Lights Out!!

As you know, from our escapade with Levi's leg, the lights have been going off quite a bit lately.  These pictures were taken in almost complete darkness.  All the kids wanted to use the head lamp which is a VERY useful tool.

First up is Zoe.

Hadassah's turn with Levi in his "cheeeessse" pose.

Levi's turn as he says "cheeeeeese".

Our Trip to Lukulu

We did finally make it to Lukulu about 2 weeks ago.  It was a good trip.  We just wanted to see the town.  It was what we expected.  It sits just on the east bank of the Zambezi River.  It's a generator town which means the electricity that is supplied there is from a generator.  We hope to go back in a few months to begin looking for a house.  Above is the sign that greets you as you come into town.  Below is a great view of the Mighty Zambezi River with 2 dugout canoes.

First Look at Our Crates!

Here are a few of the toys that we got out of the crate.  This popper was sent to us in Guatemala by my mom and we still have it!  A worthy investment.  You can also see Levi's new cast.  He always wants to close his eyes and say 'cheese'.  I can barely get him to open his eyes in a picture now.

Zoe wanted to show you Levi's wooden train set that he got for Christmas last year.  He'll finally get to open it! 

Update on the Lowes

Went to the orthopedic specialist today.  All is well.  She re-casted Levi's left tibia with a fiberglass wrap.  We didn't get to choose a color but I was very glad that they had fiberglass wrap.  He is fine.  It is a spiral, non-displaced fracture, not a green stick.  

Prognosis is still the same - 6 weeks in a cast.  

Our crates have arrived!!  We were able to open them and pick out just a few things.  Most things were really well packed and we were not going to unload the whole crate just to find something that may not be able to be found.  I was able to get some spices out, some drink mixes, Christmas plates, a few games for the kids, my cast iron dutch oven (!), some silverware, a few tools, Levi's wooden train set and just a few more things.  So glad for what we got. 

We still have quite a few errands to run tomorrow then we will be back home to 

Mongu on Wednesday.

It continues...

On Friday night, Levi still seemed to be having problems with his leg so we made the decision to get up Saturday morning to drive 6 hours to Lusaka to get him seen by a doctor here.  The x-rays that were taken did not even show a fracture but the doctor said he thought that Levi was fine.  We really were not comforted by that because their xrays didn't even show the original fracture.  Right now, here has a plaster of paris cast which seems to be quickly deteriorating. Since we made the trip to Lusaka, we may see if we can see orthopedic specialist.  Please pray that we will make the right decision and that we can get an appointment, if needed.

What been happening?

Levi has broken his shin bone.  Actually, it is a green stick fracture which happens when the bone is abruptly twisted.  He ran into me last night when the lights went out (he couldn't see) and knocked himself down flat.  Evidently he twisted his leg and it fractured.  It wasn't swollen so I gave him advil and put him to bed.  It was still hurting him this morning.  He would not stand or try to walk but cried when put down.  So, we took him to the hospital here in Mongu to get an X-ray.  He now has his cast and is doing fine.  He will have to keep it on for 6 weeks.  Please do pray for us as Levi will not be able to be up and about these next few days.  That should make for some interesting days!

  Below, he is exhausted from the hospital ordeal.

Here he is upset because he cannot get down and didn't want his picture taken.

In other news, we got stuck in the sand on Sunday as we were going to church.  We were very grateful to have Melissa and Gerri with us.  Melissa pulled us out in reverse and we went on to church!  Just another day in our lives.

Back from the market

This is the group of kids that we picked up on our visit to the Imwiko Market.  This is in front of our gate.

A Few Glimpses into Our Lives

These are some of the children that come to play in our yard.  They wanted to take Hadassah and Zoe to the Imwiko market.  Imwiko is the community or 'neighborhood' that we live in.  So off we all went to see the Imwiko market.  We were quite a site and picked up more children along the way.  By the time that we got there, we probably had 30 children tagging along with us.  Can you pick out Hadassah and Zoe?

The ladies here wear chitenges that are wrapped around their skirts.  They come in a myriad different colors and patterns.  All the kids like to get mine and play with them.  Hadassah even got one as a birthday gift.  Here are Levi and Zoe as they were playing one day.  These same chitenges are used by the Zambian women to carry their babies so my chitenges can usually be found wrapped around the kids or carrying their baby dolls on their backs.  

Titus Lowe

Here is the first picture of our new Rhodesian Ridgeback puppy whom we named Titus.