Visiting Msilitza with the COTN Organization...

Today we (Leanne, Nya and I) went to the local village where ABC College students do their outreach leading a bible study with the children there. They feed them and do a bible study. We got to be apart of that. I brought Nya to expose her to life there... Here she is helping clean hands as they prepare to eat. She did a great job.
As Dyna the girl talking was giving the Bible study to the girls, We were being watched closely by some kids that haven't seen whites before. They were so fun to play with...
Here is Nya being shy....
Here is Dyna teaching the Bible Study and Leanne sitting there listening. It was taught in Chichewa So we really didn't understand but we know that they are making a impact...
Here is Nya playing and having so much fun with her new friends...

So I tried again to download videos and put it on here.... Who knows what is wrong but if you click on the blue it will take you to the video. Enjoy. The poverty is undeniable shocking but it is amazing what with the sponsors the difference they make....

So Here is Nya with the kids helping wash hands...

http://s206.photobucket.com/albums/bb313/amystauffacher/?action=view&current=MVI_1356.flv

Here are the girls in the bible study singing a worship song...

http://s206.photobucket.com/albums/bb313/amystauffacher/?action=view&current=MVI_1360.flv

Here is the outside of the classroom in the COTN building...

http://s206.photobucket.com/albums/bb313/amystauffacher/?action=view&current=MVI_1365.flv

Anyways just wanted to share a little bit about what we are doing these days...

Thank you for your prayers. We have been healthy and adjusting very well. We feel like we are settling in! Lots of love - Amy Louise

Friends and milk????

So here is a picture of my sweet friend Linda holding Analise on her back as Malawian women carry their children. Analise loved it. So cute. They start carrying the children on their back after the umbilical cord heals until they are tooo heavy and can walk good on their own. I put Analise on my back and I have soooo much respect for these women. They not only have a child on their back but also carry something on their head and have things in their hands. Amazing. And I complain about my stroller. They don't have strollers here or special baby bjorns or special swaddlers or special joggers or anything like that here. Just a piece of material and you are good to go. About Linda she is an ABC Graduate here and is working at the radio station here. She is truly a treat to know and have as a friend.


Okay so here is my milk. It is not in my fridge it is on my pantry shelf. This is about 3 gallons worth. Each one is 500 ml. Total it is $6.50 gallon. Crazy. I also have orange juice that is $4.00 a gallon. So it can be spendy. They are both warm until I put in the fridge and they are cold when they are served... Yuck who wants warm milk or juice...

So what does our week look like this week.
Nya goes to school everyday until 12pm.

Bob teaches until 12pm everyday

Tomorrow I will work in the clinic with the x-ray tech to help organize and create some structure for him. Then in the afternoon I will go with some college students to an outreach they need a ride to. Then on Thursday I plan to go help with COTN. The organization that I talked about before. I will send pictures when I get them. Then on Friday, I plan to go help at a local Crisis Nursery. They take children with AIDS, Unwanted, Malnutrition, and Unable to take care of by parents because they are too poor. SO I will be going with my friend Mary( who is a freshman student here) and my friend Megan who you all saw before. There about 22 babies there right now and about 3 people to help them. So they always need someone to help rock, change, feed, And be an extra set of hands.

I plan to take Nya with me and Analise will be napping. So I will keep you updated!

Lots of love- Amy Louise

P.S. My dear friend Leanne broke her wrist on Saturday. So please pray for rapid healing for she is a teacher at the academy and momma and wife and really needs her right hand. She is right handed. :(

For some reason it didn't work...

So here is the link if you want to watch the video...
http://s206.photobucket.com/albums/bb313/amystauffacher/?action=view&current=MVI_1333.flv

technology! We love it until it doesn't do what we want!
Amy louise

Nya singing in chapel...

