Emily's First Broken Bone...

Oh so graceful...

Fewer than 3 hours after landing in the U.S., Emily slipped on the ice and used her right arm to break her fall. Boom!- compression fracture of the radial head. (Translation- she broke her elbow.) Em has lived in cold climates her entire life, but it seems that after 3 months in West Africa, she somehow completely lost the ability to navigate an icy driveway. (Curse Detroit and its sub-freezing weather! Argh!)

At first we thought Emily just sprained her elbow, but after a couple of hours, movement of the joint became limited and muscle spasms set in. So, the two of us spent our first evening stateside in the ER. (Fortunately, they weren't very busy so the visit only took 3 hours.) The fracture was obvious on the xray. The ER splinted and wrapped Em's entire arm. It hurt like crazy the second day and she maxed out on ibuprofen. (In retrospect she admits that she should have accepted the PAs offer for something stronger. Oh well. Thankfully, the pain improved markedly on day 3.)

The ER sent Emily to an orthopedist 4 days later, just to make sure the bone was in good position to heal and it would be okay for her to travel the last leg of our journey (to Utah). The ortho said the radial head heals without any problem and it doesn't need a cast or even a splint. So, we are just wrapping the elbow (to prevent movement and to protect the bone from being bumped by kids) and Em is planning to wear a sling for a few weeks. As you can see it is very stylish...

Taking a break from Abidjan

Photos from Jay's drive to work.

U.N. troops guarding Ouattara's home and workplace (The Golf Hotel).

We just wanted to let everyone know that we are safe. Our family was okayed for an early R&R, so we will be leaving Abidjan on Wednesday (Dec 16th) to spend 3 weeks in the U.S. for the holidays. So far, there have been no major incidents of violence, so the Embassy has not yet issued an evacuation order. However, we have been stuck at home a lot over the past 2 weeks and the situation is tense enough that we would prefer to take the boys elsewhere. Please feel free to pass the news along to anyone who may be asking about us.

An update on the situation in Cote d'Ivoire:
Through various political maneuverings, Laurent Gbagbo (the incumbent) has "authenticated" his own claim to the presidency and is refusing to step down. The president-elect (Alasanne Ouattara) is attempting to run the government from the Golf Hotel (2-3 mile walk from our home). Gbagbo has secured the support of the Ivoirian military and is blockading the hotel to prevent Ouattara from carrying out his office. The UN troops have surrounded the hotel to protect Ouattara. Fortunately, both parties claim to want a peaceful resolution to the crisis. So, the situation has become a staring match between the UN and Ivoirian troops with mediators and international representatives working feverishly to end the stalemate.

Gbagbo's troops hiding in the bushes. See them? This area is a stone's throw from the U.S. Embassy.

The situation is unsettling and lately, the action is happening a bit too close to home. So, we are grateful to be given an opportunity to fly back to the States for a while. Just FYI, the Church has sent all of the non-African elders to Benin and Togo until the conflict is resolved. These countries are still a part of the Abidjan mission, so the missionaries will be able to complete their assignments but it will be in a safer part of the mission. We pray that all of our friends, coworkers, and the Ivoirian people will safe in our absence.

Looking forward to seeing many of you soon!

Cote d'Ivoire has 2 Presidents... this does not bode well.

We are doing fine. The weekend was a bit tense since both Ivoirian candidates for president were sworn in. Yes, Cote d'Ivoire now has 2 presidents.... Burning tires and protests ensued... What a mess!



Anyway, if you want to chat or to hear us rant about the political situation, feel free to call. Jay has been going to work as usual during the work week and Abidjan has been pretty quiet. (Maybe they think if they ignore the problem, it will go away. If only...) We continue to keep a low profile, but (thankfully) the kids are totally oblivious to the goings-on. It's fortunate that they are young.

