Evi's new foot...

Well after over a month and a half of surgery, recovery, and the making of Evi's new foot we are almost to the finish line. Yesterday we received the final copy of Evi's new foot. We will wear it for all of next week so that she can make sure there are no problems before we return to Lesotho. Scottish Rite Childrens Hospital has been absolutely fantastic. Dr. Rathjen; Evi's surgeon went above and beyond to take care of Evi. She is healing magnificently, and the wounds are almost completely healed. Evi's Prosthetist has given us enough supplies to cover almost any problems that we have with Evi's foot the next couple of years.

Lesotho News:
You may remember that we had a break in to our house just a couple of weeks before we came to the states. That time they were able to steal $350 from my wallet without ever actually getting inside the house. Last Sunday we got word that our house was broken into again, although this time it was much more serious. Praise God that David, who is house sitting for us was safe. Here is my understanding of what happened.
They climbed a telephone pole next to our fence and was able to clear the barb wire on top of the fence. They then managed to break into three of our storage and tool sheds and even ripped some of the doors completely off the hinges. They then used my tools to remove a small window next to my front door. They then reached through the window, and opened the window above the small window. They then used a hacksaw from the tool shed and cut through two 1/2" burglar bars and pryed them back so one of them could crawl into the house. Once inside they attempted to bypass the security alarm by cutting all of the wires going into the alarm box. They also cut and removed a motion sensor and a door sensor above the front door. All of these should have set off the alarm, but the alarm appears to not be working properly. They then attempted to try and remove the sensor above the kitchen door to the outside and the alarm finally went off and they took off.
The alarm should send a signal to the security company but this was not working as well. It took over 30 minutes for the security company to get to the house after they were eventually called. The police came as well and showed up a long time later because they had to walk to the house. At first it appeared that nothing was stolen. But now it looks like either a tote of clothes was taken out of the storage shed or they removed the clothes and left the trunk, we aren't exactly sure yet. It also looks almost all of my power tools are missing that I just bought about 4 months ago. In the midst of all that was stolen we are extremely thankful that David was safe. MAF has hired a night guard to watch the house at night until we return later this month. The scary part for us is that there was somebody actually inside our house, and no alarm ever went off. Right now it looks like the best way to secure our house is to purchase a couple of dogs to watch the house. So when we return we will be shopping for a couple of dogs.

Dallas...

Sorry for the delay in posting an update. We have been busy since arriving in Dallas. Here is my quick list of things that we have done since we have been back...
* Adjusted to jet lag
* Visit with my sister beth and Nephew Kaden from Flagstaff
* My mom has helped us out taking care of the kids for the last 3 weeks... Thanks Mom
* Visited the Dallas childrens museum
* Surgery and recovery for Evi
* Gained about 10 lbs each for Leslie and myself..... Lots of good food here

As you can see we have been busy. We have had a great time with my mom and are sad to see her go back to Arizona on Tuesday. Evi is doing great and can't wait for her new foot. We have made a mold of her foot and they are now in the process of making the first socket for a test fitting on Wednesday.

Back to Texas

Well, we are almost finished packing and we leave tomorrow morning for the return trip to Dallas. Things have been busy in our household as we have been preparing to leave. On Saturday the 20th Evi celebrated her 4th birthday... We had a great time with Evi and 22 other youngsters who came to celebrate with us.
We are almost packed and are almost ready to leave. We have an 18 hour flight to Washington, and then a 3 hour flight to Dallas after clearing customs. Praise again for those of Park Cities Baptist Church for taking care of us and making all of the housing and living arrangements for us in Dallas.

Back to Dallas

Another little update on our lives here in Lesotho. We are preparing to leave for Dallas two weeks from tomorrow. I am busy at work trying to get a few more airplanes in the air before we head back to Texas. Currently I am installing a new engine in one of our airplanes. I hope to have it in the air and flying by the end of the week. We also have airplanes that need new cylinders and two others that need some major work on them before they can fly again.

We had an exciting weekend with someone getting through our security fence, breaking a window and stealing what amounts to $350 out of my wallet at 5 AM in the morning. It took a few hours and a detective wife to figure out what had happened. Unfortunately it was the one day of the month that I actually had more than about $10 in my wallet. I just withdrew money for gas, electricity, househelp and a number of other things.

We are still without a camera and we have officially given up and realized that our camera has been lost or stolen somewhere between Flagstaff and South Africa. It is a bummer because now is the time that Caleb is starting to walk. We hope to have a new camera bought by the time we get to Dallas so hopefully we can update pictures soon.
Danny Hulls

Evi Update

It's been a few weeks since we last wrote and things have changed a ton since then. Last Tuesday Evi had an appointment with her orthopedic surgeon in Bloemfontein, South Africa. To make a long story short, we are currently in the process of planning a return to Dallas in order to fix some concerns that we have regarding the way that Evi's bones have been growing since the amputation a year ago. Her Fibula is way outgrowing her tibia making it difficult for her to wear her foot for any period of time.
After some research and talking to her doctors we are in the process of planning a trip back to Dallas in order to surgically "repair" her leg. Please pray as there are many details and items that have to be finalized before we leave for Dallas.
We are still waiting for our camera to arrive after being repaired in the states. It was suppose to be here several weeks ago and it appears to be lost in the mail between Arizona and South Africa. hopefully it will arrive soon.

