Joy Elaine is here

Folks-

Joy Elaine Zimmer arrrived December 10 at about 3:30 p.m., Nairobi time. She's 6.6 pounds and 18 1/2 inches, smaller than both Mark and Luke. She has light hair but otherwise looks like her brothers did when they were born. Annette did great, though Joy came a little quickly and the anesthesiologist, who was in the room to give some more medicine, ended up delivering the baby.

The boys are all crazy about her, and everyone figures we'll have some gender balance in this house now.

Annette and she are scheduled to come home tomorrow, Friday, in time for Luke's second birthday.

Happy Holidays,
Mark

Cousins, an aunt, Halloween, and one huge belly!

Hello, again-

October was a busy month for us, but lots of fun and adventure. Annette didn’t get any less pregnant, as you might imagine, and I made a couple of trips with long days and nights, for which I got no sympathy from the pregnant lady with three kids and a puppy at home. The boys are all in motion from waking up to falling asleep, so it’s never dull.

We had some visitors from the States in the form of my Aunt Teresa and cousins Shannon and Tamara, who were in from California as part of a wide-ranging Africa trip. We showed them around Nairobi a bit, and they also enjoyed seeing the boys’ school and what we do around town. Annette took them shopping and spared me that task, for which I’m grateful to my bride. Shannon, Tamara, the boys and I made a trip to Masai Mara. Because I’m cheap, we drove the five-hour, 200-mile route to Masai Mara. Tamara says she’ll never complain about another pothole on the interstate in California. The road to Masai Mara was ridiculous, flat and paved one moment and spanned by a hole to swallow an SUV in the next instant. We had one flat tire and one near-miss when I hit a huge, unmarked hump at highway speed, but the rest of the trip was pretty enjoyable. We saw lions, cheetahs, elephants, hippos, wildebeests, and some of the usual giraffes, zebras, and warthogs.

We all went trick-or-treating on Halloween night. Luke is still getting the hang of it and Mark was more inclined to sneaking treats from his bag, but Chris, who hadn’t celebrated Halloween before, picked it up in a hurry. Once he realized he could get candy from every house, he took off like a shot. Chris was Spiderman, Mark was a pirate (“pilate”, as the boy with the Kenyan accent says), and Luke was a train engineer.

We celebrated Little Mark’s birthday the Saturday after November 5. Annette made him a Nemo cake and he had lots of his friends over. As usual, he was very happy to have lots of folks gathered in his honor.

Annette’s girlfriends put on a baby shower for her two Saturday s ago. Everyone had a great time, and Annette was real flattered with the kindness. She says she’s officially a “waddler” now, and she’s about ready for the baby to arrive. The doctor seems to think the first week of December might be realistic, thought the due date is closer to Christmas. She’s starting to think my jokes about her mobility and constant nausea aren’t so funny, so maybe it’s time for the baby to arrive.

We had some great news and then the reality of Kenyan bureaucracy set in. We were supposed to have our first court date for Christopher's adoption today, but yesterday afternoon (5pm), the lawyer called and said his assistant was at the court checking on some papers and was told that the judge decided she didn't want to work today. So with the holidays coming up, it'll probably be another couple of months before we can start the Kenyan court process. Never a question of is it worth it, but sometimes we do wonder why they make it so difficult.

With all we’ve been doing, the boys continue to thrive and keep us on our toes. Chris and Mark are both doing well in school. Chris manages to stay out of time-out most days, though he got in time-out the other day between the time he ran away from Annette at the school gate and when Annette caught up to him in his classroom. Mark is studious as ever, but doing great. Both were selected for the Potterhouse Under-6 travel team for football (they don’t say “soccer” in these parts), and had a match at the German school the other day. They came in fourth out of sixteen teams. Luke enjoys dropping off his brothers, but doesn’t want to stay at the school just yet. He’s talking pretty well, having perfected “No!” and “Mine!” and stealing toys from his brothers. We’re making videos to show him how he’s acting, figuring the new baby will be doing this to Luke in two years’ time.

Happy Turkey Day,
Mark

Grandparents, Prayers for a Rhino, and a Wheel Bearing

Greetings, all-

It seems I last wrote in August, so I have quite a bit of activity from Casa Zimmer for updates. This will probably turn into two messages, so we can put a few more photos on the blog site.