The Embassy is looking after us. We live in a safe neighborhood and have a secure home with 24-hour guards. Please continue to pray for us... especially for Cote d'Ivoire and for the 14 non-Ivoirian elders who have been shut away in an apartment for 10 days. If there is any real trouble, the Embassy will take care of us and God will take care of the missionaries. I'm mostly worried for the Ivoirians...

Ivoirian Elections - Take 2

First, we should probably reassure you all that we are safe and well. The U.S. news agencies don’t tend to report on happenings in West Africa, so you may be unaware of the craziness going on in Cote d’Ivoire at present. We have been laying low for about a week now, limiting travel away from home. Yesterday, we remained inside all day.

For Cote d'Ivoire's first round of elections (held on October 31st), there were 14 candidates on the ballot. The voting results were announced without any major disturbances. However, no one candidate held a majority. This necessitated a second round of elections between the 2 front-runners (Alassane Ouattara and Laurent Gbagbo). The final presidential election took place on November 28th and the results were not favorable. Everyone was hoping for a clear winner, but the results of the popular vote held both candidates too near 50% for comfort. A convoluted series of events ensued and both men are claiming victory, so Cote d’Ivoire is in a bit of an uproar.

LAURENT GBAGBO

(incumbent)

lost the election

ALASSANE OUATTARA

(opposition party)

won the election

There have been scattered episodes of violence, but nothing nearby where we live. The Ivoirian military, UN troops, and the local police force seem to have a good handle on things, but the situation remains tense. The next few days will hopefully provide the country with some level of resolution. We surely hope the politicians and diplomats can sort the situation out. For details and updates, please feel free to contact us. Be assured that the Embassy is keeping us well-informed and we are not in any danger. In the meantime, we (and Cote d’Ivoire) would certainly appreciate your prayers.

Thanksgiving in Cote d'Ivoire

We celebrated Thanksgiving twice. On Thanksgiving Day, we went to a pot-luck at the Ambassador’s house. The food was pretty good and it made for a low-stress holiday because we only had to provide one dish. James had a great time because he spent the afternoon with his friend (Connor) chasing the antelope-like creatures that live in the Ambassador’s yard. As you can tell, it was very hot and tiring work.

Our second Thanksgiving was a bit tainted by the fervor surrounding the elections. We invited the missionaries who serve in our church congregation to come for a belated holiday meal and we prepared lots of yummy food. Unfortunately, (due to security concerns) their mission president had them on lock-down. So, at the last minute, we invited a bunch of single guys from the Embassy to help us consume part of the food. We delivered the remainder to the missionaries two days later and discovered that there are 14 (non-Ivoirian) missionaries lying-low in one apartment. So far, they’ve been indoors for a week. Talk about cabin fever! For their sakes, I hope political situation will stabilize quickly.

We have decided that (despite recent events) we really like it here. We hope that the situation will stabilize and we will be able to stay. In light of the ongoing social problems and the recently volatile political climate here in Cote d’Ivoire, our family is reminded daily that we have much to be grateful for. Our experiences here (both positive and negative) have served to strengthen our relationships and our faith.

We hope that you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving holiday as well. Enjoy the snow and the nip in the air for us! We will enjoy the 90 degree heat, the mangoes, and the canna lilies for you.

James chasing the antelope-like creatures. He called them "deer". No, he never caught them.

The Marine Ball

On November 20th, the Marine guards at the Embassy hosted the annual Marine Birthday Ball. This is an important Embassy event especially at smaller posts. Emily's friend Rachael (who is also our neighbor) invited her to help decorate the Embassy atrium. The event was lots of work, but was lots of fun too. (More than once, Em had flashbacks of wedding planning.) We think the results were pretty impressive. Just check out the photos…

The decorated atrium

Oscar, Jay, and Emily at the Marine Birthday Ball

Emily's hairdo: Yes, it is mostly fake hair. She let the stylist do whatever she wanted to. Yes, it was quite heavy.

Arrival of HHE and James is 3! Hooray!