So the previous video I posted was Nya at her school. She is in back on the left. She has chapel every Friday where they do something. I did not video as well as I would have liked. Analise kept pulling my leg. It made me dizzy. But thought you all would love to see it anyways. I do know that it is a grandparent movie but since we are far away I would show it to everyone :) You know what I mean by grandparent movie...meaning grandparents want to see their grandchild in anything. So this was the anything...

Analise loves holding the geckos. She calls Gook Gooks. Pretty close. They are everywhere and Bob catchs them for her and she loves them.

Here is Nya's first grade teacher for next year. Her name is Megan and she comes over to hang with us weekly. She is 2 houses down. Now Analise was in "I just woke up mode and you are taking a picture of me. "

I will tell you that I will get more of Africa for you as our journey continues. Love you all- Amy Louise

We are alive and doing better...

So thank you for you prayers and love. Nya got better yesterday. She threw up for 2 days and ate barely nothing until Tuesday night. When she got her strength back she was bouncing around. We said off to school for you missy. So we are thankful that Analise did not get the crud.

So I wanted you to see the outreach that Nya went with Bob and his college students do weekly. They go every Thursday into the local village and gather all the children in that area and teach them. It is kinda a Sunday school format but it is Thursday. :) Nya loves it, but the only complaint she has is that every kid wants to touch her hair. She has the most tender head I know. But she tells its fine and she doesn't cry when they touch her hair. She doesn't want them to be sad. Such a sweet perspective.

Here is Nya with her Kindergarten class! They are singing a song they prepared for chapel. I will put it on the blog so you can see Nya singing in Chichewea! In this picture she is in the back with her arms up. Who knows why. Maybe checking to see if her deoderant is working. We sweat alot here! Just teasing only the adults stink not 5 year olds.

So we are just plugging away here Still adjusting. We have been 6 weeks and It really feels like 6 months. I am missing american candy and Target these days. I know its dumb but somedays you just miss comforts of what you are familiar with.

Thank you for loving us and emailing us. We keep the stories coming. Love - amy louise for the family!

I take it back...

Tonight sweet little Nya started throwing up. So keep her in your prayers. Sickness has spread like wildfire since school has started. Chicken pox, the achey break flu bug (which I had), throw up and cha cha chas and continual nausea flu bug. So not fun. So pray for us when you have a chance... Especially that Analise won't get it. A 2 year old sick is so not fun. It adds another dimension when you are in Africa. You always worry a little bit more when you are sick.
I will keep you updated on our conditions... Amy Louise

We got a bug and no water...

Pretty much on Monday morning I woke up with the chills ( my eyelashes even hurt) and was sick pretty much until Thursday. Yuck! Also Bob also got really sick with the bug. So we were down for the count until Friday. Really wiped us out. But the girls didn't get sick and that was a treat. When do the parents get sick and children do not? I have never experienced that.

And we have been without water off and on these last couple of days. It is amazing when the water goes out, you find yourself soooo thirsty and craving a shower. But what an American I am - I lose water for a day and I am hyperventilating When is it going to come back on? Hurry who is going to fix it and what is the problem and please who can fix it now! We have water every minute of every hour of every day in America and we don't think about it. But when you see here the cute mommas pumping their bucket full of water at a community well pump and putting it on the head to take home mind you with a baby on their back you say man I am so spoiled. I need to hush it!

Here is a website of the outreach that I am going to (along with my friend Leanne and will probably be bringing Nya) hopefully start helping these next couple weeks. It is called Children of the Nations! The village that we would go work in is about 5 minutes from our house. The village is named Mtsilitza

Here are the website details:

In the village of Mtsiliza, COTN operates a Village Assistance Program feeding 450+ children on a daily basis. This village is located in the capital city of Lilongwe. In addition to biblical instruction and English lessons, orphans are given nutritious meals and love from our caring staff. The most vulnerable orphans are given two meals a day and schooling.
A small Skills Center provides training to caregivers and guardians as a means to help them care for their children and “adopted children.”
A Teen Girls’ Home and a Teen Boys’ Home provide residential care for vulnerable youth who otherwise would have to fend for themselves on the streets.
Additional villages have been identified in the general vicinity and are being ministered to through emergency food supplies, medical attention, biblical teaching, and clothing. COTN has also provided food and supplies to an additional 1,500 children through approved missions or churches.

