Travel To Tanzania

Visiting us in Tanzania. One of the first things that may come to your mind when you think of Traveling to Tanzania,  is the fact that it is on the other side of the world. So, so, far away. This is true, but it isn't as crazy as it sounds. Most people get discouraged at the thought of even trying to make a trip like that. I have heard," Oh I would have to get a passport or get shots, I couldn't do all that." If you just plan ahead and take it step by step, it really isn't that bad. When we travel back to America our next furlough, (Lord Willing) we will be traveling with 2 adults, and 4 kids. Their ages; 6, 5, 3, and 1. So trust me when...

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Confessions of a Missionary Mom... Part 1

  ... I feel Guilty ! I think that all moms go through guilt trips during their parenting years. Some feel guilty because they don't spend enough time with the kids, some may feel guilty because there kids eat too much fast food. Take your pick. I think that as women, it is in us to apply self guilt and try to make ourselves feel bad. Well as a mom in the mission field you still feel guilty but in different ways. For example... ~ I feel bad because my kids don't eat the crust on their toast, and I know that there are probably some kids in the neighborhood that may only get one meal a day. But I don't want to force my kids to eat the crust,...

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Kids Are Kids

Have you ever noticed that kids are just kids. They can have fun with just about anything. Some of the greatest memories of my childhood are the things that I did, just being silly. I want my children to grow up with similar memories, of just having fun and playing outdoors. I remember catching fireflies, making mud pies, swimming, playing in the woods, and jumping on the trampoline. No matter where we live in the world, I want my kids to just grow up just being kids. So for those of you who may be curious as to how our kids can be kids in Tanzania, here are some pictures.  Riding the neighborhood Donkey Making Mud Pies Playing...

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Homemade Hot Sauce

My Husband Is Awesome !!! One of the things that we miss about America is the Mexican Food. We Love hot sauce, and chips. Well this week my hubby made some homemade hot sauce, and Canned it. It was even nice enough to make some mild, and some hot. He likes it Hot ! The Gee Family in Arusha previously gave us the canning supplies and we finally put it to use. The canning part is nice because it preserves the sauce for a long shelf life. We also had homemade tortilla chips with it. Yumm!!! I couldn't help but think about the people in the nearby villages, and how helpful the canning process would be for them. Their selection of fresh fruits...

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Water Well

 This is one of the water well foot pumps in our neighborhood. The kids wanted to try it one day when we were out on one of our neighborhood walks. It reminded me of a stair stepper exercise machine. All of the buckets around belong to the other people that were there to collect water. There are may who don't have running water in their homes. ...

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French Toast

  As part of Aubrie's home school she has been working on Home Economics.AKA - Help mom around the house. Here she is with her fake smile for the picture. :-)  On this morning she was helping me to make french toast.I have also been teaching her to peel carrots, use a microwave, and toaster. She is such a good little mommy's helper.  Here is the French Toast Recipe (I sometimes add a drop of vanilla or nutmeg to the mixture.) Hint: If the bread seems a little soggy after cooking it then you can toast it first before putting it into the egg/milk mixture. I also put the oven on low heat and put the cooked french...

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Turkey Day !!!

Today is Thanksgiving Day and what Thanksgiving is complete without a Turkey. Well, you may wonder what this American Mom of 4 little ones did today? Well since the hubby is traveling and I am alone on this holiday... awww poor me... not really. :-) This is what we did. We went on a Turkey Hunt.And We Found One !!! Okay so it really wasn't that hard. We knew of someone in the neighborhood that had some turkeys, so we just went to their house. Of, course we had to make it more exciting for the kids. They had their binoculars, and a big bag to put the turkey in in case they let us buy one. Ryan took his plastic 1980's model Nintendo...

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Will You See Us On House Hunters International ? !!!!

I sometimes participate on expat blogs and make comments about living life in Tanzania. Not too long ago I was contacted by a lady from a television show called House Hunters International. Since we have lived in Africa, without television for the past 3 years, I had never heard of the show before. She wanted to know what our house was like here in Tanzania. I wrote her back telling her that I didn't know what her T.V. show was about but I thought that our house/life would be perfect... if it was for a comedy show. I explained that our house is Great, it has everything we need and lots of rooms... But, it also has some African quarks to it....

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Lessons Learnd From Tanzania

September 2011 Open Your Bible There are so many Biblical lessons that we are learning as we live and work here in Tanzania.  The lesson learned this month is:  Take your Bible wherever you go and be ready to give an answer. It is uplifting to see so many Tanzanian people with a Bible in their hand. As we drive on our way to worship on Sunday mornings you see many individuals with their Bibles in their hands, and some with their Bible on their head. Even though many of these individuals are walking the wrong direction, it is encouraging to see them with a Bible. On more than one occasion I have seen store owners/workers sitting...

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Shall We Gather At The River

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If You Were Born A Maasai Woman

Have you ever considered what your life would be like if you were born into a different culture. If you were born a Maasai woman then your life would be different in so many ways. I often pray for the Maasai women and children here in Tanzania. Your life may be similar to this... You wake up and wrap yourself in a cloth that you have laid out to wear today. You only have one pair of sandal shoes, so you slip those on your feet. You them begin to sweep your one one dirt floor home and wait until tomorrow to fix the grass roof. You also notice that tomorrow you might need to gather some more cow dung and mud for the walls and floor. You will...

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Trashy Toys

Toys in Tanzania... There are many toy options for children in Tanzania. Most Tanzanian children make their own toys from trash found along the road. You will often see that their soccor balls are made from wadded up trash. The toys that are avaliable for sale are usally stuffed dolls. These dolls are shipped from second hand stores in America, like Goodwill, to Tanzania. They are often dirty and broken but sometimes you can find some cute things. I don't mind buying second, second, hand things so I thought I would stop buy one of these side street places and buy some "new" dolls for the kids. When examining them I noticed that they were...

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Around The Neighborhood

The kids and I have made up a song to go along with the bumps. It is to the tune of, Here comes Santa clause. We sing.... Bumpity bump bump, bumpity bump bump, bumping up and down, bumpity bump bump, bumpity bump bumping all the way to town. The area of Iringa is rocky, sandy, and hilly. It is really pretty during the rainy season. It is higher in elevation than most places. I Love this because it means that it is cooler. We have pretty great temperature all year round.                                                                                 This...

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