A Special Day for Megan - Happy Birthday and BAPTISM!

Megan is the second daughter of our oldest son, Kurt Jr. and his wife, Suzette.One of her many talents is dancing. She and sister, Kayleigh, both have amazing rhythm and coordination. Here she is in one of her flashy dance costumes.

She almost shares a birthday with me, Grandma Linda. We always get to share the spotlight in September at our monthly Family Home Evening get-together.

If she is supposed to be a witch, she is not very scary looking to me.

Her confidence as a soccer player has increased. She is pretty focused as she goes after this ball.

Most of us can't remember the exact date of our baptism. Megan will always be able to remember because she gets baptized on her 8th birthday. Here she is in her pretty white dress. She looks like a princess!

It's hard for Grandma and Grandpa to be so far away and miss these special events. But I know Megan supports us as we serve a mission. She is a beautiful girl - INSIDE and OUT!

New "DO" from Elder Krupp's Salon

A while back I posted a blog about all the people and things that I miss. I didn't mention how much I miss Tara. It is so nice to go and sit in her beauty salon and get pampered. Since my highlights had all grown out, Tara got all the stuff so I could add highlights here in Africa. She emailed some directions, too. It all seems so simple until you do it yourself for the first time. Of course I couldn't follow the directions totally. Tara suggested that I only pull through hair from every other hole in the cap. She mentioned that I could add more highlights later if I wanted.

It didn't look like all that much that we were pulling through. I didn't think the little hook that came with the cap was big enough, so we used a little bigger one that I brought to crochet around baby blankets with. It worked great. Elder K. said I still had about 80-90% of my hair still in the cap. After the pulling out of clumps of hair came the bleaching part. Elder painted the goop on, we covered it with a plastic "shower" cap, set the timer and Elder used the blow dryer to keep it warm. We could see the color changing right before our eyes. I began to feel a little panicky after about 8 minutes and decided to check it at 10 minutes instead of processing it for 15 minutes. After rinsing the goop out, I realized that it wasn't a very light blonde. But after it was all shampooed, dried and styled, I decided that it was a good thing that I panicked and washed it out early. I think we must have lightened about 60% of my hair. It doesn't look bad at all, as you can see, but I'm afraid it will look bad in 2 months when the dark roots start to show. Anyway, it was a fun adventure and Elder Krupp did a great job, as usual. We will both be happy to get home to Tara, though!

Sister Elizabeth

Sister Elizabeth is a cute new convert. She is very shy and quiet, but has a darling smile. She works as a security guard somewhere. They recently changed her days off, and she has had to work the last three Sundays. I called to tell her I missed her, and she said that she missed me too. I will give her a big hug when she gets a Sunday off and can come to church. Hope it's soon!

BigTrucks on the Road

Our Saturday drive last week when we got "nowhere" gave me some good photo opportunities. It seems like it was Farm to Market day since there were many trucks loaded with big bags and bushel baskets.

I don't know if these guys were catching a free ride or were hired to unload the goods. I bet they were hoping that no one "rear-ended" them or that the driver didn't stop too suddenly and send them flying.

This big, blue truck had a nice solid back on it so the passengers could lay down and have a nice nap. I thought they might be dead bodies, but one of them moved, so I think they were just resting up on top.

A Leisurely Saturday Afternoon Drive to Nowhere

Our Saturday trip to teach Brother Charles didn't go quite as planned. We allowed the usual 40 minutes to get there. It is 10 kilometers from our apartment. We saw a lot of cars crowding together to try and squeeze into whatever lane might get moving.







It doesn't help the congestion when there is a broken down van to your left.












Oops, there is also a broken down white car on the right. Fortunately we have a small enough car to fit between the two stalled cars.











We were happy to get past this truck before the ropes broke and the contents dumped out on the road. Luck ran out when we got to an exit and the police made all cars get off the expressway. There had been an accident with some truck spilling dangerous liquid on the road. After exiting, we got stuck going the opposite direction. We finally had the Elders get out and get a ride on an Okada so that someone showed up for the appointment. They were an hour late at least, and it turned out that Brother Charles had gone out to the store and couldn't get back home on time because of the same accident. They finally got connected, and everything turned out OK. We survived our 3 hour drive to nowhere, and I'm sure it will be something to laugh about one of these days.

Insect Control Experts

Lots of little geckos run around here. They are really fast and sometimes startle me when I'm not paying attention. Today Kurt was watering a plant that is growing in a bottle outside on our patio. He lifted the empty pot holding the bottle to pour out the excess water. That pot was sitting inside another pot that had dirt in it, and out zipped a gecko. I'm not sure who was more surprised!

