After using Christ-centered ornaments my mom gave us a few years ago to count down the 12 days of Christmas, it finally came.  The kids opened their traditional gift of pajamas on Christmas Eve, but this year, Briant surprised them with little “lanterns” to sleep with.  They reminded him of the lanterns on “Little House on the Prairie” that we watch as a family, and thought the kids would get a kick out of them.  You have to blow into the lantern to turn them on and off, and it has a dial to adjust the brightness.  Our kids, especially Rhea, still like to sleep with a little light so it was the perfect Christmas Eve gift.  

 The kids could hardly fall asleep, especially with sleeping in the same room.  We dragged Thomas’ and Rhea’s mattresses into Savvy’s room.  They finally got to sleep only to wake us up at 1:30am saying, “Merry Christmas!”  Apparently Thomas read the time on one of our a/c remotes as saying 6:30am (it has never been programmed to have the right time!), which was the time we told them we would go out to open presents.  Thomas woke the girls up, and all three of them came bouncing into our room to wake us up.  Needless to say, it was a bit of a downer for all of us.  The kids were disappointed, and I struggled to get back to sleep after tucking them all in again and getting Thomas something to eat because he was hungry.  J

 When it was actually 6:30am, we lined the kids up in the hall youngest to oldest, and let them run out.  

 The kids are stopping for a minute to enjoy the candy and chocolate Santa put in their stockings.

A tender moment of expressing gratitude for the homemade gifts they gave to each other.  I of course had to capture this on camera—it warms my heart and makes me wish they were always this perfectly cute to each other!  Savannah made stockings, Rhea wrote love notes and made a bead chain for each of them, and Thomas wrote acrostic poems with the girls’ names to describe them (he had been working on making up songs for them on the piano, but the very first day of school break, Rhea accidentally plugged the piano into the wrong outlet and it fried the cord.  Luckily the piano itself survived, unlike 2 of our not-so-lucky can openers--we just had to buy a new cord that took 3 weeks to arrive). I love what they all came up with!  They're all wearing their cute blankets Santa gave them.

 Every year we give the kids 3 gifts.  The gifts correspond to the purpose of the gold, frankincense and myrrh that were given to the Savior.  They are needful, joyful, and meaningful.  This year, Thomas' meaningful gift was centered around his love of the piano.  He said a few months ago, "If there was no piano, there would be no Thomas."  He has really come to love the piano as a way of expressing himself this year and we all love supporting him in this.  His joyful gift was a laptop that he helped pay for, to help him develop his computer programming skills he has been working on.  Mom and dad are still controlling where and when he uses the computer though.  :)

This year, Savannah has taken an interest in the medical field.  It probably stems from all of the broken bones, stitches, ear infections, ear tubes, etc. that she has had to have in her life, and probably most recently the stitches she got from cutting her heel open and almost having to have stitches from cutting her shin.  She was excited to take a first aid class after school last semester as well.  She thinks that she might possibly like to be a nurse someday "until she's a mom."  So, to support and encourage what she’s interested in this year, we got her a gift focused on this:  posters of all the different body systems, models of the body, a Dr.’s uniform, real stethoscope and blood pressure kit, etc.  Her joyful gift correlated with it—a wheelchair, cast, and crutch set for her dolls to help take care of them. 

Rhea received a meaningful gift focused on teaching, the obsession that she’s had since she was 4.  Every day she comes home from school insisting that she have time to “teach” before she does any homework.  That is her way of unwinding and playing.  She already had some supplies, so we added to it.  A map to write on, books with audio CDs to read to her students, a clock and some tens blocks to teach math.  All of these things happen to be things she could use for her own learning as well.  Her joyful gift correlated with the teaching in that she likes to talk and sing, especially with a microphone.  So she got a karaoke machine that she can also use to play her audio book CDs to her students.

After present opening and breakfast, we made some cinnamon muffins and took them to Chris, the Staff Sergeant of our Marine detachment at the embassy.  The kids made some cute thank you cards for him as well.  There are no holidays for the Marines!