So in this village it is not drive able with my car because I need a truck to get in. So we need to work out transportation but it seems like there is a contact that will work out. But check out the website it is pretty detailed in what they do.

http://www.cotni.org/29-malawi

The college students go there weekly and really make an impact. So I will be keeping you updated!

Well that's all for now Lots of love - Amy Louise

Bob teaching in Chapel

The days are flying by and being pokey at the same time...

How is that possible. Flying and pokey... who knows but that is what is happening here. The previous video is of Bob teaching in the daily chapel that occurs here on campus. He was teaching out of the Book of Mark he was encouraging the students when you have doubts to take them to Jesus not other people.

We are doing great here. Thank you for your prayers and love... Our container arrived safely YIPPPPPPEEE Now that Big truck is not all of ours. My friend Leanne who helped pack it said we have 1/3 of 1/4 of that big truck if that makes sense. We got our bed and couches, dressers, and kitchen staples which was crucial for sleeping and living. At least for me. What a treat. For us it was just staples that we brought over on the container. We have so much stuff it is embarrassing when our friends here in Malawi are thankful for the cardboard box it came in. It is embarrassing and humbling and trying to find the balance for living here in Africa. Do we deny our culture and live just like the Africans or do we bring our culture and our comforts of home and try and find that balance... all of us here on the campus struggle with that. So if any of you find that balance let me know.

So here is Analise looking at the truck bringing the container full of supplies from my living room window for the college here and some families that moved here and the academy ( the school that Nya goes to...)

Here is Nya and our friend with his baby His name is Ekton and that is his daughter Shalom. Can we say sooooo very cute. They came over for dinner last night. What a treat to have them as friends.

Well lots of love and thank you for your prayers. As we live Malawi pray that we will impact those around us and also they will do the same. May we live as simply and serve Jesus fully!

Well that all for now! Love us!

Hi we are taking our sunday naps...

But with that I thought I would post some fun pictures... The blue headed lizard that Bob caught with great joy...
It of course needed to bite him...

Analise and her first big bed experience with the mosquito net. She was in the pak and play prior to that...

Nya in her bed with our dog Dolly...

So we went to the church I have mentioned before...

So loving it...

Here is the website to look at it for those who are curious.

We brought a freshman that is one of Bob's students Alenani with us. So fun for us!

http://www.ccbcministries.mw/

Anyways that is all for now! I will write more when i have not a crying 2 year old on my leg.
Amy Louise

Here are some pictures for you...

So here is Bob's classroom from our door... Oh that poor Bob the Daily Commute - the Bumper to Bumper traffic he has to deal with daily!
Can you see the students mingling around...
Now can you see Bob... He kinda stands out! This was all taken within 1 minute with me running and I am out of shape!
For those who enjoyed the car ride.... here is the vehicle that it took place in! Can you see Analise!
Here is my favorite grocery store. I know you all are laughing (it's a gas station) but this is called foodworth and it really is a good grocery store. I will take you there another day!

The video posted before this is Analise favorite place to hang out with the neighbors. They have tea everyday about 10:30 and she loves hanging with them and the dog. Sweet people! I just want to eat them up.

So the rumor hear today around campus is that the container will come today! I will believe it when I see it.

Well- Lots of love- Amy Louise

Analise with our neighbors

So below are some vidoes..

I went out today to get some groceries. Here are the driving adventures that I face. I really was driving safe. All those mothers out there don't worry this is the safe part. The first video is just outside of the campus. the Campus is to the right and the next one is a fun one of the buses in Malawi. Meaning trucks.
Lots of love for now. Not much time to blog...
Amy louise

Buses in Malawi...

Driving in Malawi by ABC

our life...

