December holiday

My parents suggested we join them for Christmas in Johannesburg! We took them up on their offer and LOVED every minute of it.

In Heidelberg
Four cuties

Ami and Daniel (my cousin's son) at the Johannesburg Zoo

Christmas Eve Dinner at Opa and Nanny's house.

Ice cream at the zoo.

All of us at the Christmas table at Opa and Nanny's.

Taken the day we arrived in Johannesburg

Ben opening one of his presents on Christmas Day

We took the kids to the Eastgate Shopping Mall for their first ever ice cream sundae!

Cutest kids again!

Cute dads! Brian and Andrew (my cousin's husband) at the zoo

The kids had seen a picture of an ice cream sundae in a book and we had said they could try one at Milky lane in Eastgate. They thought the sundaes were amazing!

Alli just had an ice cream cone

Dad putting together Allison's scooter on Christmas Day

Kids having their picture taken with Max the gorilla

Conference

Brian was asked to be the guest speaker at a conference which was held near Mangochi this month. The folk who invited him were very happy to have us join Brian. So while he taught, the kids and I spent our days swimming and eating. We felt like kings.
We packed the land rover and headed out for a 3 and a half hour drive south. The drive was beautiful and we were so happy to get out of the city of Lilongwe for a bit.

Toilet stop on the way! It's a jungle out there.
Our very elegant dinners-and kiddos with no shoes...
What are Ami and Ben looking at?
A vervet monkey who was spying out our lunch. The waiters had catties (catapults) in their hands and evertime they raised their hands as though they were going to send a rock in the monkeys' direction, they scattered through the trees very quickly.

Ben soaking up the sun

Just exhausted on the way home!

Rainy days?

We need to think up some more indoor activities for when the rains come. We haven't seen much rain yet and expect that it'll start in December. The kids REALLY enjoyed painting these cute pencil bags from Aunty Joanne.

Dead Pets

A friend told me the other day that we should really consider getting a dog. Bradley, especially loves dogs and has asked for one for a long time. My theory is that until they can learn to pick up their clothes off their bedroom floor, we won't consider it. How will they learn to pick up the dog poop? They are pretty desperate though...they came in the other day with three dead creatures as options for pets. Funny thing is, they were convinced the creatures were still breathing and ready to take on their new role as the new Biedebach Boys' Pets.

Magical Makeover

Sometimes the kids will get a hairbrush and brush my hair and transform my style into their idea of an amazing hairdo using hair goodies, clips and detangling spray. Today, the boys decided my face needed some transforming too. My make-up was slapped on rather thickly, thank goodness for good make-up remover :0)

Bradley's 6th Birthday

In the past, we have combined Ami and Bradley's birthday parties because their actual birthdays are so close. This year, however, we went for the calmer, less stressful single celebration party. No donkeys, box castles or pigs, but rather a teddy bears' picnic with a few friends and two sisters:)
Bradley is a delightful boy. He is gentle in his nature, most of the time. His laugh is infectious and his smile melts my heart. Love you big 6 year old!

Reading Day

Every year at the ABC Academy, the children dress up as a book character. We had a crazy morning getting everyone ready! Benjamin was Yertle the Turtle.
Ami was Marvin, the sheep who wanted more. Bradley was Mister Dog.

Ami in her class parade.
She won the prize for most original costume in her class. Bradleu won the most original cotume award in his class too:)

This costume, in my opinion, was the best! His mom said that her husband had been working on the costume for a couple of weeks. Who would've thought you could come up with something so brilliant here in Malawi

A day out

While Joanne was here we decided to visit Lake Malawi so that she could see more of rural Malawi on the way down to Salima.

The kids enjoyed the kiddie pool. We had a great day

Ami holding "Baby Erin" as she was affectionately called.

The weather was gorgeous and it was so refreshing to take a dip.

On our trip to the lake we also stopped off in a village near Chipoka (where Brian used to live in 1997) and picked up a dug out canoe. It took a whole bunch of village men to load it onto our roof rack. We arrived home safely with it. Brian would like to convert it into a couch.

Bed birthdays

Mom turning 35! I wasn't exactly as excited to be woken up, especially because the birthday song rang in my ears at 5am!

Yip that's what I look like at 5am!

My cousin Joanne and her daughter Erin visited us here for a week and her birthday happens to be 6 days after mine, so she too was serenaded as our tradition demands. Hers however, was not at 5am but rather at 6:30am.