As we get closer to Baby Floreen’s due date (August 21) and to the GMI missionary conference (August 15-21), we’re starting to think that it would be nice if Baby Floreen showed up soon.  Today would be good.  Tomorrow is the next best option…  So we’re giving her motivational talks now.  And actions speak louder than words.

Oh yes she did.  Though jumping on the trampoline was a lot of fun, Rachel’s not convinced that Baby Floreen got the point.  No progress yet, so maybe we’ll just take another long walk.

We got a good laugh at the sermon title yesterday at Placerita Baptist Church.  We feel like we’re not the only ones who think that something should be happening any time now!  And thanks for the special music note too – very hopeful!

One of the great things about being in the States for a couple months is that we get to spend time with our families.  We stayed with the Floreens for the first few weeks we were here, and last week we drove up to Mount Hermon, CA, to spend a couple weeks with the Smiths.

The day before we drove out, the Floreens took us to Getty Villa, a beautiful place to explore and a great time to spend as a family.

On the way up to Mount Hermon, we took the “road less traveled,” taking time to stop and enjoy what we saw along the way – like the Old Hawaii Honors Stand, where we bought a couple avocados.

We also stopped in Santa Barbara, where we took a little tour of the courthouse (including the bell tower) and perused the reference section of the library.  Yah, we’re a little nerdy, but we loved it!

The day after we got to Mount Hermon, the Smiths took us to lunch at the Santa Cruz harbor, and we went out to explore the lighthouse.  What a beautiful place!

We’re also getting a chance while we’re up here to spend time with some of the members of First Baptist Church of San Lorenzo Valley.  We’re really enjoying this church and the opportunity we have to get to know many of them better!

And that’s all the pictures we have, at least for a while.  Matt and Rachel’s Dad went kayaking, took some great pictures on the trip, and then somewhere between the kayak and the car the camera disappeared.  We’ve contact the company, and even gone back to look, but it seems that Rachel might be getting a new camera in the next few days!

Our blog is a collection of the unique and amusing things that fill our lives in Malawi.  For a more holistic look at what we’re doing in Malawi, check out our newsletters – the July newsletter is coming soon!

A few things have changed around here, so it’s time for some updates…

Our cute little puppy of a couple months ago is quickly becoming a large dog.  Weighing in at around 45 pounds, Simba is now 4 months old, and this picture is a pretty accurate idea of what he spends his time doing – lying down and eating.  And if he’s not eating his food, he’ll gladly eat rocks, snails, entire maize stalks… anything that fits in his mouth!

Rachel is growing too, as she enters the second trimester.  Baby Flo is starting to make an appearance!

At 14 weeks, Baby Flo is doing great!  Matt got to come and see the ultrasound this time, and we marveled at God’s creative design as we watched Baby Flo lift up a hand to show us all 5 perfectly formed fingers – so tiny, but already there and moving around!

Another thing that’s growing is grass!  The rainy season was very late this year, but it’s finally here.  We’ve had rain every day for a week now, and it’s so beautifully green!  It feels like we brought the green home with us from vacation!

What’s growing here?  Our box of burned out electrical items!  Voltage spikes, brown outs, and all other kinds of electrical anomalies are a part of daily life here, so we try to protect our more important items (fridge, freezer, computers, etc) with voltage guards.  The guards lying on the ground are both dead due to a spike a couple weeks ago.  The one on the left has a little black hole one it where it burned completely through – but it protected Rachel’s computer!  The one on the right protected Matt’s computer, all his back-up drives, the printer, and the internet router, but when it burned up, it got so hot it burned the two holes in our wall!  On to the next set of voltage guards, and more lessons in Malawian electricity!

The Ladies’ Bible Study on 1 Peter has been fabulous!  They’re 16 weeks into the study, and just starting chapter 4.  All the ladies have learned so much from this small book and God has grown in each of them a greater appreciation for studying His Word carefully, thoroughly, and in context.  The graphic above was generated by Wordle.net, highlighting the key words for the book of 1 Peter.

