Last week + A little Lusaka fun!

Blu has been busy building trusses for the new orphan house! He figured out the design and measurements and drew it out...on the door! ;)

Speaking of construction, Paw and Bmaw have been busy finishing up the bunkhouse! Look at Paw's gorgeous doors!

Cambree is my new little tortilla maker!

Cason just finished up his massive Alamo exhibit!

Machila recently wrote me a letter about a problem she was having at boarding school. She asked for my advice, so we used it as a Discipleship lesson. I loved seeing the girls delve into Scripture to give her advice!

Our house is getting emptier by the day! We are moving into New Day's guesthouse on July 20th and having a final sale on July 21st!

Little Steven being silly!

We had some excitement last week with a theft. Someone came onto the property at night and stole several tool bags, a battery, basketball, and various other things, but also drove the truck to the gate. Not finding any security guards and the gate being locked, he stole the walkie talkies that were charging and told the guards not to come out of they value their lives (so they ran!) He left the truck because he didn't want to damage it ramming the gate. After a couple of days, the perpetrator was found (a former security guard of ours), and the things were mostly recovered. And he's now in jail!

Cambree and Laurie's clubhouse curtains and blanket were at his hut!

There's Blu's favorite tool bags! And a basketball..

The catching of the thief might have involved a fake gun!!! There goes Blu and the New Day Neighborhood Watch group with the thief! (They drove him to jail in our minibus, where he dismantled the fire extinguisher and threatened to spray Blu!

So after all of that excitement, it was time for a weekend trip to Lusaka for immigration and Cambree's orthodontist appointment!

Looks like a teenager to me....

After driving for 6 hours over potholes..

The Cake Bar! And I ordered tuna..because I'm weird like that!

Mama Dee is Cason's video game buddy!

Lusaka traffic..

First stop = Immigration to submit Nurse Carol's work permit! She is coming in January for 18 months!

Then the orthodontist! I will miss this place - it was NICE!

We ended Friday night with a trip to Spur!

Some Saturday morning 42..

We had a nice morning with brunch at Mugg & Bean and then the boys headed to the movies to watch Avengers!

While the boys were watching a movie and Mom, Dad, and Cambree were getting pedis/massages, I met up with Michelle for a couple of hours! I got to see her 3 1/2 year old, Josh, and meet her 10 month old twins Jaena and Jasmine! She has had a tough life. Her mom died during childbirth and she was raised by various relatives, even spending some time on the streets of Lusaka. She now has a University degree, a beautiful family, and is looking for a job. Please pray for her!

Sunday was Mom & Dad's 45th wedding anniversary and Mom's birthday! We opened presents and then headed to one of our favorite places in Lusaka - The Mint Lounge at Sandy's Creations!

After another 6 hour trip, we made it home and drove into the beautiful Zambian sunset!

That should be all the trips for us until the BIG trip on August 2nd! We are busy preparing for a mission team of 24 that arrives this weekend, a week of village VBS next week, and then the final month of preparations before we leave New Day.

Victoria Falls + Chobe Safari

You know how when you live next door to McDonald's, you probably don't eat there very often?? That's us with Victoria Falls and safaris. We have been TONS of times to the Falls, and Blu's been on tons of safaris (I've been on just 2 in Botswana but several in Zambia). Our kids, however, haven't been to the Falls as a family since 2010, and they've never done the Botswana safari, so we promised them we'd do it before we head back to the USA (45 days from today...yikes.) Mom and Dad hadn't done the Falls or safari in years, so we made a family trip of it on our mid-term break weekend!

First stop - Italian food at Olga's for lunch to carb up for our hike!

We started with the Boiling Pot hike, which Mom, Dad, and Caedmon had never done! (Every time I do it, I swear it's the last time. This time, I mean it! I think.)

Down we go!

They love each other...sometimes..

This is why it's called the boiling pot - the Falls empties into it and it swirls and swirls like boiling water!

We made it!

Blu had an interesting exchange with a baboon...

Gorgeous!

Caedmon

Cambree

Dad & Blu

Cason

Our family

Blu stayed with Mama Dee on the way back up to make sure she made it!

It is such a pretty hike! Mom loved it!

I took some pics using the portrait effect on my phone!

Hiking..together..:)

Blu :)

At the bottom! The kids made it way faster than some of us..

The girls!

Whew! Done!

We then went over to the trails to see the Falls and check out this baobab tree!

Our last time to see the Falls together....for awhile, at least!

Raincoats..that didn't help AT ALL.

Dr. Livingstone, I presume! He named Victoria Falls after the British Queen, while the locals called it Mosi-oo-Tunya - "The Smoke that Thunders."

So beautiful!

After all that activity, time for some shrimp!

On Saturday morning, we headed to the Botswana border to take the ferry across for our full day safari in Chobe National Park! It was much easier than 2 months ago since we didn't have to take our vehicle across!

The first half of the safari is a boat cruise!

Gorgeous cape buffalo, one of the Big Five!

Caedmon probably loved the safari the most! (Well, not more than Mama Dee..)

Cambree was excited!

Cason was ready! He's not playing his iPad here - he's getting it ready to take pictures for a photo contest he wants to enter in the USA!

Lots of crocs!

We loved this "Dragon" tree!

So. many. elephants.

Hippos. Ugh.

Mom & Dad had a blast!

I love this tree!

After a lunch at the lodge, (where Cambree ordered nshima...again...), we loaded into the truck for the land part of the safari!

They might have all made fun of me when I started taking pictures of an airplane! ;) It was close to us!!

We were REALLY close to elephants.

Giraffes!

When we had about an hour left, our guide told us leopards had been spotted, but it was in a distant part of the park and would take awhile to get there, get back, and we'd have trouble getting to the border on time. He asked if we wanted to try, and we said YES! So he said he would have to drive "Formula One" to get us there! When we got there, there were safari vehicles all surrounding a tree, and we finally saw it!!! Two baby leopard cubs and one mama!! The mama and one cub were in the tree, and one cub was on the ground. It was AWESOME!!!

Another pretty tree! (I might like trees more than animals...)

Fun fun!

So after the leopard sighting, we really had to haul tail to get back to the border in time, so we were FLYING through the park. Dad was bouncing around everywhere and we were very wind/sand blown! And then...our driver hit a hornbill bird. (Zazu from The Lion King!) The bird hit the windshield and flipped up into the truck and hit Blu in the side of the head (his ear!) It was HILARIOUS. No, really. HILARIOUS.

Blu laughing in the aftermath as we all relived it!

Trying REALLY hard not to use the bathroom on myself!

There it is!

Even Jack, our driver, was freaked out!

Nobody could stop laughing!

Blu showed me the pictures he'd taken of me at the end of the day! Y'all, I do not like safaris. Or animals, really. Or confined places with no bathrooms (i.e. boats, jeeps in a national park, etc.) So this safari was really pushing me out of my comfort zone! As you can see by my faces...

After all of that, we ended our evening with some Black Forest cake. What a weekend!