Today after church we had a new friend named Aaron come over for lunch.  We owed him BIG time.   He's an American that works here in Angola every other month.  He goes home on his off months to be back with his wife and kids.  The kids here at church love him because every time he comes back from the states he brings fruit leathers, ring pops, and other candies to share with them.  My kids of course are beneficiaries of his goodness as well.  And last month when he went home for the holidays, he offered to bring us back “anything” we wanted.  “Seriously?  Anything?” I said.  “Could you do Tillamook cheddar cheese?”  We have missed really good cheddar cheese, especially Tillamook that we would get from Costco.  We also miss other Costco cheeses and a zillion other things from Costco (or any store for that matter) like the fresh (and frozen) blueberries, strawberries and other fruits as well as the large tubs of milk products like yogurt, sour cream, etc.    Things we’re surviving without, but would sure be nice to have!  Aaron pointed to the large suitcase by the chapel door and repeated, “Anything that can fit in there!”  

So Aaron, being the nice man that he is, brought us back two blocks of Tillamook cheddar cheese, a bunch of batteries that we needed (because you can’t ship them and our consumables had not shown up yet), and corn tortillas.  Corn tortillas are surprisingly difficult to find here.  I have seen a box of imported Ortega taco shells, like a pack of 10 or 12, for $13.  So corn tortillas was on our request list because online stores have been out of stock recently.  

My snack one day--Tillamook with my favorite gluten free cracker that I ordered in from Walmart.  One particular day I was feeling like "Old Mother Hubbard" with her cupboards bare.  My heart leapt when I remembered I had just gotten my new bag of crackers and had real cheddar cheese.  :)

Needless to say, we’ve been wanting to have Aaron over for lunch or dinner to thank him for his efforts to make us happy.  He of course offered to bring over Costco frozen sirloin hamburgers with him.  We tried turning him down and told him that we didn’t want him to bring anything…and then we changed our minds.  :)  We had a moment of weakness.  Weakness that crept in at the thought of having meat from a trustworthy American source.  Meat that we knew came from a cow.  We’ve had a few experiences buying beef ($9 per pound) only to cook it up and swear that it tasted like horse.  Yes, horse.  I’m not quite sure what horse tastes like, but it certainly tasted like the smell of horse and did not taste like beef!  We have found a smaller grocery store that has had a pretty good track record with us that we continue to go to so we’re doing okay.  But it was no surprise that when Aaron offered the Costco quality sirloin burgers, we really could not turn him down! 

We think our energetic and crazy kids helped to make him feel at home away from home.  But to make it even better for him, we watched an episode of “Little House on the Prairie” with him after eating.  It’s a wonderful Sunday family show, and we learned while talking and eating, that our family is not the only one on the planet Earth that ordered the whole nine seasons from Amazon--his family did too!  He even showed us a picture of his daughter dressed up as Laura Ingles for Halloween last year.  So as we ate ice cream, we watched an episode and then played almost a full game of Chinese checkers before his driver arrived.  It was a fun afternoon with Aaron and we loved getting to know him better!!

I would not want this job!  Whatever they get paid, I'm sure it's not enough!  This is at a $500 a night hotel called “Epic Sana Luanda” near us.  I’ve been watching them struggle and spin around on these cables as they’re washing the windows. 

We love our friend Paulo.  I talked about him back in November when we put in a nomination for him to be the “Local employee of the month” at the embassy, which he received.  He is still one of our favorite drivers, with whom we never experience car sickness. :)  Paulo came to church with us on Sunday with his three adorable boys.  Seriously these Angolan children are beautiful.  And they’re so cute when they talk!  Paulo actually has four boys, but his youngest lives with his ex-wife so we didn’t get to meet him.  Paulo is a man of faith.  Every time he drives us somewhere he’s listening to his gospel music and he’s always ready to express his love for God and the Savior.  A few weeks ago we were pleasantly surprised to find out that Paulo was our driver to pick us up from church.  On our drive home, he expressed frustration with the priest of his church.  The priest did something that made Paulo feel that he cared more about the money he was making than about the people in his congregation.  I told him that he’s welcome to come to church with us anytime and if he had work off on Sunday some time soon, that we’d love to have him.  Briant went on to explain that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints doesn’t have paid clergy.  Everyone serves.  We are all volunteers that are called to serve in different capacities of the church.  Paulo liked the sound of that and said that he wanted to come with us the next week.  So he did, and he brought his boys with him.  They are Bennie (nine), Claudio Divino (seven), and Hamilton (four) years old.  

