A Day in Mapanza

Our roof from the interior

It's being plastered!


Blu is missing the Alvarado crew, as he puts the ceiling up on his own this time!

Cason "helping" the plasterers!

Cambree and Daddy on lunch break

Caedmon and Cambree showing us their "tough faces"

Caedmon (looking exactly like Grandpa!) after a long day at Mapanza!

singing

"I'm a soldier" sung by Cambree in her Zambian accent

(I'm a soldier, in the army, I'm a soldier in the army of the Lord"

"Ndilikaluba kasyoonto" sung by Caedmon

(I'm a little flower, I'm a little flower, I'm a little flower for Jesus)

Caedmon and Cambree dancing

Staffers Retreat

This weekend, we had a mini-retreat with our future staffers at New Day. They are:

Mulenga: our absolute closest friend in Zambia who oversees everything that is being done on the land

Hildah: very close friend who will be teaching (currently teaches preschool in a town 2 hours away), has a 4 year old daughter who will be coming as well

Abby: very close friend who will be teaching (currently teaches preschool in the capitol city)

Elizabeth: a new friend who will be working with Zambian social welfare officers and heading up the community development projects for New Day, has a 6 year old daughter who will be coming as well

We had a great time eating, talking, putting puzzles together, gossiping about boys, talking about the future of New Day, and just preparing them for their move to the land in December of this year! Enjoy the pics!

The ring beam on the first orphan house is finally poured--roofing to begin soon!

Our house (you can barely see the tin roof going up) and our very nice grass fence!

My kitchen (notice all the electrical is done and works perfectly hooked up to the generator!)

The big kitchen/dining/laundry/classroom area ready for the slab to be poured

T-r-o-u-b-l-e :) Blu and Mulenga

Abby eating steak at our house and trying her hardest to master the art of using a fork and a knife (Zambians eat only with their hands)

Me, Elizabeth, Laurie, Abby, Hildah, and Little Laurie on the foundation of the female workers' house

Hildah, Elizabeth, and Abby

Tuyakubonana!

My sister and her family left today for 7 months in the USA! After 3 years and 9 months in Zambia, they were a little nervous about re-entering a culture that they have been away from for so long! We will sure miss having "real" family here in Zambia!
Dawni (looking stressed) and AJ

Luggage line

Unloading all 9 pieces of luggage!

Prayer circle with other missionaries before they left

Sisters! (wow..I look bald!)

White Water Rafting Trip

Blake and Blu ready to raft!

Funny how Blu is the only one on the raft going overboard...

Fun times!

Date Night

We had our first date in 6 months!! We got all dressed up and went to a nice restaurant, Rhapsody's, and had a delicious meal! Then we enjoyed the new Twilight movie. What a fun night! :)

The Big Five

All seven cousins-best we could get!

Tidwell Kids

Cousin Time!

So my sister and her family are returning to the USA for their furlough, so we've enjoyed spending the last week with them here in Zambia! We have been to Vic Falls, Choma, Mapanza, and are now in the capitol city of Lusaka. We realized that between the two of us, we have seven kids that are ages 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1!!!!!!

While Blake and Blu were white water rafting, Dawni and I drove the kids through the game park to look for some animals. An elephant almost charged us! We saw this gorgeous zebra!

Isabel riding a bike for the first time!

Cason playing in a barrel swing at the crocodile farm in Livingstone

This picture is of Cambree looking at Isabel. Cambree ADORES her oldest girl cousin!

Caedmon has learned to ride his bike!

Caedmon and Isaac have loved playing together this trip

Baby AJ getting in on the backyard playtime

Abigail and Cambree in the wagon

Blake and Dawni before their date night...ours is tonight!

World Cup in the Bush

More pics of progress

The kitchen/dining/pantry/laundry/classroom building (referred to as our multi-purpose center) with the foundation dug and ready for footings to be poured

All of the supplies needed--river sand, crushed stones, cinder block, hydraform bricks

The kids bathroom in our house

Master bathroom (notice they had to chisel into the slab to run the pipes out)

Master bathroom

Kitchen cabinets/counters being put in

Grass fence, just awaiting the excess on the top to be chopped off! Yay for privacy!

Blu will be returning to Mapanza next Tuesday to Thursday (after a white water rafting trip at Victoria Falls with his brother-in-law!) We'll have more pictures for you then, and maybe even some of the iron sheets going up on our roof!

Adjusting to Zambia

It has been interesting to watch my kids adjust to Zambia. When we got here, they were 4, 3, and 1. Baby Cason will have no memories before Zambia, and Caedmon and Cambree will have very few. It's been neat to watch to see how they adapt, what they notice about a new culture, and what they miss about America.

Cambree has definitely been the most fun to watch! My kids spend at least 2-3 hours every day playing with their Zambian friends. Though they speak English, they have a definite Zambian accent, which our kids have picked up on. Cambree now says "heh" for "hair", "doctuh" for doctor, and "watuh" for "water." She spends most of the day with a baby tied to her back, and if I ask her to carry anything, she automatically puts it on her head to carry.

The other day, Blu snapped this picture of her outside...just a normal American girl running with her friends, right? With a baby tied to her back....

Happy 4th from Zambia!

We had a fun 4th of July celebration here in Choma! We got a little carried away and grilled 5 steaks, 4 pieces of chicken, and 4 sausages :)


The 4th of July is always shared with friends, right? Here Mulenga is trying his first EVER glass of sweet tea!

And what's the 4th without sugar cookies??



6 years ago today, Blu set fire to the bush and almost all of Zambia, so no fireworks for him this year :) Happy 4th!