The Amos Family

Laughter Feels Good

2009-09-05T13:42:00.002-05:00

Sitting Up in the Tub -- WOOHOO!

2009-09-05T09:11:00.004-05:00

Pete loved sitting up in his new tub for the first time. He liked patting his hand on the bouncy side of the tub as much as the water. He hardly noticed it was bathtime actually. He was fascinated watching his hand bounce off the tub every time he hit it!

We could hardly believe it when Pete grabbed this little cup and just started swigging away at the water. He really likes it and is learrning so many new things he can do on his own.

Pete could swing in this swing for hours if we would let him. He holds onto those yellow ropes for dear life. He actually cried the other day when I took him out -- it was sad and really cute all at the same time. He just enjoys life most all the time.

Swimming and Sitting Up!

2009-08-19T22:25:00.002-05:00

Pete love chewing on this yellow ring, as much as being in the water!

Hey, you caught me sitting up, even if it was for only 10 seconds.

Pete flashes those big blue eyes at most everybody and melts their hearts.

My birthday package finally arrived two months late, but we celebrated anyway!

We have too much fun together and it gets better everyday!

These are just a few pictures from our day to day life here. Pete went to his first swimming party for Tess's 1st Birthday Party! It sure was fun and we were all surprised that he never wanted out of the cool swimming pool. It was too chilly for the adults, but the kids ate it up! Also, as you can tell Pete has started sitting up for moments at a time and it is really fun. He has had a lot more fall overs than long moments of sitting up, but he keeps on trying and never cries about it. He is a joy to our lives and it has been a joy to us too, to see how many people he shares the same happiness with. He makes so many people smile and our friends all enjoy moments holding him and he loves to snuggle with new faces and hold thier faces. What a WONDERFUL time of life!

Holding My Head Up

2009-07-14T04:23:00.003-05:00

Pete is really starting to have fun on his belly. When he figured out how to really hold his head up, it was like he was discovering the world for the first time all over again! You could see the fascination and wow in his eyes as he looked around. He has started to grab for toys and pull them to himself to play with. He rolls over well, except when he is really tired! And he is almost able to roll from back to belly too. He has figured out lots of things on his little exer-saucer seat in the picture above. He is a content and happy little guy and we have so much fun with him. We had a great 4th of July too and we found some red, white and blue in his wardrobe, but you have to look closely for the red converse shoes!

Mount Karisimbi - 14,787 ft.

2009-07-10T02:28:00.004-05:00

Four of us guys, missionaries in Rwanda, decided a couple months ago to hike Rwanda's tallest peak - Karisimbi. This mountain is part of the Virunga mountains which are extinct volancos. Karisimbi is sometimes snowcapped, thus it's Kinyarwandan name referring to snow. So, we've been training off and on in preparation of our trip.

We started the summit on Wed., July 8th at 7,200 ft. and hiked to base camp which took us about 5hrs. Already we were pretty tired since we carried up all our gear - 26 to 30 lbs for each pack. It was also neat to have about a half dozen Rwandan soldiers with us. They carried AK-47's and one guy had a bazooka. They were protecting their borders but also us from cape bufallo, gorillas, and guerillas. We didn't see any of these three.

The next morning we left at 5:30am with temperatures around 35 degrees. The one pictuture shows us hiking up above tree line. We summited Karisimbi - 14,787 ft - around 9am. It was beautiful. You could see neighboring Congo just yards away with Mt. Mikeno looking back at us (this is the mt. behind us in the last picture). We sat up at the top for about a half hour, singing thanks to the Lord for His Creation. Afterwards, we headed down and out. Rwandan is such a magnificent country. We saw such beautiful scenery, from moss covered trees that were ancient to trees that looked like they were from a Dr. Seuss book.

For my friends and family: Drew Custer: notice my coat and Jordan Clark: my Jacko hiking pole. Both are going strong. And Haley, I'm wearing the hat you and Joe bought me for Christmas. I look good.

Trip to Uganda

2009-06-21T01:15:00.005-05:00

We recently went to Uganda last week. It was a whirlwind trip seeing missionary friends in Mbarara, Kampala, and Jinja. Rebecca lived and worked in Jinja for 2 1/2 years and so Pete and I got to see her old stomping grounds. We visited the church in Wankonge and the Christians there were excited to meet little Pete.