So we are still adjusting to no electricity. Here we are at dinner last night. No stove, no lights just pitch dark. It gets dark daily here at 6pm all year long. We have a rechargble lantern that charges while we have electricity and when it goes poof we have a light. Candles are not smart with little chickens so we have this. This one actually my dear friend Leanne's. Our is on the container. Yes the container who knows when it will be here. It is really stretching at this point to wait. But we wait. :) I really haven't really taken you to the places where I want to take you all because my brain is daily in the container is coming today. No sorry the container is not coming today maybe tomorrow. I am in the zone too much. SO I will start to take you into Africa and what we experiencing here. The campus, the classes, the outreaches, the city, goats in the middle of street along with everyone else, the market that plays 80's soft love songs. It will be fun. Really I will take you there just be patient with me as I have this container story ongoing. Thank you for all your love and prayers. Amy louise for now.

The previous post was chapel tonight...

Every Sunday there is Chapel for the Students at the college and us too. It was delicious to hear the singing. Here is sample of what worship in Chichewa sounds like. Chichewa is the local language spoken here in Malawi. Can you not wait for heaven when we are worshiping Him together. I can't.

So If you subscribe to my blog and you get a blog that just has a title on it: that usually means there is a video that I put on. So just go to the blog it self to watch the video...

To go to the blog from the email update : It is at the end of the email that says You are subscribed to email updates from The Stauffacher Family

Just click on The Stauffacher Family or go to www.stauffacherfamily.blogspot.com

ANother week for us here begins. We think we have found a church here in Lilongwe. We are really excited about it. We will keep you updated.

Love- Amy Louise

Tonight at the College Chapel

So we fed giraffes too...

Petting lions in South Africa

Petting lions in South Africa

So I am trying out my video downloader thing. It seemed to work this time. I will video more since it works. I want you see Malawi the way I am seeing it. This is an older video of us when we were in South Africa. As you can see these were just babies. I will add more!
Tomorrow we are head into town to visit a church. We had visited there before but the pastor was out of town. We really enjoyed it and look forward to see how it all works for us. They have childrens church and there are many families for the city of Lilongwe there. So fun for us get involved with local church. Maybe I will video for you if I remember.
So Nya did great in school! She really loves recess. What kindergardner doesn't?
Bob is so excited to teach these classes he has. He had fun this last week. He said he loves it. Preparing the future pastors and educators of Africa. That is really what is all about. Educating the Africans so they can accomplish so much more than some one who doesn't know the culture or the language.

So thank you for your prayers love and support of us. We couldn't be doing this without you.
Lots of love- Amy Louise

So i noticed...

So I put nya in preschool instead of Kindergarden in my last blog. Sorry- SO she is in 2nd grade. No teasing just Kindergarten. And by the way our container made it here to Lilongwe. So now we wait until someone tells us it is coming to our house. Don't know how long that will be. We wait and see. And wait and wait. As we wait I will blog again. I will put more pictures soon.
Amy louise- for the family

No internet and sometimes no electricity...

But we still in full swing of things. Nya started preschool yesterday and loved every minute of it. But she claimed it was so sad that there was no homework. Probably the only year she will say that. I know that. It is awesome to see her automatically making friends and loving recess. She really adapts very well.
Bob starts tomorrow teaching. He has his Genesis class that has 40 students in it. It is a freshman class 3 times a week. He also has His Ephesians class 2 times a week tomorrow. It is an elective so all different grades are there. On Thursdays he will be headed into the villages to work with orphans and children with the child evangelism project with students from the colleges. We plan to head there with him. Bob also will be teaching 2 times a week a World Religions class that is also an elective. And he will be teaching at the high school 10-11th grade bible. SO Busy will be his middle name.
Anyways Thank you for your prayers Our container is here in Lilongwe. So we are just waiting for it to get out of customs. It is a huge process that I don't even understand. So we wait. It could be tomorrow or maybe 2 weeks from now. So my prayer is that it soon soon soon.
We have had our battles with electricity today was a brown out not a black out. So our lights and everything went in dim mode. My neighbor that has lived here for 17 years came and told unplug your fridge and all important electronics because they tend to blow up with brown out. Great. Blowing up electronics. And you know that a new fridge costs at least 3 thousand dollars here. Super! Africa no reasons to explain brown outs.
Also we have had no Internet for the last 6 days. It is such a claustrophobic feeling for me! But it is up and running tonight. Yippee! SO I blog to you all. or as they say here y'all! Alot of southern sweet folk live here.
Well as for now we are in high gear mode. So far we haven't gotten sick so that is another answer to prayer! I will get pictures tomorrow of Nya at school and Bob at school!
Well-lots of love Amy Louise

