First day

Brad's first day of school went really well. He just walked straight into his class and said "hi" as if he'd been there for years! The next day however, he said "Dad, do I have to go to school every day?" Then he asked if he could be homeschooled rather. We have now started to pray particulary for his school day, that he would enjoy it and learn much.

Bradley is in reception and his teacher is from San Diego, CA. His TA is from Malawi. Ami is in grade one and her teacher is from London, her TA is also Malawian. We are thankful for these folk who give so much of their time to help make going to school so much fun here in Lilongwe.

Home

We're here! With all our luggage too. The hand over of Allison at the airport, although emotional, went well and we made it onto the Lilongwe flight with about two minutes to spare.
There are so many new faces here on campus and of course the delightful 'old' faces whom we have grown to love.The construction of The Gateway Mall continues right next door to us and Brian happened to mention it in his sermon today only to be echoed with a "Whoo Hoo!"
We hope to get things sorted and our routine underway soon.

We did see Kwacha, but not much :( He picked us up and dropped us off at the airport.

Our favourite greeter at LAX!

The LAX pizza picnic sponsored by uncle Randy and aunt Liz.

They brought us dinner before we flew.

This is what it's like sitting in coach :)

Aunt Liz making Ben laugh.

At JFK.

No pics in SA - No time!

Leaving soon.

Ben wants to go home now. He wants to sleep on his carpet in his bedroom. And he says, "This country stinks." That was just as we were driving through Camarillo...horse manure or the like, we think.

We certainly did experience a whirlwind trip, but are so thankful to have had the opportunity to see our family and friends. We were especially blessed to see many of you on Sunday and want to say how much we appreciate you dropping by the Malawi booth.

The missionary conference is always a highlight for us. We feel encouraged and refreshed. We are SO thankful for GMI. Their love and passion for the truth of God's Word excites us and we are ready to go back and serve the church in Malawi. Our kids loved all the fun activities and meeting other missionary kids in person. These conferences are weeks that they will remember for years to come.

We fly out tomorrow and so if you remember please pray for a safe trip and that we'd be able to pick up Allison in Joburg- we only have an hour and twenty minutes from the time we land, until we take off again for Lilongwe.

Grace Community Church in Sun Valley.

Ami and Hannah.

Ben and Micah.

Brad and Caleb.
This missionary family has four kids too - all our kids are very close in age - in fact Allison and their youngest, Sarah, were born on the same day about twenty minutes apart.

Biedebachs with Joel and Ruty James.

Mr. and Mrs. van Dyke
Phenomenal photographer. Check out the conference video he put together. The conference topic was "Godly Marriage."

http://www.vimeo.com/14316944

Jedi and Ann Johnson had the tough job of handling and entertaining not only two Biedebach boys but many other kiddos too-for an entire week. THANK YOU!

The 6-8 year olds.
Their whole week was a 'SPY' theme.

Darling Hubby

Yes! He bought me a new camera...spoiled I know. But aren't you glad? I do enjoy sharing pics with you all :)

Conference 2010

We're at Mandalay Bay in Oxnard, CA for our biennial missions' conference. We are enjoying spending time with other missionaries who serve all around the world. It's like having a big family reunion. The speakers have been excellent. The facilities are superb and we are being spoiled!

The view from our room.

Hotel swimming pool. Our kids are in there.

The Hardy family band helped to lead times of singing, they're good at it!

Matt and Bied - and this isn't Malawi team wear- they just happened to pick the same outfits :)

Matt and Rachel- still no baby. She is due on Saturday! We eagerly await little Miss Floreen's arrival and then of course their return to Malawi.

There are so many babies at the conference. Makes me miss sweet Alli, who is doing much better! - Thank you for praying for her. Anyway, this is Elizabeth, she has a twin brother. They were born June 17th in an "amazing grace" way. Their mom had some rare condition which can cause the babies to die, but because she just "happened" to mention her itching hands and feet the specialists picked up on it and she delivered two healthy bundles soon after that.

Bradley and Mormor (aka: the ever lovely Dolores Michaelson)

One of the very many special people who make this conference happen.

We LOVE you Stephanie!

Blue skies, green grass and pizza for lunch!

Mama and three of her precious chickadees in the hotel's hot tub.
What a treat!

Precious Alli

Allison is in South Africa with my parents and has not been well. We found out today that she has measles. Please pray for her. Also pray for my mom, that she would have strength and energy to care for our baby girl. There has been a strain of measles going around in Malawi and the incubation period shows that she picked it up there. She had her vaccinations just last week in SA and so we're thankful she is down there.

Phil 4:6and 7

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving present your requests to God, and the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

I wish I could just hold, hug and kiss her! 10 sleeps Alli, my girl. We all love you and are praying for you and nanny.

Note to self

When doing the laundry make sure you check ALL the pockets thoroughly! Including your own-you'd think after all these years of doing laundry I'd be a pro? Do you ever become a pro- I wonder?

I was so upset - my Christmas gift (camera) from my husband ended up in the washing machine. I did get it out before it went through the actual wash and spin cycle. So sad! Brian was out when it happened. I didn't know what to do so I tried to dry it with a hairdryer...but to no avail. My camera is dead.

Friends

Dave was Brian's best man at our wedding.

We've enjoyed visits with some of our dear friends these past couple of days here at the beach house.

The Nossamans, Dave Bayne and James Nossman.

The Taglieres and Biedebachs at Seal Beach Pier (both families without their fourth kiddo!).

Cards at the beach house!

John and Frieda Nossaman and their kids, Brent and Adrie. Kent and Joan Nossaman.

Kent, Brian and John.

These guys trying to look real buff, like back in the old days! Brian has known both Dave and John since he was a kid. Some of you may have known them as "The Clan" in their youth too...the stories they tell, are enough to keep me on my knees for my boys...

Sea and Sand

On Monday, we left the mountains at 8000 feet and drove just two hours to the ocean! Oh the beauty of Southern California. We have spent the last couple days here at our friends' home in Sunset Beach. Brian grew up in Seal Beach and so the kids got a real kick out of seeing Daddy's old house and his primary schools.

Our cousins can party!

Brian's step-sister's son, Andrew, had his 4th birthday in Big Bear with us. He only speaks Russian and so it was so neat to see Bradley playing and trying to communicate with him. They had such fun together. Grandpa Mark had his camera out! Bied and Sharon (in the pics) look like they're Andrew's parents :)

The birthday table. Ami, Sasha, Anna, Bradley, Andrew, Breanna and Ben.

We also took a trip to Lake Arrowhead and went and found the old cabin that the Biedebachs owned in the 70s and 80s. Actually, the cabin burned down in 2003. We did find part of the foundation. There has been quite a bit of development over the years but it was neat for us to see where the Biedebachs used to sled and ski when they were younger.

We found this store in the town and wondered what Malawians would think of a bakery just for DOGS!

The ducks gathering and waiting for food.

The kids loved feeding the ducks. Stores along the walkway sold special duck food at 50c a bag.

Lake Arrowhead.

Breanna and Ami get on so well together!

Lakes

Big Bear Lake doesn't come close in size to Lake Malawi, however, there aren't any crocs, hippos or bilharzia goggas nearby! The kids had a great time swimming.

When cousin Breanna saw the ducks nearby she called out, "Oh Mommy, I have always wanted to swim with ducks, my dream has come true!" It was soooooo cute.

Gorgeous smile from big boy Ben-he still cannot swim, but he went in up to his neck all on his own.

Braysen, kicking back and relaxing.

Ami, helping to bring Braysen back to shore when it was time to go home.