Annette’s folks came in for a couple of weeks in early September. Annette and I went out to the airport and left the boys at home. Little Mark wasn’t real happy, and then he stayed awake until we got home. We figured out later that he equated his mom going to the airport with her being gone for six weeks (as she was with Luke’s medevac this past summer). He seemed relieved when we got home, and Grandma and Grandpa Watts got to meet Chris for the first time. He knew them right off, thanks to Annette’s tireless efforts to keep photos of the family in front of the kids during storytime and around the house in general.

After a couple of days’ recovery from the long flight, we took off for a two-night trip to Sweetwaters, a safari camp near Mount Kenya. We wrote about that, I think, shortly after we arrived here in September 2007. It’s the place with the tame rhino, Morani. The boys were excited to see Morani on this trip, but when we arrived the guard at the gate gave us a flyer and told us Morani had died just a week or two prior to our arrival. The boys seemed sad, but I didn’t think much more of it. But when we arrived at the lodge, I hopped out and opened the back door to unload the kids. Annette and the boys weren’t moving, so I started to ask about the holdup until I heard Annette saying a prayer for the rhino’s soul. She finally got out, turned to me and her folks and said, “praying for rhinos wasn’t in the job description when I signed up for motherhood.”

We took off for a game drive right after we unloaded the car, and three minutes out from the lodge came across a herd of elephants. We hadn’t seen elephants since we’d arrived, so this was a treat for us as well as the grandparents. We had a series of great game drives during the weekend, and also got to see some game around the watering hole at the camp.

We had been warned the week before the grandparents came that the wheel bearing on the car would go out in 2-3 months. A week later, coming back from a game drive at Sweetwaters, the wheel bearing went out. The mechanics told us we couldn’t make it back to Nairobi with the bad part, so we had to wait for a Good Samaritan (and garage owner) to send the part back from Nairobi and then have the hotel mechanics install it with hand tools in the parking lot. I don’t think we were much worse for the wear after two extra nights at Sweetwaters, grateful that we weren’t stuck in the middle of the bush someplace.

The second weekend, we spent a night at Lake Naivasha, which is where we go to look at hippos. I told the grandparents we would go for “a hippo ride” at Lake Naivasha. I thought this was understood to mean a boat ride where we’d look at hippos, but a few minutes into our boat ride, Annette’s mom breathed a big sigh of relief and told us she thought she was going to have to ride a hippo. She said if I was going to make my kids do it, she figured she could, too. We had a nice evening in a rented cabin at Lake Naivasha, then spent the next day at Lake Nakuru National Park. We saw another wide variety of wildlife, including thousands of flamingos and a huge black rhino by the lake. Mark and Chris claimed they were eager to eat lunch at Baboon Lookout, where the baboons stole their lunches a few months ago. We decided against it, eating instead at the “Out of Africa Lookout.”

The grandparents spent the rest of their time touring Nairobi and seeing what we do from day to day. They went to the boys’ school and also to The Nest, the orphanage from which Chris came. We ate some local food and Annette took them to some museums. I guess they enjoyed the trip.

Apart from the grandparents in September, the boys and I went on another safari to a place called “The Ark” which is a hotel built to look like…(wait for it…) an ark. We had signed up and paid a deposit before Annette’s OB told her she couldn’t travel anymore. The boys and I did well, and they seemed to enjoy the adventure. The animals are able to come right up the hotel, as the guests are restricted to the inside of the hotel after getting out of the cars. We had a big elephant walk up to the hotel as we were having hot chocolate. We had a nice bush lunch, set up in the middle of the game park. I guess I got some Dad Points, because when we got home and I asked Annette how much she missed us and if she survived okay alone with the puppy, she said, “You could have stayed gone another week.”

Enjoy the photos. Another update to follow,
Mark

Chris First Birthday Party

Hello, again-

We had a road trip last weekend, going up to Maralal for the International Camel Derby. The event was a series of pro and amateur camel races, kids’ camel rides and games, and some cultural shows and displays. Maralal is in the Samburu area of Kenya. The Samburu wear colorful clothes and wide beaded collars (they’re called the “Butterfly People”) and have big holes in their earlobes. The boys seemed to enjoy the shows, especially the dancing. Annette got a kick out of walking by the bar and seeing a pile of Samburu people pile out with a bunch of Western backpackers. The boys enjoyed the seesaw – you’ll see the weight imbalance in the attached photo. There’s also a photo here of Luke riding his bike around while the handlers got the camels geared up for my race. The house we rented had a TV and a Mr. Bean video. The boys watched that and then talked about it for the rest of the week.

