I Have Never Gone to Class on a Wooden Floor Before

May 5, 2007 by Steve Peifer

It was a sobering Easter. We were enjoying being together, and it began to dawn on us that it was the last Easter we would be with JT for many years. Watching the twins find their eggs put us back in the spirit of the day.

After Easter, we took a train to the coast for our last vacation together. The way it is supposed to work is that the train would leave at 7 in the evening and you would...

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Two Pencils and One Pen: Rewards in Kenya

April 6, 2007 by Steve Peifer

Ben and Kate were VERY insistent that I take this picture and send it to you:

Someday they will hurt me for this, but they are VERY proud of it right now.
I also have proof of my raw courage with the cheetah. Notice the incredible valor:

I think this could possibly be a motivational poster
JT had an amazing interim, and had an interesting interaction with an animal:

JT and an eagle
It is the end of the term at RVA, and we had one...

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Milking a Camel is Just Like You Might Think it Would Be: The Interim Trip

March 25, 2007 by Steve Peifer

It started many years ago; the thought was the RVA kids would do good to be able to spend time in other parts of Africa. So, for one week a year, juniors and seniors have the choice of about a dozen interim trips they can take. Some choose to climb Mount Kilimanjaro; some go to the coast and study the reefs and some do what I did.
I was a last minute sub for a staff member who was injured, so...

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Two Cousins and a Grandfather; Mornings with Addie

February 26, 2007 by Steve Peifer

When I walk Ben and Kate to school, we frequently have Addie walk with us. Addie likes to talk to me, and I always look forward to it, because anything goes. The other day she was quite animated:
Addie: This morning when I got up to go potty, I went and went so long I thought I would have to be there ALL DAY.
Me: (With the alarm born of 5 year old twins when they talk of going to the bathroom...

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The Saddest Cry

February 8, 2007 by Steve Peifer

Missionaries are always going through transitions, and while adults get used to it, our little ones are spinning thinking about going to America in July. Ben called out for me the other night because of a bad dream, and after I had laid with him for awhile, he started snoring and I thought it was safe for me to slip back to bed. A short time later, he called out again:
Ben: Dad, the bad dream is not going away.
Me: What...

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Are You Menopausal? Adventures in Giving Blood

January 29, 2007 by Steve Peifer

High on the list of charming things I do in Kenya occurs after I drop off Ben and Kate at school. As I walk to my office, I pass many young impressionable students. My combination of sensitivity and gentle wit serves me well as I yell loudly at young people: `It’s MY sidewalk. Off, off, off! It’s MINE.’
There was a particular group of second grade girls whom I so delighted in instructing this way. I loved how they fled from...

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Snow Chains in Africa: Adventures in Driving

January 17, 2007 by Steve Peifer

The tradition at RVA is a nice one; the kindergarteners through sixth graders (the titchies) collect money all term, and we use the money to buy food hampers for the elderly around us. Right before Christmas, we deliver the food to over sixty people.
There is usually a hitch, and the one this year was that it has rained almost every day for the past two months. It has made the already problematic roads amazingly worse, and then there was one...

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Honk if you love Jesus/Adventures in Egypt

December 22, 2006 by Steve Peifer

They say this is the season of peace and joy, but you couldn’t tell it from our household. It has been pretty tense around here.
Part of the conflict has been Christmas music. My favorite Christmas song has somehow become `The Christmas Polka’ by Jim Reeves. More importantly, it is Ben’s favorite song, and he asks for it to be played OFTEN. This causes Nancy, JT, Matthew and now Katie to flee the room. But it is so catchy that I...

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