Thankfully, we received our household effects (HHE) shipment early in the month. For James, rediscovering his old toys was even better than Christmas. He was exceedingly happy and walked around with a contented smile on his face for at least 2 days. After all of recent changes in his life, James was probably just relieved to have familiar things around him. His parents were almost as happy. We were glad to receive our belongings safe and sound (especially our mattress topper and kitchen items.) Prior to our move, one of our State Department friends told us that (for 3rd- world countries) it is a good idea to “arrive heavy and leave light”. After living here for a couple of months, we realize why he made that statement. Being without most of our stuff for 3 ½ months and seeing how few belongings the Ivoirians have has made us acutely aware that we could easily do without most of our physical possessions.

We have spent a good portion of the month arranging things around the house. The office and master bedroom still need some attention, but we’re getting close. Because of the climate here in West Africa, it is impossible to store anything outside (unless it’s plastic). Everything made of metal rusts and everything made of paper or fabric molds. So we have to store nearly everything indoors, including tools and garage items. We are fortunate that our house has a lot of built-in storage. After all that box maneuvering, we’re guessing we could kick anyone’s tail at TETRIS.




James turned 3 on November 8th. Since our shipment had just arrived, we had a small birthday celebration amongst the boxes and invited our neighbors. James wanted a Thomas cake again this year, so Emily came up with a new idea and Jay executed it with impressive results. James loved his Thomas “happy birthday cake”… It had buffers and everything!




Simon cut three upper incisors this month and the fourth should emerge soon. He enjoys eating so this is good news for him. He already weighs 22 pounds and is getting very strong. For a couple of months now, diaper changes have been a wrestling match and removing the remote control from his clutches has become nearly impossible. On the plus side, Simon’s hulk-like strength also translates into really great hugs.

Election Day

October was a busy month for us. We spent most of our free time settling-in and learning our way around Abidjan. We received our air shipment early in the month and are so glad to have a few of our own things (sharp knives-hooray!). Some friends from the Embassy have shown us the best places to shop for food and household items, and we have done a little site-seeing. Primarily, this month was full of preparations (at home and at work) for Cote d’Ivoire’s Election Day (today).

As we are composing this entry, Emily and the kids are waiting-out Election Day at home. Jay is away for 5 days visiting Man (a city in western Cote d’Ivoire) where he is acting as an election monitor. The presidential elections have been postponed six times, so this is the first vote in Cote d’Ivoire in 10 years. The last one resulted in a coup d’état (1999) followed by a civil war (2002). UN peacekeepers and EU election officials are around in pretty good numbers and with so many eyes on Cote d’Ivoire, the opposing sides are eager to make a good impression. Everyone seems optimistic that things will go over peacefully. So far, so good.



Jay volunteered to help with the elections and those making the monitoring assignments probably figured he would be well-suited to handle a challenging area because of his language skills and knowledge of Cote d’Ivoire. At first, Em wasn’t thrilled to hear of Jay’s assignment. Man is many miles away and is in an area that is considered at “high risk” for civil unrest. Then, during a meeting, the Ambassador reminded us that “this is the reason the State Department is here"... to encourage responsible governance and political stability in Cote d’Ivoire. Afterward, Emily felt chastened and adjusted her attitude a bit.

If anything does happen, it will probably happen when the election results are announced... by then Jay will be back in Abidjan. Even so, please keep us and Cote d'Ivoire in your prayers. We aren’t in any rush to be evacuated and the last thing this country needs is more civil unrest.

Halloween 2010

Even though the U.S. Embassy in Abidjan has been very focused on preparations for the election, the community liaison officer managed to scrape together a little Halloween party for the kids. They walked around to the different offices and knocked on the doors for trick or treating. I think the adults had almost as much fun as the kids did.

James insisted that he wanted to be Buzz Lightyear for Halloween. We ordered the costume online shortly after we moved here and it arrived a couple of weeks ahead of time. When James saw the costume, he absolutely refused to put it on. His parents coaxed and cajoled for days, but he remained adamant.

