Petitionary Prayer

Ezra's bedtime prayer last night:

"Dear Jesus, help Pa to get better and help our baby grow big and strong.
And please help Ezzie sleep good tonight so he can get a popsicle tomorrow.
Amen."

Where We Will Be

Just for general information, I'm letting you know where we'll be over the next 6 months. If you're interested in getting in touch with us, let us know! I will soon be able to check this blog like a normal person and so will be able to view any responses.

Jan 1-18: Washington State

Jan 18-March 15: On maternity leave in Atlanta, Georgia

March 15-May 1: On home assignment in Holland, Michigan-doing speaking in churches and visiting with supporters

May 1-15: Atlanta, Georgia

May 15-June 15: Joanna and kids in Washington State

June 1: Caleb follows to Washington

June 15: Return to Ethiopia

Peach People

We have a lot coming up over the next three weeks. We're getting ready to leave home to head back to the US for our maternity leave and home assignment in the spring. I'll be flying with Elsa and Ezra to my family in Washington on December 31, and Caleb will follow two weeks later after a 10 day riding trip with his cousin and brother-in-law who are coming out to do a riding tour of Ethiopia. Before we leave Ethiopia at the end of the month, we have a four day biennial conference with the organization we work with here in the country. So consider the travel: two days in the car from Omo to the conference.then another half day from the conference to Addis.re-pack and organize quickly so that the kids and I can leave for the airport that night.an 8 hour flight to Amsterdam.a 9 and a half hour flight to Seattle.ahh. I'm tired already.

Explaining to Elsa and Ezra exactly what is taking place over the next three weeks has proven confusing. Time, as I'm sure anyone with two, three, or four year olds knows, is a slightly nebulous concept. I'm sure for as many times as I've said the words "when we get to Grandma and Grandpa Judy's house", there's been some niggling doubt in the back of Elsa's mind about that day will actually ever coming. "Today after naptime, you mean," she's asked me on multiple occasions. Or, "The next day when I wake up?" Poor kids have no idea what life has in store for them over the next six months, considering the many moves we have to make, people we have to meet, and miles we have to cover.

One morning at breakfast I was going over again with Elsa exactly what was going to take place before we got to Grandma and Grandpa Judy's house. The following incident illuminates perfectly the stark difference between our two kids. (Elsa is likely to love someone simply because he breathes and has a name--Ezra, on the other hand, is just as likely to DISLIKE him for that same reason.) Anyways, I told Elsa that we were going to go to a conference, where she would get to play with other kids, do projects, play games, eat snacks and do all sorts of fun things while Mama and Daddy would be in some meetings. Elsa's eyes were getting bigger by the second and she was getting harder and harder to contain in her chair because she was bursting with
excitement at the thought of all the activity. Meanwhile, Ezra was sitting in his chair, glaring at me fiercely and saying, "Me don't LIKE other kids! Me don't LIKE to play games!" Now we've known this about Ezra for quite some time-a tendency toward being a total booty around other people-but we've really been trying to work on some basic common courtesy despite his anti-social tendencies. So in recent weeks, he's been practicing (and gotten very good) at greeting people, putting out his hand to shake hands, and smiling. So knowing that he's been practicing this lately, I said "Well,that's okay, but we can still be sweet to people and shake their hands, just like we do here". Elsa, ever the wise big sister, cuts in and says, "But Mama-peach people don't say Kuun Methob (our local greeting)!"

Leave it to Elsa to find the loophole.

Nighttime Dilemma

3 AM
Elsa: "Mama, I can't sleep because my pillow is not the perfect temperature
for my head!"

Plus One

The family that has been with us all week had some brake trouble on their
trip down. When Caleb and Mr. went over to check out the car and see if they
could work on it before they left to travel back to Addis Ababa, they found
out that pretty much all that had been holding their front wheel on the
whole second day of travel down here was the brake caliper. Needless to say,
the car isn't able to be driven out. Seeing as we were already planning on
heading into town to re-supply on Monday, we decided that we would just
drive them all out on Saturday instead, and get their car trucked out when
we return from Addis. So if you do the math--this will be 4 adults (one six
months pregnant and prone to motion-sickness), 1 teenager, 2 kids out of car
seats, and 2 kids in car seats. In our Land Cruiser which seats 5
comfortably and then has two fold down side-facing seats in the very back.
Fun.

Oh, did I mention the 4 foot python as well? He also is making the trip with
us. This morning Caleb was called over to our evangelist's house to kill a
snake and found a python. Knowing it's not poisonous, he captured it instead
and intends to bring it with us to Addis to give as a present to one of our
friends there who is an avid snake-guy.

Fun.