We had wonderful meetings at church and then took everyone home with us for lunch.  The kids were bouncing around the house as I made lunch and Paulo visited with Briant.

The kids took a break from running around and watched a Bible cartoon while lunch 

was being made.

    

With our consumables arriving last week, we decided to have our kids’ favorite—taco soup with corn bread.  We also had my favorite gluten free brownies for dessert.  It's difficult to know what to feed the locals because we have different tastes, but I thought that the soup was a safe bet.  Everyone loved it luckily and the kids bounced around with even more energy after that!   

I love his large eyes and bald head!

This was our first time having local Angolan children in our home.  We had a few tears from our kids because they thought that Paulo’s boys were being too rough with their toys and were afraid something would break.  I think we may have had more toys than they were used to.  :)  I was a witness to the disaster created in the two bedrooms and the gusto with which it was done, so I spent more time in the rooms with the kids to make sure we avoided any major issues.  All is well.  We still can’t find some of Thomas’ lego men that he needs for a school project, but I’m sure they’ll show up soon.  The only thing that “broke” was a Despicable Me bouncy ball Thomas got for Christmas that the nine year old put in his mouth and chewed in half.  :) 

Cleaning up the "aftermath."  This picture was taken of Savvy's room after 5 minutes of Briant & I helping to clean.  We made it to Thomas and Rhea's room before that. I reminded my children that they aren't the epitome of cleanliness either. :)

We just loved having our friend Paulo in our home and seeing him in his fatherly role with his boys.  He told us about his upbringing and what we would call a “hard childhood.”  It amazed us both that even with the challenges in his life, and what would appear to be a lack of God’s hand in it, his faith is still there.  Or even more shocking, that it exists at all!  He is a wonderful example to me and I appreciate the reminder that even amidst the challenges and trials in our lives, we can find God and evidence of His love for us.  

Paulo appreciated the invitation to attend church and he said that he will come again next Sunday because he is not scheduled to work.  We look forward to seeing him again, and his boys.  :)

The wonderful news finally came that our HHE had arrived!  We shipped 6,000 lbs. from Virginia back at the end of September, so its taken about 3 1/2 months to get here.  The "slow boat to China" has taken on new meaning for us. :)  I didn't know how it was all going to fit in this particular apartment, but since we converted Rhea's room to a storage room, we have extra space to store luggage, holiday decorations, camping gear that we plan on using on the beach many times here, etc.  

For a little while, the packers helped me unpack some of the consumables boxes.  I found on of them frequently looking at the products to try and figure out what they were.  I'm sure he was thinking, "We have shampoo here.  Why did she have to ship it all the way to Angola?" :) The  honest answer is that the quality of products here is not as good.  I used locally made shampoo and it felt like my hair had a new layer of something on it after I washed it out.  It felt dirtier.  I had to find imported stuff, and of course the cost increases substantially.

I found it funny that when these workers were waiting for more boxes to come up the elevator, they were always standing in front of our Christmas card wall staring and talking together about the pictures.  One of them finally asked me what these pictures were for.  I explained that they were pictures and cards from family and friends to wish us a Merry Christmas; an end of the year tradition that we do.  They still had a look of confusion on their faces.  I asked them if they send Christmas cards at the end of the year to their families and friends, to which they replied, "No."  Thus, the look of confusion.  It had not occurred to me until this conversation, that the annual Christmas card/family newsletter is not a worldwide tradition.  :) Tonight Briant brought home 15 more Christmas cards that arrived today, so we're enjoying seeing the faces of our friends and family every day and to feel that the distance between us has decreased!

Unpacking the kitchen boxes.  Finally we had our cookie sheets, garlic press, crockpot, electric can opener, nice cooking pans, spatulas, tupperware, more than 5 forks, spoons, plates, cups, etc.!!  We would have bought some things here except that the prices are outrageous and I couldn't justify spending the money.  I found a "cookie sheet" that was basically a 9x13 pan that was $35, but it was not $35 quality, nor would it have fulfilled my needs.  Unfortunately the box with measuring spoons and measuring cups, oven mitts, pot holders, and drink pitchers did not show up.  Guess it was left in Virginia in the warehouse.  We're grateful for the internet and amazon! We just have to wait 3 weeks for the mail to arrive.  Which is totally fine because talking to the missionaries here, they actually have to pay the post office in order to get their things and it could be a lot of money for a small package.  We're very grateful for the government pouch.  :)

Setting up some of our consumables that we were allowed to have shipped here with the laptop playing some tunes to help push us through the end of a long day of unpacking.  The consumables will help quite a bit with the cost of groceries and will give us tastes from home.  It wouldn't be a big deal to go without Mrs. Butterworth's syrup or Jiffy peanut butter if we were only going to be out of the country for a few years.  But with spending a career living abroad, we like to have some "familiar" from home in countries that are "foreign." 

