SNOW DAYS

This is our first snow of the year!! We had snow days on Mon, Wed, Thurs and Fri! Woohoo! Wed, I took Micah to Jazz Band before we knew school was cancelled (instead of a 3 hour early release). Thurs was supposed to be a 2 hour delay and ended up being cancelled, so it's been fun.

It was also Thembi and Lwazi's first time in snow ever!!! Thurs snow was the best as it covered the trees, limbs and everything. It was beautiful. The kids all raced down the driveway with the sleds, had snowball fights and just enjoyed the days off school!

I enjoyed actually having my house clean and getting my laundry caught up! Here are some pics from the big "snow days".

CHRISTMAS 2008

Well, Christmas this year is extra special b/c we have two new members of our family! Lwazi Mazi from Margate, Kwa Zulu Natal and Thembi Zulu from Johannesburg, S. Africa! They are such incredible individuals!

Lwazi helped us cut down our Christmas tree this year after he had arrived on Dec. 2nd and we waited for Thembi to arrive a week later on Dec 10th, to decorated it. They both had quite sever jet lag and time change to overcome...but they did and they love Christmas in the U.S.! Lwazi said you can "really feel the Christmas spirit in America" as we hung ornaments on the tree and listened to carols on the stereo.

We hope to show them more traditions as the season continues and hope they enjoy themselves. I know we have as we've been able to enjoy true giving this season!

Here are some pics of our Christmas season thus far!

Lwazi Mazwi

Well, we have a new addition to our family. Teagen emailed a few weeks ago and said he had run into Numfundo, a gal he new from his previous area - Mdantsane. They were with two friends - Lwazi and Thembi. They had work Visas and were wanting to come to the USA but had no idea where they were going or who they were staying with. Teagen said, "My parents would love to have you stay with them". He emailed us and we now have Lwazi with us and are awaiting the arrival of Thembi.

He is such a great guy! We have loved getting to know him and his culture. He is trying to teach us how to speak some Xhosa so that we speak it better than Elder Wise when he returns..haha. He is so humble, so sweet. It is amazing to hear his "story".

He has met Elder Duncan and Lavin and they are all coming this Sunday for dinner and a lesson. Elder Wise and company had taught them when in Georgetown, and he is anxious to learn more. We have loved having him and it's only been 3 days!

Here is a pic of him with us downtown Camas at the Christmas celebration. Micah had a jazz band gig and the Elders came to it. This is me, Elder Duncan, Elder Lavin, Elder Lowry (replaced Elder Rendon), Elder Olson and Lwazi.

Transfers

Well, all good things must come to an end. We got news while in Thanksgiving that Elder Reyes would be transferred to Milton-Freewater. He is actually serving a Spanish mission here, and in M-F, there is a lot of hispanics, so he will be speaking a lot more Spanish there.

Then, we got a late call on Sunday morning that there was some changes and that Elder Rendon would be transferred also - even though he would be leaving on Dec 23rd. So, this night they came over to say goodbye.

I had made Elder Rendon a blanket (showed on him at the right) b/c he loved our "tv blankets". Weird, b/c I started his during Thanksgiving before I even knew he would be transferred. I'm really glad I did.

Our boys were really disappointed that Elder Rendon was leaving, but I told them we cannot be selfish : ) Elder Rendon and Olson have done a lot for our family, have loved us, etc...but other families need him too! We'll stay in touch.


Here is some funny pics of the Elders dressed with our hats and using the RockBand guitars. They had been quoting "Nacho Libre" for the last month! Micah is an actor, so he quotes movies and plays constantly. It was hilarious! Elder Reyes even shared a "spiritual thought" that was "Under the clothes is a man, under the man is the.....NUCLEUS!". He is so funny. We will miss them all dearly. But we know there are more on the way!