Disneyland

We were spoiled by our church family in Seal Beach! They gave us gift cards for Disneyland. We had such a fun time.

Ami and Bradley's first time on a REAL roller coaster.

Ami, Alyssa, Benjamin, Parker and Brad.

Alyssa and Ami on the carousel.

Good Stuff

We're in the land of the most yummy ice cream! We spent Saturday and Sunday in Orange County visiting grandpa Mark and attending the church services at Seal Beach. Brian had to preach four times! When we got back home to the missions' house, Bied and I finished a whole tub of ice cream. Needless to say, he went for an hour run this morning. I think I'm going to have order that Shred video soon...

Busy!

Today was real busy. We spent the morning at Grace Church. I was on a missionary wives' question panel at Mindset for Missions. I also got to enjoy fellowship with the ladies from the Every Woman's Grace table who have been praying for our family. It was so great to see them all. Then we went over to Kwacha's apartment to see where he lives. He shares a one-bedroomed apartment with 3 other seminary guys!

Outside the building.

The large bedroom.

The livingroom.

Kwacha at his desk.

Allison

Allison has been awake every night since we arrived. I think she may be teething. Hopefully she'll get back into her long night sleep soon.

Friends

Our friends, the Voorheis family joined us for a meal this evening and when we saw Beth with a tray of cupcakes we learned that it was Jeff's birthday too! It was fun to celebrate with them.

We have seen so many of our friends since we arrived. It has been real busy! We were so thankful to spend some time with Dave Bayne (Brian's long time friend and the best man at our wedding). He is a missionary in Argentina and was home for a few weeks. Thankful to have connected with you Dave!

We are here

We arrived at LAX after 30 hours of travel time! Praise the Lord. Thank you so much for praying. We are slowly getting settled. The missionary house we are staying in, is just perfect! Our Bible Study group had cleaned and stocked us up with all kinds of delicious things to eat. Brian kept on finding root beer (a soda for those of you who may be concerned ;0) cans in various places throughout the house. The day we arrived it was raining and it rained again on Wed. Today though, the California sun is shining ever so warmly. Feels like Malawi heat!

One Sleep...

We leave for LA tomorrow! We have been counting the sleeps and we can hardly believe it's almost time to fly. Bied, Ami, Bradley and I are especially excited. Boo just knows he is flying to a place called America and that he must not scream on the aeroplane. Alli obviously has no idea. I'm just hoping she will continue with her nine hours of night time sleep. We fly out from Lilongwe at 1pm. We'll land in South Africa at 3:3opm and then hope to spend time with Opa, uncle Mart, Judy and Tassie (Nanny is in London with my sister) at the airport, before we leave at 8pm on our 17 hour flight to New York. We have 2 hours before we get on another plane to fly a further 5 hours to LA. So... I'm just a little concerned about the flights with four kiddos. They are really long! Please pray for our safety and that people won't glare at us when we board. You can read their minds..."Oh don't let that family sit near us!" Please pray that the trip will be smooth, uneventful and that fellow passengers will be pleasantly surprised.

WE CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU!

Alike?

Ami at four months.

Bradley at four months.

Benjamin at four months.

Allison, a week short of four months. See the dimples :)

WOW, they've changed over the years!

Bradley's B-Day

Today my big boy turned 4. He clicked that it was his real birthday because of the cupcake and presents in bed :) Bradley is all boy. He loves playing outside. His fingernails are almost always black from dirt and he seldom wears shoes. He has a sweet nature and often says really kind things which haven't been prompted. He really, really wants a dog. He loves playing with Ami and tries his best to get on with Boo. We love you SO much Brad and thank God for giving you to us.

When he woke up and saw the balloons he knew he had to stay in bed and wait for us to come in singing.

Boo trying to snag a jelly tot from the top of the cupcake!

Up we go!

There is no ladder to get up into the high tree house because it's quite dangerous, especially for little boys like Boo. However, if you can climb up the tree by yourself then you are most welcome to enjoy the view from up there! It hasn't taken Bradley and Ami too long to learn how to climb the BIG tree. They no longer need Dad's strong arms and the Wiggles Ball :)

One week

Lots of packing going on in our household! We're leaving for LA in one week. We are so excited. What fun it'll be to spend time with our dear family and friends! Brian's brother and sister and their families haven't met our two youngest yet! Please pray for smooth travels with our Biedebach brood.

Feet

No dirty feet on the bed! That's a rule in our house. This is how I found Ami one afternoon during room time. So funny. I then made my rounds and took pics of all my sweet sleeping babies.

Who knows how she managed not to fall off either?

B-RAD

Benjamin

Ally Girl with a pose and all.

Oh and how I longed to be doing just what they were doing :)