Hiking

Kwacha, Shirley and I have started a new thing.  Well, new for us.  We hike!  :)  Actually I wouldn't even say that hiking is new for us, but habitual hiking is.  We've gone hiking in a number of places but we've landed on a favorite.  The above picture is my favorite spot on the trail and it pretty much looks exactly like this.  I barely touched that photo.  

Going on frequent hikes has allowed us to see things we wouldn't see if we only went ever so often.  We have seen beetles (oh joy!), bunnies, caterpillars, frogs and even deer!  God is just such a brilliant Creator!  I love being out in His creation.  It's also a wonderful form of exercise.  I don't know of any other kind that is so enjoyable.  

The hills have been so green after the rain we had this year.  In these pictures, it's actually started to brown.  Can you believe that Santa Clarita was greener than this even?!

I also just love the time spent with Kwacha and Shirley.  I learn new things about my husband as we traipse through the mountains.  On Saturday night, I found out that he once killed a chicken by jumping on it accidentally.  He then plucked it, cooked it and ate it!  And he was only about 13 years old apparently.  That's what you get with an African husband.  :)

Kwacha spotted this gorgeous pack of lupines.  Have any of you ever read the story, Miss Rumphius? If you haven't, you should.  I always think of it when I see these flowers.

Anyway, I highly suggest hiking if you don't already do it!

Mad About...

Pregnancy!

You better not be thinking that my baby looks like an alien.  (Okay actually you totally can, because I sure think she does right now.)  A friend at work thought her face was her whole body, but that's actually her arms and belly below her face.  I know these things can be hard to decipher.

 

Can I just say that I l.o.v.e. LOVE being pregnant?  I kinda always thought I would but wasn't sure.  I mean -- throwing up, having no energy, gaining weight that can be hard to lose, not to mention the PAIN of CHILDBIRTH!! what's so great about that?  But seriously, so far I have loved every (pretty much) minute of it.

 

By the way, totally lied up there.  I have not always thought I would love it.  When I was a kid I was freaked out at the thought of giving birth.  I had seen enough movies at a young age of women giving birth.  No thanks.  Adoption for me!  I really did tell my mom that I would adopt when I grew up.

However, the older I grew and the more I understood what an amazing thing pregnancy is, I couldn't wait.  I mean, really folks, a tiny little person grows INSIDE of you!  They feed off you, they call your belly home, and they live in there for 9 months!  It's crazy!  Kwacha is just fascinated by the idea that a baby's safest place is it's mothers womb.  You'd think with where technology is today (and it is pretty amazing how they can keep 24 week old babies alive now), they might even do better outside.  But God has created the perfect little environment for these sweet little things.

 

The "profile" shot.  It's really not, the sonographer couldn't get a good profile shot, but I like how she's waving.  :)

 

I know I might feel a little differently in about 20 weeks when I'm not getting any sleep at night but right now I can't wait to meet her. 

 

Here's a full body shot, head on the left, legs on the right.  She's about the length of a banana here head to toe.

 

And, I'm sorry if anyone finds the following inappropriate but....

 

...proof she's a girl!

 

The sonographer told us that in ultrasound school her teacher taught them that when looking for gender, for a girl you look for a hamburger (three lines).  Well, there it is!

I am so thankful that God would allow us to become parents and I pray that she would continue to do well in there so that we can meet her!  His sovereignty is always wise and good, so matter what happens, I am so thankful for the experience He's given us so far!

 

Malawi!

As promised, here is a recap, mainly in pictures (and although there are a lot, I had to leave so many out!) of our time in Malawi. Well actually Kwacha is STILL there.

I will try to let the pictures do most of the talking.

First up, a lousy picture of downtown Lilongwe. I took it while driving through. This is very close to his sister's house whom we stayed with.

I didn't get any pictures of when we first got off the plane. I wanted to BUT....I fainted. Yes, fainted, two minutes after getting off the plane. Never fainted before in my life! I guess I was overcome by the beauty of Malawi.  Or it could have been a combo of being sick and very tired. 

Oh well, thankfully I felt much better after a shower.

The next morning we took a little trip over to ABC (African Bible College) where the Biedebach's live.  Below is the fun tree house in front of their house.