Pete also made a new friend. The Bogles, missionaries in Jinja, have a little boy Adam. He liked Pete's bumbo so much that he had his parents get his old one from the attic so they could sit together. They were a cute pair.

Pete's Favorite Toys

2009-06-20T08:58:00.008-05:00

Here is Pete with his favorite giraffe. We have switched its name from Sophia to Stella. Thanks for the wonderful toy, Grandma Stella. He also really likes his ball. It is easy for him to grab and put in his mouth.

Grabbing Things & Care Packages

2009-05-24T09:51:00.003-05:00

Pete has made some big steps this week. He has started to realize that he can grab things, bring them to his mouth and throw them down. He really works hard at focusing on objects and putting his little hands together to grab them. He also moved out of 0-3 month clothes this week and as you can see from the picture above, he is quite happy about it! He loves sitting in his Bumbo seat and looking all around. Also, as you can see from the pictures, Pete has gotten his Daddy's blue eyes. They are so pretty. Pete also loves reading books and he usually really studies the pages and can already read a few words, we think!! Okay, not yet, but he's well on his way!!

We got our first care package mail this week. We got Reeses pieces, gum, Crystal Light, fruit snacks and Tootsie Rolls, as you can see. Mail from America is a wonderful thing, no matter what it is, it is such an encouragement to us. Thank you to everyone who has dropped things, big or small, in the mail for us. They lift our spirits in so many ways.

Don't Worry...Warm Baths are the Norm!

2009-05-15T12:12:00.005-05:00

Thank you to everyone who has been so concerned about Pete. We have possibly recieved more feedback from our last blog posting than any other. Everyone has been so worried about little Pete and his crazy parents who give him cold baths! Just to put everyones mind at ease, it wasn't really cold, just lukewarm cause the power was out. He usually does have warm baths and I certainly could heat water on the stove if necessary. Pete just doesn't like getting out of any bath, warm or not, cause he would rather be all bundled up!

We are attaching another picture after a usual happy bath time. Also, he got to wear a little hand me down hat from our cousins. He will not be doing any hunting anytime soon, but thought we should pose for a picture before we outgrow the hat.

Pete finally has a room all his own at 3 months old. The picture above is part of his little room, simple and comfortable. He sleeps great in his room and seems to love sleeping in Africa. He sleeps from 8:30ish to 6:30ish each night.

And the picture of the banana tree is in our front yard. We are waiting for it to ripen, they should be delicious. We wish you all could be here to enjoy a tasty one with us. Take care and God bless.

Heads Up!

2009-05-08T13:20:00.003-05:00

Pete is getting so big and strong. He is really liking to sit up and look all around. He also loves to flex his legs and "stand up" while we hold him. But as you can tell, there is one thing he doesn't like....and that is a cold bath. Without a water heater, his bath time is not always so fun. Sometimes we can get the water warmer than others, but this time, even the Cookie Monster towel couldn't bring a smile to Pete's chilled little body!! He loves singing, rhymes, reading books, sleeping, drinking milk and Rwanda!

Happy Boy

2009-04-18T13:40:00.003-05:00

Pete is sporting a Longhorn's shirt with a smile.

Akagera Park

2009-04-13T11:07:00.005-05:00

The guys in the missionary community here took a camping trip last week. 14 of us piled into two land cruisers and traveled 2.5 hrs to the eastern part of Rwanda to a game park called Akagera. Above are some animals we saw. Hard to believe we saw the following animals just a short distance away: elephants, hippos, crocs, giraffes, cape buffalo, warthogs, impalas, baboons, water bucks, elands, roan antelope, reed bucks, topi's, green mamba, crested cranes, and other various birds. Great times. We camped out in tents and heard hippos talking to each other all night. We even heard a hyena howling, too. This was a great time of bonding and getting to know each other. Praise God for His unique and wonderful Creation.

Our First House!

2009-04-10T11:08:00.004-05:00

Hello all. We are in Rwanda. Hopefully you have seen our newest newsletter for April that we just sent out. Above are a couple of pics from our trip. Pete had to wear his own special seat belt while sitting on Rebecca's lap. He seemed to enjoy it alright! He looks sharp in his red long johns. When we got off the plane in Rwanda, we saw this sign from our teammates. You can tell who they were more interested in seeing... not me but Pete!! And rightly so, I guess.

