Friday, June 30, 2017

It's Friday again!

I sure do love Fridays! I get to sleep late (6am!), I use dry shampoo instead of washing my hair (my hair is loooongg...takes forever to wash!), my Math classes are a little more laid-back, and I have the whole afternoon off! Today is the end of the month, which means TONS of work for me, but I got a lot done yesterday to try to keep my Friday not so crazy (plus my dad hands out the payroll to all of our Zambian employees, so that helps a ton!). Tonight, we are having a yummy supper and then we rented the new Beauty and the Beast, so it should be a great night!

Meet Uncle Aubrey! Aubrey is from the Copperbelt of Zambia (about 14 hours away in Central Zambia - Ndola specifically). He has been hired as New Day's new kitchen manager/mechanic. He is GREAT with kids and has spent many years in ministry. We are excited to have him, and he killed a snake his first day! (after first clarifying that it wasn't New Day's pet!)

Laston is getting so naughty big!

Sweet Maggie's "wow" face!

We have a new baby girl! Her name is Margaret Anne, and she was born on March 16, 2017. Her mother died 2 weeks ago, and she was staying with her grandmother. They only had cow's milk to feed her, and she was eventually hospitalized with diarrhea. The family came to us seeking help as they realized they could not provide care for her. Welcome to the family Margaret Anne! (She is living in the Luyando House with Mama Loveness!)

A smile from our oldest, Sisi!

Stanley monkeying around!

A big smile from Terry, who has a birthday next week!

A hug from Muchoni :)

Emma has always loved her "Bubba!"

Dad working with Caed & Machila in 7th grade Science

My 6th grade Math Class

Mom's 3rd grade Lang Arts class

Love this picture and all it captures!

Monday, June 26, 2017

Lusaka Trip!

A few weeks ago, we realized that we needed to go to Lusaka. 1) We needed to start the process to get an air conditioner installed in our new minibus (BEFORE the hot season!), 2) We needed to take Abby's things to her, and 3) We have a new long-term volunteer coming in September, and we needed to submit her Immigration papers. We looked at the calendar and realized, lo and behold, our only free weekend was the 22-25...which just happens to be Mom's birthday! So we invited Teacher Diana along and made a trip of it!

It took us FOREVER to get there (6 hours ish), so we were relieved to finally see the city lights and stop at The Cake Bar for supper!

Cason ordered "Creaky Hot Dogs!" We wondered what that was, and this is what came out. On the receipt, it was printed "Creamy Hot Dogs" - guess it was a typo in the menu!

A BBQ meatball sub on a pita for me!

The next day, our first stop was a delivery to Teacher Abby of all of her things. Meet Abby's baby boy - Lutangalo, which means Joy! He is a cutie. Abby is applying for teaching jobs in Lusaka and living with her brother and his family.

We did a LOT of shopping on Friday, took the kids to see The Boss Baby, and then had supper at Mugg & Bean. The next day was Mom's birthday (and their 44th anniversary!), so we headed to the spa for manicures, pedicures, and a massage (for Dad!)

Meanwhile, Blu got the minibus a/c situation taken care of and entertained the boys...

Lunch at Spur - where obviously a sports game of some kind was on!!

That night, we headed to our favorite Chinese place, Dong Fang, for a yummy meal! Blu even sang "Happy Birthday to You" in Chinese to Mom! (a man of many talents...!!) My brother-in-law was able to join us and treated us ALL to the meal - we had a great time!

Blu had (on his own!) picked out a cake for Mom earlier that day while we were at the spa - so sweet!

We forgot the candles, but she pretended :) It was a great day to celebrate Mom's 61st birthday!

And that's a wrap on last week and this past weekend! We have a somewhat calm week (ha!) before our next team arrives on July 3rd! Our kids are traveling back to the USA with this team, so time is flying by! Today, I have taught 4 classes, wrapped 7 birthday gifts for July birthdays, sorted/cleaned things in the Resource Room, sorted/cleaned things in The Ark, planned a menu and shopping list for the next team, done grocery inventory for the next team, done 2 expense reports, worked out, and blogged! And now it's time for me to head to the boys' soccer game, have a prayer meeting with Wes & Laurie, and then figure out supper!! AAAHH!! This is one of my favorite verses in the Bible, and I feel like it was written JUST for me!!

Last of the Clanton Team!

We had a great time (and stayed up WAY too late!) with the Clanton team last week! We were blessed by their Discipline Workshop, fun afternoon activities with the kids, and other ways they pitched in and helped - AND with the laughter/fun they brought to New Day for the week!

They also got some great shots of the kids - here's Miss Agness!

Installation of a new hot water heater...and turning the old hot water heater into a smoker!!

Building church pews/benches!

Some soccer, of course!

Emma just hanging around!

Grace & Edna

Joseph

Josh & Christy stayed in our house for 3 months while we were on furlough back in 2011. Love these two so much!

Justin just a'swinging!

Lily & Lydia loved spending their time with our littles!

Who's the Boss? This girl right here! ;)

Nurse Mandy came!! Everyone was SO excited to see her!

Prince

Manly Stanley!

Another gorgeous sunset!

Josh & Christy did a great job on the discipline workshop!

David

A great group of people who will be missed!