First Day at the International School of Stavanger

So exciting...new school, new teachers, new friends...

We all went in for a short visit to the International School of Stavanger (ISS), where the boys will be attending school while we live here, and we all had the same first impression...two thumbs up! The facilites are great, but it's the staff and students that really gave us a great first impression. Zach (4th grade), Colby (2nd grade) and Nolan (pre-school) are so excited to get started! Looking forward to a great few years here...

25 bags and 3 plane trips later...we made it!

Well, today we officially wrapped up our three-year stay in Luanda, Angola and arrived in Stavanger, Norway to start our next expat adventure! One of the highlights for the boys when we heard that we were coming here was the dramatic change in climate and a chance for winter weather, so the boys were thrilled to see snow on the ground (and see snow for the first time ever!) when we landed, even though it was old, icy snow. They just couldn't resist stomping on it and picking it up! What a warm (well, not so warm!) welcome!

Bags are packed. Boys are ready. Off we go...Africa to Europe!

Our very first glimpse of Norway...

Yippeee...SNOW!!!!!

"It's real snow!" -Colby

Two minutes out of the airport and Zach's ready for his first snowball fight!

Check out the temperature...!

From Lions and Elephants to Reindeer!

It's official....We're moving to NORWAY!
The boys keep telling everyone, "We're going to live in the 'happiest country in the world' (according to a Forbes report) and we are going to freeze!!"
We are all super excited about our new assignment, but, really...we are going to freeze!

Look who won the 2011 Miss Universe Pageant!!

No, not me! (But good guess!)
It's Miss Angola!

Leila Lopes is Angola's first winner and one of just a few blacks ever crowned Miss Universe. I think it's great to see that she seems to have big plans for using her title to help the people of Angola...

"I've worked with various social causes. I work with poor kids, I work in the fight against HIV. I work to protect the elderly and I have to do everything that my country needs," she said. "I think now as Miss Universe I will be able to do much more."

I think it's going to take a lot more than Miss Universe to make major improvements in this country, but I guess every little bit helps.

Way to go, Miss Angola!

A quick "Summery" (Summer 2011)

Wow-wee! Another action packed, busy, fun, fun, fun summer! And now we're back and ready to enjoy the last 5 months of our 3-year stay here in Angola. I have been a bit lazy about the blog for awhile, I think because at the beginning of our assignment here everything was new and exciting and it was so fun to report about it, and then I slipped into just living here. (Not to say there aren't new and exciting things that happen around here...this place never ceases to amaze me!) Anway, I'm sure I've lost some readers along the way, but I plan on getting back into posting now that we are wrapping up our time here so that I can try to capture the essence of Angola as much as possible.

So to start, here's a quick "summery" of our Summer 2011...

Nothing says an American summer like a spontaneous day at the ballpark!

One of the first things Zach and Cobly think of when you say "summer" is camp...so they headed back to Camp Cho-Yeh for another awesome week at overnight camp!

With recording breaking temperatures in Houston this summer, we got creative and beat the heat by inviting good friends over for a day of waterslide fun!

And you just can't have an all-American summer without a trip (or two) to Chuck E. Cheese with friends!

Since we couldn't all be together for Christmas this year, my family decided to just have "Christmas in July". It was so much fun! We decorated a little bit, played Christmas music all day, had a big dinner, and, or course, opened Christmas presents!

For the first time ever, we took the boys up in the St. Louis Arch. It was a long wait...but well worth it!

For me, it just wouldn't be summer without a trip back to St. Louis to spend lots of time with family and good friends on my old stompin' grounds. Whether in St. Louis or in Houston, we crammed in as much friends and family time as possible!

A trip to the Doctor's Office

A day at the doctor's office...
Going to the clinic here is quite an experience. The doctor (from South Africa) is quite a character and the office itself is quite interesting too. Today we went in just to make sure Nolan's fever was not something beyond the norm.
Before we even got into the doctor's office Nolan said, "I think he's going to prick my blood." He knows the routine by now- any sign of fever and they prick your finger to do a malaria test.
Luckily, today we were the only people waiting, so we got right in (not the norm: 1doctor + lots of expats = long wait time). The Doctor took Nolan's temperature with the ear thermometer and then said, "Oh, we've got a broiler boy." Nolan thought that was funny, but then said with a worried look on his face, "But I have two ears. What about my other one?!" So the doctor took his temp. in the other ear just to appease him!
Then it was on to Nolan's favorite part...the search for poe-tay-toes! During the typical exam the doctor always says, "Let me have a look and see if I can find any potatoes in there (in there meaning just about anywhere...nose, ears, throat, eyes, etc.). If indeed there is some sort of infection, you will be diagnosed with "a patch of potatoes". If not, just a simple, "nothing in there."
Lucky for us, today we had no potatoes and no malaria!

This is the whole doctor's office...a desk, a bed, and one tray of tools...oh, and an eye chart!



Checking for potatoes!



We Give Our Time and Idol Gives Back

February 2010, Zach and I participated in a Saturday morning community service project at a nearby oceanside village. The project had four goals...

1. To help clean up all the trash on the beach.

2. To help sort and deliver school supplies to the children of the village.

3. To educate the adults about malaria and distribute mosquito netting.

4. To give American Idol a backdrop for their "Idol Gives Back" segment.



Housing in the village.



Zach with the children of the village, who are eagerly waiting for new school supplies to play with.



Doodling with the village girls, using their new colored pencils and paper.

Listening to a message about the importance of sleeping under a mosquito net and how to use it properly.

American Idol contestant, Elliott Yamin, and American Idol judge, Kara Dioguardi, talking to the film crew about current malaria statistics and the campaign for "Malaria No More!"

The women walking back to their houses with their new mosquito nets.

