Taylor’s nanny and her 1st day of school

Taylor has become a very busy girl lately. While we are in language school she is normally at our house with her nanny, Bantle (Bon-Klay). She has grown to love Bantle very much and we are so thankful to have her watching Taylor for us. We did make the decision that once a week that Taylor would attend a nursery school with children ranging in age from 2-5. We wanted her to be around other children learning the language and she as well gets to do monkeynastics (kind of like gymnastics). Below is a picture of Taylor on her 1st day of school which was this past Friday. She had her backpack on and was so happy to be going to school. When we got there she was looking for her old friends at her previous school so she was sad when Madylanne, Owen, Olivia, and Andrew were not in class with her, but we told her she could make new friends.    She was such a big girl that she didn’t even cry when we left her…she is growing up so quickly!

 

Taylor with her backpack ready for her 1st day of school.

Bantle and Taylor making a birthday cake out of playdoh.

Children’s Sunday School

 

It has been such a joy to be able to work with the Children’s ministry at Lobatse Baptist Church. Lately we have had about 30 children in attendance and they range in age from 1 year old to 10 years old. This past Sunday we sang “He’s got the whole world in His hands” and we had the children trace their hands, cut them out, and then paint them with glitter (they had so much fun doing this). We also were able to take their pictures and our plan is to hang them up around our classroom with their hands spanning the room. Below are some shots of the children but if you want to see pictures of all of them, then click here.   

TIA

There is a saying here, “TIA” which simply means “This is Africa”. Living here is one of the most incredible things and it is a beautiful country with beautiful people. Sometimes we think we are still in America, until a few things happen during our day to remind us that we are a long way away from home.

• The other day we heard something in our fireplace and Brent opened up the vent and a huge bird let him grab it and take it outside (of course after we took pictures of it and let Taylor touch it)

• You see a lady walk up to a huge ant hill and get a “snack”
• A scorpion went scurrying through our kitchen this evening
• Brent went to go pay his first speeding ticket  at the police station but could not pay it because they did not have a receipt book available (they asked him to come back tomorrow)
• You show up to a meeting 30 minutes late and you are right on time
• Being woken up at 2am because cattle are walking right outside our house
• You have to slow down to allow cows, goats, and donkeys to cross the road
• We walked outside and found a monkey in our fig tree

In all seriousness, we love living here and are so thankful to serve our Lord in Africa!

Language Learning

Even though in most of our previous blogs it looks like we are shooting all the animals here in Africa and seeing some amazing sights, most of our time here actually has been spent with the local pastor of Lobatse Baptist Church. His name is Jack and he is our wonderful language helper. We have been learning Setswana Monday through Friday from 8:30am-11:30am since December 1. We are learning a lot, but still have a long way to go to being fluent.

Here are a few phrases if you want to try to see how to pronounce some words in Setswana:

Dumela mma (Doo-mail-a-ma) = Hello to a woman                            

Dumela rra (Doo-mail-a-ra) = Hello to a man

O tsogile jang? (oo-tsoo-hee-lay-ja-ng?) = How are you?

Ke tsogile sentle (Kay-tsoo-hee-lay-say-n-klay) = I am well

Leina lame ke Taylor (Lay-ee-na-la-may-kay) = My name is Taylor (this is Taylor’s favorite thing to say to everyone she meets and she has her greetings down as well)

ee mma (ay-ma) = yes ma’am

nyaa rra = no sir

Ke a leboga (Kay-a-lay-bo-ha) = Thank you

Learning their heart language is opening so many doors for us. Please keep us in your prayers that as we continue to learn more that our minds would be clear and be able to remember what we have learned in the past.

Kalahari Hunting Trip

I was able to travel about 7 hours away into the bush of the bush. We were on the edge of the Kalahari desert with 2 other men and their sons. This is a very tough land, about an hour off of the pavement, near the town of Ghanzi. This is the land of the bushmen, they were our guides. They had just killed a "problem lion" on Monday, and last year alone killed 16 lions at this farm. It was a huge farm with a ton of game. The land had kudu, gemsbok, hartebeest, springbok, lions, snakes (we saw a HUGE Egyptian banded cobra - fully hooded - AMAZING) and even wild dog!