I entered the amateur camel race, paying for the privilege of renting a camel and handler for a 10K race into Maralal and back to the camel camp. I should have taken a hint when I first got on the camel and he walked over to lean on a cactus, refusing to budge. The handler eventually got the camel to the starting line (with me running behind them), and we took off pretty well. I was in third place approaching the finish line when the handler started to falter from fatigue. I told him to stop, but he insisted he was okay. A few minutes later, he collapsed in the road, which threw the camel into a panic. He finally let the rope loose, and the camel started bucking. I ended up getting tossed into an acacia tree, which has long thorns. After loading the handler into a police car to get some medical attention, I walked back to the finish line, where the boys helpfully asked, “Daddy, when everyone else crossed the finish line, they were riding their camels. You were walking. Why, Daddy?” Since that time, they’ve alternated between that question, and “Why did you fall off your camel, Daddy?” Annette has spent a good part of the last week digging thorns out of my leg.

We celebrated Christopher’s fourth birthday yesterday with a party at the house. This was Chris’ first ever birthday party, as they don’t celebrate birthdays at the orphanage. He was a little overwhelmed at first, but really got to enjoying the day, he says. On the way back from Maralal last Sunday, Annette asked Chris what kind of cake he wanted for his “Happy Birthday party.” Chris thought for a minute, then said, “Lightning McQueen!” A few minutes later, he said, “Rainbow!” Then “Rainbow and Lightning McQueen!” So, Annette did a masterful job on a cake with Lightning McQueen and a rainbow (photo here). Before bed, he was telling Annette the name of each friend who came to his party, really pleased to have had so many folks gathered to celebrate him.

Annette had an ultrasound on Friday afternoon, and everything is going well. The person doing the ultrasound gave Annette some pause when she looked and asked since we didn’t want to know the gender, did we want to know if it was one or two babies – medical humor, I guess. Mark, Jr and Chris were there, too. I think they enjoyed the chance to see their new brother or sister.

Enjoy the photos,
Mark

Bachelors in Nairobi, doctors in Georgia

Greetings, All-

We’ve had a busy six weeks or so, on two sides of the globe. Annette and Luke spent about six weeks in the States getting Luke worked up for some recurring rashes he’d been having since we got to Nairobi. Little Mark, Chris and I played bachelor and didn’t burn the house down.

The big boys and I went camping on the first weekend after Annette and Luke took off. We camped on the shore of Lake Naivasha, at the camp we stopped at on a previous trip at Easter time. We roasted some hot dogs on the first night, and the boys were happy to go to sleep early, with the novelty of the tent and sleeping bags. There was a hippo standing around the next morning when we got up (you can see him over the boys’ left shoulders in the attached photo). After breakfast and a hippo-viewing boat ride, we took off for a game drive at Lake Nakuru National Park. In spite of all of the animals, the boys’ most memorable moment came when a baboon stole their lunch – two PB&J’s and two juice boxes. The baboon was sitting still while I sat by the boys, but made his move when I got up to get something out of the car. They both panicked at the time, but got brave fifteen minutes later when they called Annette to tell her about the event (while they were sitting in the car eating new sandwiches). After all that adventure, Chris went to school on Monday and wrote in his weekend report, where he draws the highlight of his weekend, and drew…a goat (we had seen some near the road on the way to the game drive).

We stayed busy for the rest of the time, too. The boys invited some friends over, we made ice cream, they started washing dishes, and went bowling for the first time. There’s a photo here of Chris hiding during a game of hide and seek. I sent that photo to Annette in the States; she didn’t seem to surprised that a bunch of bachelors would think of hiding above the curtains. They did well for the whole six weeks, though acted up a bit after school got out and they were home all day. We have a stock of food in the garage, and I found them part way through a Costco box of 50 granola/candy bars one day. I became suspicious when I went in the garage and asked Mark what he was doing, and his eyes got as big as saucers while he held his hand over his mouth, smelling like chocolate. Clifford started acting up, too – I think Luke missed his pup as much as Clifford missed his boy.

Luke and Annette got back on July 10, about four weeks after we had planned. The docs eliminated all of the dire things we had feared, though they never defined exactly why he’s having so many rashes. They were able to spend some good time with the family in Georgia and Louisiana, and Annette did a fair bit of shopping.

