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

Shepherds of Men

The past two days we have had the honor of hosting a group of outstanding young men.  The shepherd TIMO (Training In Mission Outreach) team stopped by our house yesterday and again today during a jaunt to a far-out village.  These guys are the cream of the crop, let me tell you, and they mean business - about food and the Gospel.

Left to right : Sam, TIMO team leader from England; Chris, South African born, now an English citizen; Mark, Montana, USA; Caleb, Pennsylvania, USA; Tobias, Germany; Spencer, Iowa, USA.

In November, three Americans, one German and one South-African-turned-British came to Lesotho to spend two years living among and witnessing to the Basotho shepherds.  The shepherds are a subculture within the Basotho people who live in the rural mountains, herding flocks and surviving under extremely difficult circumstances.  Oftentimes shepherds are ostracized as outsiders and there are social and geographical blocks to reaching them with the gospel.  Here shepherds are largely illiterate; their traditions are to sing songs and tell stories as a way of passing along important information.  The TIMO team came to impart a set of Bible stories which were developed by two female AIM (Africa Inland Mission) missionaries and translated into Sesotho.  Because the shepherds are exclusively men, typically between 18-35, AIM intended to send young men to live and work with them.  This group of guys signed up for two years of extreme living.  We (Jonathan and I) are truly challenged by their courage and commitment to the gospel.

There is something of a gaping hole in the missional community where young men are concerned.  It is commonly known that the missional force is largely made up of single women and older couples.  It does seem that the trends are changing and we know a significant number of young families on the field.  However, the number of single missionary guys we know could be counted on one hand.  Until we met all these guys.  They are serious about what they’ve come to do and we are so proud of them.

Their living conditions are even more isolated and primitive than I think I can accurately depict.  Obviously, I haven’t lived where they are living.  However, we pass by the area in the vast, seemingly uninhabited mountains where they stay, during our trips in and out of Mokhotlong.  Their huts are only about three feet high with a thatched roof and just an elevated space for sleeping.  The shepherds (Basotho shepherds and the TIMO team alike) have nothing but the clothes on their back, the blankets they wear for warmth and shield from the sun, and a spoon for eating their breakfast and dinner.  Both meals consist of a thick maize meal called pap and occasionally some wild greens they find growing nearby where they live.  They drink water from the streams around their huts.  I do believe they have a bar of soap but judging by how the guys looked when they showed up at my house and how my sink looked after they washed their hands, they must not invest too much time in utilizing it.  That’s okay.  As I see it, why bother?

From sunup to sundown these guys are outdoors.  They are working to learn Sesotho so they can better communicate with their shepherd neighbors.  They hike up and down mountains, play a familiar game amongst the shepherds with sticks and rocks, sing, read and sometimes nap while out on herd duty.  In the mornings and evenings, they take turns making the fire to cook their pap.  It’s as if they are on a two-year long extremely difficult camping trip.  But a camping trip with an eternal purpose.

Every forth week of the month, the team leaves their post, called a motebong, in the mountains and retreats to a house in Clarens, South Africa.  Their TIMO team leaders also live Clarens and facilitate their travel and work with the TIMO program.  In Clarens, the guys can shower, eat whatever they want, watch a movie or just take a nap in a real bed.  They also have internet access during that time to contact their loved ones back home.  Because TIMO is focused on mission training, there is also a curriculum that goes along with the program.  The guys are reading some of their assignments while at the cattle posts, and completing the rest of their assignments while in South Africa.

The guys were at our house for breakfast on Thursday morning, so we invited a few of our closest friends here in Mokhotlong to meet and visit with them.  The team arrived fully clad in shepherd attire, although they’d ditched their blankets and boots for coming indoors.  I made up 24 egg/cheese/bacon mini-quiches in my muffin pans.  Then I made two loaves of fresh bread and cut up a whole bowl worth of fresh fruit.  We served that along with all the drinks we could come up with here in Mokhotlong : juice, hot tea, coffee, Coke, water, ginger beer (like ginger ale), Mountain Dew, sweet tea and milk.  It was absolutely demolished.  Then they set off to their village destination about four hours from here.  Jonathan was able to join them and enjoyed his time getting to know them all a bit better.

