Well, after a 6-month hiatus it’s time to get back to blogging. I’ve missed sharing our Tanzanian adventures, but life just got so full and busy it was hard to keep up with everything. So I decided to let the blog go for a while. I was also much less intentional about capturing our days in pictures, but I’ve pulled together a selection of images and video clips to share as highlights of the last few months…

In August we made a trip back to Nebraska to visit family and friends. This is such a special time for Max and Elly to build memories with the family members we don’t get to see very often. There were lots of fun adventures including a trip or two to Bounce U, but also a good amount of time just chilling out at Grandma’s house.

In September Max and Elly started Sunday school at Arusha Community Church and they are really enjoying it. It’s an international congregation so they are getting to know kids from a lot of different cultures. The first few Sundays they insisted I stay in the classroom with them but now they are managing well on their own.

In October we donned our favorite sunglasses and went outside for an impromptu weenie and marshmallow roast in our yard one afternoon. Max and Elly love these fun, spontaneous activities.

Also in October we were visited by Flat Stanley from Mrs. Hynek’s 3rd grade class at Westgate Elementary School in Arlington Heights, Illinois. We showed him around Arusha and shared a little bit about Tanzanian geography and culture with his classmates back in the U.S.

In November the Sunday school kids led the church service for the First Sunday in Advent. It was so sweet and Max and Elly did a great job! Max wasn’t keen on wearing the sheep ears and he totally refused to have his nose painted but he did a great job with the songs.

Elly loved one particular song, Shepherd of My Soul, and practiced it for days before the service. She almost missed getting to sing it, though, because just minutes before it came up in the service she had to go to the potty. But she got back just in time.

The following week they had their annual school program and got to share their singing and poetry talents.

Here they are singing the Tanzanian national anthem with all the other students at the Tanganyika School Early Years Center:

And this is a poem the Nursery B class presented (Max is partially hidden–look for him behind the girl with the black-and-white plaid leggings):

After their program we set off for a family fun weekend at Max and Elly’s favorite safari lodge, Weru Weru River Lodge at the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro.

Elly had fun making her “magic potion” out of swimming pool water and flower petals.

Kakasii was on safari over Christmas so when he got home we went to the village to ring in the New Year at our shamba. There’s never a shortage of mischief for Max and Elly to find there! These are their 2017 New Year’s Day photos–Max wanted to show off some sort of superhero karate chop and Elly wanted to make her new dress twirl:

Now we’re back home and well into the New Year. Max and Elly have gone back to school (as Kindergartners!) and Kakasii and I are busy in the office preparing for our 2017 safari clients.

So here’s to a wonderful 2017 and high hopes that I’ll do a better job of keeping up with blogging!