Thanks to peer pressure and promises of candy, James finally agreed to wear the costume for the Halloween festivities. Then, he refused to take it off at bedtime and has insisted on wearing it every day since the party... Aren’t 2-year-olds great?!

Simon’s costume didn’t arrive in time, so we had to enlist the help of our neighborhood tailor. Emily printed out a photo from online and gave it to Ibrahim. It took him less than 12 hours to get the fabric and make the costume (without a pattern)...Emily was totally impressed. Simon is crawling full time now and getting into everything, so we decided a monkey costume would be fitting...

We hope all of you had a great Halloween too!

Enjoy our home video entitled: "When Baby Monkeys Attack!"

First Visit to Bassam

We made a trip to Bassam this weekend. It is a touristy coastal area just to the east of Abidjan. We stopped for lunch at an outdoor eatery on the beach. Emily tried to go wading with James but the waves were “too scary”...probably a good thing because the Gulf of Guinea isn’t as clean as used to be. We never actually made it to Bassam because we were distracted by yummy food and the vendors en route. Stalls selling African handicrafts line the road. It is apparent that Emily needs to practice her bartering skills, so we will definitely be making another visit.

Emily thinks this is why most African women have great posture... The ladies were selling roasted ground nuts (peanuts) and we think they taste better than Planters...

Why seatbelt laws are pointless in Cote d'Ivoire...

Bonjour from Cote D'Ivoire

Yes, the Biddulphs finally arrived in Abidjan! We have been here 3 weeks now. We are slowly getting settled and (after our crazy summer travel schedule) are really relieved to just stay in one place for a while.

Just a brief update on our new city... Abidjan had a good thing going and the civil war messed it up in a major way. (War sucks, doesn't it?) In general, things are a lot more run-down than Jay remembers (from when he served his mission here) and the infrastructure has been especially slow to recover. Overall, the city is quite dirty, but there are some areas that are nice. Internet hookup was available the night we arrived at post... that's 6 weeks faster than Belgium... so which is the third world country? Internet is surprisingly speedy and there have been no power outages as of yet. Groceries are really expensive, but services and local market goods are cheap. (dozen bananas- $1, small container of icecream- $10). And yes, the fruit does taste as awesome as we had hoped!

We are already in our permanent quarters...thankfully. The location of our home is fabulous...fairly close to the Embassy and right next door to 2 American families, one of which has 2 kids who are close in age to ours. There is a little park down the street... no play equipment, but there is a shaded sand box, tennis court, and pool (unfenced...eek!). Our house is fine for size, smaller than a lot of the other homes we have seen but at least it is all on one level (tile stairs = scary). The kitchen is outdated and sad, so we hope the Embassy will decide to make some changes there. Even if they don't, we can live with it. The place needs a good scrubbing, but overall it is much cleaner than our house in Belgium was when we arrived and (what's more important) Jay hasn't had any allergy issues.

We haven't checked out the beaches yet, but have plans to do so. Bim has great plans to improve our yard. Plants are extremely inexpensive and our gardener charges $16 for an 8-hour work-day. So, Emily thinks it will be great fun prettying the place up...especially since she doesn't have to do any of the heavy lifting. We already have a bunch of banana trees, a papaya tree, and a young avocado tree in our yard. We hope they will bear fruit soon. We are thinking about planting some sort of citrus tree.

The people are great here. The local staff, the neighbors, the guards, the gardener, and the people at church are all very nice and friendly. The Ivoirian kids are especially intrigued by our boys' hair and always want to touch it. Our nanny (Gladys) started full-time this week. She is very kind and patient with the kids and helps clean, cook, and do shopping. The med unit is looking for nurses, so Bim may decide to work part-time while here, but that probably won't happen until after the holidays at the earliest. In the meantime, she will focus on getting our family settled and learning French. Unlike Belgium, free French classes are provided by the Embassy. Yay!

Jay likes his job. The Ambassador and Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) are personable and reasonable and his staff are capable and easy to work with. Jay’s boss and the Ambassador left at the same time which leaves the DCM and then Jay second in command for two weeks – but so far no hair on fire. Jay remembers several of the people in our ward and even taught some of them. It’s nice for him to see some of the fruits of his mission so long afterward.