Kyle making sure everyone had a car to play with.

Breakfast grub

Turns out Tobias already knew our neighbor/friend Ntsimane

Eating and catching up on the Africa Cup of Nations soccer tournament.

Upon their return yesterday afternoon, I served up Double Doozies per Kyle’s suggestion.  After those vanished, I made up some soft pretzels and they were also gone in no time. Apparently eating pap (think really thick grits) breakfast and dinner can leave some people hungry for comfort food.  I specialize in comfort food so I was happy to oblige.  At least we could send the guys off with bellies full of American junk food and prayers for a successful ministry at the motebong.  

We will see the guys again in a couple weeks at our quarterly AIM-Lesotho prayer day.  I’ve been assigned to making treats for tea time.  Now I’ve got to pull some more tricks out of my sleeve and I will obviously have to make at least twice as much as I was originally expecting.  I see a lot of pans of brownies in my future…  Happily.  It is a privilege to serve those who are giving so much for others.  Do join us in praying for the Lesotho shepherd TIMO team.

~Abby

To read more about the Basotho shepherds, check out Jonathan's research paper he wrote for one of his seminary requirements.

Boukje's Curry

My friend, Boukje (BOW-key-ya) makes the best curry.  Well the truth is, I think it’s the only curry I’ve ever had.  But it’s seriously the best.  During our transition from Maseru to Mokhotlong, we stayed with these dear friends for nearly a month while trying to settle our furniture shipments.  When I asked if we could stay short term in their guest flat, I wasn’t expecting it to last four weeks.  And at that point, we barely knew each other!  You know those people who just feel like family from day one?  They are that kind.  The best kind, really.  Great friends and great curry-- it doesn’t get much better than that.

A lot of times I make concoctions up for dinner straight out of my head.  A little of this, a little of that-- I’m always tweaking something.  My Aunt is famous for doing this and we’ve actually turned her name into a verb.  So, just about every recipe in my book gets Lynned one way or the other.  Sometimes I follow the recipe 100%, especially if it’s something I am trying for the first time. But often I make changes out of necessity.

I seriously shake my head at comments on recipes I read online.  Some people review recipes that are completely different from the one listed. “I substituted apples for the peaches, zucchini for the carrots, I didn’t have any cream cheese so I just omitted that and I added 3 extra teaspoons of cinnamon.”  Before you know it, they’ve change apple-carrot cake with cream cheese frosting to peach zucchini casserole with a side of cinnamon.  It’s ridiculous.  However, other recipe comments make me shake my head for a different reason.  Yesterday I was reading the recipe for a pie.  The recipe listed the ingredients and steps to make your own pie shell.  A commenter asked, “Can I use a store bought pie shell instead?”  Seriously?  Do you even need to ask that question?  How would a home-made or store-made pie crust make any difference at all in the big scheme of making a pie?  Certainly the homemade would probably taste better and is better for you, but they are both pie shells.  C’mon people, get with the program!  You can make a few cooking decisions on your own. 

Sorry. I digress.

When Boukje first tried to show me how to make the curry it was literally just a handful of this and that and the other thing and put the lid on.  I was totally intimidated.  She kept telling me it was easy, but I kept telling her I didn’t even know what went in it!  So, she showed me all the spices and the steps and I eventually got her to write down loose measurements. Well, what do you know?  It IS easy!  Of course I didn’t have all the exotic spices that she used, so I promptly went out and bought them.  It’s that good and I wanted mine to be just exactly the same.

Here you have it, Boukje’s Curry:

Start by frying a chopped onion in a large (preferably cast iron or very sturdy) pot in olive oil over medium heat.  Then add 3 cloves of roughly chopped garlic and about a half inch of grated fresh ginger and stir for a minute. Then add meat.  I used about a pound of stewing lamb w/ bones.  I don’t really like to cook with bone-in meat as a general rule but Boukje convinced me it is better in this instance to have meat with some fat and bone for flavor.  You could also use stewing beef or even some bone-in skinless chicken thighs.  Stir the meat a little and add curry powder.  I used about 2 tsp of a medium curry powder and another tsp of this Masala stuff someone gave me.  Frankly I have no idea if there is any difference at all.  I suppose any curry powder will do.  Stir that around a bit.  Turn your heat down to low.  Now, from this point on, absolutely no stirring.  Got it?  Don’t stir.  Don’t even think about it.  This is why you need a sturdy pot. 

