Finding Faith in the Battle

Well, Ethan and I are not in Africa anymore. I mean, we are physically…South Africa is technically on the continent, but it’s like no Africa I’ve ever known. We spent 4 hours cruising one of the malls here. Did you catch that? “one of…” There are more than one!!! And they’re real malls. Like, way more real than we even had in Yakima! I had to choose from a massive selection of restaurants. I bought a couple of things I needed—a 220v coffee maker and tea kettle, a jacket (who knew I would need one in Africa?), and some treats for the kids. South Africa manufactures their own brands of most things we have in the US, so there aren’t a ton of US product names. I did see Grape Nuts, and was tempted, but I couldn’t stomach the $11 price tag! But everything else is so much cheaper than in Malawi, because what we have there is imported from here, at $6.80 per gallon of gas plus import tax! Yesterday we ate at McDonalds. I wasn’t a big McD’s fan in the US (please, don’t revoke my citizenship fo...

Anya and Ethan loved the leaves...Isaac, not so much! I was already feeling rather 'fall-ish' with the chill in the air and the overcast skies. But when all the leaves fell off the trees and the kids started playing in the leaf piles, I really started to crave Yakima apple cider! And apparently I'm not the only one...for our next mission dinner to say goodbye to 3 families who are leaving, we've decided to have a thanksgiving-themed dinner. You can't get good turkey here anyway, so we're doing roasted chicken and all the fixings. Doesn't that sound good??? I can hardly wait! See, there are some good things about having your seasons all messed up--two Thanksgiving feasts! Now, if only I can figure out how to press cider from these South African apples...

This is really more for a few photos than anything witty or clever. I'm in Joburg , South Africa right now, and internet is amazing-fast compared to what we're used to, so I'm going to try and post several things that have been on my mind, and hopefully update some photos! I also wanted to give a shout-out to my long-suffering mother who tried so hard to please me in the area of home-made clothes when I was young. I never gave her enough credit, or enough appreciation. And I never realized it until my own daughter needed a 'Queen's coronation gown' with 2 days notice! Payback is sweet, isn't it mom? Anya as 'Queen Lucy' from Narnia...thanks to leftover curtain material and a frantic day of sewing