Brian and Kwacha.  :)

Brian was excited to show us his "new" old tire cover.  He traded a brand new one he had for this one with just the right acronym.

"Game" is a store from South Africa that has made it's way to Malawi.  It looks just like a Target or Walmart inside and has pretty much the same kind of products!

Spar is another store that hails from South Africa.  Kwacha's best friend, Kondi, is the one with the shopping cart.  This is, unfortuantely, the best picture I got of him.

And an outdoor market.  Yummy organic vegetables.

 

The sky is always interesting in Africa!

Another supermarket, Shop Rite, that has all the food you could want.

The next day we drove six hours north to Mzuzu to visit Kwacha's parents.  We had a beautiful drive up with many sights to see!

Below is a large brick oven.  Most villages have one of these.  They make bricks within these structures.  Apparently they will spend all night stoking the fire, then they put in the bricks and close up the holes for a week or two. (From what I remember.)

Is this really Africa?

We often found lots of men piled up in trucks.

Finally in Mzuzu!

Below is one of my favorite pictures I saw at Kwacha's parents house.  So I took a picture of a picture.  :)  It's of Kwacha and all of his siblings.  The order in age, from oldest to youngest, starts in the bottom right and moves clockwise.  Chance, Granger, Jellita, Evelynn, Kwacha, and Malumbo.

I love Kwacha's face.

I was able to meet all of his siblings, except Chance, who died about four years ago.

We spent the night at his parent's house and the next morning we took a short trip to Nkhata Bay, on the shore of Lake Malawi.  It was a breathtaking drive!

Believe it or not, our first real picture together.

Look at the fish!

When we got back to Mzuzu, we saw cars lined up at the gas station.  That meant fuel was available!  This is actually a short line.  But by the time we got to the front, it was all gone.

Kwacha's family. 

From left to right: his aunt, mom, dad, Kwacha, Jellita, and niece, Ruth.  (Or Ite, as her family calls her.)

That night, when we got back to Lilongwe, we had dinner at the Floreen's!  It was fun to see them in their nice home and enjoy sweet fellowship.  :)

The next day we took a trip to Lake Malawi.

On the way, we stopped at the Parliament building.  The Simwaka's have a cousin that works there.  ( He's on the left.) We actually sat in for a bit on a session.

Close to Parliament is a five star hotel that the Chinese built.  It's almost ready to open.

We passed a village and saw that it was market day.

We had lunch at a Sunbird resort.  Here you can see Lizard Island which is populated with large monitor lizards.

The local fish, chambo, and their staple food, nsima, at the very top.



Kwacha was a little sleepy.  Still fighting jet lag.



Monkeys!

Beautiful sunset from a beautiful Creator on the way home.





The next morning, our last morning, we visited a local village.  Kwacha and Kondi have visited there many times. 

On the way I snapped one of many pictures of a bike carrying a huge load of firewood!  I don't know how they do it.

The chief of the village.

Kwacha brought him sugar and rice.

This man was so nice!  He gave us a little tour of one of their thatched roof homes.

And now for the pictures I'm sure most of you readers have been waiting for, cute village kids!

This girl in pink made her way into many of the pictures!



The lady below specifally asked Kwacha if I could take her picture.



Beautiful!



I was trying to get a picture of the building but somehow Pinky snuck in there.  :)



As we left, the kids followed our car.  We had quite a trail running after us. 

(These really are just a smattering of the pictures I took at the village.  Most of the pictures were crowded with kids trying to get in there.  :)

And here are some pictures of Jellita's house.

The room Em and I stayed in.

The living room.

Kitchen.





Kwacha's sweet cousin, Agnes, who insisted on washing our clothes!

From left to right, me, Evelynn, Kwacha, Jellita.



We stopped by Kondi's house to say goodbye to his wife, Patricia, before we left for the airport.  They had us over for dinner one of the first night's we were there.  I really enjoyed their family!

Here is Kwacha with their oldest daughter, Karen.  This is right after we got her to say cheese.  I wasn't quick enough with my camera to catch a smile.  ;)  But isn't she so cute??

And here we are with Patricia and Karen. 

The trip went by way too fast!

 

We had such a good time with Kwacha's family and all of the people we met there.  They are so kind.

Someday, you really ought to visit Malawi!  ;)