Back to the States, and Good Family Stuff

The last few weeks have been filled with adventure for us. We made a trip to North Carolina to celebrate the birth of a new grandson and to catch up with the rest of our families. I am grateful for all the efforts of my family to let me see them; I got to spend time with all my siblings, children, and grandchildren.

We also had some great food and did some serious retail therapy, mostly for us, but also for some of our Belize friends.

All of our travel connections worked out well, and we escaped the catastrophic weather that pounded the Northeast as we were departing. One of the fun things we did was to purchase little cheap cell phones with lots of minutes so we could talk to relatives we missed seeing in person. It also made a huge difference in arranging get-togethers with the friends and family we did get to see.

We were able to help Nancy with her moving sale. Cathy and Carol were especially helpful with their disarming style of conversation. They could have sold ice cubes to Eskimos. It was a huge success.

Now we have settled back into our routine and are energized to get back to work on our projects. Clearly the second year of Peace Corps service is much busier that the first year was. We keep saying that we should not take on too many more projects, but after we accept each additional project we say the same thing again.

The trip to the northern latitudes also convinced us that winter may be much more tolerable in the tropics, but even in the tropics the nights are chilly. We have started using the blankets at night but have not yet fired up our little space heater.

Picture time! Sorry that we didn't get snaps of all the wonderful people we visited.

Working hard at the yard sale.
Then we pretty much sold the table and chairs out from
under us.

Burnham siblings

Grandpa, Jim and Kayleigh

Best friend from high school - Martha!

Dad and daughter Laura

 

Nanny giving Burke some good advice

The great crowd at the UNC Wellness Center.
That's my wonderful friend, Uma, in the front, pretending
that's she's really short.

 

"Liz" and me after a great vegetarian lunch.

Great night at Stacey's house, with Toni and me

Dad and Joyce with us at Lucky 32

There's that Toni-girl again. This time we are Mistress of Funky
Looks, Miss Quyen!

Steve with the happy parents

Babies do this a lot

A New Family Member!

Steve and I are thrilled to welcome our new grandbaby into the world - from Belize! He joined us on Wednesday, October 3. He's a big boy - 8 pounds 5 ounces, and 21 inches. His mom, Stephanie, is doing fine and will make the BEST MOM! Dad, Jeff, is bouncing with pride and love - and performing his diaper-changing duties well.

Here are a few pictures of Burke Francis Nieman.

Soon after his birth

Dad and son

Isn't he pretty?

Grandfather and Burke. I love his little face.

We think he has red hair!

Tar Heel born

OK, I'll stop with the pictures. I cannot WAIT to get to the States next Saturday. Burke is calling!

NOTHING else happened this week.

Well, in the background of our lives there were a couple of things. 

• Steve went to Trio to do a cooking demonstration with Incaparina. He and his work partner made tortillas and porridge for the moms and kids in the village. They wanted to promote and educate people about the benefits of using Incaparina to give the kids enough good nutrition. The tortillas didn't go over too well (Hmmm, the place was filled with women who make tortillas every day. They KNOW how to make a good tortilla.), but the porridge was a big hit. Everybody came back for seconds.

Meeting place in Trio

Steve's work partner, Tylon Tillett

• International artist Ingrid Cayetano (Her website) taught our group of GLOW girls. Most of her art is done with needlework on different fabrics, called thread painting (I think?). What a trooper! She walked in on about 13 squirmy girls. We had planned for 8 or 9.

Learn patience!

Work together and share

Take pride, have strong self-esteem

Have FUN!!