As the title above states, we just signed an agreement to rent our first house. We signed the documents today and paid for the first three months rent. We did this in order for the owner to have money to make the needed repairs to our home before we move in (hoping May 1). Then on the day we move in, we pay another three months rent upfront. Things work a little diffently in Rwanda!! Our landlord is a major in the Rwandan military and seems very likable. We feel very blessed by God with our new home. It is very close to the Shelbys and about an 8-10 min. drive from the rest of our crew. The last picture is our front yard. And there is room for visitors so please come see us!!

Training at ECHO in Florida

2008-10-18T15:08:00.003-05:00

We just got back from a week at ECHO (Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization) in Ft. Myers, FL. We were involved in a conference that confronted issues such as health, culture, agriculture, and community.

Upon arrival, Heath's Uncle Carl picked us up from the airport and as you can see there was no doubt as to who our ride was. We could see the AMOS sign from halfway down the terminal and laughed heartily about it. Uncle Carl and Aunt Becky live just about 80 miles away from Ft. Myers, so we were able to visit with them for the day before the conference started. It was a special time together and we definately were fed like kings.

As you see in the pictures above, some of our time was spent in the classroom with, Dr. Daniel Fountain, 30+ year missionary to the Congo. He shared much with us about cross-cultural communication and teaching. His experience was phenominal and we gleaned much from his interactive class during the week. Many of his thoughts will stay with and influence our work in Rwanda.

Also, we spent a lot of time out on the global farm at ECHO. They grow and experiment with numerous types of farming and plants, that are used in tropical environments or third world cultures. Their study is devoted to improving or supporting practices that are already happening on the field. They also do much reasearch with appropriate technology that will improve the lifestyle, health and culture of third world countries. We were so impressed by this farm project, that we are planning to have Heath go back for two weeks in November to have more hands on training with agriculture. We see this as a wonderful avenue to reach people in Rwanda, as the small subsistant village farm is a daily part of most everyone's lives.

The picture that has Rebecca eating a leaf, was typical of the week on the farm. We learned so much about new plants they are discovering that have phenominal nutritional value and can be easily grown year round in the tropics. I had no idea so many leaves of plans could be eaten!

Also, you see me just over 5 months pregnant. Getting a bit bigger and loving little Pete, with all his kicking and twisting around. We are counting down the days until February 13th! We are doing well and love you all.

The Days of Our Lives (Random info and pics)

2008-10-08T15:44:00.010-05:00

We had a fun few days in Lubbock! We did spend time in two sessions learning about finances and development work in Africa, but we also spent time dove hunting (slow hunts) and prairie dog hunting. You can see the excitement of our team's kiddos! It was nice to get away from Fort Worth and relax a bit at the Dahlstrom ranch. Green Lawn cofC also gave our team a blessing at the end of each morning service on Sunday. They introduced and prayed a special prayer on us. It is a blessing to have this special church support in this work.

At the beginning of Sept. we went to Houston and bought appliances at a 220V store. Rwandan electricity is twice the voltage of ours so we thought we'd ship a few items in our container. Plus Rwandan prices are EXPENSIVE due to everything being shipped there thru Kenya or Tanzania. It was a fun filled day buying a few needed items. We also were blessed to be part of a blessing ceremony at Bammel Rd. cofC where Chris Shelby grew up. What a blessing having all of these churches partnering in our ministry in Rwanda.

Baby _____? and Dove Season

2008-09-15T14:33:00.002-05:00

We have big news for anyone who doesn't know already...we are expecting a baby in February. That makes me almost 19 weeks pregnant and feeling great still. We will find out next week whether it is a boy or girl, but either way we are thrilled to have a healthy little one on the way. We have moved to Roanoke, TX, just north of Ft. Worth, to work with our supporting congretation in Richland Hills. We are joined by our whole team, except Sam and Nandy Shewmaker, who are already in Rwanda. We are having a great time and staying really busy with training, visiting church members and going to many home Bible study groups to get to know folks. We are preparing to send our container with our things overseas at the first of October, so that has filled up our days too. It has been fun preparing for a baby in Africa too! We plan to have the baby in Lubbock and leave for Rwanda soon after in March of 2009.

As you can see from the picture, we have enjoyed some time back in Lubbock since moving, as Heath got to join in on the opening of dove season. Hunting out at the Dahlstrom Farm is great fun and I have no doubt that Heath will get in all the hunting he can before hanging up the guns to go to Rwanda. God has been good to us and we are thankful to Him each day.