12 hours after the first boxes showed up, my back was sorer than sore and my legs were exhausted from being on my feet all day moving things around and unpacking.  But I was so grateful to have our things finally here that I couldn’t help but smile.

Have we survived without our stuff?  Yes.  Could we continue to survive without our stuff?  Yes.  But we sure enjoy having some of our friends here with us (namely books and our favorite knick knacks, pictures, and artwork), to make it feel more like our OWN home.  

I was grateful for the movers that came back the next day to pick up all of the cardboard!

 We had to say good-bye to one of Thomas' favorite missionaries.  Elder Cambarame from Mozambique.  Thomas liked him because he was always so helpful to translate for the kids at church because he spoke English too.  He is a happy Elder, with a fun youthful spirit that the kids loved. 

Left to right:  Elder S, Elder Cook, Elder Cambarame, and Elder Alfredo 

 Elder Cambarame and Thomas giving hugs before he left, Thomas trying to be manly and hold his emotions together.

Here he is taking it upon himself to talk about his favorite scripture story to entertain the kids before a Saturday baptism at the church.  He also went on to translate during the baptism for the kids so they would understand everything. 

 The Noah's Ark puzzle--we completed it three times!  Our family has never done the same puzzle three times, but this was a fun one that G-ma and G-pa P. gave us for Christmas.  The Elders, especially Elder Cook, had a hard time resisting the desire to help before they went home after correlation meeting.  :)

 Now, in Elder Cambarame's place we have Elder Paulino from Mozambique.  He's only been a member for three years (all of the Elders from Mozambique are also pretty recent converts, having joined in the last seven years).  I expressed my amazement to Elder Paulino that he would come and sacrifice two years serving a mission after being such a recent convert.  His response was, "That's the beauty of the gospel!"  His smile is contagious.  We feel lucky to have weekly association with these young men in our home!  I feel like we're feeding an army every week with their healthy appetites, but we're glad we can provide a meal that they can count on!

A few days after going to the beach with Brian and his kids, he wanted to thank us for inviting them to go with us, so he made us pizza for dinner.  We appreciated it because we don’t eat pizza here like we did in the states except for when we splurge at the Italian pizza place down the street.  Pizza is not a traditional Angolan food.  :)  We decided to make a night of it and had them stay for “Family Home Evening.”  Family Home Evening is what members in the LDS church try to do once a week, generally on Monday nights if it’s possible.  It’s a night that focuses on strengthening the family.  It hardly ever goes “perfectly” with well-behaved children the whole time.  But it usually involves singing some primary songs or church hymns, having a spiritual thought or lesson, and if you’re really on the ball, some sort of treat after (so that means that my kids don't get a lot of treats :) ).  We try to give everyone something to be in charge of like a prayer, conducting and choosing the music, sharing a scripture/thought, doing the lesson, or conducting the family home evening.  

A month ago, I purchased a book “Fun in a Flash…Gospel Activities” that a friend recommended to me.  It is full of prepared lessons and colorful visual aids that are very appealing to the kids.  I bought it because it’s an easy way to involve the kids in teaching a lesson (usually they say that they don’t know what to teach) and get them used to being in charge of it and in the teacher’s role.  So on this particular night, Thomas’ assignment was the lesson.  He prepared a lesson on being a “happy camper” versus a “sad camper” in our families.  This camping theme was appreciated by Brian since he’s from Montana.  All of the kids had to decide what sort of items (behaviors) would be in the backpack of the happy camper versus the sad camper.  Everyone was involved and engaged.  Thomas did a great job leading the discussion.  And to go along with the camping theme, we ate s'mores for the treat.  I ordered the ingredients a few months ago (we loved making s'mores in Utah in our own campfire pit) and have been waiting for a fun occasion to use them.  We had our own “campfire” on the t.v. screen to help set the mood.  You do what you can do!

After the lesson, with Thomas' visual aids to the right on the wall.