Collecting trash off of the nearby beach, so as to make it a more sanitary area, and therefore less of a mosquito breeding ground.



Elltiott was so nice and down to earth. He took time out to say hi and pose with Zach and his friend, Brayden.



The "Idol Gives Back" segment of American Idol aired April 21, 2010. An article on the internet reports that this year they raised almost $45 million dollars for children's hunger and health charities in the United States and Africa (inluding the "Malaria No More" foundation...yippee!) Even though it was a really hot day out in the African sun and it was hard work, it was well worth it. Elliott was Zach's favorite during Elliott's season on American Idol, so he was thrilled to see him in person. While we were snuggled up on our couch in the U.S. back in 2006 watching Elliott sing on the 5th season of American Idol, I never would have dreamt that we would meet him someday, and in Africa of all places. It's also crazy to think that our friends back home were watching clips of Elliott in Angola during the "Idol Gives Back" show and we were standing just feet behind the camera man!

Special Painting

One day while looking at a bunch of different local Angolan artists' paintings I half jokingly said to one of the painters, named Antonio, "All of these paintings either have lots of people in them, or only one or two people. I have three boys, I need a painting with three people!"

A painting we have hanging in our kitchen
...with lots of people in it!

He said, "I don't usually put three people in my paintings (I'm not sure why), put I can make one for you." Then he said, "Do you want black boys or white boys in your painting?" This caught me off guard so I said to him, "Uh, we're in Africa...I'll take black boys!"
He just finished it last week and I am so exctied...I love it! So here it is!...



"Zach, Colby and Nolan Playing Around the Imbondeiro Tree" by Antonio



Me and Antonio the day he showed me the finished painting



Fall (actually Spring) 2010

Oh, what a summer! It's always bitter-sweet to get on that plane to return to Luanda.

Almost every day of the 2 1/2 months that we were at home for summer break we smashed in as much fun as possible. Whether it was hanging out or eating out with our good friends and family, it felt like we were always on the go. With all that smashing, intertwined with a couple mini-vacations, a full week of overnight camp for both Zach and Colby,

Colby and Zach all packed up and ready for an awesome week at Camp Cho-Yeh!

and of course lots of shopping trips to get ready to come back here, it made for a busy, chaotic, awesome summer.
I had tears in my eyes as we all waved at our house and said, "See you in 10 months!", but I was also super excited to come back here and see our friends, meet the new families that have moved into the compound, and most importantly, see Will (who was not able to make it home at all this summer.) So, although it's hard to say goodbye, at the same time, it's just as exciting to come back, and it's nice to have a break from all the running around!



Having fun together at the Magic House in Kirkwood, Mo.

Safari Time!

We all had SO much fun going on safari! We were able to find the "Big 5" (Lion, Leopard, Elephant, Rhino and Buffalo), as well as many other animals during our four day stay at a safari lodge (Lukimbi Safari Lodge) inside of Kruger National Park in South Africa. Here are some of our favorite pictures...

While watching the zebras up close we all came to the same conclusion....they are definitely white with black stripes (and still Zach's favorite animal)!

"You wanna mess with me?!" Nolan watching the "big, big pigs" (white rhinos).

Photographer Will at work- here he's taking 1 of the 3,000 pictures he took!

Hakuna Matata...warthogs are a lot uglier and a lot hairier than Pumba was in The Lion King (and this one didn't sing for us either)! Our safari lodge.

We followed these fresh paw prints to find these guys...

We pulled up into a circular clearing where 1 fremale lion and 5 male lions were just lying around. We sat and watched them (from inside the safari vehicle, of course) for about 25 minutes, from about 15 feet away. Once in awhile a lion would get up to stretch or find a new place to hang out, but for the most part they were just lion around. The lions really did not seem to be bothered by us at all. I actually think they enjoyed the paparazzi-ish attention. Look how well the posed for us.

We went out on two safari drives each day, for about 3 hours each time. Every trip we stopped about halfway through and got out of the vehicle (actually got out in the middle of the wild!) and had a drink and a snack. One time Lisa, Our Ranger, challenged us to put a piece of dried up antelope poop in our mouth and spit it as far as possible. And every one of us did it- all so we could get a "Junior Ranger Certificate" at the end of our stay (well, Will and I didn't get a certificate, so don't ask me why we did it!) The funny part is Nolan accidently picked up a wet piece of poop, so it got stuck in his mouth!

Can you find the leopard? He is a bit hard to see, but we were ecstatic when we spotted him (espcially Colby, since spotted cats are his favorite animal)! Our Tracker actually found him crouched down low in the bush. It's amazing he found him...although I guess that's what he gets paid for, right?

Our Tracker, Giddean, showing the boys how to make a toothbrush out of a certain kind of tree branch!

This was my favorite memory of the whole trip. We stumbled upon a journey of 13 giraffes, or as Zach named it, "our baker's dozen of giraffes". First we saw one tall, tall creature coming out of the bush, then another and then they just kept coming. It was so cool. They all crossed right in front of our safari vehicle and then stopped for a little leaf snack on the other side of us. They are beautiful and so fun to watch because they are so tall and elegant (sounds a bit like me! :)

Want to exactly which animals we found? Just ask Zach! He was a very efficient at checking off all the animals on his official Lukimbi Animal Checklist!

Family photo out in the middle of the bush.

Birds, birds, birds.

We stopped to look at a lot of different types of birds. We are not "bird people", but we did kind of get into it, as there are some really cool birds out there. Above is our pick for the prettiest bird we found and below- well, he gets the award for "not so pretty."

"What are you looking at boys?"

We found this family of baboons hanging out in the trees. Our Ranger, Lisa, estimated the baby baboon was only 5 days old!