Christmas, Part 1

Merry Christmas! Belated is better than nothing, eh? The last few Christmases for our family have been anything but normal. This was Jeremiah's & my first Christmas away from home, though. A unique twist. 6 of us Stateside siblings were able to get together at Jon's house for a Christmas brunch.

Bachelor's attempt at decorating for Christmas...

Lots of laughter going on~

Girls provided the food and the guys covered the drinks.

  

We tried to contain the trouble-makers :)

Snow Days

Prayer! It really works...not that I doubted it, of course. This girl has been praying for that lovely white stuff that falls from the sky during the winter season.

Snow imprint from my niece's shoe.

 

 

2 munchkins who had way to much fun at my expense (hint: snowballs). 

First snowman of the season. 

Yes, I know my sense of style is awful...but after not seeing snow for 4 years... : )

 

Pursuit of Happiness

After 33 hours in transit, I finally reached my home away from home. Well, they say home is where the heart is and I'm beginning to believe it. Though Africa is my home, 4 little munchkins in Maryland stole my heart at first glance. Meet my nieces...Madelyn (right) Meredith (center), Mikah (left), and Moriah (pictured farther down). Their antics never cease to amaze me. Mikah's sleepy, "I love you, Tannie," melts me, Meredith's unending energy makes me slightly jealous, Madelyn's infectious giggle produces giggles laughs of my own, and Moriah's sweet-natured temperament keeps my sanity in check (it is possible, honest).

Got our first snow, much to everyone's delight

My sister babysits 2 other children on weekdays, creating a hectic, but rather fun atmosphere. Hence, the days fly by!

   

My sister, brother-in-law and nieces made the 3-4 hour trip up to my hometown in for a family Thanksgiving. All the stateside siblings, minus 1 were able to gather for pie that evening. Just a f.y.i....jetlag/reverse culture shock is brutal. Do not try to carry on a conversation when you're beyond exhaustion. Epic failure....you'd think I'd be used to this by now. 

Moriah Jayne. Love my girl!

Aron, Dea and I attended a church Christmas banquet one evening. Fantabulous time~

 

Mikah love wearing "silly hats". Even if it is a baby doll and not a hat. 

:: Dubai ::

Know how to confuse a blonde?  Try blogging from a Arabic country. Everything is backwards. Even the format on this thing. Utterly confusing! Anywho. I'm currently blogging from the normally sizzling hot Dubai, UAE. Only, it's 1 am and I'm ready to pull out the winter jacket. Desert temperatures??? 

.What I saw last year

When my sister and I flew though Dubai last year, we were able to view the palm island from out our plane window  The sights are slightly different this year. Hard green seats, a variety of suitcases, many nationalities (lots of American accents floating around...happy girl!) and the dreaded checkpoints. So far I've been able to avoid the full check stations. :) Apparently I don't look suspicious enough . 

.My view now

The main purpose for my trip is that gorgeous gal below. My childhood bestie is tying the knot and I'll be standing up with her. So excited. But between now and then, there's plenty of time to visit all those adorable nephews and nieces, oh, and the siblings of course. 

Time to board. Cheers to all.

:: Australia ::

In 2008, I traveled to Australia for a 6 week holiday for the wedding of a good friend. 2009, Mum also visited this continent. Apparently, our stories created a desire in Dad to go there. This month, his "dream" became reality when he finally stepped on Aussie soil. It was a quick trip (2 weeks), but lived up to his expectation, or so we hear. 

His first stop was Sydney for a few days, then caught a flight up to Cairns (pronounced "Cans"). 

His main purpose was to share Africa with the Aussie churches. Dad was able to preach/teach 15 times within 9 days. His messages for Cairns, Sydney a.m. & Sydney p.m. can be listened to via the links. 

Anyone up for some Kangaroo meat?

Meeting a Zimbabwean lady and fellow-shipping with new friends.

Many thanks to all those who opened their doors to Dad and made him feel right at home!

