My mom and sister are famous

By Richard Tsong-Taatarii, Star Tribune

At the Mall of America, Jodi Prip, her mother Pam Heubner, and Jesse Rogers were all trying to stay warm as they waited to get in to see former Alaska governor Sarah Palin. "She started out as a mom and look at what she has become," said Prip.

Ely Blueberry Festival and THE LAND

Took the picture of the pumpkins for Tammy so she could make them for the front of her house. Made out of telephone poles painted orange.











Enjoyed a great day with Mark, Alison, Grand
ma, Charlie and myself at the Ely Blueberry festival and












then lunch at THE LAND. Amazing how much work they have done on the property.


Mom made Special K Bars (just in case you were thinking that you would not have wanted to be with us).

This is Dawn's new floor after taking out her almost brand new carpeting that the puppy had pretty much ruined.

Here by popular demand..........

The Joni Camp Talent Show!!!!!
Featuring our very own Grandma Krumwiede,
Donald, Wendy, Kevin, & Tammy
(in order of appearance R to L)

Pam and Jed

Aren't they cute? This photo is way overdue, since Pam's been home for weeks, but I just like it so much I wanted to share it with you. We had such a good time with Pam here. She really shares our heart for Africa, and it was such a blessing to be able to show her why we love it here. We love you, Pam!

Thank you, Great-Grandma!

After being home with Oliver for a few days, I suddenly realized that I didn't really have a place to set him down. Could this be why my shoulders, neck, back, and arms were so sore? Anyway, Grandma Krumwiede sent us some money and told us to get something we needed. After my epiphany about having no place to set Oliver, we immediately went out to Target to get a swing. The best part is....HE LOVES IT, and will usually take a couple of naps in it per day and sleeps more soundly then in his bed or our arms because he really likes being rocked. Thanks so much, Grandma!!! Oliver thanks you, and my neck, back, shoulders, and arms thank you! :)

(Shelly, maybe you can show this post to Grandma next time she is at your house. Thanks!)

More Pictures of Oliver

Oliver has very deep blue eyes right now, and I am really hoping they stay that way. I don't mean to brag, but if you get him to look at you he and then move left to right he will track you with his eyes. We need to try to get a video of this as proof.
Here is Oliver in his Amby Bed which is essentially a baby hammock. (www.ambybaby.com) Right now he is sleeping with us at night while I try to put him in the hammock for naps to get him used to the motion.
Getting in the car on the way home from the hospital.
My favorite outfit of his. Sadly, I think it is already too small.
He has MANY knitted hats. I think I brought at least 6 different ones to the hospital.
This one was taking a few hours after his birth.

The Newest Great-Grandchild

Announcing the birth of Oliver Tristan Fisher! He was born at 5:42 a.m. on June 23rd and weighed in at 8 lbs. 11.2 ounces. After being in labor for over 26 hours, (Oh, the epidural did wonders! I even called and talked on the phone to Grandma Krumwiede during very active labor.) he was finally delivered via c-section. Since his head was pretty pointy he would not descend correctly because he kept turning his head and getting stuck. I pushed in ever position imaginable (to try to get him to come out straight) for over 3 hours with no luck. I was so tired by the end and was actually falling asleep between contractions. During the c-section I was having a bit of pain, so they turned up the epidural thus knocking me out, so my memory of the actual birth is very vague. After 5 days in the hospital we were very happy to be home. Joel went back to work on Monday and Oliver and I have been having a great time together. He is awake for several hours each day, and sleeps really well at night. (I have to wake him up to feed him!) I have yet to hear him fuss if there isn't a reason for it. Since I am recovering for surgery I feel very blessed to have such a peaceful baby. My incision starts to hurt if I've been carrying him around too much, but other then that I am in no pain. Overall my recovery is coming along better then I expected. Usually I feel like I am able to do lots, but I know if I push it too much it will take longer to heal. We picked the name Oliver because of Psalm 128:3, and Tristan is Joel's middle name and it means "bold".

Your wife will be like a fruitful vine

within your house;

you sons will be like olive shoots

around your table.

Psalm 128:3

Fun at Auntie Jodi's

I sure had fun on Saturday celebrating Auntie Jodi's birthday and Grandma Pam's return to MN!

Thanks, Taylor, for trying to help me enjoy the big kid pool! But I think the baby pool is more my size, at least for now.

Big Winner

Guess who just won $1,000.
And, more surprisingly, they're related to YOU and NOT a Sullivan.