And finally, though this has nothing to do with growth, a little glimpse into our adventurous lives here in Malawi – a Nile monitor lizard that we chased out of our kitchen last week.  He’s much smaller than other monitor lizards we’ve seen, but he made up for his size with aggression and snake-like movement!  We’re hoping this guy does NOT grow and come back for a visit!

After almost 9 months in Malawi, we decided to take a little time away. When you’re living in a new country, your “days off” are just as busy as your work days, so we knew we needed to go away to rest. And away we went…

To the Zomba plateau. It’s a 4 1/2 hour drive south of Lilongwe, and a whole world away! The ferns, trees, and GREEN overwhelmed us, and we started to relax right away.

We had rented a 2-bedroom cabin down a little dirt road, and thoroughly enjoyed a cozy fire to keep us warm in the evenings. It’s the hot time of year here in the southern hemisphere, but up on the plateau it was cool and brisk, and high enough in elevation that there are no mosquitos.

The first thing we did when we got to the cabin was take a walk. This is how we looked when we left for the walk…

And this is how we looked when we got back to the cabin. You might notice that we’re smiling even bigger in this picture – the rain was awesome!

We decided that this trip qualified for Christmas and birthday presents for both of us, but Rachel did have her actual birthday on this trip, so we went for a boat ride at a trout farm.

Matt thought that Rachel probably shouldn’t be paddling on her own birthday, so quickly took over paddling duty. =)

In between resting and reading, we saw quite a bit of the plateau, including William’s Falls…

And Chagwa Dam, a hidden, remote little lake that was one of our favorites.

One of us took A LOT of pictures on this trip and thoroughly enjoyed hauling a big camera across fields, through the rain, over waterfalls…

Same said adventurer conquered a few mountains in search of just one more photograph.

Our last adventure was exploring the western side of the plateau. We had tried to drive out this direction, but the roads were too eroded, even for 4-wheel drive. So we hiked them. It was almost 4.5 miles uphill to reach Chingwe’s Hole, a hole ~60 meters deep, situated right on the edge of the plateau, overlooking the valley and plains below. When we got to the cliff, this is what we saw. Fog and clouds!

But as we waited, the clouds lifted and the fog blew out of the valley – it was beautiful! Suddenly the 4.5 miles uphill was worth it!

On the way back down, the clouds settled back in, and we slipped and slid in the rain all the way down!

And we loved every minute of it. We drove home from our vacation feeling rested. Our times of refreshment in God’s Word and our times of enjoying the beauty and wonder of His creation are reminders of His grace to us, and we’re ready to jump back into life and ministry with a renewed excitement!

Baby Floreen!

For those of you as unskilled at reading these pictures as we are, Baby Floreen is at the bottom of the oval shape, between the two plus marks. Though only about the size of a blueberry right now, we decided it would be a good thing for Baby Floreen to get used to being in pictures at a very young age.

We’re planning to return to the States for delivery. We are officially due the 23rd of August, but are still working with airlines and doctors to figure out when we’ll be flying to the States. We’ll let you know! For now, Rachel feels like she just got off of a 35 hour plane ride… turbulence, airplane food, exhaustion!

And if you’re wondering, no, the baby’s name is not going to be “Florence.” I spelled Floreen several times for the ultrasound tech, and finally he said “Is this close enough?” Um, sure. =)

We finally found him – our fierce and ferocious guard dog! He’s only 8 weeks old now, but this Great Dane / Rhodesian Ridgeback puppy will be one LARGE dog someday… soon.

His name is Simba. We thought that meant “lion,” but apparently Shumba means lion, and Simba means great or powerful. That works, we’ll keep it!

For now he’s practicing his ferocious moves on a pig’s ear. That ear doesn’t stand a chance!

Watch out bad guys!