Kiddo news

Caleb has been due for a haircut for a while now. His hair has grown long but we wanted to wait until we had a camera. So we are now borrowing a camera and are able to get a before and after picture.


Evi has been going to preschool now for a couple of weeks. She is having a blast and wished that every day was a day for school. She always pics out her item the night before for show and tell and always comes home having a great day. We are happy that she is able to get some extra interaction with kids.


Speaking of Evi we ask that you continue to lift her up in prayer. She has been having some issues with her leg that are really limiting the time that she can wear her prosthetic leg. Right now she only wears her leg for about 4 hours a day when she goes to preschool and for church on Sunday. Everyday it is looking a little worse. Next Tuesday we are going to get some x-rays to try and determine what is going on. Please pray as she spends the next week without wearing her foot much at all. She has been having a great attitude, but she really wants to go outside and play every afternoon.

Hungry People

As you may remember me saying earlier Lesotho is in the midst of the worst drought in 40 years. More than 400,000 people are in immediate need of food aid. We often see trucks full of cement, food or a variety of other items that are not tied down. On Sunday on the way home from church we happened upon this accident just seconds after it happened. Luckily I am borrowing a friends camera and was able to take some pictures. It is sad to see this food go to waste when so many people are hungry.

Photos

Dallas Morning News

Check out this great article by Elizabeth Langton from the Dallas Morning News. We spent a lot of time between January and April with Elizabeth and the photographer Cheryl Meyer. Here are the links to the story and to the "audio/visual" presentation.
Story
Audio/Visual

August 31st, 2007

One year ago today at 10:15 in the morning marks one year since the accident at Ladies Bible Study. So how do you mark something such as that? I truly have no idea, other than to praise God for how Evi's life was spared and the celebrate the fact that she is running, playing, climbing like any three year old should be able to do.
I took Friday off of work so that we could spend the day as a family. We didn't do anything exciting and mostly we just hung out around the house playing with the kids. We want to thank all of you who played a vital part in supporting us as a family this last year. But unfortunately most of you are in America and we are in Africa. So a thank you via e-mail or this blog will have to suffice.
We have been working on some special projects around the house. The best thing Evi can do is keep physically active and this will help her in her mobility, balance, strength and general comfort in her new foot. Because this is not Dallas and I can't walk around the corner to take the kids to a nice playground I have to build one myself. And I am going all out. Wood is a little pricey here (Think over $50 for a sheet of plywood), I am using every last bit of wood that I can from our crates that we shipped our belongings in. I also purchased a slide and will make a swing, climbing wall, ladder, and other things for her to do.
Evi and I have also been making some "Water Rockets". Its some cheap entertainment and she loves the see how high the rockets go. Although her request for our rocket to go to the starts has not yet been fulfilled we are trying to make it go as high as we can. Although I must say that I am enjoying this as well, and trying lots of designs to see how high it will go.
Once again you see that there are no current photos. Sorry for the continued delay. But I know have word that my camera is repaired and is back in Flagstaff. So it should be mailed off soon and I can have it in a couple of weeks. I will then update with some photos of our rockets, jungle Gym and the family...
Thanks for praying.
The Hulls Fsmily

Still Waiting

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. I am still waiting to get my camera back from the states. The good news is that Sony says it is now repaired and is under warranty. Now I just have to wait two more weeks to get it in the mail. We are doing well, and this last weekend I have been building a jungle gym for the kids. It will have a slide, climbing wall an other things that will keep Evi active. She is very excited, and cant wait for it to be done. I will send photos soon... Also be on the lookout for an article on Evi in the Dallas morning news next Sunday. I will post a link once the story comes out.

A Full Team

For the first time since we left last year we finally have a full team here in Lesotho. Two families who were on furlough returned to work this Wednesday, meaning that all eight staff families are here in Lesotho. It is great to have everyone back and to share some of the workload that we have been maintaining recently.
The family is doing great and we have recently added two 5 weeks old kittens to the mix. Evi and mommy love the kittens and have named them Biscuit and cookie. Caleb also loves the new family members but loves to pick them up and squeeze them or throw them.
I am borrowing a friends camera this weekend and hope to get some pictures up soon.

Our weekend

Leslie and I just returned from Family conference. We had a great time at the game lodge and enjoyed spending time with some of the other MAF families and the ministry team from the states. We spent all day last thursday driving to the conference and today (monday) we drove back to Lesotho. We were able to view a variety of African wildlife such as Giraffe, Wildabeast, Blesbok, Baboon, Impala, Eland, Kudu, Zebra, Warthog and other wildlife.
There were some great photo ops, but that wasn't possible due to my broken camera. After Evi's accident I purchased a new digital camera. It worked great but about two weeks ago I noticed a dark spot on all the pictures due to dust on the lens. No big deal I thought and took it to a Sony service place in South Africa. They were not able to fix it but in the process broke the flash, and when I received the camera back from them it wouldn't even turn on anymore. So now I have an almost new camera that wont even turn on. The team from the states is taking it back with them to Texas, but from my conversations with Sony it doesn't sound like it will be fixed under warranty. Oh well, maybe it's time for another camera.
Anyways, that is the story as to why I don't have any amazing photos of African animals from our family conference.