A Matter of Perspective

We have a family of five visiting us this week, some colleagues of ours who
live and work in Addis Ababa. Last night we took them on a cookout out
beyond our house a few kilometers, to the ridge where we always start a fire
and roast hot dogs and marshmallows. It is usually the highlight of
visitors' trips down to the Omo because of how beautiful it is out there and
watching the sunset from the ridge, but the elements were against us last
night. As soon as we got our fire started, a major wind and dust storm blew
in, knocking over all of our chairs and covering us and our food with a
thick layer of dust. Our kids were oblivious to anything out of the
ordinary--sitting on their mat happily eating their hot dogs as if this is
what life is like everyday. Oh wait, sometimes it is.

On the way home, Caleb put Elsa and our visitors' two younger kids up in the
cab with him to escape the worst of the dust (Ezra turns into a complete
Mama's boy when other people are around and wouldn't be separated). Elsa is
one of those kids who thinks if you breathe you are wonderful, so has been
in heaven ever since these other two kids arrived because she has playmates.
Elsa was enthusiastically trying to tell the other two stories and ask them
questions, and getting rebuffed at every overture. Finally the older girl,
Esther, asked Elsa how old she was. Elsa said "I'm three." Daniel jumped in
quickly and said "Well, I'm four and a half!", and Esther, not to be
outdone, said, "Then I'm the biggest because I'm six!" Elsa sat there for a
minute and then said "Oh. I think though that God is the biggest."

She's got it all figured out, doesn't she?

Bedtime with Ezra

Daddy: "Okay, no more talking. Good night, Elsa. Good night Ezra."

Ezra: "Daddy, me got a question!"

Daddy: "No more talking, good night."

Ezra: "Daddy, me got a question!"

Daddy: "Ezra, no more talking, you can ask me in the morning."

Ezra: "Daddy, me got a question!!"

Daddy: "Ezra--"

Mama (from downstairs): "Just let him ask you, then he'll say 'love you, Daddy, good night'"

Daddy: "Okay, Ezra, what's your question?"

Ezra: "Daddy, please you stop talking. Night, night, Daddy!"

Walk, Bike, or Swim

Yesterday I was laying down on our living room floor during our afternoon rest time when I saw a bicycle ride up right to our front door. I got up expecting to tell a Daasanech man that Caleb wasn't here and to come back later, but much to my surprise there was a Japanese tourist at the door! He'd ridden his bike from across the Kenyan border that day, and was wondering how much further it was to Omo Raate (the closest town and where immigration is located). I told him it was about 7 more kilometers and then across the river before the town, and asked if he needed any water or anything. I was having trouble not staring at him in fascination--these tourists, especially the ones on foot or on bike, are so out of my realm of understanding. WHY? It was 108 degrees in my kitchen and here was this poor soul riding his bike through the deep sand in the heat of the day, through a country where he couldn't communicate with anyone, on roads that are just as likely to disappear as take you where you want to go.

Caleb returned and spent some time talking about the road he would take to his next destination. Turns out he started in Morocco, has been travelling for 5 years, through parts of Europe, the Middle East, and now Africa. He's on his fourth bike in 5 years. We started to feel responsible for him--sending him out on a road Caleb knows is difficult, if not impossible, to find and follow, but then realized that this has been his life for the last half-decade, and surely he's encountered worse.

Before he left he asked Caleb, "How many rivers are there to cross between now and Maagi (further north)?" Rivers evidently are a major obstacle because apparently on this trek of his, this slight Japanese man can ONLY walk, bike, or swim. So for example when he reaches Omo Raate, he will hire a boat to take his bike across the river while he swims beside it. He'll go to immigration to get stamped into the country, and then have to swim all the way back across because the road he is travelling is on this side of the river.

This world is full of people I will never understand.

14 Diapers

That's how many diapers I have left for Ezra. And 49 nights left until we go
back to town.

So I'm trying all I can to get him nighttime potty-trained. He does pretty
well sometimes, but not lately. Being as warm as it is here during the day
and most nights, both kids have always taken a water bottle to bed. Of
course, chugging a full water bottle all night long doesn't really help the
potty situation. Starting last week, I've tried to requisition Ezra's water
bottle. It isn't working out too well. He's goes to bed fine without it, but
every night since I took it away, he comes into my room about 11:30, wanting
his water bottle. So then I have a battle-between knowing I am two weeks
away from no diapers, and wanting to fall back into bed. Usually, he gets
his water bottle, and I get to go back to bed. Last night as I walked out of
his room, a quiet little voice came from the dark corner of his bed: "Mama,
thanks for cold water." Somehow the sweetness makes everything okay at 12
am.

Little does he know that soon he'll be going to bed in plastic bags stuffed
with toilet paper.

The Power of Bauer

Caleb and I have been 24 fans since we spent 5 months in Holland, Michigan,
which has a GREAT library and we were able to check out every season of 24
and literally spend 5 days of our life in front of the television. The love
affair has continued across the ocean, as our family has kept us supplied
with all the seasons of 24. We just received season 7 within the last month,
and Jack Bauer has been keeping us living on adrenaline every night since.
It was a sad night indeed when we finished the season two nights ago. "So You
Think You Can Dance" just doesn't provide quite the same kick.