I'm sure these guys do help keep the insect population down. A recent insect encounter occurred Monday night when I decided to stay up late and watch the men's final of the US Open. It started at 10 p.m. here, which is my normal missionary bedtime. However, Roger Federer was playing Andy Murray, and I wasn't feeling tired and just love to watch tennis. It was over at midnight, and I went in to the kitchen to brush my teeth. We keep our toothbrushes in there because that is where the filtered water is. Anyway, there was a cockroach running around the rim of the mug that holds our toothbrushes and toothpaste. How gross is that! I am never going into the kitchen in the middle of the night again. The toothbrushes are now being kept on the table away from the kitchen cabinets. I had to take a Tylenol P.M. to get to sleep after that image (twitching antennae and all) assaulted me. I have an overactive imagination after dark. As freaky as that bug was, I would probably die if a gecko ran across the kitchen floor and up the wall. I think all bugs and critters belong outside in nature. I'm sure all my friends will agree with me on this one!

Elder Krupp's Most Missed Possession

Wonder of Wonders, Miracle of Miracles, I have a bicycle to ride. President Jones shipped one of his older road bikes to Nigeria, with the shipment Mission Presidents and their wives are allocated. It arrived in great shape and after some re-assembly, it is set up in their spare bedroom\store room on an indoor exercise stand. When he is out of town, he leaves his keys and invites me to, "Ride, Elder Krupp, Ride"! (That comes from an old, old song, "Ride, Sally, Ride." Today is our 40th Anniversary of our marriage in the Oakland Temple, September 6, 1968. How could we have ever imagined serving a mission together in Lagos, Nigeria?
Behind me you can see pillows and blankets that go to the arriving missionaries when they come in. Under the pillows and blankets are the unopened boxes of the Jones' shipment. Things they don't currently need have been left in boxes in anticipation of moving into the new Mission Office\Residence Building within the next two months. The bike will be one of the first things they move. We are hoping for a spare apartment to set up our exercise area. Pres Neuder has a serious weight machine that Pres Evans purchased when their treadmill died. The Presidents have requested an exercise bike and a treadmill for the new building. We'll wait and see if wishes become "fishes".
This picture shows the bike and how it is set up.
The exercise stand is awesome. It allows you to shift gears for lesser or higher resistance. The other thing you can see in this picture is the plastic container with a white lid in front of the bike. That has been placed there to hold "Preach My Gospel" or other books we are studying. I started "Mormon Scientist", about Henry Eyring written by Henry J. Eyring, a grandson who currently lives in Rexburg, Idaho.

The last bike ride I was able to do was in the MTC, prior to being able to ride this bike on Monday the 1st of September. This is really a treat for an old bike-riding senior missionary. Thanks, President Jones for bringing the bike!

Happy 40th Anniversary to Us

What do senior missionaries do when they have a special occasion in their lives? Here's what we are doing to celebrate 40 years together.

Last night Elder Quansah and Elder Afangbedji came over for a lesson in brownie making. After that I stayed up & watched Serena beat Safina in the women's semi-final of the US Open. Today I made us French toast for breakfast, & then I baked bread. We went to the produce stand, and then to Nando's for lunch. Kurt had the chicken sandwich with chips, and I had the chicken strips with spicy rice.
After lunch we stopped at the store for a few items. Tonight we are having salmon patties (a favorite), and I hope to watch the men's semi-final matches, and maybe even the women's final. Kurt will read a book. OK, maybe this doesn't sound terribly exciting, but believe me, we are having a great time and are very happy. Maybe I'll put on a romantic song and we will dance around our apartment. Whatever we do, we are glad we are doing it together.

Packing Them in for the Stake Primary Anniversary

Some dedicated Primary leaders brought their ward's Primary children over for the Stake Anniversary celebration. Since most people don't have a car, they arranged for a yellow transport bus to bring them. How many people do you think this van can hold? Seven are out....

Now it's up to at least 16 children and 5 adults, but they are still unloading......

I'm not sure what the total count is, but I'd say at least 24. We watched a packed bus as it was leaving, and it looked like about 8 children per bench. That's togetherness.

Sheep and Goat Trivia

This is a sheep market that is right along the side of a main road. It doesn't appear that there is anything preventing the sheep from making a run for freedom. The sheep are kind of long, lean funny looking creatures. The main reason that they look so different from the sheep I'm used to is that they don't have curly hair. It grows straight like cow hair. I guess the Lord knew they wouldn't be needing wool sweaters in Nigeria.

Brother Bright brought (that could be a tongue twister if you say it fast enough) me some manure back from Ibadan so I could fertilize our little palm trees. He told me it was goat feces. It's been sitting in a bag for at least a month waiting for me to get together some ambition, gloves and a digging tool. Kurt found me a great old trowel that I can use for a spade, so today was my gardening day. I also planted some cherry tomato seeds. I'm anxious to see how well goat feces work for fertilizer. It was mixed in with nice dirt, and I was happy that it wasn't stinky and gross.

While discussing African cuisine with Sister Comfort and Brother Effiong the other day, they were talking about eating goat. It seems that the she goat is not the good stuff - you want the he goat. She said they had the right fat and were very "sweet". I asked if it tasted sweet like sugar, and she laughed and said no that it was just delicious. Then they said that the smell from the he goat was very strong, and that if you put the meat in the boot of your car, it would smell like goat forever. I'm sticking with chicken.