December First Musings

Fresh flowers from my yard

A lot of November was spent with people.  I love people.  We've been busy, in and out of Mokhotlong, and I feel like December is going to seem quiet in comparison.  After the World Race team departed, we had a tough situation arise which you can read about here.  It hurts to see people you love hurting.  But we also felt refreshed after our extended time with the team.  It's always worth it to pour into others and God is faithful to supply what you need even when you feel as though you have nothing to offer.

My parents and brother came and went and we had a wonderful time together.  Highlights were a totally unexpected snow dump, a hike up the mountain, jogging with my dad around Mokhotlong, skipping rocks on the river, tons of dish washing parties, hosting a Thanksgiving feast, horseback riding, a shopping trip with my mom and playing at the beach.  It is always such a special treat to have family around.

While we were with the World Race team in Johannesburg, some of the girls asked me what I miss about home.  Immediately the word "fall" came out of my mouth.  I love fall.  It's my favorite season.  I love everything about it, but especially the smells it brings.  It's tough every year to go through October and November as it warms up in the Southern Hemisphere and there are blossoms on the trees, rather than crackling colorful leaves.  I miss candles.  Candles aren't really a thing here.  Before we moved to Africa, I used to light a candle every night after dinner.  So a couple of my friends from the team went out that afternoon and bought me a Cinnamon Stick Yankee Candle while at the mall.  Yankee Candles are imported here and as if they aren't expensive in the US, they are even more so here.  I have seen them here at the fancy malls in the big cities, but have never splurged on one.  These two ladies got me one and brought it to me after I was half asleep that night.  They came in and handed me a heavy bag and it didn't register in my mind at that moment what it was.  It dawned on me a little while later.  I had to force myself to light it today.  I just want to save it because it's so special, I don't want to waste it!  This evening it is cool and rainy.  The perfect time to light a candle.  So I did, and I love it!  Thanks, Emma and Millie, for ministering to my fall-sick heart.

Before we took my family back to the airport, we threw leftover Thanksgiving dinner in the freezer.  I decided to try to jazz it up a bit this afternoon to turn it into a nice dinner.  I sort of used this recipe, although I did a ton of altering due to my limited resources.  I made my own cream of chicken soup mixture and subbed carrots for celery.  I also added French fried onions to the top because why not?  It was seriously delicious.  Highly recommend.

Decorating for Christmas takes me no more than ten minutes, as you can see by the state of our tiny tree.  Don't tell my kids that it's not normal.  They are super excited and are already begging to open their gifts.  I like our little tree.  It adds such a nice glow to the living room.

I hope all you lovely people are gearing up for a beautiful season celebrating Emmanuel, God with us.  May the miracle of His birth not be lost on us!

~Abby

Happy Birthday Sadie Bug!

Happy.  It's the best way to describe my girl.  She is happy every day!  She is happy to watch her brother and sister play.  She is happy to go outside and play.  She is happy to sit inside and play.  She is happy to be held.  She's happy to crawl around!  She's just happy!

This year has flown.  She has been such a joy to have around, it hasn't felt long.  Every day has been delightful with her.  I'm serious!  She is so sweet it's just fun to have her here.  She is affectionately known around here as, "Say Say", "Sadie Bug", "Bug Bug" and "Sister."  The kids call her Say Say which is so cute!  They love having a little sister.

Ellee at the top, SK on the bottom - both on their first birthday!

Over the past month and a half, she's really increased what she'll eat.  For the longest time she was surviving off breastmilk and Cheerios.  Now she eats lots of things!  Her favorite food is pasta, hands down.  She eats more pasta than I think is good for her.  I have to make her stop and she cries about it.  She has four teeth and two more on the way in.  I see the very beginnings of molars back there, too.  She really does a number gumming food without many chompers.  I imagine she'll be ready for steak once those molars get through.  Teething hasn't been much of a battle, thankfully.  Breastfeeding, on the other hand, hasn't been as easy!  You'd think on the third kid, it would be.  But we've hit a few bumps in the road this year.  I had what felt like the makings of an infection a few weeks back.  After some anti-inflammatory meds, lots of heat and water, and many prayers, it went away.  Nevertheless, she's still nursing 6X a day and, while she isn't exactly a settled nurser, she does so love her baby milk.

She's sleeping on her own through the night finally.  She slept great the first six months of the life.  Then she discovered how to sit up on her own, and that was the end of her good sleeping.  When we got back to Africa, we did baby boot camp.  After a few rough nights, she gave up and realized she was going to have to sleep eventually.  It's been smooth sailing from there.  She sleeps twice during the day and 11-12 hours at night.

She doesn't really want anything to do with walking yet.  She's happy to crawl and she pulls up on everything.  She climbs up on things.  She just doesn't want to let go and stand alone or attempt any wobbly steps.  I'm ready for her to walk -- crawling clothes are so dirty all the time.  Going outside is difficult because there isn't much space that isn't rocky or soil.  But I'll have to be patient because walking is not something you can force!

In August, I took her to New York with my mom and me.  It was so special to spend a few days just with her.  She's a great side kick!  I put her in the sling and carried her all around and she loved it.  In a few weeks I'm taking her to the Lesotho Missionary Ladies retreat.  I'm looking forward to spending more quality time together.

I feel it deserves noting that she has traveled around the world in her first year of life!  When she was just a week old, she spent a morning at the Indian Ocean.  In April, she played in the Atlantic Ocean.  Then in July, she dipped her tiny toes in the Pacific Ocean.  I din't see her making it to the Arctic anytime soon, but three out of four ain't bad for a one year old!  She has more frequent flier miles than most adults I know!  She's a super traveler.