In spite of almost 24 hours en route, Luke was giddy as soon as he saw his brothers at the airport on arrival in Nairobi. The big boys had made a sign for Mommy and Luke, which Annette says she’ll keep for a long time. When we got back home, about 10 in the evening, Luke got out of the car and ran around the driveway with Clifford for about 20 minutes. The dog was about as excited as the rest of us.

Luke was jetlagged for a few days after they got back. I was in the kitchen one afternoon when he wandered in and collapsed on the floor. I put him onto a blanket, and Clifford came in a few minutes later and flopped on “his boy.” There’s a photo attached here.

All’s well here. The big boys are out of school until early September. All three of them are riding their bikes a lot, in spite of the chilly weather here. Chris won a few dollars at the horse race yesterday. Annette has the big boys in tennis lessons, and they’re all spending some time with some new families who just arrived at post. Annette’s keeping up with three boys and a pup, while fighting to find food that the new baby won’t kick out. The baby’s an herbivore, apparently.

Hope everyone’s well,
Mark

Utter chaos!

Greetings, all-

My monthly updates are becoming less than monthly, but we’re thinking of everyone at home.

We asked and were approved for a third year here in Nairobi, so we’ll be here until fall of 2010. Anyone thinking about a safari has another year to play with.

We had a group of musicians over for a lunch in mid-April, combining work and play. The group is comprised of several Somalis who sing with the goal of promoting peace and reconciliation in Somalia. The group of us who work on Somalia at the Embassy had invited them for lunch, but they brought their keyboard and performed for us. Mark, Jr. and Chris are pictured here dancing with the group as they performed.

Annette has taught the boys to say, “Utter chaos!” when I ask them how their days went. Because our house wasn’t sufficiently chaotic, we added a three-month-old black lab puppy about a month ago. We had been thinking about a dog for quite a while, and the time seemed right. We allowed the boys to name him, so he’s Clifford, after one of their favorite stories (not to be confused with Clifford the Big Red Dog, for those of you not familiar with kids’ books). Little Mark had wanted “Big Crazy Monster” and “Little Big Puppy Dog”, but we arrived at Clifford. The pup is settling in well. Chris is getting along with him after some initial fear, having only known guard dogs before. Mark, Jr. is emulating the obedience trainer, and doing a great job of it. Luke and the pup seem to have a real special relationship. Luke flops on the dog each time they meet, and the pup tolerates it without a complaint, oftentimes squirming out and flopping back on top of Luke. The material we read before we got the dog said to (very carefully) monitor the kids while they interfere with the dog’s eating, to train the dog not to bite the kids. Luke pre-empted all that by diving right into the food and water bowls, as you’ll see here.

Annette had her birthday on May 24, and the kids got her a chauffeur hat., as you’ll see in the photo. We did breakfast in bed, which the boys think is a real treat. We made Annette’s favorite cake, and the boys spent more time plotting how to get more cake than they have on their schoolwork all year. We told Chris his birthday is the next one out of the five of us (it’s in August), so he asks daily when his ‘Happy Birthday” is.

We also had a playhouse built for the kids. Annette and I designed it, and a local carpenter did the work. They boys seem happy with it, and they’ve had friends over several times to show it off. You’ll see a photo here. The ‘big boys’ – Chris and Little Mark – picked the colors. In my continuing wisdom and to save a few bucks, we decided to paint it ourselves. Annette and I spent a few long days and nights outside, getting covered in paint and wondering why we didn’t pay the carpenter to paint it. There’s a ramp on one side for Luke and Clifford, though Clifford isn’t very interested in it, yet. Luke found out how well the slide works when he sat on it the other day while wearing a windsuit – he zipped down and shot right off the end with his legs straight up in the air. There’s a second floor on the big tower at the back of this photo; Chris spent several hours per day up there when we fist got Clifford, trying to avoid the pup. It seems to have turned out well, though.

The boys are doing well in school. We got their art portfolios at the end of the last term. Folks have been asking how Chris is fitting in here. We had a nice answer when we pulled out one of Christopher’s “Weekend Report” (the kids paint a picture every Monday to show what they did over the weekend) and Chris had said, as dictated to his teacher, “I stayed home and played with my brothers.” I had a day off last week, and the boys wanted to ride their “big boy bikes” to school. Annette took a photo when we got back. Luke tried to ride his push-tricycle out behind us. He’s ready to be a big boy.

