Raindrops, tin roof, and chilly weather...

Today has to have been one of our most favorite days in Africa. It was the first big rain of the rainy season! It was chilly weather all day and perfect weather to curl up in my chair with a yummy cup of African coffee, read, and listen to the pitter patter of the rain on my tin roof. AH...it was great! We didnt have power all day but the rain and the cool breeze was all I needed to keep a happy heart! The kids enjoyed the rain as well, I dont know if they even remembered what rain was until today! God is good and the rains are a much needed blessing on this dry land in Zambia.

Another quick story. We planted a garden and yesterday were able to "harvest" 2 of our veggies! Carrots and okra! Who would have guessed we would have a garden that actually produced veggies!!

Family Holiday to Lake Malawi

We just returned home from our holiday at Lake Malawi and we had a fabulous time relaxing and just enjoying the water! There are several pictures because there were so many fun memories made this past week! Enjoy!

I got to sit in the shade because I got burned so Daddy got to have fun with the kids in the pool!
Easton loved jumping into the big pool he wore Kendall out!

The view from our front porch at the resort

The Smell of Tide Laundry Detergent...

The smell of Tide is so refreshing, especially when it comes from the crates that have your name on them! Yes, the big day came and went, we received our crates from America yesterday full of goodies from home. The crate was to arrive at our home in Nyimba at 16:00 (4pm) but did not arrive until 20:00 (8pm). After a long hot day of waiting and watching it came and it was exciting! We have not completely unpacked all of our goods but we will do that VERY soon! Here are a few pictures of the crates and them being unloaded!!

Easton was making a call to the transport company to check the time of arrival for our crates.

It was like waiting for Grandma to come for Christmas...

20:00 on the DOT...the truck arrives!!
Yup, it is ours!
Dwayne Mitchell came to help us break open all the crates and get everything to our house. Thank you Dwayne!!!

Soccer is one way to the heart of Zambian youth...

Kendall has had a great time building relationships with the boys on his soccer team here in Chipata. The team is an under 17 team that plays at the Umodzi School which is about 500 meters from our home. The team has great talent and a winning record. Kendall has really enjoyed watching their games and being the sponsor of the team fondly named after him, "The Kendall Stars"! Here are some pictures from Saturday's game!

The Kendall Stars Soccer Team

The team in action against their opponent

The boy with the white band on his arm is named Manwell, he is a phenomenal player and amazes us with what he can do on the field, he is the team captain.

The team plus some of their friends at the Umodzi School

Funnel Cake Ministry??

So, food is a big part of our life here in Africa and after a dinner of pork chops, twice baked potatos and green beans we thought, why not funnel cakes? WELL...I made the mix and tried to blob the mix into the FIRE HOT grease and this is what happened... (scroll down to the next picture to find out the rest of the story!!

So...I called Kendall in my despair and he came to the rescue.

This is what Kendall's funnel cakes looked like!! YUMMY!!

We knew that our workers needed something to say "Zikomo kwambiri mwagwira ntchito" (Thank you very much for your work) so we called them over to the house and gave them each a funnel cake to enjoy this warm, breezy Zambia evening. It was AWESOME to see the smiles on their faces when we shared this dessert with them. In the picture, from left to right, Matthew (our gardener and gatekeeper) holding his daughter, Gladys, Martha (Matthew's wife), Geoff (our night guard on the weekends and who we are helping go to school), me (the mzungu, white person), and Zeria (our house helper, nanny, my language helper, and GOOD friend!) The great thing about this picture is that they are all smiling, Zambians normally do not smile, but they did!!

This was a great night for our family to minister to the people that minister to us so much here in Chipata! Who knew that the Lord could use a funnel cake to say thank you and we love you?!