We started her birthday with a french toast breakfast.  I made a cake yesterday in honor of one of her favorite things -- sheep!  She loves to watch the herds go by our house every day.  Sometimes she sits out by the gate and watches them pass.  I hunted for a birthday gift for her while we were in South Africa last week, but came up short.  I couldn't find what I was looking for and didn't want to just waste money on something.  I'll keep hunting for a doll house for her for Christmas.  In the meantime, she'll have to just enjoy a toothbrush and toothpaste instead.  I know she will because she loves to brush her teeth.  She follows me around when I am brushing my teeth grunting and pointing and groaning for my toothbrush.  Now she has one of her own!

A recap of SK's first year :

On her true birthday

Passport photo

Snug as a bug in a rug

Cuddling with Joy

One month

Traveling to America -7 weeks old

Three months

Four months

Five months

Six months

Seven months

Eight months

Nine months

NY trip 

Ten months

Eleven months

12 months!

You are just the happiest, Sadie girl.  I love the way you smile with your tongue.  I love how much you love people!   I love every bit of you!  Happy first birthday!

~Abby

Vacation Plan B

Months ago while in Durban, Jonathan picked up a pamphlet for a set of holiday cottages on a lake about three hours from Mokhotlong.  Upon inquiring about prices, we decided we would go for a vacation after peak season ended.  After spending Christmas and New Years without our extended family in the US, we felt it would be nice to have something special to look forward to as a family.

A couple weeks before we were booked to go, we started throwing around the idea of asking our neighbors to join us.  We had gathered that they also wanted to take a vacation during the school break and thought we could enjoy some time away together.  Because of the school schedule, we had to adjust our dates and plans a bit but we were able to settle on four nights in side-by-side cottages.  Each cottage came with a row boat and we decided to grill out every night for dinner.  We were all so excited!

And we're off!

So early one morning we packed up and set off.  When we arrived at the top of Sani Pass, the mountain road we use to get out of Mokhotlong to the east, we were informed that the pass had washed away.  At first I thought it was a joke.  How could it just fall off?  It is unpaved and even in good conditions it isn't a pleasant road to drive.  However, heavy rains and hail created a serious land slide.  We went down the first two curves and were stopped by all the taxis which had pulled over.  We got out and peered over.  Sure enough, there was no road.  Because it was still raining and foggy, we couldn't photograph it.  There were people walking down on foot with their belongings to catch another taxi at the bottom.  That wasn't an option for us.  So we turned around and started the one and a half hours back home.  We were all so deflated!

I was most disappointed for Kyle and Joy (our neighbors' daughter).  Kyle kept saying, "I am so sad we can't go to our boat vacation."  Joy, who had chattered excitedly the whole way to the pass, barely said a word all the way back to Mokhotlong.  From the looks of it, we were sure it would take at least a few days, if not longer, to fix the road.  As we drove back, I started pondering our options for going towards the west using the other road out of Mokhotlong.  We already knew of a few places we might be able to stay, if they had availability, about four/five hours from here.  After running the idea by our friends, we inquired about a place I found online and booked for that night!

"Ummm....

....Are we there yet?"

We got back in the car and drove the five hours down to our new vacation destination.  What a long day that was!  We finally arrived and my kids were absolute troopers in the car all eight hours of traveling.  What was meant to be a quick, three hour drive down to our closest town turned into an eight hour tour of half the country.  Our vacation began at the grocery to pick up things we can't get in Mokhotlong.  Then we crept along an extremely dark highway trying to find the place.  Finally we succeeded.  And we all crashed for the night!

"See, Mom, I got out of the tree all by myself!"

Studying under the willow tree

Ellee is completely smitten with Ntate and Mme Mosoang.  

We ended up on a quiet farm in the lowlands, each family with our own cottage.  We grilled our dinners every night and had fun playing some football (soccer) in the yard around the farm. There were two ponies and a donkey for the kids to visit just outside our front door!  The kids enjoyed splashing in the pool and we did a little shopping and sightseeing in the small towns nearby.  Our days were spent relaxing mostly, napping and just playing with the kids.  Although it wasn't exactly the lakeside holiday we had been looking forward to, it was still delightful.  And because this place was cheaper, we stayed five nights instead of four.

Beautiful patio overlooking the South African countryside.

"Look, Mom!"

This child was almost to the top of the ladder before we realized she had gone anywhere.  A monkey!

One morning we went to a tourist site only about ten minutes from where we were staying.  It is the end of a gigantic underground tunnel which stretches 90 km from high in the Lesotho mountains down to the lowlands in Orange Free State.  The tunnel was drilled for the purpose of exporting water from Lesotho to South Africa.  Dams are being built within Lesotho to further direct water sources to export tunnels.  I was completely fascinated by the size of the tunnel and the amount of water rushing out!

A piece of the tunnel to give you an idea of the size.  There was a plaque that said three people had died during the drilling and placement of it.  

Having our friends with us was such a treat.  It was just like we'd hoped.  Company for meal times and board games but also totally laid back and relaxed.  I think they really enjoyed the time away from the day-in-day-out life of Mokhotlong.  We all joked that it was nice just to not have anyone knocking at our doors for one reason or the other (a common occurrence here morning, noon and night).  As we were leaving, they suggested as long as we are in Lesotho, it must now be a tradition that we plan at least one family holiday together per year.  We agreed.

~Abby