The kids are all getting into music. Little Mark asked Annette to put on ‘The Bumblebees; the other day in the car. Annette said, “Bumblebees?” Mark said, “Yes. They sing “Help, I need somebody, help…” Paul and Ringo, apparently.

Finally, and since we don't have enough chaos around here, there another Zimmer on the way, due around Christmas. We're excited, and glad we bought the big SUV when we arrived here.

We hope everyone is well.

Mark

Easter - egg hunts and safari

April 5, 2008

Greetings-

We had a good Easter season here. The weekend prior to Easter, there was an Easter egg hunt at the home of the Deputy Chief of Mission here (there’s a photo of them guarding their Easter baskets). The kids all did great. Chris caught on pretty quickly and got his quota of eggs in a hurry. He and Mark, Jr then helped Luke get a few eggs. There was a horse there for riding, but Little Mark was the only one who was interested. None of them were very eager to take a photo with the Easter Bunny.

Chris had his first road trip over the long Easter weekend. We rented a house in the Great Rift Valley, near Lake Naivasha, and did all sorts of touring over four days. We thought Chris might be a little perplexed by the movement, but he didn’t miss a beat, walking right into the rental house and claiming the master bedroom for himself, Mark and Luke. He and Mark each had a double bed, and Luke had his portable crib. We looked in after they went to sleep on the first night, and each of the “big boys” was in his own double bed, but hanging off the edges of their respective beds, apparently in an effort not to be too far from the other one. Little Mark was most impressed by the zebra walking around the golf course when we arrived.

We drove up to Lake Nakuru National Park on the second day and had a good game drive. We saw giraffes, zebras, and lots of rhinos. There were also several thousand flamingos in the lake, whose water chemistry is favorable to flamingos. The guidebook says they have a million flamingos in there at times; I got to a little over ten thousand and the kids interrupted, so I lost count. There’s a photo here of some rhinos we came across; Annette thought this looked like a postcard.

We woke up Easter morning and found the Easter Bunny had located our cabin, so the kids had an egg hunt. Luke put multiple pieces of candy in his mouth, wrapper and all, so we’re having to keep things elevated. There’s a photo of him with a cookie the Easter bunny made. Chris remembered the procedure from the week before, so he made quick work of the hunt.

After the egg hunt, we took off for a boat ride and Hell’s Gate, which Deuce decided to call “Hellsy.” The road between Hell’s Gate and our resort was all unpaved, and seemed like it had an inch of two of sand for the duration. We had told the kids to expect a bumpy road for the hour-long trip. In a testament to the sad state of Kenya’s road, about thirty minutes into the ride, Chris said, “Is this the bumpy road?” We came across several giraffes and zebras on the side of the road in what appeared to be private game reserves. Chris was equally impressed with the donkeys and goats on the road.

On the way to Hell’s Gate, we stopped off at a campground on Lake Naivasha and hired a boat and driver to show us hippos. Before the trip, I had told the boys the hippos wouldn’t eat us, because I was sure they would eat the tourists who came before us, so they wouldn’t be hungry when we got there. I didn’t think about it again, but Little Mark apparently went to school and told his teacher and classmates that the hippos wouldn’t eat us because they would have eaten other tourists beforehand. Annette says I need to pay more attention to the fact that Mark repeats everything I say. Anyway, we were skeptical about seeing hippos, but the guy said he was sure we’d find some. We came across three families of hippos in just thirty minutes. The kids really enjoyed it, though Luke was more focused on his granola bar. There’s a neat photo here of Annette with the big boys in the front of the boat.

We had a nice hike into the gorge at Hell’s Gate. Christopher appears to be a climber: I ascended one area I thought was particularly slippery and treacherous. I was holding Luke, and I had told Chris to wait until I got up and I’d reach back to help him. I made my dramatic climb, got my feet set, braced Luke, swung my hand back to reach for Chris, and…hit Chris, who was standing right next to my back pocket, right in the head. He had stayed right on my heels the whole time. There’s a photo here of the three boys in the gorge; I think this was right after Chris fell into some water.