Grandpa and Amanda

Grandpa Wally spent some fun days here at our place, baking rhubarb desserts (yum!), playing cards (of course!), going for walks, & bonding with Amanda. Of all the above activities, I only have pictures of Wally and Amanda - go figure! ;)

Daddy's Little Apprentice

Amanda loves "helping" Daddy; Daddy is very patient!

Trip to MN and SD

It was sure great to see so many of you on our way back home through Minneapolis after a friend's wedding in SD. Thanks again, Aunt Alison and Uncle Mark for all the work you did! We had a wonderful time! Once again, my pictures are all backwards in order...

Hannah


A picture of Sam when we pulled in our driveway



The miracle God did on the plane ride home

Chillin' in the hotel room

Todd and Sam at the wedding

Country Church Wedding

Windmills in the middle of nowhere

Visiting with Aunt Alison

Hanging out with Great Grandma

Yummy grilled supper

The Newlyweds

Us at the wedding reception

Braai

Last night we had a braai (which means barbecue) with all of the orientation people plus some others that were around at the Hands at Work Village. We had Boerwors sausage, mince (which is hamburger) and chicken on the grill. Jed did a great job barbecuing. Everyone brought their own meat and something else. I made a crazy cake, someone had a pasta salad, there was a fruit salad with guavas from off the trees around here, crackers and cheese, and juice to drink. We had a great time. The occasion was a good-by party for Mkhuleko, who had been here for three weeks and was now returning to Swasiland. He had come to learn about accounting for the Community Based Organization there. He was such a nice young man. I have pictures, but Brooke is in Zambia with the laptop, so I can't put them in with this update.
The first week of June, Jed, Brooke and I are going to Swasiland. I will be able to visit Mkhuleko and meet his mother. In order for Mkhuleko to go home, he has to take taxis. He said he will leave about 7 in the morning and ride 7 different taxis for about 12 hours to get home. By car it would take about 5 hours. A taxi is actually a van. They are a form of transportation in Africa. The taxi driver waits until his van is full and then he goes to the next stop. There you get on another taxi and wait for that one to fill up and he drives you to the next stop. You can get all over Africa that way. They really don't have a timetable because you don't know how long it will take for the taxi to fill up. I see them along the road here all the time. In Masoyi there are lots of taxis because the people take them often. So you wouldn't have to wait very long for one to fill up here.
We are done with orientation so next week I will start working with teachers at the centers. On Monday I will be going to Cork. It is a very poor community about 45 minutes away. I am very excited to be able to begin working with kids and teachers. I also hope to be able to help a woman called Bussie. She is the country representative for South Africa and she is very stressed out. I would like to do some things to lighten her load a little. Not sure what I can do, but perhaps God will show me a way.
I have enjoyed talking to my other orientation members about what things are like in their countries. The other members (besides Mkhuleka) are from Zambia, Kenya, United Kingdom, Canada, and one girl whose parents were missionaries in New Guinea most of her life and then they went to the Phillippines. I have been learning about the "bride price" in Africa (about 15 cows), kidney pie in the UK, and all kinds of cultural differences. It's been so interesting and lots of laughs!

South Africa Day 3

Had an awesome day watching Jed as he started his Junior Achievement group at Masoyi Home Based Care. He had 19 teens, but there were about 70 children there altogether. Some of the others came for the youth program, but most came hoping to get some of the free food. They had a chicken stew like thing, pap (which looks to me like a really thick Cream of Wheat), cold beans, cole slaw and juice. The trainers for Jed's program are in their late teens and early twenties. The kids were very polite and seemed interested. Some of their questions and answers were so interesting. For example, they thought that there were more people in rural areas than in an urban area. They also felt that T-shirts and short pants as well as a dentist were wants rather than needs. That was also true for meat. When you see how and where they live you can begin to see why they think that way. It was fun to watch Jed at work.

Last night we babysat for some Hands at Work volunteers from South Africa. They had three children. One was in bed (the two year old adopted boy). The 2 1/2 year old girl and the 5 year old girl were our responsibility. They had such adorable English accents! Jed and Brooke are great with kids and it was really fun watching them interact with the girls. They are staying in practice with their babysitting skills so Jodi, Kathy and Sandy don't need to worry that they will be out of practice when they return to the States!

Amanda turns one!

Thursday, April 23 - My First Trip to McDonalds

Daddy wanted to take his girl to McDonalds on her first birthday (so much for my "no fast food for this baby"!).

Saturday, April 25 - My First Birthday Party

Opening presents - thanks everyone!

I wasn't very interested in cake until my cousins all started to eat. Thanks for the help guys - yum!