Here we go...

On our first Sunday at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, CA, we met up with the Hills from Colorado!

Christmas Lights





After about 30 hours of travel we arrived safely in the USA. Praise the Lord.

We decided to drive around and look at Christmas lights. In South Africa, hardly anyone puts up any lights on their homes, but you can stand in a long line and see some like the ones above in an area that is cordoned off. This was at Empereor's Palace in Boksburg.







Christmas lights in the USA. Almost everyone puts up lights on their houses and people drive around looking at them. It can become quite a competition, to see who has the best lights.



Goodbye

Nanny, Opa and uncle Martin seeing us off at the airport. Always a tough one:(

At Oliver Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg

On Turkish Airlines headed on a looooong flight to Los Angeles.

Christmas Eve

Christmas eve dinner in South Africa is always a treat. We leave in two days for the USA!

Allison sitting by her opa!

Ami and uncle Martin

Nothing beats Woolies chocolate mousse! Yum

In the past, we have found Allison underneath a bed in my parents' house with the whole tub of chocolate mousse which she had stolen from the fridge.

Catching up with Cousins

My cousin, Jo has a great home with a lovely backyard. We spent a day with them and it was so good to see them again.

Ben, Brad, Daniel, Ami and Alli in the background.

My cousin Joanne and her husband, Andrew.

First time for us to meet her youngest child, Zac.

Allison and Erin- Joanne's little girl

So fun to meet the newest edition to my cousin Jude's family. His wife Marina is on the left and their baby girl, Christiana, is gorgeous!

Friends in SA

Out with the Beth and Elizabeth Trumble and Becca. My mom joined us and we had a good time. Mrs. Trumble taught Ami in second grade and we will not see them in Malawi when we return after our furlough because their time at ABC will be over. We will miss them very much.

These are my friends from high school. We try and see each other when I am in South Africa.

These are all our kids except for one. 

Ami and Hannah don't really know each other, but they were born two weeks apart from each other. My friend, Colleen and I were pregnant at the same time. When we do get together they always seem to have fun:)

Tarantula

We went to visit Aunty Judy and Uncle Kevin. Ross showed the kids his tarantula collection. It was amazing to learn that they are pretty docile. Their colours are amazing. Proof again of our great Creator!

Bradley having a turn holding Ross's tarantula.

Benjamin's turn.

Opa and Nanny's House

Climbing the trees in Opa's front yard.

Becca, John and Nick came to stay at my parents' house for some of the December break. They are teachers at the school our kids attend in Malawi and so to get down to SA for the Christmas holiday is always a treat:) Nick is doing chin up with Ben hanging on his back.

We decided to do some painting in the back yard. Ben was pleased with his artwork.

Glued

I need to have our kids read their books instead of being glued to the screen:( It certainly helped to keep them entertained while we waited for our plane to arrive at Lilongwe International Airport. Our house is packed up and we are ready for our trip to South Africa for Chritsmas to spend that with my parents. Then on to the USA where we will spend time visiting churches, raising support, Brian will preach and teach and we'll get to see our family and friends.

Christmas Party in Malawi

This is little Marion and her older sister Francesca. I looked after Marion when she was three months old for two weeks. She crept into my heart:)



Miss Heather (Marion's mom) with Biedebachs

The party was at the US Ambassador's house in Lilongwe.

Senior Men

Brian loves teaching these men.  He really enjoys interacting with them. We won't see these men graduate since we'll be in the USA on furlough. We are trusting though that they will take what they have learned in their praeching class this past semester and continue to unleash the truth of God's Word. What a privilege it is to be able to help these men and to serve God in this way. We are so thankful for the opportunity.

TMS

Brian really likes this spare tyre cover. It belongs to a friend of ours. Nick, pictured above, is planning on attending The Master's Seminary next year.

Brian asked his friend if they could switch spare tyre covers, so now TMS is on our car.  Brian's longtime friend, Kwacha Simwaka and his lovely girlfriend, Amanda, plus her sister came to visit Malawi from CA.  Since Kwacha is already graduated from TMS, they took a picture too.

Expiring License

Alli made good friends with this lady while we waited patiently to renew my Malawian driver's license. It expires in Jan 2013 and we'll be in CA then.

This enlarged picture to show you the rubber band keeping the camera in place. Gotta love AFRICA!

Wood carving

Mr. Nick helping us as we carve with Dad's wood tools

Bied's birthday

We were able to go out and celebrate Brian's birthday tonight. So thankful for my husband and best friend.

Opa's go kart

Opa's go kart is still going strong, as long as there is a willing pusher:)

Baking Bread

Helping mom to bake dinner rolls for our guests this week:)

Faithful Men

These men from Brian's Homiletics class have been working hard to help him prepare the surveys for his missional project that he is doing through Stellenbosch University.

Reading Day

Bradley was a Greek spartan warrior. We found the picture in an Usborne History book.

This boy in Ami's year did a great job. He was Shrek.

Ami was Sarah Jane from "In Grandma's Attic" by Arleta Richardson. She won an award for best dressed.

This is Peter Pan. He and his brother spent the night with us because his parents were out of town. It was fun having to get six kids ready on Reading Day. Whew!

Poor Bradley couldn't sit because of his cardboard outfit:)

This is Peter Pan's brother. Some dear friends gave this costume to us years ago and boy has it served us well:)

Bradley won an award for best homemade costume.

We have used this suit several times too. Ben was the Poky Little Puppy, by Janette Sebring Lowrey

The infamous Princess Allison

Her costume was so well done.

Nice to see the parents getting in on the action too.

The cutest puppy we know:)