Anniversaries

Jeff and Michele just marked their 16th wedding anniversary!  Since the last anniversary was spent apart with Jeff in Africa and Michele in the US, we decided to "go big" this year.  In 4 short hours, we flew to Mauritius and in 6 short days, we had an unforgettable holiday!

The island is famous for its sugar cane and sugar factories

The women of the Phoenix Branch at Church (where fortunately they mix Creole with English so visitors can understand!)

Michele with statue of Shiva where most of the Mauritians make pilgrimage once each year.

Cape Malheureux with several volcanic islands in the background

Black River Gorge and Falls

Dinner on the Beach

BFF's

Kate left this on our bed to welcome us home

We have a wonderful new au pair, Leigh, who stayed with the children while we were away.  We love her and are so grateful for all the good things she brings to our family!

 Kate with school friends:  Hayley, Regan and Ross.

John preparing to leave for Young Men Camp with Nate and Dallin.

When waiting in the car for long periods of time, Michele can sometimes be talked into a selfie.  With Charnell and John...waiting for Nate to finish rugby practice.

And finally, we celebrated another anniversary this week!  ...The kids and Michele arrived in Joburg on 23 March 2013...   At the time, we were quite homesick for our Utah friends and life.  (And we still miss our friends!).  However, we are grateful for the many warm and kind people we've come to know in Africa.  We are so thankful that in this past year, we have found not only comforting daily routines but also once-in-a-lifetime experiences.

We'll end with 2 jokes going around SA right now due to the heavy rains that are destroying the roads and the rolling blackouts caused by power shortages:

Did you know that South Africans used to drive on the left of the road?  Now they just drive on what's left of the road.

What did South Africans use before candles?  Electricity.

On the benefits of window screens

We've decided we like February without snow!

Here are some of the things we've been busy doing (that we remembered to photograph!)

John went to baraza leader training with the International Round Square team from his school.  He is going to be playing host and mentoring groups of younger students from other countries this year.

Kate is still riding at Chartwell and she loves to jump Jupita!

Michele now works with 20 fourth graders every Tuesday at Diepsloot to strengthen their English skills.  Here the children are checking out their first library book ever!

Jeff had a throat scope and was a very good patient.  Didn't even have to wear a gown!

In his free time, John still likes to prepare gourmet meals for us.  This was some amazing salmon!

Kate had sports day at her school today (which basically involves lots of running).  She won 1st place  for girls in her age bracket.  Go Kate!  Michele spent most of the day selling boerevors (she is the new PTA leader).

Jeff has traveled most of the month:  Angola and Nigeria and back to Angola.  This is a familiar early-morning scene:  Jeff heading out to the airport with Dooley (who is a professional driver and good friend to our family!)

The lobby at Jeff's accomodation in Luanda

We were able to celebrate Valentines on February 15th at Michele's favorite restaurant:  La Cucina di Ciro.  18 Happy Valentines and counting!!

Fun with animals, part 1!  The electricity was out a few weekends ago.  Jeff wasn't home.  Michele and the kids had a slumber party upstairs in Mom & Dad's room.  We kept all the windows wide open because it was HOT.  Well, around 3am, Michele woke up to see a stray cat right in her face!  Her scream woke up the kids and they found a flashlight and helped the cat find its way back out the window.  Needless to say, the windows were shut after that.

We celebrated Susan's 42nd birthday yesterday.

And Jenny's ??nd birthday a few weeks ago!  (with Joy, Ross, and Kate)

Today is CANSA's Cancer Awareness Day and lots of people are shaving heads at shopping malls to show solidarity with people fighting cancer.  If you're not inclined to shave your head, you can get your hair spray-painted instead, as John did.
 

And it's been awhile, so we thought it might be time for another car accident.  Can you believe that they have all occurred when Michele's been driving Jeff's company car (which is a rare event) and they have always been the other party's fault?  Accident 1 was recorded on this blog and occurred one of the first times Michele drove in Joburg.  Accident 2 occurred in a parking lot when Michele wasn't anywhere near the car:  the shopping center owner rounded a corner too tight and was honest enough to find Michele and tell what happened.  And this month's Accident 3 happened when Michele was taking kids to swim squad one Saturday morning.  She stopped with the rest of the traffic at a light but the driver of the new bakkie behind her (who was talking on a cell phone, shame) didn't.  His entire front end was ruined, leaking and steaming.  Undriveable.  

So there we stood (kids in swimming costumes) in the middle of busy Witkoppen Road surrounded by zooming cars, 3 tow truck drivers (who are called "vultures" here for a reason), road bikers who were swearing and threatening physical violence to the vultures for almost killing them in their haste to be first to the accident, and various "security" people who stopped to make sure we were okay.

