Closeing Out 2012--A Great Year

Weekend of December 1st:  Mark and Jacob went to a retreat on the island.  They had a great time diving into God's word & the waves.  I am told that the bonfire and steaks were also GREAT!

December 7th: The ballet classes that I teach performed a shortened version of the Nutcracker with the story being read and  few of the dances performed.  It was very well attended and a lot of fun to put together.  Jacob played the part of the Nutcracker, Caleb was Fritz, and Matthew enjoyed being a very well behaved audience member. 

December 9th:  Caleb turned 6!  We had a Polar Express Party with hot chocolate, mint oreos, chocolate cupcakes, and chocolate ice cream.

The Christmas Season:  They really do a great job of Christmas on the ship.  The activities, church services, and food were all fantastic.  I am so thankful for all the people who worked to make Christmas amazing!  Here are a few pictures of some of the things we participated in....

We made Christmas cookies in the dining hall.  The dough was prepared all we had to do was cut the cookies out.

It was fun and messy!

After they baked, we iced and decorated them.  The decorated ones disappeared before I could snap a picture.

This years Christmas tree.  Yes, it is made from toilet paper rolls.

Christmas morning.

An awesome tradition on the ship.  Everyone puts a shoe outside their cabin door on Christmas Eve.  People fill the shoes with all kinds of treats and presents.  the boys really enjoyed this part of Christmas morning.

Thanks to a wonderful supporter we were able to read out Christmas book.  We have read this to the boys on Christmas morning for seven years.  I didn't think to bring our copy with us.  So, it was an amazing blessing to receive a new copy and continue the tradition.

This year Jacob asked to read the story to us. 

The boys really enjoyed Christmas morning!

I really enjoyed Christmas brunch!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year (a little late) from The Bullock Family!

Visiting Prisoners

As directed in Matthew, my dental team visited the Guinea Central Prison in Conakry.  Because of God's providence I had 7 dentists on hand and we were able to see over 300 patients .  This was not planned, but we felt very blessed to have so many dentists for this out reach.  Our patients included men, women and boys as young as 15.  We were actually prepared to see even younger patients since sometimes it is customary for small children to accompany their mothers into prison (sounds barbaric but make sense when you think on it).

 We spent two days in the prison and set up our clinic in a little Catholic chapel.  It was actually the same chapel I have been to for the Prison Ministry (see earlier post).

 Things went so well, it was sometimes hard to remember we were inside a prison.

 We were able to help prisoners by taking out one or two teeth that may have been bothering them for a long time.

The patients were given bread before being seen because sometimes they do not eat well and we need them to have strength to have a tooth pulled.

 In the end we just offered a little of God's love in the form of a helping hand.

Catching Up: Thanksgiving, Sweet Treats, & Lazy Saturdays

Thanksgiving was different this year.  I do not think I have ever worked or gone to school on a Thanksgiving day.  It was odd, but still good.  The dining hall did an amazing job on dinner.  There was turkey, gravy, green bean casserole, stuffing, and pumpkin & apple pie.  It was delicious!  The boys and I made paper hats.  A pilgrim, turkey, and Native American all sat down to dinner and took turns telling what we are thankful for.  I do have to say that I missed the leftovers, but I did not miss gaining five pounds from those leftovers.

After a busy weekend at the beach we decided we needed a lazy Saturday.  We hung out in our pj's and watched The Lord of the Rings.  Yes, all three movies!

We love getting mail.  This was Jacob's reaction on receiving a treat from Nana.

Matthew couldn't wait to open his card.

Caleb loved every bite of his chips.

Our happy faces!  We love mail.  Treats, cards, notes, letters we love them all.  Thank You, everyone who has sent us something.  We feel very blessed and loved.

Catching Up: Island Visit

November 16th:  The ship gives us a three day weekend every six weeks, so for this long weekend we decided to take a day trip to Roume Island.  Which is one of three islands of the coast of Guinea.  It was a lovely 45minute boat ride and then we spent the day picnicing and playing on the beach.  It was awesome to see the boys get to run in wide open spaces.

Waiting to leave for the island.  The boys were very excited!

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That's our home in the background.

The other boat headed to the island.  It looked just like our boat.

Waiting while we got directions to the beach.

It was so nice to be out in nature.

Matthew and Caleb playing in the waves.

Mark helped the kids build a sand castle.

Our picnic spot.

Bullock boys and Cash kids at the end of a great day!

Home Sweet Home

Catching Up: Kindia

 
I've been remiss and have not been keeping up with the blog.  I am sorry, and I will try and do better.  The next few posts will hopefully catch you up on everything that we have been doing.

November 8-10:  I (Gretchen) went as a sponsor on the Junior High/High School retreat to an agricultural center in Kindia.  We staid in a hotel and worked at the agricultural center.  Even with 18 kids, it was very much like a mini vacation.

It was so nice to get out of the city and spend some time in the fresh air.

We toured the agricultural center, transplanted lettuce and eggplant, learned about grafting banana trees, and how to make palm nut oil.  It was a very hands on experience.