School Kits for Kids-Molepolole Baptist Church

We went out to Molepolole (Mo-lee-po-lo-lee) Baptist Church on Sunday and were able to give out some school kits to the kids and initiate a feeding project because of your giving in BGR (Baptist Global Response). 

The kids led the service with songs

Mma Kgalaeng (the pastor's wife) with 3 kids from the Care Center.
She loves these kids so much!

The church and all the children with their school kits

Mma Kgalaeng giving wise instruction to some of the girls

sweet kids

loved this sweet little girl sitting by herself

We started a feeding project for the kids thanks to your giving and BGR

Love to see my girl serving

Pray for this church as they try to meet all of the government requirements to reopen the Care Center (an after school program for orphaned and vulnerable children) in 2017.

1st day of school

The kids are part of a school that has year round school so our school new school year started January 18. It hard to believe we now have a 4th grader and a 1st grader. The kids really love school and we are thankful that there is a great school here that we can put them into.

4th grader and 1st grader

ready to go!

Bo (our dog) wanted to join in the picture and would have
happily went to school with them if we let him. 

Christmas

It's hard to believe that this was our 7th Christmas in Africa and being hot at Christmas actually is starting to feel normal. I do admit, Christmas is the one day of the year that I miss snow but the other 364 days I am thankful it's not snowing.  The past 6 years, we have had our mission family to spend Christmas with but this year was a bit different. With everyone leaving this year, I was quite dreading being in Botswana for Christmas. BUT our God is so good and so faithful. We had a family invite us over for Christmas Eve and another family invite us for Christmas with their extended family. We are so thankful for friends!

We spent Christmas Eve with the Anderson and Dorough families. It has become tradition to swim on Christmas and this one was no different. We celebrated with swimming, grilling out, crackers/poppers, and a fun game of family feud (btw, the Turner family won).

Bradyn and Abe

Sweet friends

Tradition of pulling poppers/crackers. They contain a crown,
joke, and toy. Love this tradition!

Kids with their crowns

Christmas Eve crazies

 Taylor's best friends family invited us for Christmas day. They even cooked a turkey and ham and we all ate way too much!

Kids with too much sugar

Bradyn enjoying some ice cream

Merry Christmas from Botswana!!

Camping in Botswana

We just got back from a family camping trip in northern Botswana (Moremi, Savuti, and Chobe). We stayed 6 nights/7days in the bush with the lions roaring around us away from all civilization and had the most amazing time. All the animals we saw were beyond what words can describe but looking back through the pics, some of my favorites were seeing the joy on the kids faces as they try to find something in the binoculars and actually find it. Taylor's favorite memory was not the hippos swimming, baby elephants trailing behind their mommy, or lions roaring at night as we slept (or tried to sleep) but was of the times we spent around the campfire. #family #botswana

Our tent

Baby elephants are definitely my favorite!

"Wait, mom!!"

Even baby hippos are too cute

baby wildebeast

Lions can be so fierce but they love on the members of their pride

This baby lion literally licked our bumper...amazing!!

Family boat ride on the Chobe river

My love

"Mom, there are lobsters in the pool"...nope, they were scorpions

Relaxing in the hammock

Beware crocodiles...really!!

Hippo swimming

3rd bridge at Moremi. We drove 160km (99miles) this day to our next
campsite and most of the roads were like this. It took us 8 hours!

Cooking over an open fire with lions roaring in the background

Giraffe with rain looming behind it

Lilac breasted roller

I love seeing giraffe drink

Kori bustard-national bird of Botswana

Bee Eater

Majestic Lion

Lions on a hunt

baby lion cub

I know this is hard to see but it's one of my favorite shots.
It shows a lion on the ridge stalking the zebra just out of site. 

beautiful

stalking

african sunset

elephant crossing the road in front of us

taylor with an elephant bone

Bradyn with an elephant bone

Tay being silly in a cape buffalo skull

this truck and brent did amazing getting us through some pretty
crazy roads!

Dung beetle rolling poo...too cool!

Hippos grazing

Croc...I think he was smiling at us!

 

Tay's favorite times were sitting around the campfire

Bradyn spotting something cool, or at least trying to

My boys