Now you add 4 peeled and chopped potatoes.  Then throw in  3 or 4 (depending on size) roughly chopped tomatoes.  Then sprinkle some salt and pepper.  Then, are you ready for this?  Give a good shake of fennel seeds.  Another good shake of coriander seeds.  Put in a cinnamon stick.  Add two of the stars.  And add maybe 5-8 cardamom pods.  Put the cinnamon, stars and cardamom all in the same spot so you can fish them out easier later on.  Put the lid on.  Walk away and come back in two hours.

Now that you are drooling from the wonderful aroma in your house, you can come back and open the lid.  Take out the cinnamon, stars and cardamom.  Now give it all a good whirl and have a taste.  I wanted mine a bit spicier so I added some red pepper flakes and it needed some more salt so I added that.  I let it simmer with the lid off while I cooked my rice and then we devoured it.  Best served with a side of Greek yogurt with diced cucumbers and fresh cilantro. 

Oil

1 onion

3 cloves garlic

1 inch fresh grated ginger

1 lb stewing meat

4 potatoes, peeled and chopped

3-4 tomatoes, chopped

3+/- tsp curry powder

3/4 tsp salt

1 tsp fennel seeds

1 tsp coriander seeds

1 cinnamon stick

2 star anise

1 tsp cardamom pods

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, if desired

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Fry onion in oil until soft.  Add garlic and ginger, fry 1 minute.  Add meat and curry powder and stir.  Add potatoes, tomatoes and spices DO NOT stir and cook on low heat for 2 or more hours.  When ready, pull out the cinnamon, star anise and cardamom.  Also remove any bones from the meat.  Adjust spices to taste.  Serve with rice and cucumber salad.

~Abby

Gingerbread Cookies

As I sip my rooibos chai tea and munch on a gingerbread cookie, I’ll just try to ignore the 75* outside, sun flowers blooming and peaches ripening on my fruit trees.  It is December, after all, and the season for things that taste and smell of cinnamon and cloves.  Right now there is cinnamon banana carrot bread baking in the oven and the Christmas tree is lit.  It's as close to cozy as it can get.    

Yesterday while it drizzled outside, Kyle and I baked up some absolutely delicious gingerbread cookies.  I can’t remember why I decided to make them; I’ve never made gingerbread cookies before.  And I don’t even have a gingerbread man cookie cutter.  But the idea popped in my head and wouldn’t leave.  So, I turned to my trusty friend, Google, and came up with this super easy, fool proof, can’t go wrong recipe.  The entire time we were busy whipping these up, Kyle kept saying, “I love baking!”  The boy was made to play with me in the kitchen.  He loves to snack, he loves to get dirty and he loves cookies.  We do all three.

We pulled up a chair and got to work.  The only thing I did slightly differently was use blackstrap molasses.  I should’ve known to cut it back a bit.  After it was all mixed up, I had a taste and it was sure strong.  I stirred in some extra sugar, maybe another 1/4 cup, and it helped.  Once they were baked and iced, the flavor was perfect!  They aren’t awfully sweet, but the royal icing does take the edge off the depth of molasses and ginger.

Since it is spring going into summer (as much as I hate to admit it), my kitchen is warm during the day.  So I did feel that the dough was a bit soft for rolling and cutting.  I would pop it in the fridge for half an hour to help with that.  But, for this go around, we just rolled with lots of flour and on wax paper.  I also wished I had sprayed my wax paper with a little non-stick spray because they stuck ever so slightly during baking.  Maybe my dough was a tad bit too thin.  What do I know about gingerbread?  Nothing.  Except that it tastes good.  And this stuff tasted really good.  That's all I care to know.

