And There was Peace...

We (the girls and I) got back home tonight from San Antonio. They are all in bed asleep, and I'm getting caught up on all the emails I couldn't see this last week because my webmail wouldn't work. I did not enjoy being out of the loop, to say the least. I'm hoping to be able to stay up a few more minutes so I can Skype Todd. Then, I will crash...

Catching Up

The girls and I had a great day in San Antonio.  We got to visit with some great friends of mine from Grand Prairie - we go all the way back to high school and DBU.  We haven't seen each other in at least five years, but we picked up like we'd seen each other yesterday (which I think is so cool).  We met at Chick-fil-A and let our kids have a playdate...so normal and natural - much fun!  They are church planters in Kyle, TX and you can check out their website at http://theconnectionchurch.org/.    

The other highlight of the day was that we got a call from Todd.  He used Skype to call my cell phone for cheap-cheap money!!  We all four got to talk to him for a bit; his next stop is Nacala which is on the coast.  I'll be sure to check back in and let you know how it goes.  Please pray for his health while he's there...no mos-qui-toes and getting used to the food.

Update from Todd

From an email I got today from Todd:

I spent my day on the wild streets of Nampula.  The roads are full of bicycles, motorcycles, Land Rovers, 4-wheel drives, luxury cars even here and more people out and about than I’ve seen except the French Quarter. It has that sort of feel, but very AFRICA. Open cargo trucks are piled 12 high and have five workers sitting on top of it going down the middle of the road at 50 mph. Then, we went to an open market and bought vegetables. They had everything from teeny tiny red VERY HOT peppers….don’t ask, so HOT it made my lips numb…you know I can’t back down… to potatoes and papaya, coconuts to cabbage, and cilantro to chickens….live or dead was the same price because it was the same chicken….They had oranges and green lemons and carrots and braided rolls of tobacco. So cool and I have pics to prove it.  All over town in peoples yards are coconut bearing palms 75 feet tall, papaya trees loaded with fruit on the side of the road, wild banana trees just growing in an overgrown lot and the most brilliantly colored flowers.

Janice fixed an awesome chicken and potato recipe from Zambezie with rice, bread from the Indian bakery next door, fresh cucumber, tomato, and onion salad and fresh pineapple for dessert. The chicken and sauce on rice reminded me of jambalaya. GOOD stuff.

We went to a back alley post office and a grains/flour/corn meal store where you buy it off the pallet 25KGs at a time. That little store was packed with people of every socio-economic group. We went to the SIL compound and met some folks, drove down red sand roads that were still in city limits, saw thatched roofed homes with mud and brick mortar and more small roadside stands than you can imagine... all in the city limits. We saw granite rock outcroppings 300ft tall and termite mounds 10 ft tall and boys on bicycles so loaded with grain sacks full of charcoal on the back of the bikes it looked like it would take a small pick-up to carry it all.

Safe Landing

Todd was able to send his first email today which was wonderful since that's the first communication we've had since Friday.  He is now in Nampula with a long list of things he and Eddie (his future boss) want to get done.  Thanks for praying for his safety!!

Please Pray for Trip

Okay, first some random thoughts. We survived VBS last week and are having fun with Aubrie at Kindermusik this week. I hope to remember to bring my camera tomorrow so I can post some pictures. She's a hoot! :-) Big sisters have been very impressive staying in the hallway coloring and playing games on their cameras. It's gone very smoothly, and I have been very pleasantly surprised.


I have read on my friend Mer's blog and on another blog called GirlTalk about having kids spend a little time each day reading in the summer. I decided to try it out - I gathered some blankets and pillows and made a cozy corner in Aubrie's room and told them to gather up one or two favorite books. They loved it! Emma asked if they could do this everyday (this from the girl who declared this year that she doesn't like reading) so I was excited, to say the least. Emma opted for a "real" book instead of a primer and worked on reading the first sentence by herself. The other two gals had fun looking at the pictures, and Jessie "read" from her Mother Goose book which she has pretty much memorized. Thanks for the GREAT idea!

Now, on to the serious stuff. I can't believe it's finally here, but Todd is leaving for Mozambique (hereafter refered to as Moz) a week from tomorrow. We are such the procrastinators and are going to sit down sometime in the next few days and actually make a list for the trip. The purpose for the trip, since neither one of us has ever been to Africa, is for him to see and experience things that will help us better prepare for life there - at least whatever we can cram into the next six months. So, besides safety, the main thing would be to pray that he will see and experience all that he needs to for that end. He has been told repeatedly that he is to take many pictures, and I will be sure to post some after he gets back on the 4th of July.

Thanks!

Organization tips needed

Mer, I figure you might have some really good ideas for this. I need some help. I have a 3-drawer craft caddy/tower thing which was organized way before kids. In one drawer I keep all of their markers, crayons, paint pens, etc. I need a neat way to keep the things inside the drawer tidy. The drawer is tall enough for the crayons to stand up in a cup or something but not enough for the markers. Any ideas?? I think we would use more of what's in there if we could actually see it!


I really appreciate any ideas I can get!

The Merry Month of May

Whew! May is a killer for our family. Jessie and Aubrie have birthdays a week and a day apart, our anniversary is the day before Aubrie's birthday, and then we have the usual end-of-the-year mayhem. Emma's kids choir at church made their debut on stage. (Until you're five, they video your choir and show the video at the end of the year.) Jessie made her video debut - a big year for both!

While the girls were having their big moments in the lime light, Todd and I had to be out of town. We were in Richmond, VA, for candidate conference which is part of the missions application process. So, we had someone tape the choir performance and had a Spring Sing S'mores Party a few weeks later. (I'll write more about the conference later.)

The weekend we got back from the conference, we had Jessie's party on a Sat. and Aubrie's the next day. We put ourselves through the partypalooza because the next weekend was dance recital weekend! Both girls had a big time. Jessie wanted a Sleeping Beauty party (We did Cinderella last year.), and we had a backyard luau for Aubrie since she can't tell me what she would like yet. I have to say despite the busy schedule, we were incredibly laid back for the Williams family and had a great time.

She LOVED her cake - that's what she wanted for her birthday.

So, the dance recital was a blast, but no budding ballerinas in the Williams family (which is probably a good thing since I don't think they could take classes in Nampula, Mozambique). Both girls have informed me that they do not want to take dance again. They both have mentioned soccer for the fall (which will definitely fit better in Africa) so I think we'll head in that direction...sounds much easier on Mom!!

They came up with these poses themselves...with NO prompting from me - cracks me up!

Okay, so the Africa update, and then my ramblings should be done. Conference was a mind-blowing series of interviews and meetings in which we were challenged to re-examine our call to overseas work and to see if the job we had selected was a good fit. It was an extremely challenging week in every way you can imagine - we were laid bare in more ways than I can imagine...I'll spare you the details of the physical exams! In the end, we still feel like Nampula, Moz, is where we're supposed to be. One of the things we had been tossing around and was brought up again was that a trip to Moz might be a good idea. So, Todd is planning a trip for June and is supposed to take lots of notes and pictures for me! Please pray for the trip that he will see and experience what he needs to in order to better prepare our family for life there.

So the schedule looks something like this: appointment in Nov in TX, training in VA Jan 26- March 26 and jumping the pond in early April. We have a MILLION things to do between now and then...makes my head spin, but we're already getting started which is exciting!