Family Conference

IT is 5AM and we are off to family conference. We appreciate your prayers for safe travels (about a 8 hours drive) and for a time of renewal and refreshment. There is a team coming from the states to lead our conference.
Love,
The Hulls

Changing windsocks

We have been keeping busy here in Lesotho. It is also the beginning of windy season, and because of the extreme wind and climate our windsocks don't seem to last that long. We have a bunch of new ones coming but someone gave us a couple windsocks to use at our wind sensitive strips until we could get a permanent replacement. So here are some pics of me replacing the windsocks. There may not be any pictures after today. My camera that I bought last September has a big piece of dust in the lens, that the local Sony repair place couldn't fix. So I will have to send it to the states and hope to get it fixed there.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!! Well at least it feels a little like Christmas as it is the middle of winter here in Lesotho. Dr. Sarah, whom you may remember as the same doctor who flew with us to America is leaving Lesotho and moving back to Dallas. Before she left we had a big Christmas in July party after church today. It was a lot of fun, and the kids had a blast. Evi even enjoyed singing a Christmas favorite. "Santa Clause is coming to get you"

Evi's first flight

Today Evi took her long awaited first flight with daddy. We always promised her that after she turned three I would take her with me. Well, we were in America when she finally turned three and she has anxiously been awaiting her first chance to fly with me since we came back. She had a blast copying my radio calls, singing and looking out the window. She also had a chance to take over the controls and be my little helper pilot. She had a blast turning the airplane back and forth. Who knows, we may have a future MAF pilot in the works! She is already asking when she can go again.

Baby update...

No this is not a big announcement that we are expecting another bundle of joy. Rather I wanted to update everyone on the twins that I flew out of the mountains on Wednesday. Today I found out that both twins are still alive and doing much better. This is great news as we didn't even think that the girl would survive the airplane trip to Maseru. For now they are staying at the hospital in Maseru and will probably be returning to Nkau after they are released. Praise God that all are doing better and that they would continue to grow.I also wanted to enclose a picture of the latest "shop" in front of my house. You never know what they are trying to sell as I am coming home from work. They have sold a variety of things such as, fruit, phones, newspapers, carwash fluid, condoms, powercords and a wide variety of other objects. This photo is taken right out my front gate.

McDonalds & Prosthetists

Yesterday we had what the missionary community here in Lesotho call a "Bloem day". This occurs about once a month or so and is about a hour and a half drive from Lesotho. Bloemfontein is a larger South Africa city and people travel to Bloem for most purchases other than food. We had a busy day planned and Evi's highlight was the fact that for dinner on the way home we would stop at McDonalds and she could get a Happy Meal. We also were able to find a great prosthetist in Bloem who will be able to repair Evi's foot as needed and make her new one next year, this is a huge answer to prayer. We also took the kids to their pediatrician for their checkups and to visit all of the doctors taking care of Evi after her accident. They were all thrilled to see us back in Africa and were so excited to see Evi walking and playing.
Today we are back in Lesotho but it is the King's birthday so it is a public holiday. SO I will be busy doing some projects around the house and working on our car.

Here are just some random photos of the kids over the weekend after their bath.

My Day

Although today is not typical of all my days, it does show a little bit of what a day can be like for me.
At 6:30 AM Melvin (another pilot) and I got to work so that we could have a 7:00 AM departure to take the program manager and his visiting family to Methelanang to visit one of the missionaries in the mountains (Merrell). I promptly returned to Maseru to take the doctor team of four to a village called Kuebunyani. While en route we got a code one call (the highest priority life or death medical emergency) for Nkau. I hurriedly dropped the doctor team off and was at Nkau about 10 minutes later. I never know what to expect when I get a code one.
I saw about twenty people approach the aircraft bringing with them a lady on the stretcher and two newborns only a couple of hours old. The first baby was breech, and had one leg out and one leg inside. Dr Jen was able to deliver the baby and he was ok, considering he is 2 1/2 months early. They then realized that there was another baby who was breech as well. She did not fare as well, but was still alive as I showed up. Dr. Jen brought the baby over to the pilot seat and continued to do all she could the keep the baby breathing and the heart beating. We waited about 30 minutes for a nurse to run to the clinic and grab a shot of adrenaline. I spent this time praying and trying to secure the mother to the floor of the aircraft, she was bleeding and not able to sit up. The stretcher was to big so we left her on a small mattress and put that on the aircraft floor. I then used two straps to secure her to the floor. The shot gave the baby a fighting chance to make it back to Maseru where she could go to the hospital. The entire flight I was praying and looking back at the nurse who was taking care of the precious little girl. We were giving the baby oxygen and I hurried as fast as I could to Maseru. After the 40 minute flight, the baby was still alive but not doing well. We landed in Maseru where the mother and babies were loaded into the ambulance and taken to the hospital. I still haven't heard if the girl made it or not and so I'm still praying.
Fifteen minutes later, I was loaded up with over 400 pounds of medicine and 330 pounds of coal and took off to Nkau. After unloading this cargo, I got another Code 1 call for a lady from Kuebunyani. I landed about 15 minutes later and loaded up the patient with a doctor. She was also on a stretcher and I had to strap her to the floor as well. I then took off for Methelanang in order to pick up two of the eight people at Methelanang with my program manager. But after only 6 miles, the other aircraft said that it was two windy to land there. I returned to Kuebunyani in order to pick up two more doctors who needed to go to Maseru.
After returning to Maseru, I loaded up with more wood and coal and headed for the village of Tebelong to pick up another missionary who was heading to Maseru. We then headed back to Kuebunyai to pick up the three remaining doctors and passengers to Maseru. I landed at 4:27 just in time to head home and take a well deserved break. I flew a total of 5.5 tach hours and made 12 landings. Now I am ready for bed.