After they were iced and ready for consumption, I took the container outside so I could offer one to the boys working in my garden. Our neighbors use the yard for planting and send their boys up here for weeding and watering.  It's not uncommon for me to test a recipe on those guys.  They're quite adventurous kids.  The first one, Khotso, tried to take the whole box out of my hand.  I've lived long enough to know two teenage boys and a box of cookies would mean I'd be back in the kitchen baking more real soon.  The other boy, Tsolo, who speaks English better, laughed at him and gave him such a hard time for trying to grab the whole container.  Then two flirty girls walked in the yard, obviously trying to interact with the boys and I was left to offer them a cookie, too.  Well, there went half my cookies.... Oh well, we didn't need two dozen anyway.

Next up, my absolute favorite Christmas cookies.  I'm already drooling....

'Tis the season for baking!

~Abby

Thanksgiving

For our Thanksgiving on Saturday we invited our Basotho family over for a traditional American dinner.  We often have them over for some American cuisine.  They've yet to try something they didn't scarf.  Saturday we also invited one of Kyle's little friends and his mom.  So that was five adults, three teenagers and four kids.  I warned them ahead of time that it would likely be a bit odd for them.   We’ve heard that the Thanksgiving menu combination sounds weird to non-Americans.  I was slightly nervous about trying to tackle T-day on my own but with the help of our friends’ daughter, Joy, we pulled it off!

(Sorry about the poor quality of the pictures.  Photography was obviously not first priority, eating was.)

Friday Joy and I started by making pies.  That is the most important part, right?  I had planned on doing a pecan pie and a chocolate chip pie.  But with the first mention of pie, Joy burst out exclamations about how much she loved the apple pie with cinnamon she once had.  Well, with that the plan changed.  First an apple pie.  Then a derby pie to combine my desire for pecans and chocolate.  I don’t think we have any future in opening a bakery based on the looks of things.  But if we were scored solely on taste, I think we could make it big time.  I’ve never had much luck with pastry dough but trying a new recipe from a friend changed that.  At the dinner table there was a lively debate going on between the derby pie eaters and the apple pie eaters.  The people who chose apple pie first were adamant that it was the best.  The derby pie team was convinced theirs was the best.  Of course each side opted to try the other pie and I don’t think we ever came to any conclusion on the winner.  In my opinion the derby pie took the prize because let’s be honest, pecans and chocolate are a show-stopping combination. 

Turkey isn’t easy to come by here, as you might imagine.  It’s not exactly an African-raised meat choice.  While during this time of year you can find them (I presume because of a relatively high foreigner populous), they are typically quite large and quite expensive.  My oven is small.  It is probably not much more than 1/2 the size of a standard oven in the US.  I knew there was not a way in the world I was getting a turkey and anything else in the oven.  So, I skipped the turkey and went with a ham and butter baked chicken.  Since chicken and turkey are something like cousins, I didn’t figure the substitution would be too frowned upon.  It wasn’t.  

A couple months back I found sweet potatoes at the grocery.  There are ‘sweet potatoes’ here but they are different, purple on the outside and off white on the inside.  The ones I found were brown on the outside and orange on the inside, just like I wanted.  I peeled, cooked and pureed them and sealed them in the freezer for sweet potato casserole.  French fried onions don’t exist here so I made my own for green bean casserole using this recipe.  Thankfully I had some Stove Top stuffing waiting in the cub bard, to me it wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without it.  I also made mashed potatoes and yeast rolls.  

A true American food

Being away from our loved ones is tough during special occasions.  We are hoping and praying the timing works out for us to be home for Christmas next year at the beginning of our home assignment.  Last year we visited with friends for Thanksgiving in South Africa and with more friends for Christmas in Maseru.  This year, however, we decided to stay close to home for the holidays.  I'm trying to be all here, not wishing we were anywhere else.  We bought a small Christmas tree, we've hung our few Christmas decorations and we're hunkering in for a cozy holiday season.  Fortunately, living in the nose bleed section of the world keeps the temperates relatively cool year-round.  At night, with the tree lights on, it is still comfortable to snuggle under a blanket and watch a movie.  Regardless, we do miss home and the excitement that holidays bring with family.  Yet we are so, so thankful for our dear friends here who share life and its joys and heartaches with us day in and day out.  They truly are our family here and we're glad they humor us enough to celebrate some holidays American-style.

~Abby

18 Months

This week Ellee had a half birthday.  She’s changed so much since her first birthday.  Each day is a new adventure with her and I’m glad to experience it.  Even after falling head over heels for my boy, I never could have imagined the tender spot Ellee has found in my heart.  She’s everything I’ve dreamed of and more.  

