Happy 5th Birthday, Elias!

September 30, 2018

When we first arrived in Africa, Elias was this cute little preschooler everyone wanted to hug and carry around. Now I look at him and can’t believe how much he’s changed. He now plays with the big boys and can run, climb, and wrestle just as well as they can. He now does school with […]

Lessons from Our First Year in Africa

February 7, 2018

It’s hard to believe we arrived in Tanzania over a year ago. I’ve celebrated two birthdays here already and we’re about to celebrate another birth-day here very soon as we’re waiting for our baby (the due date is this week!). Reflecting on our first year in Africa, many different memories and emotions come up. It […]

Happy 6th Birthday, Judah!

January 3, 2018

Happy birthday! Alles Gute zum Geburtstag! Heri ya siku ya kuzaliwa! I can barely believe it has been 6 years since we’ve welcomed our firstborn son into the world on that crisp and cold January night. After many years of prayer, he was the answer to our hearts’ desire, the beginning of a completely new and […]

In 3 Words

October 27, 2017

It’s been wayyyyy too long since our last blog update and there is much to tell. To keep this to a reasonable length, let’s do short and sweet updates on various aspects of life here in Africa. 3-Word Updates, to be exact…well, 3 words and then some more for a better explanation :). Daily Life: Keep […]

4 Years of Life

September 30, 2017

Happy birthday, Elias! 4 years ago, our Elias Michael was born into our family. He came into the world kicking and screaming, and he’s still a little ball of energy! Now, he’s not the baby of the family anymore, a big brother himself, turning 4 years old, and growing up way too fast. Elias loves […]

Muddy Feet

June 1, 2017

There I stood. Only meters away from my destination yet perplexed as to how to get there without this happening again. Rainy season = Much needed rain, cooler temperatures, and dirt roads that turn into huge puddles of mud. So there I stood. In front of a stretch of road that was all mud and no […]

The Rich Life

March 31, 2017

“Mama,” Judah asked with a frown on his face as we were mixing up granola on the kitchen counter, “so…what is our country?” “What do you mean?” “So, do we live here now? Do we live here, then go to Nana and Papa’s to visit, and then go to Oma and Opa’s to visit? […]

Snapshots

March 18, 2017

Today, as we were riding in a little 3-wheeled “bajaj” taxi toward a local outdoor market, winding our way through the traffic jam, with an overfilled bus on our left and vendors selling anything from cashew nuts to windshield wipers on the right, the thought of how surreal it is that we live in Africa […]

Different.

February 9, 2017

We’re here!!! Our first month in Tanzania has been exciting, draining, beautiful, blessed, challenging, normal, smooth, surreal, hot, and many more things all at once. And it’s been different. Different in many, often small, ways… We still sit down as a family for dinner, hold hands, pray, and enjoy a meal together. But it’s different. […]

The Day We Moved to Africa

January 24, 2017

There it was. The day we moved to Africa. On that day, we woke up our kids early, drove to the airport in below freezing temperatures, checked in our eight suitcases, and said goodbye. On that day, we boarded airplanes, entertained our boys, ran through airports, watched the clouds from above, thanked God for a […]