The Elders came over that night for dinner and Skyping home to their families.  We had them take our annual 'in front of the tree' pic for us.  They also had fun taking pics with our kids.  You can see why we love having the Elders over!  They're like older brothers our kids never had. :)

The Elders took turns eating, Skyping, and playing with our toys.  Sadly Elder Mistola could not get ahold of any family or branch members back home in Maputo despite trying for a few hours.  We felt really bad for him but feel better knowing that he goes home in a few months.  Elder Ostler, wanting to be an architectural engineer some day, loved building the light-up lego truck Thomas got for Christmas, with Elder Mistola's support, and Elder Bradshaw played some logic games.  Elder Mitchell was wonderful to help Thomas, for probably an hour, to solve the Rubik's cube he had gotten in his stocking.  He started teaching him some of the algorithms so he could make sense of what he was trying to accomplish.  The teaching went on until Elder Mitchell asked us what bathroom we would prefer that he throw up in.  :)  He had arrived at our house feeling a little sick from the food he had eaten earlier in the day so he didn't touch anything we made for them.  I was happy to know that we had not caused his upset stomach but I felt bad for him!  At least he felt better afterwards.  And dad played with the etch-a-sketch he had asked for from Santa.

After all of the Elders were done skyping and the kids went to bed (they were exhausted from the middle of the night wake-up), we played a quick game of Pictionary.  Elder Mitchell partially joined the game, wrapped in blankets and recovering after he had thrown up.  We had so much fun laughing over the quality of drawings, and a few minor language barrier issues with Elder Mistola from Mozambique.  He was a good sport though--he misunderstood a few of the words--he drew "driver" instead of "diver."  Briant and Elder Ostler won handily and they have not let us forget it!

The days following Christmas, the kids enjoyed playing with all of their presents and building lego creations with dad.  Briant spent hours with them creating what they wanted.  I still hear him every now and then in Thomas' room alone playing with the legos, making new things or modifying the old:

Our wonderful friend Aaron brought us a Christmas ham from Costco the last time he was out.  Bless him!  That is one thing I was really craving--the ham with the brown sugar sauce that we have every year!  He sacrifices time and energy every time he comes back to Angola to bring us what he can, and this time he made sure I had my ham.  :)  It was beautiful and seriously tasty!  They don't have ham here except in pre-cut deli slices that don't taste as good as the ham back home and some ham that we try to pass off as bacon.  This large ham was a welcome sight to our eyes and taste buds!  The days are blending together, so I thought we ate it on Christmas, but we actually saved it for the next day so we could really enjoy it and freeze leftovers.  I really do love the Elders, but I also really wanted to have leftovers, so we served them other things (oven-baked chicken legs and mashed potatoes) on Christmas.  It worked out though because none of them really wanted anything to eat on Christmas anyway by the time they got to our house.  We did spoil them with cinnamon muffins, chocolates, pumpkin cookies with cinnamon and chocolate chips, and no-bake cookies which they ate.  And we sent some home with Elder Mitchell to eat when his stomach felt better.

It was a wonderful Christmas.  Our hearts are full of gratitude for all of our blessings!  I'm grateful to be here in Angola where I'm reminded every day how blessed our family is and how I should be carrying gratitude in my heart always.

Life was a little less crazy for us this year so we remembered to celebrate our anniversary!  We planned a trip to Lubango, with our kids of course, but it was a celebration nevertheless.  It was actually a wonderful opportunity to have the kids with us to celebrate on our roadtrip, eating KFC in Benguela for our 'romantic' dinner, and hear us talk about the last 16 years of marriage and where they fit into it.  Last year, we moved from our temporary housing to our new apartment, and in that craziness, with Christmas a week later, we didn't have a chance to actually celebrate.  We remembered though, and as we unpacked and settled into our apartment, we reminisced over the last 15 years of being married and laughed at how funny it was that we were celebrating our 15th anniversary in Africa.  Not what we had planned when early in our marriage, all Briant could think about was settling down on 20 acres in rural Oregon for the rest of his life.  Life is full of surprises!

