Merry Christmas

Yesterday morning I was awakened at 6:30am by an ecstatic Baylor, who had run into our room yelling, "Mama! Mama!"  I opened my eyes to find her with two suckers in her hands and a kit kat in her mouth, squealing "Candy! Candy!"

Upon reaching the living room, I saw several presents unwrapped and Baylor's Uncle Brian's stocking completely ransacked.  I suppose that's what kids do.  So I took away her suckers (not without protest), rewrapped the presents, restuffed the stocking and Brett put everything out of reach.  A couple hours later we were joined by the rest of the household for breakfast and fun presents time.

I hope you had a holly jolly Christmas.  

We're Back

We've actually been back in Tanzania for a full month now, but I decided to continue blogging for a while about our furlough since I did such a bad job of updating while we were actually in the States.  The flights back to Geita weren't so bad. Baylor did well, though we were all exhausted by the time we got home.  And to be honest, we're still a little exhausted.  Baylor has had difficulty sleeping ever since we returned and only in the last few nights has she actually slept somewhat normally.  By normally, I mean she hasn't woken up screaming like she's being attacked by mutants multiple times a night often for hours.  She's not sleeping as late as she used to, but I think that might just be her getting older and not needing as much sleep.  I'm not a big fan of getting up before light.  Fortunately, Brett usually gets up in the early morning with her.

We've been super busy, trying to accomplish as much as we can in a short period of time, knowing we're leaving again in the middle of January for Dar to have Harper.  Our team currently has three apprentices working with us; a single guy and a married couple, all recently out of college, who are interested in learning about missions in Africa, helping our team, and perhaps moving somewhere on the continent to work in the future.  We've had the couple living with us and we've enjoyed them all immensely.  Four player games are so much more fun than two player games.

First Fall

When we first moved to Tanzania, we had originally planned on taking our first furlough after two years, which would have put us there last spring.  However, Brett and I both love the fall and it's something we miss while in Tanzania.  No leaves changing colors, no college football, no sitting in sweatshirts by a fire sipping cider (though as much as I love fall, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't trade my year-round 75-80 degree weather).  So we pushed our furlough back 5 or 6 months so that we could be home for all those things.  The leaves are my favorite thing.  We made Baylor play in the leaves for the first time.  I say made because she didn't seem too keen on the idea.  Once in, she had fun, but only for a few minutes.  I think the fact that it was 85 degrees that day in Alabama and she was wearing shorts and a t-shirt made it less fun and more itchy.  But we had a great time watching her (and throwing her in). 

The National Peanut Festival

Unless you know Brett or are from lower Alabama yourself, you are probably unaware that Dothan, Alabama is the "Peanut Capital of the World."  I myself question the veracity of this title, but I know there are a lot of peanuts around the area and that Dothanites are very proud of them.  In fact, every year they have a huge fair and parade to celebrate the beloved peanut.  

When we lived in the States we always made sure to make it to Dothan for the event.  It was always one of the highlights of Brett's year and I enjoyed it as well.  For the last few years in Tanzania, Brett has been saddened by his inability to attend, so we made sure that we were able on our furlough.  Baylor needed to experience the unceasing fun. So here is our family underneath a giant happy peanut. 

No fair would be complete without rides and Baylor had a blast.  Most of the time an adult was required to go with her but she got to drive these cars all by herself.  I know the picture's blurry, but she was so excited I wanted to put it in anyway.  

She was also able to ride the train, shouting "Choo! Choo!" the whole time.

Baylor loves animals and was able to feed and pet several goats, camels, sheep, and even a llama.  

After the petting zoo we braved the cold to watch the pig races.  Yes, they actually had pig races.  Sooey!  Fun times for all.