Grandchildren.  The rewards of old age.  Lots of fun and no responsibilities.  We highly recommend them!  

We are blessed with eleven grands.  Three teens.  One baby.  And all sorts of others spread out between.  Being away from them is the only hard part about being missionaries, living out here on the Dark Side of the Moon.

But God is faithful.  He has blessed us abundantly with many grandchildren here in Cameroon.  You would love them all.

Grace is oodles of fun.  She just makes you smile to look at her little round face.  Her eyes crinkle when she smiles, which is most of the time.  She's full of life and can't wait for the next moment to arrive.  She's bouncy and little and cute.  Grace is all girl with ribbons and bows and pink frills.  She loves dolls.  But people are her favorite.  She calls us Grandpa and Grandpa and usually is bouncing when she sees us.  She's in nursery school now and she just turned three.  She breezed into class the first day, took a look at all those new friends, and was in her element.  The teacher had her hands full with this pint sized magpie, until she pulled Grace off to the side and explained that we come to school to listen and learn.  Our little sweetie morphed into the model student.  She's the one who comforts the other children when they are crying.  She gets them to line up and obey the teacher.  This girl is going places.  We are so glad God blessed her with Francis and Ingrid for parents.  They are up to the task.

Baby brother Samuel will be one in January.  He is her polar opposite in every way.   Even in the hospital when she was born, Grace was not interested in sleeping.  There was way too much to see and do.  But Samuel is placid and content to just watch life go by.  He's the last kid on the block to do absolutely anything.  He's quiet and serious.  Life is just about perfect when viewed from Daddy's arms.  Samuel has been a sickly baby, but is finally picking up.  He is now eating as if to make up for all those months. 

Then there is Guy's girls.  He and Marie are not able to have children of their own so they have been given girls to raise.  One from each side of the house.  Marie's sister gave them little Marie to raise when she was two years old.  She's four now and fits in their family perfectly.  Then Guy's brother gave them their youngest girl a few months later.  Persil is a couple of months younger and several inches smaller than little Marie.  The girls are very different, but fast friends.  They are both girly girls, too.  They love dolls and fancy dresses and purses.  When they come to Shiloh they head for the toys.  Mostly they are after our two cabbage patch dolls.  They can sit on our little chairs by the hour and chat with each other while taking care of their babies.  They are good little mothers in the making.  Guy and Marie have been teaching them scripture.  The girls can rattle off whole chapters of the Bible.  

Then there are the three children who call us their white grandparents.  Not to be confused with their two sets of black grandparents.  They are studying English in school and can say things like "Good Morning" or "Good Afternoon".

And there are many other little munchkins who call us their grandparents.  They bring a lot of joy, and help fill the hole in our hearts as we miss those eleven that live on the other side of the Big Pond.