What were they thinking?

These are some pictures that I got via e-mail the other day of my dad and my nephew. Sometimes you have to sit back and ask "What were they thinking?"

FLY FLY FLY

That seems to be the extent of my week with a little bit of paperwork thrown in for fun. On Monday I started the week by completing our month end paperwork, this is an all day process and you spend most of the day correcting errors here and there. For June we flew over 150 hours in Lesotho with only four airplanes and three pilots for the whole month. I was able to fly a little over 50 hours for the month. Our days our busy with two or three airplanes flying every day. So on days that we fly, we average between 3.5 to 5 hours of flying with anywhere from 8 to 15 landings in a day. This can make for a very tired pilot by the end of the day. In between landings we are fueling, unloading, loading, preparing passengers and numerous other tasks that have to be completed, usually getting back to the airport just in time to go home.

This is a picture of the clouds last week over Lesotho. Unfortunately I couldn't find any holes to get down to the airstrip, so we ended up going back to Maseru. It was incredible view flying over the snow and the clouds.

In Maseru there were no clouds but they started right at the mountains and continued as far as the eyes could see.

This is a picture of Fran landing just a few hours after the last pictures were taken.

Happy Birthday Caleb

Caleb's first birthday was on Friday. We had a lot of fun with the other MAF families and their kids. Caleb enjoyed his first cake and mom enjoyed making it, staying up until 11 PM the night before making sure it was perfect.
The rest of the weekend was busy as well. On Saturday we had a 4th of July celebration with other Americans and Leslie spent the rest of the time doing most of her cooking for July.

Snow Day

Here are a few pictures from work today. We didn't get much done except catch up on some paperwork before the end of the month. The mountains were completely covered with clouds not allowing us to do any flying. Even if the weather is better tomorrow we don't know how much snow is in the mountains, and how long it will leave many of our mountain airstrips closed.
In other news on Friday we are celebrating Caleb's first birthday. He has been such an incredible baby this first year. He is so laid back and took the moves and living in the hospital in stride.

Africa Snowman

So here it is. Actual proof that it snows in Lesotho. After a month of complaining about the cold, here is a video of us playing in the snow.
This has been a busy month and I have already flown over 45 hours this month. In Lesotho where everything is so close I have already had over 135 landings so far And after every stop it means that I am unloading passengers or cargo, and then putting more passengers on who are returning to Maseru. It makes for a busy days work. Yesterday I took the 4 people on the doctor team to a village called Matekane. I couldn't pick them up in the afternoon because the airplane was being shaken around in what I would call extreme turbulence. I tried again this morning but could not even make it to the airstrip because of low clouds and not wanting to get closer to the ground in the turbulence. Well tonight they are snowed in and we are hoping that we can get the military helicopter in there tomorrow to get them out. They will have much more snow in the mountains than we do in Maseru and it will probably be a week before it melts enough to land at some of these airstrips.

Smile for the camera

Last week was probably one of the busiest weeks I have experienced. Of the eight families that are in Lesotho there were only three of us working last week. Furloughs, deputation and vacations had taken everyone else out of the picture. So Tim and I had the task of doing all of the flying for a week. We had Ron from MAF in Nampa come to take new video footage for MAF as well. We had a great time and he was able to join us on a lot of flights to the mountains...
On Friday I flew a "corpse" as the Basotho call it to the mountain village of Nkau. I was hoping to hear more of the story about who had died. Upon arriving at Nkau and unloading the casket two young men were at the plane and I asked them who had died. It was a 14 year old girl who had meningitis and TB. Last week we flew her to Maseru to go to the hospital and after three days she died. The men who collected her then had a long journey ahead of them to carry her up the mountain to the village she was from.
I wish I had some pictures for you of my busy week, but Leslie wants the camera for pictures of the kids at home and I want it to take pictures out in the mountains. We usually end up trying to compromise a little bit.

