Saying Goodbye to Our Church

Yesterday was our last day at our Dallas-area church.  While we have only been attending this church for about nine months, this was still one of the hardest goodbyes.  We have loved our time at Prince of Peace and have been so blessed to find such an amazing church home!  Both girls LOVED their Sunday School classes and I truly enjoyed the women's bible study.  We also enjoyed the numerous opportunities to serve others through service in our church.  We are really going to miss our church and I am praying that we will quickly find a new church home in Lusaka!

A Freezer Full of Food

In preparation for the move (actually, in preparation for preparing for the move), I cooked up a lot of food and put it in the freezer.  My freezer is now full of home-cooked meals for my family to enjoy between now and moving day.  

We have plenty of food for all meals!

For breakfasts, we have sausage and eggs casserole, cinnamon pancakes, strawberry-zucchini muffins, pumpkin bread, and applesauce raisin bread.

For lunches and dinners, we have chimichangas, sausage-zucchini casserole, chili, lasagna, and taco cups.

And for dessert, we have apple crisp, pear crisp, brownies, and ice cream.

Yum, yum!

Since I won't need to cook again before we leave, I am planning to pack up my kitchen tomorrow.  Packing some of my favorite kitchen pans and utensils and putting them into boxes for two years is going to be sad!

Zambia Wins the Africa's Cup

I just saw that Zambia won the Africa's Cup soccer tournament.  How exciting!  Since our move is coming up soon, I am trying to stay up to date with events that are happening in our new home.  To read more about Zambia's win, click here.

MOMS Club Going Away Party

This afternoon, our MOMS Club threw the girls and I a going away party.  The party was planned before we knew our exact moving dates, so we will actually be around here for a few more weeks and will likely see many of our friends a few more times.   However, it was still a bittersweet event.  We are so excited about our upcoming move, but I am sad about leaving our friends and am most saddened by the thought of leaving our playgroups and Abigail's friends.  I have found a fabulous network of mommy friends in the MOMS Club and Abigail's closest friends are her playgroup friends.  Leaving these friends and making new friends is going to be very hard on both of us!

The party was fabulous!  It was held at a local church with a fantastic play area, so the girls were thrilled!  While the children played, I got the chance to talk to the other moms.  When we left, they presented us with  this address book and the addresses of all of our friends.

  

We are so thankful for the wonderful friends we have made in the MOMS Club and are really going to miss them.  I am so thankful that we will be able to keep in touch via email, Facebook, and blogs!

Consultation with the Pediatrician

This afternoon, I met with the girls' pediatrician for a consultation appointment.  I wanted to make sure that we had a prescription for malaria pills and a few other medicines (just in case).  Plus, I wanted her advice on how to handle illnesses in a country with medical care that is not as good as the care in the US. Her biggest recommendations were to use standard precautions (frequent handwashing, avoiding blood, staying inside at dawn and dusk to avoid mosquitos, sleeping with mosquito nets, and only drinking filtered water).  She also recommended that we take a few medicines with us for the girls.  In particular, she suggested Tylenol, Pepto Bismol, and a cold medicine.  I am so glad that we have a pediatrician who has experience helping patients who will be overseas for long periods of time!  It was a wonderful appointment and she certainly eased my mind about handling sick children in a foreign country! 

We Are Moving

For those of you who have not heard, we are moving soon ... to Lusaka, Zambia.  Just in case your African geography is not great, here is a map of Africa with Zambia colored in blue.

The details are still being finalized, so we don't yet know the exact date of our move.  However, we do know that it will be sometime in March.

One month is not a lot of time to get ready to move overseas!  So, these days, we are staying busy with sorting our things, doing doctor's appointments and starting to pack.

We are very excited for our new adventure and can't wait to share our experiences with you through this blog!