Roasting our marshmallows for the s'mores.

All of the lessons that the kids have taught over the last 3 weeks.  Thomas taught about ways we can be happy campers in our family, Savvy taught about following Jesus, and Rhea taught about inviting the Holy Ghost into our lives.

We all had a nice time and were glad that our friends joined us.  It was fun as a family to sing “Families can be Together Forever” in English first and then Portuguese for them as one of the songs.  We worked on memorizing it in Portuguese so we could sing it to our parents/grandparents when we Skyped them on Christmas.  We love and appreciate our families!

Song:  Families can be Together Forever  

I have a family here on earth,
They are so good to me.
I want to share my life with them through all eternity.

Chorus:
Families can be together forever
Through Heavenly Father's plan,
I always want to be with my own family,
And the Lord has shown me how I can,
The Lord has shown me how I can.

To listen:  https://www.lds.org/music/library/childrens-songbook/families-can-be-together-forever?lang=eng

After the new year, we ventured out with some friends (Brian and his two kids Callen and Kera) to a beach about a half hour away called Mussulo Island.  It’s a quiet bay with calm water and nice sand and space to spread out and breathe.  You can actually drive there so it’s not actually an island, but an easier way to get to this specific beach is by boat.  There are locals with their sketchy looking boats waiting on the shores to carry you across.  Of course they quoted $10 round-trip per person when we first started talking, which we expected from talking to other Americans that had been to Mussulo.  But then once the boat arrived and we were getting ready to get in, they changed their tune and said that it was going to be $20 per person round-trip.  So Bri with his Portuguese and large stature made sure that they understood that we were going to pay $10 per person or we’d find another captain.  They consented. :) We paid half when we arrived at the beach.  It was only about a 10 minute ride but fun all the same.  This was the first time our kids had ever been on a boat in life-jackets!  They loved it as we expected.

The beach was perfect.  The water was wonderfully refreshing, especially after throwing a frisbee around and working up a sweat.  And we found a number of unique, beautifully colored sand dollars.  We had never seen the one-sided, finger-like eroded edges on them before, growing up near the California and Oregon coasts, or the pastel green and blue colors of them.  So we had fun collecting and examining them to see their differences.  We also found a few nautilus-like shells and mussels.

Swimming in the Southern Atlantic Ocean.  Smallish waves compared to California beaches that I'm used to, but enough to have fun with and keep the kids happy and entertained.

Rhea and Kera dancing around in the shade covering and then settling down to play teacher. :)  I told Rhea not to bring any of her teaching things because I didn't think there would be a need for extra entertainment nor did I want her things to possibly get wet and ruined.  She pulled the toys out though and very quickly said with a hug, "I'm sorry I disobeyed you by bringing my teaching stuff."  Then bounced away happily to play with them.

Some beach neighbors from England that pulled out some fun toys.

And the ride home.  We couldn't believe that our "captain" actually remembered to come pick us up, and he showed up on time!  Slightly red and crisp from 4 hours in the sun we were okay to leave.  It was a fun, relaxing day for everyone!

Funny--without being given specifics from other Americans except that we would take a boat to get to the island, I didn't know what kind of boat to expect.  But in my mind I think I was envisioning one like the nice, large passenger boats that are docked on the left.  Nope.  Our boat worked just fine though.  :) 

Exiting the boat area to walk back to our car.  Trash everywhere of course--we could really use a Scout troop (okay, maybe more than one) here to earn their "clean up your community" or "help take care of the environment" merit badge!  :)

Locked out!  Oh, that's right.  The problem with getting back in the house that we realized we were going to have after we shut the door to leave in the morning.  We tried putting our key in but it wouldn't turn to open the door.  We actually have two doors to the apartment, one that goes straight into the kitchen, but we don't use that door because of the storage shelves behind the door, so we didn't have the key.  We realized that we had probably left a key in the lock on the other side of the door because that's how we lock the door at night (they have different locks here).  
Anyway, we called someone from the embassy to help us.  We were extremely luckily that they were there on a Saturday afternoon and could find the extra keys to our apartment.  They had a driver bring the keys to us and we were able to use the kitchen door key to get in.  We were happy to discover that Rhea is small enough to get through the door even with the shelves behind it.  We learned our lesson--we will never do that again!

And, the clean up.  Since we don't have a yard, garage, or anywhere else to clean off the extra sand that snuck home with us, we decided there was no harm in putting the sand back down on the ground from 14 stories above.  :)