Hey, Jeff and Skyler,meet Laytham and his rattlesnake!

Now let me tell you the story behind my young Jordanian friend and his homemade critter. Laytham lives in Amman, Jordan. He is the son of church workers whom we know well as they interned at our North-Mar Church for several years, before they were commissioned to come to this country. Laytham was assigned the homework of making a rattlesnake to learn about its habits. I told him about your very successful project of snake-from-pop-bottle-caps at Camp Sagamore and the next thing I knew, he had his mom's button box out and a new snake was born. He's a lot of fun to be with, as are his brothers and sister Tate, Madeline and Breaden. Pictured below, they are shown eating ice creams at a nearby shopping mall.
This is his family in the same shopping area where we all went to eat schawarmas (spelled wrong?). The parents are Arab Lands Field Director Ed Mangham and his wife Julie.
....Oh! By the way. This posting is for everybody, but I just had to start it out telling about that adorable snake and the two Jeff and Sky made in New York. Happy memories!

Laytham and his sister, Madeline, go to this school.
This is Madeline (below) as she leaves school for the day. (They all wear uniforms.) It is called the International School and it and Breaden's are two of the best in the county. English speaking Jordanians and expats attend here. According to their Mom, homework is intense, so, although they like their school, they look forward to leaving for a one-year furlough in the United States in about one week. They will attend school in Atlanta, Georgia and even four-year-old Tate will start pre-school. Their dad will be on tour, visiting many churches, but only part of the time. The first few weeks, Julie and children will go to Omaha, Nebraska to visit her family. I think I know 4 grandparents who will be very happy about these plans.

This is Breaden's school. He is the oldest and he is in the 5th grade.
Here Breaden is leaving his school for the day. I hope you can tell that it is campus-style.
Friends of the Manghams (and ours, too, because John and Darlene LeTexier interned at our church for several years).
John will take over as Field Director when the Manghams leave, but first they are taking the better part of a month to visit family in the USA. Please pray for John as he has had some medical problems and, though he says he seems to be feeling better, he will see a physician in America. We're all hoping for a good report.
Here is a better picture of the three children; a closeup. Their names are Karis, Daniel and Jack.
Now here is a better picture of Jack. He blinked.

I know I sound like a grandma now, but I have to add: the LeTexier and Mangham children are all attractive, healthy, intelligent and extremely well-behaved. And then some. Hey, I never met a kid I didn't like, but what I say about these children is true.
Last but not least for this posting is a photo of Grandpa and me with the LeTexiers and Daniel and Shirley. Daniel grew up in Jordan and went to school in the Philippines. There he met and married Shirley, and they will have a baby in July. They live near all our friends and are taking care of his elderly parents. They are very happy.
We went to church today, but left before the sermon as our Arabic is a little rusty. The people seemed very enthusiastic. In Arab countries Friday is the day off. Sunday everyone works, goes to school or whatever. That makes church attendance a little low, but the congregation also meets on Thursday evening. Then they can sleep in the following morning. The local English newspaper listed 19 churches in the city of Amman.
I'll tell you more about that tomorrow, I hope.

Love you all and miss you, too. Grandma for Grandpa and me