Dust

And that's all I'm going to say about that.

Excuse me while I go dig my children out from under a layer.

Grandma and Grandpa Judy Come to Visit

A Baby Boy Chicken?

Give thanks with us (or say a prayer for us, as the case may be)-we're
expecting our third baby in February of 2010. The newest Swart will join the
world along with two other Swart babies-both of Caleb's sisters are also
expecting and we are all due within two days of each other. Needless to say,
it will be a busy and exciting month!

Elsa and Ezra seem excited to welcome a new baby brother or sister, although
Ezra seems a little confused. When asked if he wants a boy or a girl baby,
he says "Me want a baby boy chicken." I hope he's not too disappointed.

After our maternity leave, we will be doing three months of speaking in our
churches, so our time in the US from January to June will be split between
Washington (where my family is), Atlanta (Caleb's sisters and where we will
have the baby), and Michigan (the location of the majority of our churches).

Putting up Nanuk's windmill

On the River with Daddy

Omo sunset

It is not a joke

HOT!

Going on a picnic

Fishing at Lake Langano

Elsa's first drawing

Elsa at Lake Langano

Driving the Boat

Camping at Lake Langano with Marshal and Rachel

Baby Chicks!

Cobra in the Bathroom

(Beck Judy--don't read this post. Seriously, I mean it.)
>
> No, it's not the title of the newest Samuel L. Jackson movie. It was Elsa's morning. This morning I was washing the breakfast dishes while Elsa was in the bathroom washing her hands and brushing her teeth. Suddenly she starts screaming at the top of her lungs and yelling "Snake! Snake! It's growing and standing up!" Thankfully, she was already on her way out the door as I ran toward the bathroom. I got to the door just in time to see a baby cobra slip up behind the sink console. Which is, by the way, exactly where Elsa was standing on a stool washing her hands. Caleb was across the river, and seeing as I am less than inclined to be brave when it comes to snakes, I armed myself with two sticks and ventured back into the bathroom. The snake was gone. I heard the boat come back and so decided to just stand guard until Caleb got back up to the house. At first he didn't believe me (our house was promised to me to be snake proof-ha), but we stood there long enough to see its head poke out again from behind the sink. It slinked back to the safety of the sink, and so Caleb decided to bug spray behind the sink and irritate it enough to make it come out. It worked, Caleb smashed it, good-bye cobra.
>
> It's 'cobra season' around here. With the rains from April and May, the increased number of bugs and frogs make the snakes venture out from under the bushes more. In the last two weeks Caleb and/or Dick have killed 5 cobras and one baby puff adder. Thankfully no one has been hurt, although we have lost one chicken and our poor dog Bauer was spit in the eye. Hopefully he learned his lesson about playing with snakes in the grass. Knucklehead.

You Could Be Al-Qaeda!

The "Dick" Effect has become a given on any riding trip that Caleb and his father, Dick, take together. Inevitably, if Dick goes along, they are bound to encounter some kind of hassle--police officers exerting authority, immigration officials harping on technicalities. This past weekend was no exception. Caleb and Dick took a Sunday afternoon ride to Kokoro, a town not far across the Kenyan border. Caleb has a good relationship with the border guards at the Kenyan border, and he often crosses the border a few miles into Kenya with their permission. Someone forgot to inform the police in Kokoro of Caleb's special relationship.

Once in Kokoro, Caleb and Dick were detained by a Kenyan police officer. His command of English being poor and his manner resembling a ranting lunatic, Caleb at one point leaned over to his father and asked quietly, "Is he drunk?" "Drunk", it turns out, is one word the officer did know, and so was none too pleased at the observation. He railed at Dick and Caleb for travelling into Kenya without proper identification and without a letter from the border post granting permission to travel--all wise suggestions, especially in the face of the officer's reasoning--"You could be anyone and we would not know...You could be Al-Qaeda!"

Thankfully, one of the officers and also the village chief--a friendly man named Ezra carrying a tent pole as his official stick--intervened and explained to Caleb and Dick that although their colleague's manner was suspect, all he was trying to say was that next time they come, it'd be a good idea to carry some identification.

Al-Qaeda? Doubtful. Travelling again to Kokoro without identification? Definitely not.

Meeting Obama

I met Obama this morning. He was round, a beautiful caramel brown, wrapped in a pink blanket, wearing a cross necklace around his chubby little neck.

I went to do clinic about 45 minutes from our house and about half-way to the middle of nowhere. Obviously, though, despite being rather far from any local American voting district, Obama fever has travelled the airwaves and someone in Libumket must have a radio.

