life in the slow(er) lane

After all the whirlwind of activity in our first few weeks, things have slowed down a bit - hence the slow-down in blog posts. We have only 2 more big events - the visa process and a possible visit to Ibra's family village. In the meantime, we have been playing with Play-Doh, running small errands, and getting out to see the town.

The past few mornings, Andrew has taken one of the kids to a local vendor to get chapati for breakfast. Chapati is similar to a tortilla, but it's made with red onion, carrot and a ton of oil. Add a fried egg to it, and you have a fantastic breakfast for the family for only $0.50. We're all ok with that!

Yesterday, we had an added treat and went to Suma's babies' home to visit the aunties. We meant to go back the day that we received legal guardianship of Sumaya, but by the time we got the ruling, it was time to get the kids fed and go to sleep. After that, we felt it would be best for her to stay home as a family for awhile - the first few days that she was with us, especially as we were getting ready for bed, she would say, "Motorcar? Eva?" She hadn't quite understood that she wasn't going to live there again, though I think she understands now. :)

Here are a few pictures from our visit yesterday. We all had a great time! It was fun to see how happy Sumaya was to see everyone - especially Victor and Eva - and especially how happy she was to come home with us afterward. She told all of the aunties about eating chapati. When she wanted to see her bed at the home, Eva told her that there is a new baby sleeping there. Suma took it well and said that it was ok - she gets to sleep in a big bed at our house! They were happy to see how cheerful she was and how "smart" she looked in her new clothes and tennis shoes. Ibra made a special friend in Auntie Jennipher - everytime we visited, she loved to read to him and feed him part of her tea snack, and he always helped her with the little babies. It was wonderful to see each of these very special friends!

Today, we went swimming at the ARA. The Lord kept the rain away just long enough for us to enjoy swimming in the big pool without freezing. The kids loved jumping into the water to us, and Ibra had fun being dunked under water with daddy - brave boy! They went down right away for naps, and now they're racing around the house so that daddy can catch them.

Tomorrow, we will visit the church of Wilfred - the man who is the director of Ibra's home and the pastor of the local church. He mentioned to us that it is baby dedication Sunday for them, so we will join them to dedicate Ibra and Sumaya before going to lunch with Wilfred and his wife.

Other things that we'll do this week include: going to visit Ibra's family, completing the visa interview process, and going to the zoo with friends. Exciting times ahead!