children by his side. We knew it was coming, so it wasn't a big shock, but it still is hard to take in. He was the only grandpa I knew growing up. (my dad's dad died right after I was born.) Grandpa Rigby was the best. I always had fun going to his house, which is an old LDS church, with a gym and stage inside the house! It was a great house to play in while growing up. 

Whenever we would visit he would take me fishing, which I always felt special in doing with him. He always took the grandsons fishing, and I never went with them. But at least one morning him, me and my dad would all go and fish for the day. I learned all about fishing from him. 

I also knew whenever we went to Grandpa Rigby's that we would be playing cards, rummy to be exact. I learned from him how to play. He would sit me on his lap and let me "help" him. 

I will miss him dearly, but know that he is up there in heaven playing baseball with all of his friends. I will miss the stories he would tell us of his past, and see the tenderness in his eyes when he would talk about how family is everything. I learned from him that family IS everything, and how patriotic we all should be. He was a good man.

Helping out!

Since our arrival here in Congo, Becca and I have seen the extreme poverty that the Congolese live in. Children live on the street asking every passer by for money, families live without electricity and water, Church members, even with the help of the church, are unable to send their children to school, and newborns go without blankets, pacifiers, and needed vaccinations. Many of you have asked "what can we do to help?" So I asked the bishop of our ward what things people in the ward needed most. Here is a list of things he told me they would need, especially as the new school season starts:

SCHOOL
Note Books
Pencils
Paper
Book Bags
Markers
and any other basic school supplies and even fees for school.

BABIES
Blankets
Pacifiers
Bottles
Baby toys

Anyone who wishes to help out, please send packages addressed to me at
Unit 2220 Box 147
DPO, AE 09828

As this is a DPO address shipping is the same as if you were mailing it with in the United States

I will give these items to the Bishop and he will be responsible for its distribution. Any young man who is looking for a Eagles project, young women looking for Young Women in Excellence Project, or anyone else looking for a way to make a difference this would be a great opportunity to help out those in need. If any of you have questions, feel free to leave them here on the blog, or email me at tylern79@yahoo.com
Thank You
Tyler

Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer

Spencer has discovered the best part of summer.....the ice cream truck! When we heard the song of "Pop Goes the Weasel" we knew he was near. Spencer picked out, of course, a Spongebob Squarepants ice cream. 

Helping Poppa mow.
Playing at Grandma and Poppa Nicholes house.