The wild dog is very rare and to see it in the wild is UNREAL! Anyway we hunted very hard and had a great time. I was able to take a Gemsbok, this animal loves this barren landscape.

It was so much fun to be able to track find these animals with a bushman, they are amazing trackers and know the land and the animals. I took the shot and dropped a great sized male Gemsbok. It had 29 inch horns, and the body weighed about 400+ pounds. The meat is amazing and we are already planning another trip back in our winter (May-August).

The others guys took a springbok, gemsbok, and a hartebeest. It was a blast. If you want to check out more pictures, take a look at our shutterfly account.

South Africa

We have been quite busy the last couple weeks. Our time has been filled with language school, visit from friends from Madagascar, and a 3 day trip to South Africa to Pilanesburg Game Reserve and Magaliesberg. We spent 2 full days exploring the  Pilanesberg Game Reserve  seeing cheetah, giraffe, zebra, elephants, and many other game animals.

We also were able to visit a place called the Lion Park. They had some 3 month old lion cubs and some 7 month old lion cubs that we were able to go in and pet. How crazy is it to actually get to touch a lion? Taylor loved it for sure!!

Above and below is a 7 month old lion cub. Their paws and claws are so big!

 

This is a view in the Magaliesberg Mountains. We took this road that 4 wheel drive is a necessity to get over and the views were breathtaking.

This is in the Pilanesburg Game Reserve. We turned a corner and this elephant was in the middle of the road. He continued to walk in the road in front of us for about 20 minutes and finally we were able to get around him. This gives a whole new meaning to “road block”.

We stayed at the Jameson Country Cottages, so if you are ever looking into a place to stay in the Magaliesberg area then we would recommend this place.

Merry Christmas

Today was our first Christmas in Africa as a family. I wouldn’t say it was the most normal Christmas we have celebrated in the past, but it was definitely fun. Taylor started the morning off by riding into our room on her new red motorcycle and telling us she wanted to open presents. After opening presents, a nice brea kfast, reading the Christmas story, and swimming in Taylor’s baby pool , we headed to the Cumberland Hotel for a nice Luncheon and were able to swim in their pool. The Cumberland Hotel is one of the few places to go out to eat and it’s so nice as it has a playground and a pool. It was nearly 100 degrees outside, so the pool felt very nice. We also were able to purchase a turkey at the grocery store a couple of weeks ago (this is a rare find for sure) and we had our very own Christmas dinner with all the fixings this evening.

We want to remember though that today is not about presents, but the celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We are here in Botswana to tell those who have not heard about Jesus. We’ve already started to form relationships and share the good news, so today please keep in prayer these specific folks…Tsepho (he also goes by Razor), Catherine, and Masego.

Ladies Christmas Tea

On December 22, one of the journey-girls, Keely, hosted all of the missionary ladies to her house for a wintery Christmas tea. We did secret santa and ate until we couldn’t eat anymore. What a great group of ladies that I have the opportunity to serve on the mission field with here in Botswana!

Later that day, we were invited over to the Blankenship’s home to see their 3 week old Great Dane puppies. They were so cute and Taylor really enjoyed petting them.

Wintery Weather

So we hear that the East Coast is getting hit pretty hard with snow. We just wanted to remind you in about 6 months that you can be swimming just like Taylor was yesterday. Stay warm...hot weather is on it's way :)

Warthog!

Well, I have taken a warthog. I have been looking for one and I found the big boy. Before we saw this boar, I passed on 18 good sized pigs because they did not have any teeth whatsoever. We were patient and finally  got what I was looking for.

This was a HUGE boar, weighing in at 150 pounds, with his teeth/tusks being 9 inches long! It was one of the largest warthogs ever taken from our hunting ground, he was worth the wait.