Countrywide curfew

Since last Friday our evening plans have been extremely limited. Because of some political problems as a result of the elections in January the government imposed a statewide curfew starting last Friday for the entire country of Lesotho. From 6PM to 6AM there is to be nobody out on the streets of Lesotho. If you get caught is is a guaranteed trip to the local jail for the night. Even with the curfew there have been some shootings, carjackings and some kidnappings. These have been focused on government officials and not at the general public. Leslie and I feel extremely safe at this time, as long as we remain locked in our house during the curfew. Pray that the issues would be resolved quickly and that the violence would stop.



I have been doing a lot of flying this week. Here are a few shots of some herdboys from the mountains that I met this morning at an airstrip called Matsaile. You can see the traditional Malumo fighting sticks that most of the boys and men carry with them all the time. These boys take care of a large number of cows and donkeys while wandering around the area around Matsaile.

What a week...

Last week will defiantly be a week to remember. First of all we are keeping very busy flying. And there always seems to be more flying than we can realistically do. Praise God that in about two months we should have an additional three staff members that are either returning after furlough or are coming to Lesotho for the first time. There are also some airplanes that are currently in Idaho at MAF headquarters that are getting fitted for service in Lesotho.

On Wednesday after an early flight I returned home to help as some carpet was installed in our house. (Thanks to those who helped out with this) Evi is very mobile but was having problems getting around our our linoleum tile floor partly because it was hard, falling apart and bitter cold as it is the dead of winter now. With the carpet it helps to solve all of these problems and she can actually walk around when she is not wearing her foot. It is a huge blessing for us, and really increases Evi's freedom. She is now able to get out of bed by herself and move around on her own without her foot. Ad a part of the process I had to move all of our furniture out of the house including my desktop that I brought from America. After I moved it back to the front room and plugged it in I got some major errors and upon some research and disassembling of my computer I found two pins on my CPU that were broken off. I am hoping that I can find a new processor here in Lesotho and hopefully get my computer running again. That is the reason why there are no new pictures or updates on the Blog.

Today all of us MAFers went to the top of the Berea (plateau overlooking Maseru) to have a picnic lunch for fathers day. I took a kite and we had a blast playing with the kids and eating Kentucky Fried Chicken. Yes there are a few American conveniences here in Maseru.

Next week is going to be a busy one with only two pilots flying all week. The rest of them are gone on furlough or are off on a well needed vacation. You can be praying for safety as we will be doing a lot of flying this next week.

Brrr its cold

Many of you have heard me talking about it being very cold in Lesotho. And I am sure just as many of you snickered behind my back as I left, because who would of thought that it got cold in Africa. I had an early flight this morning and took this just before I took off from Maseru. We are probably the only MAF airplanes around the world that has to defrost our airplanes before we can leave for the day.

Hulls Family photos

A Busy week

Hello – Well it’s about time for an update on our arrival and first few weeks in Lesotho. As you can imagine, we are keeping busy here in Maseru. Here is a brief update of the last couple of weeks.

- May 17^th we arrived in Lesotho about 3:30 PM. (6:30 AM in Flagstaff for those of you who always calculate the local time). At 4 we left and took Evi to the Baylor clinic. She ended up with a bout of pinkeye and her eyes were so crusty it was hard for her to open them. We spent the next few days unpacking and trying to get the kids and us adjusted to the time difference. There has been lots of unpacking, cleaning and projects around the house that had to be completed.

- May 28^th I returned to work. I had Monday to get organized at the hanger and prepare to begin my flight review so that I could start flying again.

- May 29^th I started to fly with Dave Lepoidivan (MAF pilot from Mozambique). We finished up my flight check and spent the rest of the day and the next day doing some airstrip checkouts and new airstrips I haven’t been to yet. Leslie and two other MAF’ers were all extremely sick with a 24 flu bug. Leslie was able to find someone to watch the kids so that she could rest and I could go fly. (Thanks Tonya and Barb!!) After work the US Embassy here in Maseru was also having a welcome back reception for Evi. Leslie couldn’t come, but it was well attended by embassy staff and the missions community.

- May 31^st I was volunteered to complete month end paperwork, I worked most of the day at it but I am still not done. Our printer is not working so I can’t finish until it is fixed.

- June 1^st My first operational flight with MAF since I last flew in August over 9 months ago. Praise the Lord!!! We have a lot of work to do and are short on staff and airplanes to get it all done.

- June 6th & 7th I was down with the flu. Leslie was taking care of me and the kids.

Were Back!!!