On the way back to Nairobi, we stopped at Mount Longonot for a little hike. This is an inactive volcano that offers a really nice view of the Great Rift Valley from either the rim, which is about an hour’s hike, or the top, which is another three hours. After we drove across a few flooded fields in four-wheel-drive and had asked a few farmers for directions, we hopped out and started hiking. A few people on the way down said, ”Good luck!” We didn’t think much about it, but realized at the top that everyone else had hiking boots, water, and food. We had tennis shoes and a camera. We made it to the rim, though, alternating times with Mark, Jr. and Chris on my shoulders at one time, and Annette hauling Luke most of the way.

We had a slow Sunday today. The horses weren’t running today, so we went to a fundraiser where the highlight was goat races. The goats were supposed to make a lap around a ring. We bet on goat 4 for the first race. He got halfway, turned around, and returned to the starting line. In the second race, two of the five goats jumped out of the track and ran off into the parking lot. The guards, who were supposed to be looking out for us in the event of a threat, ran for cover when they saw those ferocious goats coming.

Hoping you’re all doing well,
Mark

Gambling, Grandma, and speed

Greetings-

I guess it’s been nearly two months since our last update. We’ve been busy here, but we’re doing well.

Luke started walking a few weeks ago. He still prefers to crawl when he needs to get somewhere in a hurry. He also seems to have a few words – mama, dada, this, that, and thanks. Annette says Luke is a walking detergent commercial – dirt seems to jump off the ground and stick to Luke’s face/hands/knees/elbows/all other manner of skin and clothing.

We were at a festival yesterday at the international school here in Nairobi. A boy a couple of years older than Luke apparently started pushing Luke around. Luke took it in good humor for a bit, and then the other boy’s mom realized what was happening and pulled the boy off and made him apologize to Luke. She was amazed that Luke was seemingly unaffected by the aggression, until Annette told her, “He has two big brothers.”

Chris continues to get himself acclimated here. We moved him into a lower class at the preschool, as he was having some trouble adjusting in the three- and four-year-old class, which is what Little Mark is in. Annette and the teachers talked it over and agree Chris acts more like a two-year-old than three, so the lower class will be good for him for a while. His teacher says he’s doing well, and we think Mark, Jr. might be enjoying some time on his own at school. Chris is crazy about water; he likes to help wash the car just so he an stand under the hose. He gets upset when it’s not bath night, which is every other night.

Chris likes playing with a talking Lightning McQueen car from the move “Cars.” Anyone that’s seen that might know Lightning McQueen is a car and his catchphrase is “I am speed!” Chris was playing with the car for a while the other day. After a while, he ran into the kitchen and yelled, “I’m on speed!” A rather unfortunate addition to his English repertoire.

The boys have a Curious George book set that they get out many evenings, when each of them gets to pick a story before bed. Each time Little Mark gets it out, I start the story by saying, “This is Curious Bob.” And Mark yells back, “No, it’s Curious GEORGE!” Chris got the Curious George book out the other night, and I said, “Is that Curious Bob?” Chris, who had almost no English about 8 weeks ago, looked at me very earnestly and said, “No, it’s a book!” I stand corrected.

Annette’s mom was here for about a month, and we took her and Chris on their first safaris at Nairobi National Park, which is the one we visited when we first got here; I think I sent some pictures. There’s a photo here of Grandma with a giraffe in the background. We realized Chris and Grandma had different priorities as we heard the following dialogue for the first thirty minutes:
Grandma: “Giraffes!”
Chris: “Trees!”
Grandma: “Zebras!”
Chris: “Trees!”
Grandma: “Ostriches!”
Chris: “Trees!”

We’ve gotten into the habit of going to the horse races after Mass on Sundays. The boys really enjoy it, as do we. They get popcorn and there is often face painting and a bouncy castle. The horses are also very accessible. We can stand right by the track to watch a race, then walk to the parade ring to see the horses and jockeys take photos, then wait for the next race’s horses to take their laps around the parade ring. Last week, we were all standing around the parade ring watching the horses for the next race walk around. Some other spectators were watching to make last-minute betting decisions when Little Mark, who didn’t realize the horses walked in numerical order, said, “I think number one is going to win since he’s already in the lead.”

We let the boys make their own bets today for the first time, one bet each. Little Mark won in the fifth race, picking the winner (horse #7) and getting 250 shillings back on his 50 shilling bet. Tonight when he was saying his bedtime prayers, he ended with “Thank you, God, that we got money because number 7 won.” Annette and I tried as hard as we could not to look at each other and burst out laughing, then talked later about when we need to talk to Mark about subject matter for prayers.

