jess and andy

remember how you saw the picture of that cute couple with that cute babe? and, some of you were like, who are they? you know, of course, that is the bear they are holding. but some of you smiled with joy to see a recent picture of shaver. and, maybe you smiled broader to see that he has a love.

her first food? vegan chocolate cake, of course! given to her by her sister, who insisted that, "she has teeth! she wants cake!"
andy and jess were in town from darfur, sudan where they have been doing aid work. andy has been doing a lot of project management while jess is involved in education. we were so stoked to see andy and meet jess for the first time. they came to our place for dinner. ironically, the electricity went out right before we sat down to dinner. the lasagna and cake had already finished cooking, at least. they were unfazed, telling us that they lose electricity every three days or so.

it's hard to capture what life is like for them on a daily basis or what it's like for the people who live in sudan. here is a bit of what jess said in a recent e-mail (that i hope she doesn't mind me sharing):
"we are finding our way back into being here, with important friends' departures to mourn, and new people to find ways to accomodate. the rains are here, so people are clamouring for plastic sheets to cover the classrooms made from woven grass and bamboo. and we are struggling to access areas whose roads are flooded out; we have to get imaginative! i am very excited to be going to the mountains this weekend, to visit the schools and communities we are serving. i hope to take hundreds of photos, which i will try to share."


think of them and the work they do in your prayers.

if there is cake, it must be someone's birthday. she and her dad made this cake together. e hung onto candles all day long just waiting to blow them out!

goosegrease over on etsy makes these cool wooden families. you can get one customized to resemble your own family.

this makes me look forward to winter, christmas time, andy's birthday and my birthday. but who has ever seen an elephant in the snow...at the mailbox? perhaps sarahjanestudios had a dream where this image appeared.