Back in Lesotho that is. We finally arrived after almost 40 hours of travel from my parents house in Flagstaff to our house here in Maseru. I would like to tell you it was a fun trip and we enjoyed traveling in the airplane, but we didn't. I suppose anyone traveling that long with a toddler and a 10 month old would tell you that. Overall everything went extremely well. The first flight from Phoenix to London went great with the kids sleeping almost the entire time. Daddy doesn't sleep well on planes but did get a couple short cat naps in. Mommy fared slightly better, but still not enough.
The second flight was a little tougher with the kids not really wanting to be on an airplane anymore. Evi started to get pinkeye that kept getting worse as time went on. Within the first hour after getting home we took Evi to the Baylor clinic and got some eyedrops. The next morning they were gone. Two days later Caleb also developed a bout of pinkeye and is just about recovered. The kids and I are also fighting a little bit of a cold. I think it is the trasition from Arizona to Africa.
We moved into our house with beds made Anthracite heater started and a warm meal in the kitchen. This was great and as soon as it got dark we all headed to bed. We arrived just in time for winter, with it already snowing in the mountains this last week.
This last week has been busy with moving back into our house, unpacking, buying groceries, dealing with passports, border passes and a myriad of other things that had to be done. On highlight for us has been the addition of "high-speed" internet to Lesotho. This is great, as it is cheaper that we used to pay for our monthly dial up account, Although for our 512K connection it is still over $100 a month. Because of this we hope to do a better job of adding photos to our Flickr photo site and updating our new blog. Tomorrow I hope to find my camera and have some pictures from the trip back.
Thanks for praying!!

Next stop: Lesotho, Africa

Well, we are on the way out the door. We are driving to Phoenix, Arizona and then hoping on a British Airways flight to London. After a 4 hour layover we will depart from London to Johannesburg. Please pray for us while we travel and next time you hear from me will be in Lesotho.
The Hulls Family

Next stop: Lesotho, Africa

Well, we are on the way out the door. We are driving to Phoenix, Arizona and then hoping on a British Airways flight to London. After a 4 hour layover we will depart from London to Johannesburg. Please pray for us while we travel and next time you hear from me will be in Lesotho.
The Hulls Family

one more week

We are finally beginning the final preparations to return to Africa. In only seven more days we hope back on the airplane and make our return trip to Lesotho. Leslie and I were able to have an awesome vacation and short break from the kids. We really needed to spend some time with ourselves.
For those of you in the Flagstaff area there is also an open house/farewell for us on Saturday the 12th at the home of Danny and Amanda Finney. We would love to see you anytime between 3 PM and 7 PM on Saturday. Check out the link to their address on the right hand side.
We also have a huge praise for Evi. Yesterday was the first day that she did not have to change her bandage. After 8 months of daily dressing changes we are very excited that her leg is almost completely healed. Please continue to pray that it would not open up again and that there would be no more major wound issues.

We look forward to seeing you Saturday,
Danny, Leslie, Evi and Caleb

Vacation Time

Leslie and I are fortunate to be able to take a little vacation before returning to Lesotho. Evi and Caleb are staying with my parents and are going to have a great time with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. We are going to be taking a cruise on the Mexican Riviera. We are looking forward to the break, but it is difficult to leave Evi and Caleb at home after everything we have gone through these last 8 months. Please pray that we would be able to relax and spend some time together as a couple. We look forward to sharing about our trip when we return.
Danny & Leslie

Countdown to our return....

It is hard to believe that almost 8 months ago we began our journey from Africa to the hospital in Dallas, Texas. We can look back now and see how God has provided for and blessed our family in so many ways. Here is a list of just a few amazing things that God has done since Evi's accident
1. He saved our precious daughters life.
2. He provided a instant church home and a place to live for our entire stay in Dallas.
3. He provided the worlds best place to be for pediatric orthopedics, to accept Evi as their patient.
4. He provided an army of prayer warriors around the world to pray for Evi and our family
5. He provided a vehicle for our entire stay in Dallas
6. He provided a great Sunday School class who adopted us and helped us out in so many ways

As you can see, we have a God who is our provider. As tough as this experience has been, he has held our family is his arms and held us close. What a mighty God we serve!!!
We leave for Africa on May 15th, and are anxious to return to Lesotho. Please keep praying for us and praise God for the miracles in little Evi's life.

Farewell Dallas!!!

Hello – We are writing this on the eve that we leave Dallas and begin our trip back to Lesotho. Well, at least we are almost on our way back to Lesotho. We will be traveling to Arizona for the next several weeks and will be departing for Lesotho on May 15^th. This last week has kept us very busy.

On Easter we were spending the afternoon with some friends. Evi was having a great time eating some cake and a chocolate chip and walnut cookie. The trouble started about an hour later when she started to feel a little sick. We left and in the car on the way home, Evi started to experience some major wheezing and breathing trouble. We assumed it was asthma because of some previous problems. We hurried home and gave her a puff on her inhaler and were able to get her breathing under control. Shortly after that she began to itch, and it got worse and worse as the time went on. We took her shirt off and noticed that she was almost completely covered in a rash of some sort. We then made a trip to the emergency room and spent 3 hours on Easter at the hospital. After a shot of Benedryl and some steroids, she started to feel much better. Yesterday we took Evi to the doctor and she was tested for allergies. We learned that Evi is allergic to walnuts, pecans, pistachios and hazelnuts. We are very thankful that we were able to determine what she was allergic to and that her reaction on Sunday wasn’t even worse.