Glacier National Park

2008-06-05T22:20:00.007-05:00

We had a great time in Calgary visiting with Jordan and Kari Clark and their family. We spent most of our time catching up with them and meeting their kids, Peyton and Drew for the first time. Jordan took us to this tower overlooking most of the city and they just installed a glass floor in it, where you can look all the way down. It was slightly terrifying, but really pretty amazing. We included some pictures. We also were able to see where the Olympics were held here a few years ago and where The Stampede (I think the world's largest rodeo) is held. It was really neat and very encouraging to visit with the Clark's.Then we headed to Glacier National Park on Tuesday and spent some time driving around the park and did a little hiking. We thoght we were lost for a moment, when we saw the St. Mary sign - did we take a wrong turn to WV??!! Thankfully no.
It is still really cold up here! It was 36 degrees last night, so we decided to car camp for the night. It was much warmer and we got a lot more sleep that way. Most of the passes are closed now and so we were a little limited in what we got to see, but it was still beautiful and worthwhile. We saw some mountain goats way up on a mountain and a wolf trotting in an open field and the glaciers were amazing. The drive through Big Sky Country in Montana is AWESOME! God's glory is everywhere.
Tomorrow we head to West Yellowstone to visit with the Loomis family for a few days.
Hope you are all doing well and we are excited to see you all again soon. Take care and God bless you all.

Banff, Canada

2008-06-02T14:27:00.006-05:00

Well, we are in Canada for a brief visit to the beautiful Rockie Mountains and to Calgary to visit one of Heath's good friends, Jordan & Kari Clark. We have done some beautiful hiking and seen some amazing sites. If you can tell how amazingly blue/green the water is in the pictures, I only wish you could see it in person. We have had great weather and are truly enjoying ourselves. We've been to Lake Louise, Emerald Lake and have climbed several other mountains. What joy to be out in God's awesome creation!

We are here for one more day, then we go to Calgary to spend some time with the Clark's. Then down to Montana for a few days to do some more hiking and visiting friends. I hope you are all well and enjoy seeing some pictures. As always, pictures don't do God's creation justice, but we thought you might like a glimpse! One of the pictures is of our gondola ride down Sulphor Mountain - we hiked up and got to ride down for free!! Very fun!

FINISHED!!! - 510 miles

2007-07-24T11:46:00.000-05:00

Just to let all of you guys know we are finished hiking. During the last week of the journey, we climbed Bear Mt. which is only about 30-45 minutes from NYC. This Timber rattlesnake wanted Rebecca to cuddle up but we kept trucking after a quick photo. We got picked up on July 16th in Unionville, NJ. Not too exciting of a place and yet we met the mayor and were allowed to take a shower in his house (pic above). That was a blessing for us and my family who picked us up for it would have been a long and smelly 8 hr drive back to WV. On our last full day of hiking, we saw two sets of bears (mom and cub): once in the morning on the trail and the other set was leaving our tent site! Go figure, we were a little apprehensive sleeping that night. We had a fantastic trip and plan on hiking more of the trail again; however, it'll probably be a while before we get a chance again. The map above shows what we hiked this year and last and what is left. Thanks for keeping up with us on the trail. God blessed our time away and He took great care of us. God's blessings on you.

AT Blow Out

2007-07-12T19:49:00.000-05:00

Hello from the Hudson River in New York! We crossed over the river on Bear Mountain Bridge, built in 1923 for $5 million and it was beautiful. We are in the hometown of West Point Military Academy for the night and resting well. Heath found some shrimp at the local deli and is enjoying it while we wash our clothes in a sticky, stinky laundromat - delicious! The days have been really hot and humid, but finally we had a big thunderstorm yesterday and cooled things off. We are drawing close to finishing our trek - only 4 days of hiking left. Unfortunately, as you can see above, my shoe blew out 3 days ago and we've had to duct tape it together for the last week. Just after the bottom of my shoe fell apart, we were sitting on some rocks on the trail and another hiker came by who had excess tape and let us borrow some. (We had thrown ours in the trash about 1 week earlier, thinking we would not need it! Oops.) So now, about every 30 miles, we have to retape her up and I am good to go -- just pray that it makes it 50 more miles these next few days. We are having fun still, but will be glad to see you all again and lay our backpacks down for a few days. We have so blessed with good hitch hike rides, good pizza and ice cream, great trails to hike and lots of helpful, kind people (along with a few strange fellas!) We will be picked up in New Jersey on Monday and fly home on Thursday - 19th! See you all soon.