James and Simon are starting to feel at home here. Simon enjoys clapping and applauds for pretty much anything. He has just started to commando-crawl and we think he is cutting his upper middle incisors. James likes our neighbor, Connor who is just two months younger – they play nearly every day and are very active. Connor is even more rough-and-tumble than James so things can get tense at times. James is learning about conflict resolution...“No purshing Connor!” Another of James' favorite activities is chasing the local lizards, or marguias, which run around like squirrels do in the U.S. Our guards find it very entertaining to watch the spectacle.

We went to the local market and the port fish market and Jay’s colleague commented that he was impressed with Emily’s willingness and curiosity to brave the “raw” culture that Cote D’Ivoire has to offer. We bought a dorade, which was delicious. We also purchased some big-ole prawns and a tuna that we haven’t tried yet. At the port, you don’t buy fillets like at the supermarket – you buy the whole darn fish and they scale it or hack it up with a machete for you if you want. Next we’ll try the local butcher meat... beef tartar anyone?

Elections are scheduled for October 31st, and we hope they go well... for Cote D'Ivoire's sake. Also, we're not in any rush to leave Abidjan now that we're finally here and are getting used to the place.

Loves from Africa ~ The Biddulph Tribe

Hey, do I have something on my face?

Gotta love chocolate fondue!

Muscles!

James likes to "help" me with the dishes or watering the plants outside. He inevitably becomes completely soaked and has to be stripped down to just his diaper. On the date of this video, he decided to show off his muscles...

Muscles!

Biddulph Boys Update

The boys are growing like weeds, especially Simon. He is fond of eating and drooling and (now that his acid reflux is subsiding) he is a happy baby most of the time. Due to his appetite, Simon is a chunky guy and Em loves that his legs have chubby rolls. He loves to kick, pull hair, bite on his toes, make loud raspberry noises, and laugh at his older brother. In spite of his “tree frog” hands and feet (so sweaty!… between that and the drooling, he must lose a ½ liter of water per day), we have decided he is definitely a keeper.

James is nutty, as usual. He likes being a big brother most of the time. We are trying to break him of the habit of steam-rolling his baby brother. He tries to tell us he is “giving hugs” but we aren’t buying it and neither is Simon. Fortunately Simon is pretty patient and resilient to James’ physical expressions of brotherly adoration.

James talks all the time… even in his sleep. (Em was up feeding Simon a few nights ago and heard James laughing… “Ha,ha, ha. Funny mama! Oh gosh!”) Em can understand about 50% of what James says (which is better than her French comprehension, so that’s saying something). The words get clearer every day, so we’re pretty sure that he will be able to communicate well with Ben and Anders by the time of the reunion. Anyway, they’re all fluent in “Thomas” so we’re not too worried.

(James with his "Happy Mother's Day" flower)

The move is coming up quickly and we are daunted by all that we have to get done by mid-July. (Having kids in tow this time around makes everything even more complicated than usual!) However, we are very much looking forward to our 6 weeks of home-leave… the light at the end of the tunnel.

Hooray Visitors!

We had 2 sets of visitors in April/May, so we spent a fair amount of time traveling. Ange (Emily's sister) and Scott came to see us and we took a road trip to France. We visited Reims Cathedral, where all of the French kings were coronated. Then we proceeded to explore historic homes of French aristocracy in the Loire Valley. The chateaux were lovely, but our favorite place to visit was Amboise, France. The picturesque little town is where Leonardo DaVinci spent the last few years of his life. The manor where he stayed was lovely and had a spacious garden where we tried out some of his inventions.

On our last day, we traveled to Chartres cathedral and attended part of mass... then it was on to Giverny to visit Monet's gardens. Of course, we dragged Ange and Scott to the usual Belgian sites as well. We had a great time with them and are glad they are such laid-back travelers. We had to slow the pace a bit to accommodate the kids, but we visited a lot of cool places.