The rest of the week has been stressful and busy as well. On Monday I awoke to write all of you an e-mail. I turned on the computer and all I got was an error message. After a couple days of troubleshooting and the advice of others, I was able to locate the culprit and was able to replace the broken parts. Then I had to reinstall everything on my computer. We have spent much time saying farewell to new friends, packing our bags, and numerous other things. This morning we also got word that our cat in Lesotho got run over by a car. Leslie and Evi were very much looking forward to returning to Lesotho and seeing our cats again, so they were of course saddened by the news that Calico had died.

We look forward to visiting with all of you while we are in Flagstaff and are planning on a farewell get together on May12th, the Saturday before we leave. We’ll pass along details about time, location and other info once we get it all planned..

Please continue to pray for us this next month.

1. Evi’s leg still has some wounds and needs some additional healing.
2. Travel from Dallas to Phoenix on Saturday
3. Plans as we prepare to return to Lesotho
4. Finances to cover our return airfare to Lesotho (let me know if you have any questions about how to help us raise money for our airfare back to Africa)
   

We once again are reminded about how God has blessed us with a group of people committed to praying for us. As we prepare to leave Dallas I am thankful for the abundance of prayer on our behalf.

March 23, 2007

Hello from Dallas. Our family is enjoying the warmer weather and the many things to do in Dallas. Evi is also continuing to do great with her new leg. She is progressing to the point where she can almost wear it all day long. This is great news and means that we are close to being able to leave Dallas. Yep, after over 6 months in Dallas, we are now beginning to plan our departure to Africa once again. Our current plan is for the hospital to release Evi for good sometime in early to mid April. We will pack up and fly to Arizona in order to spend some time with family and friends in Flagstaff. Then we are hoping to depart for Lesotho sometime in mid May and are already looking for our tickets. God has continued to bless our family and our time here in Dallas. Leslie especially has had lots of time to get involved with women’s groups at Park Cities Baptist Church, and we will both miss all of the new friends that we have made here.

For those of you in northern Arizona, we can’t wait to visit with you before we return to Lesotho. We are anxious to return to Lesotho and return to some normalcy in our lives. Lately we have enjoyed spending time with the Westom family. They are an MAF family in Lesotho that are currently in Dallas for furlough. They have three young girls and it has been great for Evi to play with some friends from Africa. We also covet your continued prayers during this next transition.

Prayer:

• Evi’s leg still has to heal completely before we can leave Dallas. There are still several small open wounds that have not closed up yet.
• For travel to Arizona and then to Lesotho. We have to purchase airfare, pack our bags and complete many other miscellaneous tasks.
• Finances to help cover our return airfare and cover other costs related to returning to Lesotho.
• Health of the entire family. We have all been sick this last month.
  

Praises:

• Evi is able to wear her foot longer every day.
• Park Cities Baptist Church has been a HUGE blessing to us; thank God for their willingness to adopt us while in Dallas.
• We have already located two prosthetists for Evi that are within a two hour drive from Maseru. Scottish Rite Hospital will also be helping us out while we are in Lesotho.
• A great apartment that has tons of places for Evi to play and walk so that we can do her physical therapy.
• A great team of people standing beside us lifting us up in prayer when we are weak.

Evi's New Foot!!

February 21, 2007

February 12, 2007

The last few weeks have been extremely busy. We drove 1000 miles with the kids to Tennessee stayed for a couple of days and ten drove 1000 miles back to Dallas. We enjoyed spending some time with Leslie’s family and visiting friends in the area. Once again we are in a holding pattern here in Dallas as we continue to wait for Evi’s leg to heal. There are still some areas from the skin graft 5 months ago that are waiting to heal. We are continuing to pray that these spots will stop fighting and begin to heal.

Last week the Orthopedic Surgeon, physical therapist, wound specialist, Prosthetist and others met together with us to talk about how they are going to proceed. They were able to talk about Evi’s leg and the best path to take for her ultimate healing. As a result, they decided that maybe we should go ahead and make Evi’s first prosthetic so she can begin to use her knee that has been kept straight in a cast for over two months. She is so excited and can’t wait to get her new foot, and has already asked if she can paint her toenails. After getting her new foot, we are scheduled for physical therapy twice a day until she learns how to use this foot. We also have to wait until her wounds completely heal, as this will change the size of her leg. After these heal we will make Evi’s next prosthesis and hopefully leave Dallas for good. As much as we have enjoyed our time here in Dallas and have made some great new friends we can’t wait to get back home.


Please continue to pray for us and for the MAF family that is in Lesotho continuing the work in Africa.

1. Pray that the wound would heal completely
2. Pray for Evi as she learns to use her new foot
3. Praise that the end is in sight
4. Praise for how God has provided friends, a car, an apartment and met all of our other needs.
5. Pray for Lesotho, Elections are held on the 17th of this month
6. Pray for Lesotho, only two pilots are in Lesotho to fill the flight needs
7. Praise for Evi’s spirit during the last 5 ½ months

We so appreciate the love and support from everybody. God has truly blessed us through your prayers and love of your families through this experience.