This year I made Briant a picture collage like this to give him.  It has a picture from every year of our marriage, along with some pics from our dating and engagement--Bri saving me during a rafting incident on the Provo river, 2 marathons, trip to NYC, trip to Mt. Rushmore, national parks, play productions, etc.  It was so fun for me to search for these pics and then to give the collage to Briant and reminisce over the memories attached to the pics.  We feel very blessed to have each other and are grateful that our fathers were childhood friends!  Here's to many more anniversaries!

"Boa Viagem"--"Have a good trip!"

At the end of the kids’ first week of school break, Briant took Friday off so we could have a 3 day weekend road trip to explore more of Angola and celebrate our 16th wedding anniversary.  It was wonderful to get out of the house and see beyond the white concrete walls of our apartment.  Our primary goal this time was to see the cities of Benguela and Lubango, specifically the Serra da Leba.  We knew it would require a lot of driving, 24 hours in 3 days to be exact (with three kids), but we were up for it.  We armed ourselves with movies and audio books to help the kids.  They did amazingly!  I think they’re getting used to long road trips since we’ve been in Angola and I think they appreciate being out of the house as much as I do.  Unfortunately I am the sole driver because of my car sickness, but Briant is a patient passenger!  The trip started out cloudy but then within a few hours, turned rainy and dark.

I wouldn't mind the rainy weather except that the roads are full of potholes.  And there is only one lane in each direction so you have to pass a lot of large trucks and buses that like to hug the line and there's hardly ever a shoulder or "bike lane" to give extra driving room.  All the while you're trying to keep your windows wiped so you can see.  Oh, and you have to watch out for goats, people walking, and slow motorcycles on the road.  And when I say that there are potholes, these are not U.S. sized potholes.  Many times they were the length of the whole lane and if I had gotten out to look, I'm pretty sure we could have seen down to the core of the earth! I never exaggerate either.  :)  And it wasn't 2 or 3 the whole trip.  I literally felt as if I was playing a car racing game on an arcade where I had to be on my toes, ready to avoid a pothole at every turn, up every hill, on every stretch of land.  Unfortunately many times they crept up on me and I didn't dodge them in time.  We felt the bumps even with our 4x4.  I can't imagine making this trip without it!  The scariest part of the driving was passing other vehicles--many times after seeing that it was safe to pass, we would move into the next lane, only to be surprised to find a large pothole that we either had to drive through or swerve to avoid, possibly risking hitting the other car.   Or better yet, when the vehicle in the other lane didn't realize we were passing and swerved into our lane to avoid a pothole and nearly hit us if I had not swerved at the same time.  Needless to say, we started giving a little honk as we passed so that they were at least more cautious and aware of us passing.  Those drivers that were conscientious would actually give you blinker signals when it was safe to pass.  We came to really appreciate those blinkers and our prayers of safety were said with more feeling each day that we drove!  Luckily after about 8 hours of driving, the roads improved and I could breathe a little more easily the last four hours from Benguela to Lubango.

Here we are passing through Quicombo--everything had turned to mud with the rain.  I loved seeing the moms cover their babies up to protect them from the rain but still doing what they needed to do.

We were frequently amazed at the beauty.  We have really been deprived in the city. :)

 There were areas that reminded Briant and me of Hawaii and Brazil.

 Things cleared up for a few hours as we got closer to a large city called Lobito.

In Lobito, we drove by their outdoor market and got stuck in traffic for a while because of one functioning street light.  Note:  We survived the crazy drivers.

Fun statue, beautiful bridge, a sugar mill that used to provide Portugal all of its sugar, and a billion dollar soccer stadium that was used only one time.

Lobito was only 1/2 hour from Benguela where we stopped for the night.  It had been a total of 8 hours of driving up to this point.  We stayed the night at a hotel called Mil Cidades, translated as "1,000 Cities."  Briant had stayed there before on another trip with the RSO so we knew it would be what we needed.  And with the new exchange rate in favor of the dollar, it was only $150 a night for a 2 bedroom apartment with a kitchen, laundry room, and living space with complementary breakfast (it used to $375).  We loved the lobby with all of the flags of the world and the beautiful woodwork.  Wood is something you rarely see here!  