The most notable development in Little Lady’s life over the past six months has been the long road to walking.  She’s stubborn.  She’s cautious.  She’s wobbly.  But she’s finally got it.  I never thought it would take her so long to figure it out.  Once she finally started standing and cruising around at 12 months, I thought within a couple months she’d be toddling around.  Boy was I wrong.  Just this week she has begun to switch from crawling to actually walking.  For speed and versatility she still prefers her hands and knees.  But she's learned that she can carry a lot more in her hands if she stands up.  One of her favorite pastimes is pushing a little chair around on the concrete floors, zooming from one side of the house to the other as fast as she can go.  It is loud and can be annoying, but it definitely helped her to gain some confidence in being upright.  She likes the stability that chair gives her and I just let her keep doing it.  We never invested in any “walking toys” for her.  But she has decided she enjoys taking her babies for a walk around the living room.  Or somethings she hauls the stroller and babies up the two steps into the dining room and kitchen and promptly stands up to take a stroll with them back and forth a few times.

Her baby dolls are probably her favorite toy right now.  She can’t quite shake the strong desire to make train, car and motorcycle noises like her brother.  But in general, she plays with her baby dolls most.  She pulls them out of their stroller and puts them back in any which way.  She brings them to me so I can feed them.  Smothering them with kisses and patting them on the back, I have to admit I’m really proud of her gentle spirit.  Until the inevitable happens and she throws one on the ground and picks the other up by her leg and shakes her relentlessly.  Then I’m reminded why God doesn’t give babies to babies.  Actually, I wonder sometimes why God gives babies to 24 year olds because certainly there are occasions when I’d also like to just get fed-up with my kids for not doing what I want….

Maybe by saying that I could get in trouble with the law but living where I live, I think they’d be hard pressed to hunt me down.  So I’ll just take this opportunity to mention that I would never actually hurt my kids but man alive do they know how to drive me nuts.

Kyle is easily her best friend.  They get along well for the most part and enjoy hours of playing together.  I know as she grows and gets more interactive, it'll only get more fun (and probably more difficult).  I already feel like a referee at times.  It's still sweet to watch them.

Reading books is how we like to pass our mornings and afternoons and evenings.  As if I need any help passing my hours, although I think Ellee thinks I do.  Ellee would be just about content to sit in my lap and nurse and read books all day long if I’d let her.  She can always find another book to read.  Sophie the Giraffe is a current favorite, along with “What Will You Wear Jessie Bear?”  and “The Wheels on the Bus.”  There are really too many to name.  We read books all day.  These days it’s a battle to get her to drink her milk in the morning before she wants to read a book.

She’s made leaps and bounds in the eating department lately.  Certainly she’d still prefer to nurse than eat anything resembling food, but I can usually get her to eat whatever is on the table.  She loves corn, although I’m not sure it loves her back.  She eats a lot of plain yogurt, cut up grapes, peas and carrots, avocados, bananas and pasta.  The girl loves pasta.  I don’t foresee weaning her anytime soon.  She’s still completely addicted to mama milk.  I feed her at least four times a day, sometimes five or six.  We barely fit in the rocking chair any more but it’s sweet nevertheless.  

New words come out of her mouth every day.  It’s thrilling to watch her figure things out.  In the past week or so she’s started saying: Ntate (which is what you call any man in Sesotho), hi, bye, no, cake, juice, Dada (finally!), Barby (Barney), snack, Kyle, bath paint, and who knows what all else.  She puts a couple words together, usually like book and night night.  Or bye-bye Mme.  Her newest word is fly.  I think it's not a typical word for an American child but it's definitely necessary for one living in Africa.  The problem is, she seems to really like flies.  I really hate flies.  I haven't tried to teach her that flies go, "buzz" because I prefer if flies go "splat".  It seems a bit morbid to teach her that.  She does seem awfully alarmed every time I smack one with my shoe.  I'll just let her figure that one out on her own.  Yesterday she was sitting on my bed and I started asking her to point to things.  She got eyes, ears, hair, nose, teeth, lips, chin, belly, hand and foot on the first try!  I was amazed.  We have not spent any time working on those things, she’s just picking them up in daily conversation and I am floored.  Obviously, I’ve watched this happen before.  But it’s still astounding to watch it again!  Oh if I could learn that fast I would be so much more intelligent than I am.