My little helper...

Nya has been the new helper in the family... She loves to clean. She so did not get that from me. Here she is cleaning the windows for me. They so different than American windows. They are like a car a/c vent. Weird.
So when you bananas go bad think of us and pray for us. This is the fresh batch that I got. The rotter(is that a word?) they get they still are good. They taste sooo good here. The flavor is phenomenal. They are a treat.
So every night when we go to bed we lock ourselves behind this door. It is the way they do it here. So very different. Security. It feels soo very safe though.

Here is a picture of my wash clothe that is actually my paper towel. So when you are complaining about cleaning this remember to be thankful for your conveniences. I miss paper towels already.

We went to church yesterday and loved it. The pastor was out of town so we don't really know how it will be when he is in town. But we will try it again. It was so fun to immersed with Malawians here. It will be great to have deep friendships with people here in Lilongwe.

School starts next week for Bob and Nya. It will be good to start a routine and start doing outreaches here in the city. Outreaches will include street evangelism and working with the street people and also in orphanages and prisons. It will refreshing to start the next season. We will be keeping you all in the loop.

Thank you for prayers we appreciate them. Please being praying for us as we head into routine and also get involved with local ministries. Pray for the church that we are to be apart of. And pray that as I work in the hospital and Bob teaches that we will radiate Christ. Pray also that Nya and Analise will continue to remain healthy and that settle in here at their new home.

Love you all- Amy Louise for the family

The Backyard.

So here are some swings that Bob brought in his suitcase to put in the back yard for the girls. They absolutely adore them. Analise is hourly asking to "B" that is swing in little missy language. An the girly on the right is Leanne's youngest Sara Rose. She will be 3 in September. She is always saying in her cute little language "I want to go to y'all's house." (They are from Mississippi) So here she is at our house...
Here is the back of our house, Nya and Leanne's middle girly Molly Grace. She is 7 years old and Nya's Buddy. They love to take Dolly for walks but Dolly is not the big fan. She meaning dolly has been attacked crows here on campus. They were swooping trying to grab her. They are as big as she is. She also has been chomped on by the other big dogs on campus. So She would rather stay inside. But no she has to walked by the kids. Poor Dolly.
Here is my animal lover's daughter. Nya found this baby gecko. She wanted to keep it forever. But she let it go. I like geckos since I found out they eat mosquitos. Please come and eat the mosquitos.

So these are the pictures I took today. Just wanted to keep you updated. We are excited because we are going to go church this weekend in the city. It will be great to get out and meet other people that are not connected to ABC. Not that we don't love ABC and the people here on campus but it will good to expand into the city and make a difference with that church body. So pray that it is good fit and we don't have to church shop. :)

Love you all-Amy Louise for the bunch

Settling down...

Thought I would just add a picture for fun. But what you see in this picture is us trying to settle. You find yourself being pulled to serve. No one has said anything but every part of you wants to help people. We crave to start serving. Did you hear me say Crave. We do. When you see the poverty and the people you crave to help them. Give them all you have, all your money. Really. It is the Jesus in us permeating through. We (bob and I) drive through the city and continually ask Why did we get to be born in America. Why do we have what we have.

