Game Boy

Drew loves games. He is REALLY into computer games and video games. But he also likes board games. He got this game receintly from Nathan and Stacie Kunkle. It came in a package here in Koutiala for us. He was VERY excited and has already played a couple of times.

What's it like in Kadiolo...

Drew was doing his school work and received this project...

Imagine that your community has no government. Write a paragraph describing what it would be like to live where there are no laws to provide order, safety, and protection of rights.

This is what he wrote...

Imagine if there was no government. Imagine if the police didn't do what they were supposed to do. Imagine if the government didn't keep the roads nice and people would use the good stuff for the road for their building projects. Imagine if the government didn't make any laws about the road so the people drove wherever they wanted. Imagine if the government had no trash system so the people just dumped their trash outside the door. Imagine if the government didn't have any rules about covering wells and the people just left them open. Imagine if the government didn't pave the roads so the road got too bumpy and people had to drive on the side of the road.

Oh wait... that's where I live, Kadiolo, Mali.

My Lego Star Wars Clone

This is my lego star wars Clone he has a lite saver.

I had him from U.S.A. He is my favorite lego person.

October 2004

This picture is from June 6, 2009

In October of 2004 Drew spent a week with Lulu and Pappy. He had just turned four years old. There was a missionary family staying here at the same time. Drew was as thick as thieves with their daughter who was the same age. This is a conversation Drew had with Lulu.

I'm going to make a boat to take to the sea.
I'm going to fly to where Isabelle is and build a boat for her.
I will row and row and row.
I will get some rope. (When asked "What for?")
To tie our boats together.

That boy is sweet through and through. I bet he'll be a romantic young man, but he will tell his mom about it, not me.

This is a picture of Drew admiring himself in the mirror after getting dressed up with stuff he found in storage.
Many of you know we send out a prayer e-mail every day. Well, today, Drew did the whole thing by himself. This is it below:

May 27, 2009


John 14:15
"If you love me, you will obey what I command."

Praise God for keeping care of His creatures.

Pray that we would be safe when we go to Africa.

I helped him with the Photoshop, but he made all the choices. When I asked him he knew what the date was. He took the pictures and edited it down to one. Then he decided how he wanted it to look with saturation and dodging and everything. I asked him what verse he had been thinking about lately, and he quoted John 14:15.
Then when we were putting it all together in an e-mail he said, "That verse is perfect for that picture because if the puppy loves Pappy then he will obey him."
I love the way my boys brain works. We often see him working out what he knows about God and the Bible compared to the world around him.
Oh God, keep Your grip on Your sons heart. I acknowledged that he is Yours since before he was born, and You have been so faithful to him, not like I have been faithful to him. I praise You!

Independence: Drew fills bike tires

This video is from about October 2008. We love it when Drew shows his independence. He is such a trustworthy boy. We almost never find him doing something destructive or dangerous. So... we pretty much let him do what he wants to. We're so glad to be his parents. He is going to do great when we move to Mali!

Where in the World?

Yesterday,
Drew and I were cleaning the kitchen, and I asked him, "There are thousands of cities in Mali. So how should we decide which city to go to?"
Drew was thoughtful... He always is. And he said, "We should find out where there's a lot of people who don't know about Jesus."
I think he's right, and that's primarily what's on my mind right now as I think about where to take our family.
I asked Joe the same question this morning. Check out his blog.
(Written by Jeff)

Great Day

This was our attempt at an artistic photo (Jeff is writing.) illustrating our great day.





We played RISK, StarWars RISK nonetheless, while the boys snacked on gum-cellphones. This was the first time Drew had played. (I kicked his tail.) He really loves games.
This post is a lot for Drew's Kunkle Uncles. They would have loved to have been here. We're headed to Michigan for November. So maybe we can play a game then!!!

Abby? Hannah?

When I asked him about putting the name Abby on a picture of Hannah, Drew told me that he was wanting to write about his cousin Abby, who is here visiting, but he only found a picture of Hannah.

I'm still pretty proud that he's doing his own blog posts. In a year or two, I'll explain why girls don't like it when you call them other girls names.

I Love you

This is abby and me.I Love abby.

MTI

This is me and Hannah. It is breakfast time, and we are eating. We are good friends. We play a lot together. We are in Colorado Springs. We are at MTI. MTI is a mission training international place where we learn about new cultures. We go to classes. We do fun things like: playing games, doing crafts, playing outside on the playground, learning about conflicts, and learning about a pair-a-ducks (paradox). That's when you're happy and sad at the same time, or when you're happy or when you're sad. There is two kinds of ducks, a yeah duck and a yuck duck.
Yesterday everybody left except for my family and three other people. I was sad, and I was happy. And so were the other people that left. I was sad about that they were leaving, but I was happy that we got to do more fun things at MTI. They were sad because they were leaving us, but they were happy because they got to go do something fun like seeing a kitten.
(Typed by Jeff Frazee)

Drew's Thoughts from One Year Ago

This is a link to a recording that I did about Drew over one year ago. He's grown a lot since then, but he's very much the same boy. You probably already heard it, but CLICK HERE to listen again.

Drew Finished His Santa Letter Today!

This is a photo of Drew, Christmas '07 with Legos and a candy necklace... really, what more could you want?

Drew- "It took me two days to finish it. I'm gonna send it today. I hope Santa will bring me the things on the list: a stuffed horse, a stuffed dog, a food set... what was the other one? Mom, do you remember what the other one was?... oh, and a box of crayons. That's it."

So Drew is notoriously early with his Santa letters, and there may be a revision but more likely than not Drew will remember exactly what's on this list from now until Christmas eve.

Pray for Drew 001

Drew is at that great age where he's is totally in love with Christmas. He's all about presents, and even though he would probably say, 'No,' if you asked him if Santa was real he still puts out cookies and milk with the truest of expectations. Drew is a believer. I think that's a word that describes both his spirit and his personality. He's a believer.
We have always seen Drew as tender-hearted though he constantly surprises us with his independence and self-assuredness. He will have to make the most dramatic transition of all of us as we move to France. Right now he can read, he can ask the waiter for salt, he can interact with kids at the playground, but as soon as we move to France he's back to square one. He is very aware of all this, and he says he's up for the challenge.

Pray that Drew would continue to enjoy his school and stay focused on it though so much is changing around him.

Pray the Drew would be able to begin to assimilate French as we practice it at home.

And pray that Drew would be surrounded by godly men that would be examples for him and instruct him in obedience to God.

Soft Shoe

So yeah,
Drew tied his shoes all by himself on August 10th. He has been able to tie his shoes for a long time now, but it always took someone sitting there to encourage him to keep going. This time he did it with out any help, and he got a really nice tight knot. He only owns one pair of shoes with laces, and he doesn't wear them all that often. But it's a good skill to have anyway.
(Written by Jeff Frazee)

Bible story

This is Jeff writing.
Last night I was reading the story of Cain and Able to Drew. When it was done Drew said, "I wonder why God did that."
"Did what?" I asked.
He replied, "Why He let Cain live a long time."
"Instead of what?"
"Instead of giving him a short life like Able."
I told him that I didn't know, but I thought, "If you can ask those kind of questions and still love and trust God, our Father, you're half way there."
I am so excited for Drew to become less and less my son and more and more my brother, a child of the King.

Making a chair

I painted a chair, and today I am going to paint another chair and help make that one too. I also helped with the lawn yesterday and rolled it out. And nothing else, that's it.