Zambia Days 6-9, REUNION!

So at 5am Blake picked us up from the bus "station" and drove us to their home. It was dark, so we couldn't see the village or anything, but we pull into the gate and I see my sweet sister on the porch! Then, one by one, her kids come out. When we last saw them they were ages 4, 2 1/2, and 6 months. Now they were 6, almost 5, and almost 3 (and Baby Amos was 8 months!) The kids each ran up to us and gave us a hug like they had known us forever. Even sweet little Isaac ran up to Uncle Blu and gave him a huge hug. It just goes to show you that if the parents work at it, kids will remember who they leave behind in the States and their extended families will remain a huge part of their lives. As my parents describe it, "It's a different kind of grandparenting, but it's still grandparenting."

We spent Monday-Wednedsay with Blake and Dawni in Isoka. I followed Dawni around with a notepad and pen asking her, "Where did you get this? Should I bring this? What do you think about this?" It was amazing to watch her--make homemade tortillas, homeschool her children, wash cloth diapers, cook supper, and making it all look SO EASY!! We had a great time together - playing the guitar with Uncle Blu, meeting some of their friends, and playing card games at night. It's hard to describe so I'll just overwhelm you with pictures. :)
Here is Dawni rolling out her homemade tortillas! I told her when she gets back to the States she won't be able to eat the store-bought ones because hers are SO good!

You've seen this one, but I"ll post it again. Something funny is that when I saw this pic, I said "wow I look tired!" Then I realized I had forgotten to put makeup on! When we lived in Zambia before, I never wore makeup because nobody cares if you do or not!

One morning we walked into their little town and shopped some at the market. I got some name-brand pants for $3! We also stopped by the post office!

We were there for the weekly Kimbrough Pizza and Movie night so we got to experience Dawni's homemade pizza!

The kids with Uncle Blu

Isabel is SUCH a good big sister and she was great with her cousin Cason too!

This is their homeschool room where the girls were doing homeschool one morning that I was there.

This is the most awesome game in the world, called FingerFighting! I won :)

The kids loved to dance around the living room while Blu played Laurie Berkner songs!

Aren't they precious??

Aww....they will celebrate their 10 year anniversary this year!

The two baby cousins!

Amos is so cute and loves to flirt!

Kimbrough Kids


We left at 4am on Thursday morning to drive the 12 hours back to the capitol city. This time, we could see the road, and it was AWFUL. There were some potholes so big that a person could literally lay down in them! It was a bumpy ride, but we had music and we read books, and the kids were AMAZINGLY good on such a long trip. There was so much planning involved. There is no place to stop and eat, so both a snack and lunches had to be packed. Blake and Dawni have their normal "potty stops" out in the bush where they stop and disappear to use the bathroom! It's funny that this is the norm for their kids! We enjoyed some Indian food that night in Lusaka and some more card games and then called it a night since we had to leave at 6:30am for the airport. We had promised each other we wouldn't cry, and I was doing fine the next morning until sweet little Abigail's eye filled with tears and she said, "But if Uncle Blu and Aunt Darbi leave....we won't have any friends to play with!!"

Tomorrow I'll write a "conclusion post" on our Zambian trip.