KFC!  There was a KFC right across the street from our hotel.  It was our 16th anniversary celebratory dinner with our children!  We could not have been happier!

After dinner the kids and Briant went swimming at the hotel pool while I snapped pics.  While there, I saw one of my English students, Eliane, and her two kids.  That far away from home, I didn't expect to see anyone we knew so it was nice to visit with her and meet her family!

 

After a restful night of sleep, we ate a nice breakfast and got back on the road to head to Lubango, a 4 hour drive.  The roads were much better so I got to appreciate this area of large rocks and lush greenery as I drove.

We pulled over to the side of the road for a little snack and potty break.  Here I am leading my girls to nature's toilet.  We were trying to be hidden from cars passing and a nearby village to the right of us.  I still laugh as I think about this experience of helping my girls to not pee on themselves or their clothes because they were so worried about people seeing them.  That job became even harder as we were all laughing!

Coming in to Lubango.  Some city and government buildings:

 This was our first time since we've been in Angola to see women from Namibe.  It's a province further south that we didn't have time to travel to.  They wear more of the traditional African dress with thick collared necklaces and hair attachments made from clay and mud.  I think the hair for a few of the Star Wars characters were inspired by these women.  :)  Fun to see.  I think they're amazing for holding that kind of weight on their heads!

After four hours of driving, we had worked up an appetite for lunch.  Briant knew of a buffet that he had gone to previously, so we went there.  We appreciated the meat, fruit, and even french fries.  We were surprised to see a little playground outside--it definitely helped to get some of the kids' energy out!

From the restaurant, we had about an hour to get to the Serra da Leba, one of the main attractions of southern Angola. On the way we saw more livestock, something you don't see until you're about 7 or 8 hours outside of Luanda.  We also saw this girl sitting by herself in a large field facing the mountains.  I feature this picture because it represents a lot of what we see as we drive around Angola.  We will see people just standing on the side of the road, empty handed, looking down, doing nothing.  Sitting under a tree, doing nothing.  Or like this girl, sitting in a chair, doing what appears to be nothing.  They seem so peaceful, thinking about whatever they're thinking--no distractions...just nature.  I'm pretty sure the stress level of these country people is a lot less than ours in the city!

Here is the reason we drove so far.  This is the Serra da Leba:

It's amazing.  The 6 mile road takes you from the top of the mountain in the Province of Huila, to the bottom of the mountain 4,500 feet down.  You transverse 4 different climate zones in the descent.  It is a very dangerous road but is the one western road that allows for travel between the upper and lower provinces in these drastically different altitudes.  It was built in the 1970's and has been well maintained. 

We drove much of the way down the Serra da Leba and then drove back up, to a lookout point across from it.  We got out of car and were greeted by some kids trying to sell these little plants. 

The views were amazing, not only of the Serra da Leba but of the whole valley and distant mountains.  Beautiful!  We're grateful for the chance we've had to appreciate Heavenly Father's handy-work in this part of the world. 

Thomas was actually freaked out by the height of everything so we could barely get a picture out of him.  He was definitely not going to go out on the rock with the girls to get a picture with dad.  :)

After our sightseeing of the Serra da Leba, we got back in the car, and drove back through Lubango. 

Here are a few hotels that sit on a high mountain in Lubango.  They're not finished even though they were built years ago by the government.  We have learned that in all major cities, these hotels, yellow and pink, sit atop a high area overlooking the city, unused and unfinished.  

We made it back despite having half of our 4 hour drive in the dark and almost hitting a cow in a half a dozen different areas of the drive.  To celebrate our safe return, we got KFC for dinner again. 

We headed home the next morning--another 8 hour drive, bringing the 24 hours in the car to an end.  We were happy to see our monkey friends by the bridge near the Kwanza River, almost to the Luanda city limits.  We park the car and wait, and eventually they come out to say hi.

We were grateful to have had the chance to travel and were grateful for our safety during the trip.  My heart returned to a normal level of beating and the tension in my neck finally dissipated as we entered our apartment.  We decided to put off another road trip we were planning, for another month entirely so we could recover first from this trip. :)