Apparently cows eat cars in Oz :)

And to leave you with some darling "cuteness"....

Adopted "grandkids" in Aussie land :)

Spring Snapshots

Spring has arrived in South Africa, bringing along with it massive thunderstorms and the tiny budding of flowers. The jacaranda trees are in full bloom all over our city. Simply gorgeous!



Our pastor's family visited us a few weeks back, creating smiles on many a face. Love these munchkins!

 

Baking with Ti-man. His expressions are priceless~

Tried my hand at Artisan bread. Definitely a keeper. 

Just before Dad's trip to Australia (next post), he treated us all to dinner out after church. Needing a bit of exercise after all that delicious food, we strolled through the mall, taking in all the Christmas decor. Most shops in our country close up at 6 (other than restaurants, of course) for security reasons. Anywho, while we waited on our meal, I graded a couple correspondence courses. I didn't realize that the waiter was watching till he asked, "What is the curse of alcohol?" (title of one course). Open door, anyone? You bet :) 

Julianna Darlene, SMILE!

No water in the house, running late getting ready for church, a cobra loose in my backyard. Certainly not one of my best days and it was showing on my face (sad to say). Then I opened my nightstand drawer and there, staring me in the face was, no, not the elusive snake, but a note card from a best friend that simply stated, "Julianna Darlene SMILE". As if that couldn't be any clearer. Time for an attitude check. So instead, I'm counting my blessings. #1: This was the LORD's day. Not mine! #2: At least this didn't happen last weekend when we had over 40 guests in our house. #3: We have amazing neighbors who shared their water source with us. #4: The snake is outside, and NOT staring me in the face (like it was the day before). #5: I been blessed with some pretty amazing friends :) #6: I have a wonderful heavenly Father who knows just what I need, when I need it. 

Here are a few pictures from our recent ministry fellowship. Our pastor & family from the States came for a visit (which was a major highlight for our family!) and we wanted them to meet those whom the Lord has allowed us to work with. Great day filled with preaching, games, fellowship, and, of course, food!

Brianna with Margaret 

My little man, Sechaba!

Dad & Timothy

Young people from a Bible study in a nearby village

S.M.I.L.E!

Across Borders

Projects galore down here. I'm sitting in the midst of organized chaos (and maybe a bit of disorganized, too). All prep for upcoming events, but more on that later. Not too long ago, we had the pleasure of a visit from friends from the good ole USA. They restocked our non-existent chocolate chip supply, helped me with a new printing of our songbook, listened to our constant chatter and such like. Their stay ended rather abruptly with a trip to the Botswana border.



Border crossings in Africa are nothing like crossing a State line in the States. There are queues to stand in (and that could take hours, literally!), paperwork to fill out, questions, inspections and when you cross in/out of Zimbabwe, you have to step in some disinfectant (cut down on Hand/Foot/Mouth Disease). At one point, we had to pull all our shoes out of our luggage and dip those too. But, anywho. The Botswana border isn't too bad. If you can handle 98*F plus at 11 am. Nasty.

The Limpopo River divides South Africa from Botswana and Zimbabwe. As Dad & I trekked back over the bridge, after seeing our company safely across, he asked, "How many crocodiles do you think are in the river?" Creaky, metal slatted bridge where you can see the water below through the holes...not something I wanna think about.

 

Once back in South Africa, we headed south-east toward home. The land is speckled with villages. We made a stop-over in Ga Phago (Ha-Pa-ho). No sooner had I stepped out of the kombi, then my shoe snapped. Great. I'm so glad that African culture doesn't frown upon going shoeless. One bloke remarked, "Hey, it's heritage month, so I thought you were just going all African." Not likely. 

Mr. & Mrs Sako

 

After visiting with several believers & passing out Gospel tracts in a new village, we viewed a spectacular sunset. Chintzy phone cameras can't begin to capture the hues painted by our great Designer.