We are learning to be balanced in such a unbalanced world over here. It is hard to settle when you are craving to get started. I don't if I am making much sense. But as of right now we need to settle in. We need to settle our spirit, settle our kids, settle our marriage and settle our house. We are already making a difference in Dennis and Josephines families. We have to remember we can't change the world, we can only change what we have around us and in our paths to change. We will serve and give, we will make a difference. We are learning to be patient in the moments and not jump the gun. We are called here to teach (bob) and serve in the hospital(amy) and go serve with other ministries. But right now just pray that we settle in and we serve when God puts it in front of us. Pray that we don't just go exhaust ourselves in vain and miss what God has us here for.

Thank you- Amy Louise

Our new friend Josephine..

So we were told to hire a someone from the village across the street to give them a job. For what - here at ABC so many locals are hired to give a better life. So Mrs. Josephine ended up being available for us. With many high recommendations. She has been working here in many families home since 2003. She told me since she has been working here she has been able to get out of the transient village and move on her own land and have chickens and build her house with her husband. Her husband works at the hospital here on campus. They have done so well working here. It is humbling to have anyone work in my house So my pride and love for them run so deep. Well- We now have Grandma (a gou gou) As Analise say a goo goo. That is grandma. She is here to help and we get to help here. She had 15 local chickens and they all died except one so she is saving here money so she can get more chickens to help her family. Simple She said that working for us helps them. Okay put away my pride and allow her to come and Help.

Grandma J wrapped a baby on Little Missy's back just like the mamma's do here. Bob had to hold her so I could take a picture.

Here is my kitchen. She is awesome!
So here I am learning to put away my pride and trust that we are making a difference.

Amy Louise

Here are some pictures of our house...

Here is the dining room being well used this morning.

Here is Analise on our borrowed couch. This is what you see right when you walk in the front door. Do you see my laptop on the couch? That is where I am sitting right now and typing.

Here is Little Missy walking out the front door and Dolly going with her to great Sundance the neighbors dog. Where Sundance is where we park our car. Bob is out running errands. He is always asking me what can I go out and get next. I hate running errands because driving in car thing. Very stressful. Wrong side of the road, too many people asking to be hit. It is so Not relaxing for me. He loves it. So he goes to town. He is in his element. He likes to drive more.:) I sent him to go find baskets big baskets for shoes and toys. So he was excited and was gone. He was going to get a friend and do it.

Well- that it for now...

Amy Louise for the familita

So here are some pictures...

When we flew into Lilongwe we had traveled so much. We were up at 4:30am and arrived at 12:50pm. Analise fell asleep on the landing so that is a picture of that. Nya was beaming ear to ear that we finally made it to Africa. We are here she declared Where are my new friends.
When we arrived at the house. Our gardener Dennis made us a welcome home wreath. What a beautiful treat. The girls had found a box of dress up stuff that was sooo played when we first arrived. Only six days ago.

So I will keep posting pictures.

Love- Amy Louise

I Know it has been 2 days...

2 days here is really two weeks. What a strange feeling to know that time really is what you do with it. I thought for some reason I would never get enough of it. But that is not true. I finally get enough of it here. I never had enough time in California. It was always "What it is11:30? or WHat it's 4 o'clock? I still have dishes from breakfast, laundry to fold from 2 days ago and that phone call I need to make and dinner is supposed to be cooking! But Now I do have time. Granted I have help. :) For all those who don't know we are supposed to hire someone to help around the house. It is really rude if you don't. Also when I have to work in X-Ray during the day, I will have to have someone watch the girls. SOOO -We have hired Grandma Josephine. She is about 50 and soooo very sweet. Nya and Little Missy are loving helping her. I will put a picture on once my computer is not broken. At this point, I am using bob's computer... with no picture software. I have to compress the pictures and his doesn't. Trust me I have tried..... That is another story. But Anyways, Time is finally in My hands! And as of now I plan to keep time on my side. :) What a treat. Seriously you must all come and visit. We have space and we have exrta time to share. You would really like it.
So you know I decided to drive the car yesterday. Okay all I can say, Who thought it was okay to switch side of the road and put the steering wheel on the other side. I am a nervous wreck just driving 5 miles per hour. At least our car is not a stick shift. I was barely driving on campus and I was shaking. I said forget it let's go out of campus and take it head on ( not literally) So with Bob car sick he said sure. So we did. I was breathing heavy and sweating. We had the girls in the back seat. Now why is it that when both parents are in the car they still ask Mom first. Can't they tell I am falling apart and Bob is just car sick. Why not ask Him first. Dad can i roll down the window. No it's Mom Mom Mom. For some reason they still need me to tell them Ask your dad. So we made it down the street with out me hitting anyone. With Bob reminding me to watch that and this. We made it to the local 7/11 Seriously we went to 7/11 to get gas and a knife. No Not for protection but I don't have one to cut things with like food. We have all our stuff still coming on the container. So I am made it. Driving won't be a luxury taken for granted. I so appreciate Bob doing it when we go out.
Well- that's all for now. We love you all and miss you guys even more.
Love- Amy Louise for the family