Our other visitors in May were our good friends, the Thains, who used to live in Belgium. They stopped by to see us for a couple of days and we were so, so glad! We were also glad that (having already seen the sites) Ellen and Jerry were content to just lay low and eat yummy food (especially English cheese) while we rested from our travels in France.

Trip to the U.S.

The highlight of March and April was our trip to the US. While there, we were able to attend the sealing of an adopted son (Dhiren) to our friends, Marc and Paka Martial. Since Marc was one of Jay's mission companions, he invited Jay's mission presidents... weren't they excited to hear that he (and his family) will be heading back to Cote D'Ivoire.





Another highlight was Simon’s baby blessing. Aaron and Alexandra were able to come to the blessing, which was a really nice surprise. Also, Jay’s older sister drove up from CA, so we were fortunate to have many family members present.







As usual, we had wonderful time seeing and spending time with all of our friends and family members. James’ long term memory is getting pretty good, because whenever we talk about the Family Reunion in August, he gets really excited. He remembers how much fun it is to play with cousins!

A Shot in the Arm

In February, we spent a good portion of the month building immunity. We had weekly visits to the embassy medical unit for vaccines and check-ups. James was a pretty good sport through all of it, mostly because he knew that gummy bears would follow soon after the jabs.

Em was perusing the CDC website the other day and realized that (by the time we depart for Cote D’Ivoire) we will have received almost every vaccination available… except Japanese Encephalitis. Aren't you glad to know your pets will be safe during our future visits… the Biddulph family is up-to-date on rabies. Merci Louis Pasteur!

One fun thing we did in February was to visit our friends, the Millers, who live in Dusseldorf. We traveled to some of the surrounding towns including Bonn, Germany. We stopped off at a HARIBO outlet store and stocked up on gummy treats and also saw the house where Beethoven was born. Bim was enthralled (favorite composer and favorite candy- gummy bears- both in the same day). James’ favorite was the indoor Legoland we visited.

Adjusting

As was reported in our last entry, Simon’s delivery went very well. Everything happened easier and faster this time around, so we certainly can’t complain. Em and Simon recovered quickly and were itching to leave the hospital after a couple of days. Belgian docs want moms/babies to stick around for 5 days after delivery for recuperation, observation, and blood work. Em was bored and longing for her own mattress, so she managed to escape by day 4.

It was so much fun having Mom and Dad here. They helped us finish up several projects and spoiled us with great meals and several mornings sleeping in. James was positively ruined by all of the attention and (even 10 days after their departure), he continues to mention them on a daily basis. We have been on our own with 2 kids for a several days now, and we’ve decided that the crazy/hectic factor in your home doesn’t just double with the addition of another kid… it increases exponentially. Em has flown solo with the boys only a few times and is a bit nervous that Jay’s paternity leave will be finished after this week. She is trying to be positive and take a lesson from James’ favorite book…”I think I can, I think I can, I think I can…”

Simon is doing well and growing quickly. He looks a lot like James did as a newborn only he has chubby cheeks, so his face is rounder. This is due to Simon being a skilled and voracious eater from the get-go. He has gained 1 kilo (2.2 lbs) in 4 weeks. We are grateful that Simon is such a mellow baby and puts up with James’ over-zealous expressions of adoration. We are very excited for Simon to meet some of you during our visit to the States in March/April.

Arrival of Simon Douglas Biddulph

He’s here!

Simon Douglas Biddulph, was born at 11:25PM on January 3rd, 2010.

Weight: 7 lbs 8 oz
Length: 20.5 inches

Mother and Baby are doing well and James is still in denial.

In other news, we enjoyed Christmas and the New Year with Mom and Dad (aka Grandma and Grandpa) Peterson. Belgium has received an unusual amount of snow in the past few weeks which James has enjoyed immensely. More news and photos will follow in a few more weeks...

Love,
Emily, Jay, James and baby Simon