Annette’s Mom seems to have enjoyed her visit in spite of the uncertain political situation here and a couple of illnesses on the kids’ parts. She got to see their school and meet some of their playmates. Annette showed her many of the restaurants we enjoy here. They made it to the horse races one Sunday. We didn’t attempt any travel given the political situation, but it looks like things are settled and we’ll try next time. There’s a photo here of Grandma and the boys at the horse race.

Enjoy the photos, and we’ll try to be in touch before two more months pass.

Best,
Mark

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Happy New Year-

The last missive seems to have gone off alright, though we found out we can only post five pictures at one time. One eagle-eyed reader noticed that the text talked about more photos than were present (Thanks, Grandpa Z); the rest of you need to stop racing for the delete key when you see our messages.

We noted last time that we had two guests for Christmas and we were hoping for good things. Unfortunately, it became clear pretty quickly that Daniel was having big problems integrating here. The promise to him had been to stay with us for Christmas, so he hadn’t been told anything about adoption possibilities. When it got rough, Annette consulted with the orphanage director as well as a colleague of mine for whom we have a lot of respect, and made the very difficult decision that Daniel needed to go back after Christmas. Not a fun decision, to say the absolute least, but one we realize we had to make in the interests of Mark, Jr. Luke and Chris (to whom we had committed and are anxiously waiting for paperwork to come through).

In spite of things not turning out how we had planned, Christmas was a blast. Right after they went to bed on Christmas Eve, the kids heard bells outside – Santa’s reindeer and sleigh, apparently. However, Mark, Jr was the only one who knew what it was; Chris and Dan didn’t have any idea about Christmas. The next morning, all the kids came down to find the stockings stuffed and a note from Santa in the Christmas tree. Again, Chris and Dan were more interested in eating chocolate before noon (never before allowed) than in Santa’s arrival. Presents were the same – Chris and Dan each took the first gift bag we gave them and walked around the house for a couple of hours without looking inside the bags. In the midst of all this, I found Luke sitting under the tree halfway through eating the Toblerone I got in my stocking; I had seen him looking at it, but hadn’t counted on him being able to open the box, remove the foil and start eating.

There’s a photo here of Annette making cookies with a pile of kids; we invited the maid and gardener and their families for a Christmas dinner the weekend before Christmas. Annette sat them down to frost and decorate cookies, and it quickly became a battle to keep them from eating the frosting and cookies. Eventually they all just went after anything edible on the table.

Little Mark, Chris and Dan were all shepherds in the Christmas pageant at church. Annette chopped up one of our bed sheets to make their costumes, so whoever is coming to visit can plan on a sleeping bag. Deuce, the Georgia-born one, was sitting on a bale of hay in front of the altar after they processed up the aisle and the older kids were doing the talking parts. Suddenly, we looked over and realized Mark had plucked a piece of hay out of the bail and was sitting at the front of the church chewing on a piece of straw in front of the whole congregation.

We enjoyed New Year’s, as well, though not one of us made it to midnight. We told the kids we’d do a toast before they went to bed. We thought they’d be impressed, so we did a tray with apple cider and real glasses, sat outside, popped the cork, said Happy New Year, and touched our glasses together. After a few minutes, Little Mark says, “So, where’s the toast?” I guess he was looking for some bread product. There’s a photo here of the cider.

As you’ve no doubt seen on TV, the aftermath of the elections here has been a bad scene. I went out to Western Province to observe the voting, and really enjoyed the experience. In spite of some small problems, the voting was peaceful. The counting, however, went badly and that’s when the rioting started. The town I flew into to meet my driver for observation has been gutted, from what I hear. We’ve been safe here in the house, but food and fuel have gotten to be limited even in the area where we are. The Embassy was closed for an extra day before New Years, but I’ve been working otherwise. Annette has gotten out for shopping and a meeting at the Embassy. Our maid and night guard, however, have both had looting and violence problems in their areas. I’ve been the Embassy duty officer since January 2, so I’ve been up for several nights answering calls. Annette has suffered through my duty stint, as the phone wakes her up, too.

We’re well here, though. Luke still refuses to walk, but he’s great at swinging bats at people. Mark is looking forward to school re-starting next week, though that might get delayed if the political situation doesn’t settle. Chris seems to be thriving; his face is filling out and he seems really comfortable. Annette is doing yeoman’s work in keeping the ship afloat, as always.

Best wishes for 2008,
Mark