No pictures yet...

So I am still waiting for my Internet to be connected to my house. Africa. So slow! :) I am so amazed with my American microwave attitude. I really try to keep it at bay but it still takes over. Right now I have to go to some else house to email and blog. Well- I will put pictures on once I have Internet. I just wait. We are doing great here. We are putting together our house and connecting with the families on campus. We love the campus. It is oasis here. I love my house. It is allot bigger than I thought it would be. I am so glad that we have it. The girls are always outside playing with Dolly in the back or out front with new friends. We are slowly getting to some normal routine. We haven't had to do our own food yet. Because my dear friend Leanne has been treating us to lunches and dinners. What a treat. Today we had the most delicious homemade mac and cheese and her husband made shis kabobs (sp) Life is rough as you can see. We did go to local grocery store here yesterday. We did learn our lesson though not to go there on a Saturday. It is crazy busy. Everyone and their mother and kids and aunt and uncle and grandma and grandpa is there. :) Okay for those who had bets that I wouldn't make here because of the food. I will do fine. You can buy everything here. It is imported in so it way more expensive to shop here. But we will eat just fine. I just need to find a rhythm. Start cooking I have to tell myself. I think I lazy too. I haven't really cooked for at least a month now. So we are doing great. Naps are in order here. So I am going to run. But definitely keep the stories coming. Love you all and thank you for your prayers.
Amy Louise for the familita

SO this is Africa....

Okay we got off the plane and this is africa.The smell the people and land is africa. My friend- Leanne met us at the airport. We got all of our luggage and it was ahhhhhhh! We went into our house and put everything in and locked it and went to leannes house for dinner. We ate by candle light because it Africa. We didn't have electricity for the next 4 hours. A normal nightly occurrence from what we understand. Oh besides that we do love it here. Words can not express how beautiful it is here on campus and Nya and analise are in absolute heaven. We were able to have a fenced little back yard so dolly, nya and analise are out there any chance they have. Dolly has had a leg chomped at by the big dogs so it is nice to have a place that she can be without being bothered. But they just sit out of the the fence watching. Nya tells me that she wants to live here forever. But go back once in a while to visit. Okay. Forever huh. Don't know if I can say that. There are 8 girls about 9 and younger so it is fun for girls. Our container should be here by 2 weeks. It will be nice to have a real bed. Our house is bigger than I thought it would be. It will be fun to settle in. I am so glad that there is no rush. It definitely is in need of fixing up. Right now Bob and I are in a full bed. That is so small for us. We are kinda tall. We will make it. It is called roughing it. :) So at this point I don't have access to the Internet in my house, so I have to go to Leanne's house to email. Which we are so busy that is not often. But I will hopefully have a connection with in a week or so. I will be checking it as often I can. So email often. At this point. Pictures are hard to upload. But as soon as I can I will! Love you all- Amy for the family

Baby lions and giraffes on the other side of the world...

