Happy New Year!

I loved ringing in the year 2010 in Africa- it's something I'll never forget!  We spent New Years Eve just chilling at the plot until about 10:00, and then we went over to church.  We had a great Thursday night church service that lasted until 11:30, and then we headed out to our actual church property (our church tent is still down from the last big storm, so we're holding services at a nearby lodge).

Just in case you're wondering...no, the church should not look like this.

Time for fireworks!!  While we waited for the clock to countdown to midnight, we stayed busy snapping some "last of 2009" photos.

Mmapula was out of control hyper last night.  I think that this picture shows how tired show really was.

This was Semakelang's first chance to see fireworks!!

We bought 1,000 Pula worth of fireworks, and it was a very nice show.  It was such a fun environment to be a part of; the crowd of about 120 was cheering for almost every fire cracker that went off.  You can only imagine how excited they got when the big rockets went off!  Pule was so cute; she kept saying over and over again, "This is too fun.  Oh my goodness, Miss Ash, this is just too fun."  That girl has spent too much time around me; she sounds too much like me.
I must say, though, I was pretty nervous a few times when the fireworks didn't shoot up into the sky, but shot straight into the field about 100 yards away from us and exploded there.  Let's just say that I am really glad that it's been raining a ton lately.

Today has been a very nice, relaxing day.  We were hoping to head over to one of the nearby parks and go for a walk (there are baboons there!), but that fell through.  Instead, I spent the morning at the baby house (we have 2 babies now!) playing with the kids as wells as playing cards with Brenda and Semakelang, then came home to take a nap.  I had laid down for less than a minute, when I heard a knock on the door.  Mmapula came over with a movie she had gotten for Christmas- the new Tinkerbell movie.  Sometimes you just can't say no to a request like that.  So she and I watched the movie (and she kept me awake by talking to me and jumping on me the entire time). After I walked her home, I came back to the house and laid down again.  Once again, less than a minute goes by, and there's another knock on the door.  Mason came over to chill, so we played a few games of Uno and chatted it up a bit.  He actually came by to borrow "that really awesome movie."  I just stared at him.  "Uh, Mason, what movie is the really awesome one?"  He thought for a minute and said, "Brooklyn Newsboys?"  I just smiled.  So happy that I was able to introduce one of my favorite movies ever (Newsies) into another person's life.  When he and Semakelang were over yesterday, we ended up watching that.  He loved it and is positive his parents will love it too...so, off he went with the movie.

I have been blessed to be able to talk with my parents quite a bit over the past couple of days.  I need to take advantage now, because in a couple of weeks I might not have as many chances to just sit and chat on the phone.

Anyway, I hope that you had a great New Years Eve and that 2010 has started off on the right foot for you!