It was then our third trip to the police station to file an accident report and Michele was ready with the response to the first question out of the officer's mouth:  "Yes!  I have my own black pen."
For those of you who enjoy Jeff's puns, he declared that it seems "Michele has had a crash course in dealing with the SAPS (SA Police Service)!"

Thank goodness for reinforced spare tyre cases!

  We have noticed as we're driving around that MOST cars have dings and dents from the wear and tear of Joburg traffic.  ...That's Africa, Baby!

 Fun with animals, part 2!  We were visiting with a friend in our foyer when we kept hearing a loud "whooshing" sound coming from the family room.  Jeff decided to check it out and found a pigeon furiously trying to get out.  Must've flown in a window in the hallway.  It took a few tries, but eventually Jeff was able to get the petrified pigeon out the sliding doors.  Then he gallantly cleaned up all the droppings the bird left for us on the furniture!  (Yuck).

But that's not all!  This is Swagger (pronounced "Swagga" in Kate's cute SA accent), a lovely cat (not the one mentioned above!) that has taken up residence in our back garden.  (...We were wondering where all the birds have gone...).   Kate hoped to keep Swagger forever and he seemed happy with the arrangement too - especially after she fed him.  Michele and Jeff were a bit surprised when he bopped up to their room one evening about 10:30pm with a look on his face like "I'm here, guys!  Aren't you happy to see me?"   It turns out that he had climbed in an open window.  (Yes.  At this point, we decided we do miss window screens).  After we sent Swagger outside, he started meowing mournfully outside the patio door, so we figured it was time to call his owner.  She responded, "That cat has given me so much trouble since he was fixed.  I haven't seen him for 4 weeks."  No wonder the poor thing was looking for a new home!   He really enjoyed sleeping on the patio chair below at night and watching Kate do her homework at the patio table during the day.  We haven't seen him for a few days and are pretty sure he's been reclaimed by his owner.  But we won't be surprised if we find Kate on the patio in the middle of the night with a bowl of warm milk, waiting.

It's Summer in South Africa

Since we last posted, we've covered a lot of miles.

For 5+ weeks in December and January, we had so much fun visiting with people we love!  Unfortunately, we can't post all their photos, so we're opting to stick with family pictures...
ALPINE, UTAH

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON

 

Then we said goodbye to this 

And headed back to this

It's the rainy season here in South Africa. I took a few photos on the way to Kate's school Friday morning.  This is how major potholes are marked (spray paint, stacked tires, bricks and other rubble).  This one takes up half the opposite lane.

Uranium Street which runs from our home to John's school floods with regularity.  Ie.  Impassable and a traffic nightmare.  We avoid it, so no photo to show!

 Without proper drainage and curbing, we get several inches of silt and rocks running into the middle of the roads.

 

And this archipelego of potholes was just "filled" the day before this big rain.  Shame.

After dropping Kate, I stopped at Broadacres Shopping Center.  The ATM machine was being re-loaded.

Yes, those are 2 guys with Kevlar vests and AK-47s.  It's a little strange to walk between them, but you get used to it.

Abian from Congo meets you as you come out of the shop and wheels your "trolley" to your car.  He then packs your groceries in your trunk and helps you back your car out.  For this immense help, you pay him R5 (that's less than $0.50), which is a big sum for him.  Some folks don't pay him at all.

Here is Kate with her new 3rd grade teacher, Mrs. Louw 

And here is John, leaving at 5:45am to go to seminary before school - in his summer uniform (no tie)

We will say goodbye this week to one of our favorite missionaries, Elder Nilson (who is the cousin of 2 of our other favorite missionaries from Alpine!)

In our "Adventures with Animals" section, we have a small lizard living in our dining room and a big one hanging out in the domestic quarters.  We often have frogs enter the house through the front gate (see behind John above).  And in a shock at twilight last week, a bat chased a moth in through the back sliding door (which is never closed), up the stairs and into our office/bedroom!  Picture the magic of echolocation, the rush of wings, and the surprised Dad!  John, in the midst of this awe-inspiring display, opened the windows.  Sorry, no pictures though they would've been keepers.

Jeff and Michele had a cool date in Hillbrow which is an area of Joburg filled with great architecture and wonderful people who are trying to make it a safe and beautiful place for families to live.  It used to be one of the cool places to hang out in the '60's and '70's, but in the 90's went into a steep decline.  At one point, this was called "The most dangerous place in Africa."  We are  inspired by so many here who courageously and creatively make their corners of the world better places everyday.

Still amazed that we are in Africa.  And still hoping we can stay for a long time!

Come see us!  Love, the Stitts