A lot has happened since my last blog post. Nathan was in Africa during Christmas so it was that was hard. Owen, Riley, and I spent the week before Christmas in Austin with our family! We had so much fun! Owen and Riley got ton see the Zilker Christmas tree where Uncle Moomoo and Lala got O a surprise... A light saber!!! Needless to say he was super excited. He cleared out a good 10' radius around himself swinging it! Great fun!
Then we were back in Richmond for Christmas day. Nathan got to see the kids open their gifts from Santa using FaceTime. It was awesome! My parents, Grammi and Cody joined us at the house. Next stop was my parents' lake house on Lake Livingston. Lee, Ashley and Kara met us there where we all had a blast!
December 28th I headed to Luanda. I had never been and wasn't too sure of what to expect. The city was overwhelming. Our drive to the hotel seemed dangerous for all the people walking dodging traffic selling their goods. I came to realize that the people do this everywhere. The women are amazing! Most carry a baby on their back with a huge load on their heads. It is phenomenal the different things they can carry!
The poverty in the city versus the wealthy is extreme. There are so many people literally surviving everyday in hopes of clean water and food. But you see these same adults and children laughing and playing. There's quite a lesson to be learned from them. Here's an interesting article from BBC. It explains Luanda.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16815605
We were unable to visit the Schlumberger compound in Luanda Sul until day 6 of my visit. Days 1-5 were spent crying unable to imagine our life here. It just couldn't picture how we would even call the city home for our family. Once we got to the compound and saw our house, every negative feeling about moving settled. I knew we would get a little taste of home with a big backyard and community pool.
So with us actually moving, January became crunch time. Nathan and I had list upon list of things to get done. It has been a crazy busy month.
We were able to squeeze in a Going Away Party. It was fantastic! So many family members and friends were able to come and send us off with smiles and tears. We love you all! I painted a baobab tree with 4 monkeys in it. Our family and friends added all the leaves with their thumb prints. I can't wait to hang it in our new home!
We also got to have a mini birthday party for Mom and me. Grammi, Clair, Misty, Owen, Riley and Nathan helped us celebrate early. It was so fun!
Our flight date is upon us. I got a pedicure a few days ago and my big toe got infected.... Mom and I went to the emergency room right as the Super Bowl started. The doctor did a procedure.... Skipping on the details. It's hard to walk and hurts a ton. Talk about terrible timing!
We fly to Frankfurt, Germany tomorrow and land Thursday morning. Late Thursday we fly to Luanda and land on the 10th. I'll post pictures and an update as soon as I can!
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