Play

What is the saying--art imitates life? (Or is it life imitates art? I always forget) Anyways...I know those of you with kids know that their play often imitates life. (How many times have you heard something come out of their mouth that could have only come from your own?) Here are some things I've heard come out of my kids' mouths the last few weeks:

Elsa: "I need BCG!" (She and Ezra play as though they are babies being brought to clinic and need TB immunization)

Ezra: "Ouch, scorpion bite me!" (Playing doctor and bandaging up scorpion and snake bites)

Elsa: "Quick, get out of the river, the big crocodile is going to get us!" (Taking dips in the river with Caleb--keeping the swim short so as to keep the risk minimized)

Elsa: "I'm going to Paradise" (Playing that she's taking a trip to Arba Minch, the town half-way between our home and Addis Ababa, we stay in a hotel called Paradise)

Ezra: "Where Daddy? Really really want ride broom-broom!" (This is Ezra sleep-talking--dreaming about riding motorcycles with his daddy)

Ezra: "Really want dung beetle ball" (Dung beetles make great toys--they're huge and they don't fly very high or very far, so you can chase them down and hit them out of the air. Note to mothers: wash hands after play)

(Alternative titles for this blog: Things Your Kids Probably Don't Say or What Have We Done To Our Kids?)

Happy 2nd Birthday Ezra!

Ezra's 1st birthday.

Ezra is born!

Happy 3rd Birthday Elsa!

Elsa's 2nd birthday

Elsa's 1st birthday

Elsa is born

Bad Habits

Caleb: "Elsa, stop chewing your fingernails."

Elsa: "Daddy, don't worry, I'm just licking off the boogers."

Back to Dirt?

I'm sure by now you all have given me up as hopeless as a blogger, but I beg extentuating experience. We've been unable to communicate for nearly the last month (first travelling for meetings and then our email was down for over 2 weeks), so you can't JUST blame my lazy fingertips and uninspired mind. You really wouldn't believe how many blogs get written in my head on a weekly basis...well, at least the titles.

We are in the hot and dusty time of year here at Omo. You know it is bad when a two year old notices that it is dirty. A couple of weeks ago we were gone from home for about 10 days. First we travelled to a town about 13 hours from here called Awassa, attending a gathering of our SIM South Team. We left from there to go on to Addis to meet with our RCA Africa Director, who was in country, and to do some supply shopping. After travelling home another two days, we were on our last day of driving when we told Elsa, "You finally get to go home today!" And she replied, "to HQ (our headquarters in Addis)?" We said, "No, home!" She wasn't quite getting it, kept thinking of Awassa and Paradise (our stop in Arba Minch, the half-way town), so finally we started saying, "Back home, to Bauer and to your toys and your bed and your house..." She thought for a minute and said, "Back to dirt?"

Yes, it is extremely dusty, and hot. A few weeks ago we had 107 in the kitchen and 131 outside in the direct sun. At Omo you always trade one thing for another--right now the river is at its lowest, so is running clear out of our sinks and showers (so nice!). But with that comes the heat and dust. Come late spring, rains will fall in other parts of Ethiopia, causing our river to rise and turn muddy, flowing thick and brown from our faucets. But with that comes somewhat of a break from the intense heat and rains often settle the dust.

I've heard Caleb's grandma say that sweeping is therapeutic. My emotional health must be off the charts at this rate!

Picture Extravaganza!

First of all, Merry Christmas! We’ve had a wonderful Christmas season, Caleb’s sister Leah and her husband and baby came out to visit us here at Omo for two weeks, and we have loved every minute. Leah is usually the one who posts blogs for me, so forgive the long silence. Leah and Tim leave Omo tomorrow morning to make the two day journey up to Addis in time for their flight on Tuesday night, so I am getting together a lot of pictures for Leah to post when she gets stateside. It’s a mixture of old and new pictures from the last three or four months—somehow in the last couple of months we lost the capability to send pictures via our radio email, hence the lack of pictures on the blog. I’m grabbing the chance now to flood the blog with pics, so enjoy the following pictures…the house is now totally finished, but there are some pictures from when it was still a work in progress. The adorable baby is Isla Brooks, Leah’s 9 month old. Enjoy! If you are interested in seeing more, I’ve recently updated the kid’s picture website. The link is http://www.elsamorrell.shutterfly.com/.

A Sunday school class in North Carolina gave the gift of a goat to Nanuk, an evangelist in the local church

Visit from Tim, Leah and Isla

Elsa and Ezra with their friend, Ester

Quite a catch!

Elsa and Spice, her new chicken

soon to be kitchen

swimming with cousin Isla

Ezra's favorite thing!

roasting marshmallows

Cousin, Isla, enjoying Elsa and Ezra's swing

stockings on Christmas morning

view of the stormy sky from our front yard

Caleb welding our stairs

Our House is finished!

sunset at the fossil beds

Omo sunrise from the boat