Safari!

We had the opportunity to take the kids on safari (big thanks to Ned and Emily for donating the funds)! We rented a bus and off we went to Tarangire National Park. We all had such an enjoyable time. Below are pictures of the many animals we saw. This park is home to many, many elephants. You will find more here than any other national park in Tanzania. That's why you see so many pictures of them. We took a picnic lunch and ate outside at the park. The day was hot, but on the way home it rained very hard. We were glad we had nice weather while we were in the park.

Christmas in Africa

The children received gifts like blocks, barbie dolls, cars, radios for the older kids, helicopters for the boys, and dolls for the younger girls. They all got a new pair of pajamas from teacher Maureen that look so adorable on them. On Christmas day, James, Maddy and I spent from 8:30 in the morning until 10:00 at night in the kitchen, with little break. We made homemade dinner rolls, apple pie, apple crisp, carmel apples for the kids (they have never had these!), potatoes and gravy, corn, Special K loaf (sort of) for us and we roasted 8 chickens for them. They are not vegetarians as we are, but we don't buy any meat for them. Since this was a special occasion we decided to buy chicken for them. It was lip smacking good I was told. And the carmel apples were a big hit.

Christmas Comes Early

Christmas came early to Havilah. Ned Greene, the first director, came for a visit on December 17 - 20. The children were so excited to see him. Our older children remember him very well. The little ones somewhat and we have some that have never met him. But it was so funny. They ALL ran out to meet him, whether they knew him or not. He just enjoyed being around the children for 3 days. He took them for walks and hung out with them. He went to church with us as well. On Saturday evening Ned gave gifts to the kids. He brought each of them a homemade coloring book, with a special nickname on the front. He also brought some DVDs of cartoons, and some CDs with children's music. He bought them 3 new scooters, balls, and jumpropes. They are so much enjoying his gifts. James, Maddy and I enjoyed meeting Ned as well and hearing his stories and asking him questions about things they did when he was here.

Christmas Break

The children are on a break from school (the ones who attend the primary school). Actually, their break began on November 22. So we decided to take them to town for pizza. We are trying to work on their manners around other people. They did very well and we were pleased with their behavior.

Yesterday we decorated Christmas cookies and Christmas trees. We also made some homemade decorations for the tree. I am not sure if they have decorated cookies before, but they really seemed to enjoy it, especially the little ones. We had frosting on the table, on the chairs, on them and even a little on the cookies! They are so excited and counting the days until Christmas. These are pictures of their trees. The first is House 2 and the third is House 1.

Busy Month!

October was a busy month for us. On the 13th we celebrated Abdul's 7th birthday. The children have been busy visiting their families. On Sundays, Uncle James takes them around in the van to the families that live close by and the children have a chance to spend some time with their grandparents or aunties.

They have been studying hard in school and some of them are tutoring after school. We have divided the children that study here at our school into two groups. We have a morning class with the beginners and an afternoon class with the children that are a little more advanced.

Yesterday, we celebrated another birthday. It was the 8th birthday for Dorcas. It was a beautiful day so we had a picnic supper, complete with cake and ice cream. We played games like duck, duck, goose and relay tag. The children were tired out and ready for bed after they had played so hard and ate so much!

Trip to Wildlife Sanctuary

On Sunday we all climbed in the van and went to the nearby wildlife sanctuary. The kids call it the zoo. Some of it is like a zoo, some of it is like a wildlife sanctuary. The kids love to ride in the van. Our van is a 10 passenger van. Today, there were 19 children and 5 adults! Too funny!

Picnic Supper

We had a picnic supper on Saturday evening. We roasted veggie dogs, had potato salad, baked beans, potato chips and cupcakes. Yum, Yum! We all enjoyed ourselves very much!