Everyone keeps asking about our great guard dog, Simba.  By the time we left Malawi at the end of May, he was already a very large dog, weighing over 80 pounds, though only 7 months old.  We can’t wait to see how big he’ll be when we get back in September!

This picture was taken the first of May.  We’d been measuring Simba the first of every month to keep track of how much he’d grown.  You can see the marks on the wall.  The lowest mark is how tall he was to the shoulder on the day we brought him home, November 30, 2009.  He has easily tripled his height in the 5 months depicted on this post, making him over 2 foot tall at the shoulder.  And that was the beginning of May.

But we do have footage of what a great guard dog Simba is.  He’s part Rhodesian Ridgeback, and Ridgebacks were bred to be lion hunters.  We figure if a lion ever comes to attack us in a wheelbarrow, we’ll be safe…

Since we arrived in the States about a month ago, we’ve been able to stay with the Floreen family in Camarillo.  We’ve enjoyed daily life with them, and been able to do some special things as well.  Last week Lorraine, Matt’s mom, took us blueberry picking!

Camarillo is an agricultural area, so there are all kinds of farms here!  The family who owns this blueberry farm allows friends and family to come pick for free just a couple days every year.  Yay for free berries!

Matt’s professional berry picking theories came in handy…

So we came home with LOTS of berries!

And ate a few!  Rachel must have eaten more than a few.  =)

Any of you who have been out of the States for an extended period of time will know what these faces mean:

There’s a mixture of “Wow, this is great!” and “Woah, this is way too much!” in those faces.  =)  Despite the fact that we’ve both traveled quite a bit and both lived overseas for extended and varied times before we were married, coming back to the States still takes a few days to get used to.  The biggest culture shock we’ve experienced so far has been merging on the freeway.  You realize too late that you can’t change your mind as you go speeding down the on-ramp at 70 mph, hoping someone will let you squeeze your little car into the flurry of activity… and all this on the right hand side of the road!

Besides the shock of merging in traffic, our adjustment back to the States has been fairly simple.  It’s almost like the “African file” in our brains closed and the “American file” opened up.  Everything American seems normal in this context.  The internet is fast and reliable, the electricity never goes off, there are white people everywhere, the pace of life is quick and full… and while we notice these differences, it all seems normal.

With very little culture shock, we hit the ground running – meeting with people, stocking up on home and office supplies to take back to Malawi, figuring out medical status and plans for Baby Flo, spending time with family, and sharing with churches. We’re so thankful for all God has allowed us to do in these first weeks, and we’re looking forward to the coming weeks of spending time with so many more of you.  If you’re in the southern California area, we’d love to see you in the next couple months.  Send us an email or a comment, and we’ll make a plan!