Into New York

2007-07-10T12:55:00.000-05:00

We are in New York!!! We have just finished 400+ miles. Things are going fantastically and we are drying out from all the rain! Only to get soaking wet from sweat in the 92+ degree weather. What happened to the pleasant New England weather?? We are really doing well and we are going to be able to go 100 extra miles through New York State! We climbed Massachusetts highest peak, Mt. Greylock, that has the lighthouse pictured above on the summit. It was beautiful. Then we went on to Connecticut, my Dad's (Peter) home state, and climbed Bear Mountain, one that he has climbed several times in his childhood days. It was really fun, even though we did summit during a thunderstorm!! Yikes. We now are resting in a little township in New York for the day for a break from the heat -- we are a little ahead of schedule. We saw our first real snake yesterday, pictured above. It is a corn snake and thankfully no bites. Heath did have to move it with his hiking pole, because I didn't want to step over it! No worries though, I don't think they are poisonous. Also, we threw in a picture of a tree with a white blaze on it -- that is how we find our way along the trail. About every 100 ft. there is a white mark on a tree or rock that tells us the way to go. Pretty great, since I am not so good with a compass. Well, we better get going for now. Just 6 more days until we finish up our 501 miles this summer!! See most of you soon and God bless.

Massachusetts

2007-07-03T09:34:00.000-05:00

We are finally in Massachusetts. We climbed Mass's tallest peak yesterday, Mt. Greylock, and have finished 287 miles, total this trip. We have 2 weeks left to go. We are taking an easier day today in Dalton, a town which the trail runs right thru. This guy invited us to stay in his house and he is very famous amongst hikers for his hospitality - Tom Levardi. He gave us cake, lemon pie, and HUGE ice cream sundaes with whip cream!!! Not much else because we are in a hurry so we'll put some pictures up next time. Love you guys. God bless.

The Amoses and the Three Bears (minus one)

2007-06-20T15:15:00.000-05:00

Hello there. We are in Hanover, NH which is right on the VT/NH border. We are excited about leaving NH and hiking in a different state tomorrow. We have just finished 110 miles in 8 days, pretty good for us. As the title tells, we saw a couple black bears on our hike, two little black bear cubs up in the trees. One id pictured above. We never did see momma; however, we didn't stick around to wait on her either. So our animal count is two bears, two moose, three snowshoe rabbits, toads, snakes, partridge, mosquitoes, etc. Our trip has been enjoyable. The picture above is of a shelter that we stayed in, the Hexacuba. Also, you have have heard about the Old Man in the Mountain in New Hampshire -- his nose has fallen off in the past few years. But Heath and I found and took a picture of his son, if you notice in the picture above! :) That is it for now. God bless.

P.S. We went to church at the little church in Glencliff, NH (11 members) and were blessed to be invited to the minister's home for a fantastic roast chicken dinner!! Yummy.

Week 1 - Hiking in White Mountains

2007-06-16T20:56:00.000-05:00

We have just finished our first 66 miles, over the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Our start day was delayed at Mt. Washington, due to a biker holiday, when no vehicles are allowed up the mountain except motorcycles. So we started on Tuesday morning, when the weather was sunny and beautiful. We had great weather all 5 days. We climbed a lot of big uphills and steep downhills for our first few days out and now we are feeling pretty wiped out. We were above treeline for the last time and will miss the amazing views of the Appalachain Mountains. But we are thankful to be moving on to some smoother ground, as well as having legs and feet that are used to all the walking. We will miss the moose and wildlife of Maine and NH - we've already seen 2 moose, 3 snowshoe rabbits, a partridge, lots of frogs and little harmless snakes and a beautiful woodpecker. We have posted a few pictures of the fantastic scenery we pass by each day and a few other things. We are in Glencliff, NH for the night to shower, eat and restock! Thanks for your prayers. By the way, we have a new niece, Annabelle Good Dahlstrom, born on Sunday morning, one week ago. Praise God!!

Entering the World of Blog -- Finally!!

2007-04-23T19:16:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to see how this would work out. We are hoping to stay in better contact with family & friends this way, when we leave for Rwanda in the Fall of 2008.