Really!

Hopefully a new post with pictures will be coming soon! 

----------------------

 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

Romans 12:12

We made it

Thank you all so much for the prayers - we've made it safely down to Iringa, and have been getting everything sorted out.

I hardly know what day it is right now, everything seems pretty jumbled up, but let's see if I can give you a bit of what's happened!

A truck came last Tuesday afternoon, and we were able to get everything loaded up, and the truck locked.  We had sleeping bags out still, so we slept at our house that night and got up early Wednesday morning and started driving!   

Mom and Dad were in the Land Cruiser pulling the trailer that had our suitcases and sleeping bags, etc. in it, and the boys and I were in the Wagon with the dogs.  Don and Axe were in the very back and they did great, except for getting really hot.  They made it through the trip without dying - yes!  I was in the middle seat with the ice chest and Panya.  She was really good too, just went back and forth between laying down and looking out my window.  She liked to growl at giraffes and impala we passed!

We got to Iringa at probably around 10pm, and slept at an inn.

The next morning we got to our house, and started getting everything unpacked!  Since then, we've pretty much been doing the same things - unpack, carry boxes, unpack, take apart empty boxes...ask other family members "Do you want this?" every few minutes.  Heh heh.

We worshiped with the brethren here on Sunday; the building is about 20 minutes from our house.  Mwakalonge preached a good sermon, and the people were friendly.  

Hopefully we'll get internet up at the house in a few days.  It'll be nice when things get settled in enough to get back into a regular schedule.

Has anyone made any goals for the New Year?  I've written down a few general guidelines for myself.  They're not resolutions, since I've been doing them anyway, but New Year's is a convenient time to look at goals, etc. you have.

Here are a few of mine:

 - Daily Bible study and prayer time

 - Drink at least a couple of glasses of water a day 
(I usually drink a litre or two a day, but this is just so if I don't drink that much in a day, I at least get something!)

 - Exercise 3 times a week\train to run a 10K
(Hopefully more, but this is so I don't set myself up for disaster, haha) 

So there we have it, hope you all are having a great week!

 ~

 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.

Philippians 4:4
 

 

Welcome, 2011!

Happy New Year everyone!

This year, like last year, we counted down until exactly 12am, and this is what happened:

Luke: Was playing Auld Lang Syne on my bass plugged into an amp.

Jacob:  Was honking the air horn on our Land Cruiser, and blowing on his giant sea shell (He does that last one every year, haha).

Dad:  Was standing on our picnic table playing his trumpet. 

I:  Was screaming, yelling and "woohoo!!"-ing at the top of my lungs, and doubling over with laughter at the boys.  This last one happens ever year, too.

Mom:  Was standing on our porch wearing shooting ear muffs.  

Every year some of the young people in our neighborhood go up on the big hill by our house, light a bonfire, and make a huge ruckus.  They absolutely love it when we go out and make our ruckus, too.  We all share a New Year's yelling at each other bond.

After we did all the honking the horns, bass playing, and yelling, we sang the National Anthem.  I'm pretty sure it was the loudest it's ever been wailed sung in the history of America.  

To wrap it all up, we stood outside Dad and Mom's door, and serenaded them with "Auld Lang Syne".  It's a new tradition we made up last year.  

Christmas

We opened the presents we got for each other on Christmas Eve.  I made hot chocolate.  We skyped with Julia and Lee, and took turns opening our presents.  It was really fun to open them "together".  

- Luke made Dad a tool pouch.

- Dad made Mom a beautiful wooden spoon and spatula.

- Mom made Luke a computer case.

- Jake gave me a wonderful beeswax candle called "Queen of the Night", and it smells so, so good.

- I made Jake a book.  It was called...."The Adventures of Jacob".  I can't post any pictures because I don't think he would be pleased with me putting it online for you all to see, because let's just say that the illustrations are a bit - dramatized.  Heh heh!

Christmas morning, the Samfords came over for breakfast, then we had stockings and presents for the kids.  They were so precious opening them all up, and getting so excited.  

Aubrie loved her jumper and bracelet, Ayden's favorite was the little toy truck, and Ryan's favorites were definitely the crackers and candy.  He would go around the room, wanting each person to open up another candy for him!  I have some pictures that I can hopefully put up a little later.

Hope all of you have had a wonderful holiday!

Tis the season to be jolly

Hello friends!  

Happy day before Christmas Eve!

We've been getting ready for our little Christmas here.  We drew names, and are making presents for each other.  I got Jacob.  Why in the world is it so hard to think of something to make for that guy?  It's not like he's hard to please!  I think I was just having a mental block {that lasted a few weeks, aka - from the time I drew his name until my gift was finished}.  I can't tell you what it is yet, though!

I thought about tying little antlers onto Panya's head like the Grinch did:

 

But had to settle for a bow instead

 If I keep this up, I'm going to have to rename my site, "Life with Panya"...

 

Eggnog

Just thought I'd share this little comic with you all!

(Just a little disclaimer that not every single one of these comics are the best, I just came across this particular one)