I really look forward to getting her out of her bed in the morning.  She is sleeping well these days and it’s nice to get a break from her all evening and night.  First thing in the morning she smells so sleepy and sweet.  I love what a mess her curls are and how wobbly her legs are as she stands in her crib.  It is exciting to know a new day is beginning with her, even if she can be exhausting at times.  I day dream of what sort of girl she’ll be and what sort of fun we’ll have together.  We have a sweet bond and there’s no denying that she prefers her mama.  Love that girl more everyday.

~Abby

Why Don't You Just Ship Your Car?

Rocky doesn’t get enough attention.  He’s the hardest working member of our team, besides me of course ;).  Seriously, living where we live and doing what we do would be impossible without this tank.

Our first picture with Rocky who is named after the body builder in Toy Story

Before moving to Africa, we had to raise what seemed to us a ridiculous amount of money for a vehicle.  Little did we know what sorts of adventures we would get ourselves into with these 4-wheels…. wading rivers, climbing rocks, bumping along gravel roads for hours.  While living in the US, we drove a Toyota Avalon which served us well.  We paid cash for it, it didn’t give us any trouble and it was comfortable.  At this point, with two carseats, it would have been tight but we could have made do.  On many occasions we were asked, “Why don’t you just ship your car?”  Especially when we were initially way under funded for our vehicle project, it seemed like a somewhat reasonable idea.  Of course, shipping a car internationally isn’t exactly a walk in the park we hear and it is also quite costly.  So we stuck with the advice of our organization and fellow missionaries and charged forward trying to raise the money for a 4-wheel-drive tanker.  We didn’t really have to do much for the money for him; in the end two large donations made up the majority of the necessary funding to buy our Land Rover, although many friends and family contributed to purchasing him.

Looking at vehicles that might fit the bill, I specifically said I didn’t want to drive or ride around in something that looked like an army tanker.  Rocky could hardly look more like one unless we got him a custom camo paint coat.  Dark green, boxy, powerful and tough, he basically belongs on the front lines.  We believe he is on the front lines.  While he isn’t the most comfortable vehicle to take a trip in, he’s spacious, reliable and strong.  He takes the “roads” (glorified cow paths) up here like it’s his job.  Well it is his job.  We feed him food, get him a number of gizmos and gadgets and replace his tires and he does the rest.

About once a month, we drive him down this road……..

……to buy our groceries and anything else we’ve realized we need while up here.  Jono, the car packing king, can stuff him full from top to bottom if necessary.  On any given trip, he carries the four of us, along with a suitcase, a pack & play, Ellee’s stroller, Kyle’s bike, 3 coolers, 5 reusable shopping bags full of food, a few pillows and blankets and goodness knows what else.  Once he had 4 suitcases, the coolers, the stroller, the pack & play, a toaster oven, pillows, blankets and a rocking chair and who knows what else  He loved it.

We use the back-a-Rocky (as it’s affectionately known to Kyle) for loads of other functions.  It can be a picnic table and a port-a-loo (not at the same time), a napping spot, a play gym, or a truck bed.  While he cruises along nicely on paved, smooth roads in the lowlands, he seems to prefer the challenge of climbing rocks and crossing rivers.  Sometimes we can’t help but laugh at how easily he takes on those things, like it’s nothing to drive through or over anything we put in his path.  It’s during those moments, when our heads are hitting the ceiling every five seconds as we bump along, that Jono and I will jokingly look at each other and ask “Why don’t you just ship your car?"

Picnic on the top-a-Rocky

This weekend we took him out on some rough roads and through a few rivers to a village for an evangelistic meeting.  It didn't even faze him.  Truly, we couldn’t make it like we do without this guy.  I think he deserves way more credit than we give him.  He’s practically part of the family and we’re glad we decided against shipping our car.  We’re hoping to get many more years out of Rocky.

Just imagine that's us because we were following right behind.....

....Not a boat or a canoe but a beast!

~Abby