We went to bed at a decent time so we could travel to do what Bob has been dreaming to do his whole life. Get bit by a lion. Yep and he got his wish. We traveled to the Lion Camp and pet baby lion cubs. Nya was really not into it but Analise couldn't get enough. They were like big kittys to her and Nya's caution radar was on after she saw Bob get bit. It was nice to travel out and about. Right now we still feel like we have been in suedo america. We passed McDonalds and everthing is westernerized here. The cars and people are different but it is all about cell phones, hollywood, and investments according to the billboards we pass on the freeway. We are told we have an accent so they know we are from America. What accent do we have we ask and they tell us it is an American TV accent. Never heard of it. But we have it. This does not feel like africa. Tomorrow it will because we are flying to Malawi at 10:20 am so that 12:20 am your time on the west coast. It will be the real deal. Well thank you for prayers. We needed this repreive to rest so we can go into Malawi not falling apart at the seams. Which we are rested semi put together. We love you and the next couple of days will be transition time. Who knows what the internet will be like. So have patience with us. I am addicted to the internet. SO imagine me. :) Lots of love- Us

It is easy to fly to South Africa with 2 small kids?

Who knew. I guess many of you know what our journey was to be like. Wake up at 3:15 am on the road at 4:35am. So this is how are travel day went... We made to the airport with 12 suitcases and 4 carryons and 4 purse ( not bob he had his man purse computer bag :)) We checked in soooo smoothly. We went through security with no extra scans. What I always get double scaned. We get on the flight to DC with no problems with 2 car seats and a stroller. The girls just napped and hung out and no fussing? So we caught the airplane for South Africa. We were in row68. We had the whole row to ourselves. There were only 4 seats across. We left on time and the journey across the ocean officially started. We started out with our drinks and they offered coke. I couldn’t turn it down. It was in v8 looking can. I knew it always good for me. J We got dinner and settled in for the night sleep. The girls did great. Bob and I barely slept though. Sad How can anyone sleep upright anyways. We made it to Johannesburg 8:55 am California time and 2:55 Johannesburg time. We asked for Help from the help desk because there was no way that we could do push all of our luggage. A man came to us and his name was Gift and that was really what he was a gift. All our luggage came. Really all of it came. We took it to the luggage hold where we would keep it until we came back on Thursday to retrive for the flight to Lilongwe. We went to the car rental and got our small rental car. Did I small. It was. Bob took to it like he has been driving on the opposite side of the road for years. Mind you it also was a shift stick which means it was even more tricky. No problem for him. We went and got Dolly. What she made it too? She seemed to be great. She wasn’t even traumatized. How could be so easy and great. We then drove to hotel. We followed the M24 to N3 To M1 to the Malboro offramp. Easy. Johannesburg reminds me of New Jersey. Just lots of buildings and very metropolitan looking. Clean and easy to drive it exept that you are on the other side of the road. We got the hotel checked in and crashed! We made it and it was easy. Thank you so much for all your prayers that is why it was easy. We love you all and miss you more. We are off the to the grocery store. And visit Johannesburg downtown. Love- Us

the end of the season and a beginning of another...

Well it is officially D-DAY Whatever that means I don't know. DO IT DAY, DESTROYER DAY, DON'T Want to DO DAY Well Anyways- It Means IT IS HAPPENING TOMMORROW AND IT ALL BETTER BE PUT TOGETHER TODAY! OKAY Let's do it. So we have the house empty and doing the last cleaning & organizing our Africa luggage. Our girls are doing amazing as they have been shuffled between all our friends. Please know we appreciate all your prayers and continue to pray for our health as we travel and that the girls sleep. And us! We leave tomorrow at 7:55am but we are getting there at 5AM So that means we are waking up at toooo early mode. We arrive in Washington DC at 4pm and get on South Africa Airways at 5:20 and fly through the night. We arrive in South Africa at 2:30pm. It is 9 hours ahead off here.We will keep you updated!
Love- us