January 29, 2007

Hello – Leslie and I are writing you from Leslie’s sisters house in Elizabethton, Tennessee. Because Evi’s wounds had to heal, we were given a week break before we can think about fitting her for the prosthetic. We decided that this would be a great time to visit family and friends in Tennessee, although it was a little last minute. We left Saturday morning and arrived in Tennessee on Sunday afternoon. We had a safe trip, and the kids did great throughout the journey.
Please continue to pray for Evi. The bandage changes have returned and Evi is struggling with the open wounds. Evi is still doing great and practically running everywhere she goes. The removable “cast” that the doctors gave her has improved Evi’s spirits dramatically. We will be departing Tennessee for Dallas on either Friday or Saturday of this week. Please pray for safe travel for the entire family.
On Friday we had a chance to visit with Brad and Kristian Westom, fellow missionaries with MAF in Lesotho. They have three little girls and it was great to see Evi playing with them again. Please continue to pray for MAF Lesotho over these next several months. There are currently three of seven MAF staff that are out of the country. This is leaving the four remaining staff with high workloads and keeping them extremely busy. Once again thank you so much for your prayers and your commitment to lift up our family before our Lord Jesus Christ.
In His Service,
The Hulls family…

Evi Update: Jan 17th

Yesterday Evi went to the hospital in order to remove her cast and begin the molding process of her “little foot” in order to fit her for a prosthetic. When we first got to Dallas on the 4th her wound was looking great, although a little bit dry. Because her skin was very dry, the doctor put some petroleum embedded cloth underneath the cast, on top of the skin to keep it moist. We have often used this in the healing process. As we removed the cast yesterday the leg looked much worse than it did a week and a half earlier. As a result we will still have to wait until we can fit her for the prosthesis socket. We think that Evi may have had some sort of allergic reaction to the petroleum cloth. But once again we have reason to praise God that we are here in Dallas. Evi’s surgeon and prosthetist were both able to visit with us together as we make another plan to help Evi’s leg heal. We are going to be making a removable cast for Evi to wear at home and when she wants to walk. We are also going to begin twice a day physical therapy. They will be able to remove her cast, while working with Evi getting used to seeing her leg and gradually being able to touch it. This will also open her leg up to open air, and allow the wounds to heal faster as well.

The rest of the family is doing well. We are keeping busy keeping track of Evi and enjoying our time together. Leslie and I are both anxious for me to get back to work. =) The latest news of Evi’s leg turning back into an open wound is discouraging, but we are thankful that Evi is doing so well in her cast. She continues to await the day when she can wear her new foot, but amazes us every day with what she can do without it.

Please pray for the MAF team that is currently in Lesotho. We have two families that are on furlough leaving only four out of seven families there. We are anxious to return and help with the workload. Pray that God would encourage us as a family as we continue to wait for Evi’s new prosthetic.

Evi's Dolphin Foot

Hello and happy New Year!! Our family made it safely back to Dallas after two days of driving. And once again the Lord has provided housing for us while we are in Dallas. We want to thank all of you who have helped us to secure this new apartment. And speaking of our new housing, what an incredible place it is. Evi has her own room, and Caleb gets to sleep in the large walk in closet. Today Evi and I were walking around the 2 lakes that our apartment borders and spent a while watching the ducks and squirrels, and even got to feed the ducks. There are miles of walking trails that will be perfect as Evi learns to adapt to her new foot early next month.

On Thursday Evi took her 15th (and hopefully last) visit to the OR. This involved removing her cast, manually stretching her knee and then putting her in another cast. Praise the Lord that Evi is making progress and the doctor thinks that she will not need additional casts after this on is removed on January 16th. The doctor was able to stretch her knee to 5 degrees of deflection. This is almost perfect and she should be able to gain the last 5 degrees after getting her new foot. Also, for the first time in 4 months we no longer have to continue her daily bandage changes. The leg has healed to the point where there are no longer any open wounds. This is a major praise and we are so thankful to be making progress.

You are probably asking about the title of this e-mail “Evi’s Dolphin foot”. Over the last month Evi has talked a lot about her new foot. Her main concern was that her new foot would match her other foot. Leslie and I were unsure exactly what Evi meant by this. Someone let us borrow their prosthetic foot so that we could take it home to Evi. We came home and showed Evi a sample of what her foot will look like. She was very excited and wouldn’t stop thanking mommy and daddy for showing her this foot. She then proclaimed loudly. “Look at my dolphin foot!” Leslie and I were a little shocked and unsure what Evi was talking about. We figured out that several weeks earlier Leslie was trying to describe what Evi’s foot would be like by telling her that it was like a dolls foot. Evi didn’t quite understand and figured it was a dolphin foot. Well, maybe that was why she was so concerned about it matching. =)

Evi continues to make progress walking on her cast. Our prayer is that this will make it easier to adapt to her new foot once she gets the prosthetic. Please continue to pray as there are still lots of steps to be accomplished. While in Flagstaff we were blessed to be able to visit three of our supporting churches, and to spend some quality time with family and friends. Thank you once again for praying with us and standing beside us on this journey with Evi.