Farewell Zimbabwe

Spencer and I will be leaving Zimbabwe this week, and we are going to miss it!! Spencer has already informed me that he will be coming back to Zimbabwe when he is a grown-up and that it's okay with his wife to come. I don't think he realizes how much he will miss Zim, but I know he will tons, as will I. It's different leaving here than it was with Congo. In Congo we had made friends but the place we were living in was not fun at all. Here it's been beautiful weather, wonderful people, no wars going on, and many more wonderful friends to be had. Our highlights of Zim are as follows:

-Our beautiful home, that had it's many struggles, but still we feel like it was home.

-Spencer's first day of Kindergarten.

-Spencer's first day of 1st grade.

-Spencer calling himself an African boy because he would walk outside in his bare feet all the time.

-Tyler learning and enjoying golf, and also getting Spencer into it.

-The many thunderstorms during the rainy season, I won't miss the lightening, but the pitter patter of rain helps you get to sleep sometimes.

-Seeing amazing wild animals up close.

-Having once in a lifetime experiences.

-Seeing one of the seven wonders of the world-Victoria Falls.

-Riding elephants and bonding with them.

-Going on safaris.

-The A-MAZ-ING sunsets. I will forever miss the African sun.

-Having the opportunity to share where we live with family.

-Again another once in a lifetime experience- petting a cheetah.

-Holding lions at the Lion and Cheetah Park.

-The beautiful landscape of Zimbabwe (Leopard Rock).

-Visiting other parts of Africa- Cape Town, South Africa.

Here are some pictures of our house all packed and ready to go.

-We will definitely miss our wonderful staff!!

This is Bridget with her two daughters, Blessing and Mary.

And here is Cosmas with his wife Beauty and daughter Ashley.

We will also miss the many friends we have made here, in which I don't think I got enough pictures of them! So here are a few of our friends.

Erica cutting her yummy, delicious homemade carrot cake.

Kate showing off her belly....she's having a girl!!!

Some of our wonderful Young Women.

Tyler and Spencer with some of our great young men.

My canasta playing girls!!!! I will miss the Nield family and their own families so much, and also the Lane family (which I kinda include with the Nields).

We have had so many great experiences here, and have loved our two year stay in Zimbabwe. Hopefully we will be back to visit again, and be able to enjoy more time with our African roots. I think this time it is also a bit harder because we are not only saying good-bye to a great place to live but to the whole country of Africa which we have come to love so much. We will always have Zimbabwe in our hearts.

First Grade Graduation

Today was Spencer's graduation from first grade!!! He still has a week of school left, but they celebrated early so they could get everyone there.

All smiles at the beginning , he was so ready!

Congratulations Spencer!! That is his teacher Mrs. Ferguson.

Looking at his class picture that was in his little recognition paper.

Spencer and two other of his classmates are moving away, so they did a little good-bye thing for them. They had each of their best friends stand and say something about them and tell them good-bye. One of Spencer's best friends is Olle, and so he stood up and said that he hopes Spencer has fun in America and good-bye. This was them hugging it out. SO CUTE!

Then the first grade kids rocked it out with the guitars they made and songs about bones (their last unit was about the human body). They were all rocking out!

After everything the kids got to drink juice boxes, the parents got to visit, and so did the kids. Spencer with some of his friends.

This is Ms. Rust who was the classroom aide. She is leaving also because she is getting married.

Mrs. Ferguson, Spencer's GREAT first grade teacher. She always looked out for Spencer and knew when to be firm with him in the things he did. She is an awesome teacher.

YAY for Spencer finishing first grade! But wait....then that means...we have a second grader now!!! oh boy! :)

Recently

The dry season is upon us and so our fruit trees are blossoming!! We found out this year that we have a guava tree and a banana tree! Also an avocado tree! It's a huge tree, and we really didn't realize all that it would produce. Here's a picture of just the tip top of the tree and all the avocados on it.

Now times that by 20 and you might have an idea of how many avocados we really have, it's crazy! Tyler has been enjoying the avocados very much with his dinners.

And here are some pictures of us recently. We took these for our moms Mother's Day cards.

I LOVE this picture of these two handsome boys! They are great!!

V & A Waterfront

One of the best things in Cape Town was going over to the Victoria & Albert Waterfront everyday. It was where you got on the ferry to Robben Island, where a HUGE shopping mall is, where lots of food, and lots of fun are to be had. Also that was where we were able to have some Haagen Dazs ice cream EVERY DAY. It was soo yummy!

Speaking of ice cream here was a statue we walked by while going to the waterfront. Interesting we thought.

This is the clock tower right by the Robben Island ferry and museum.

The swinging bridge that takes you over to some malls.

Tyler on the bridge with the bay behind him.

I also saw many yachts while we were there, but this was the one I was hoping to have one day. Do you see the red carpet you walk on to get on the boat?!?

One of the shopping areas with the ferris wheel in the back.

Alfred Mall, I loved how all the buildings looked around there.

Saw this in one of the windows of the shop...was thinking about getting a feathery dress, looks perfect!

The shopping there was crazy great! We didn't buy much, but every time we saw a bookstore all three of us would just turn and go straight into it. We spent a lot of time in the many bookstores within the big mall there. They also had upscale stores like Louis Vuitton and Burberry (which I HAD to go into!).

We saw this statue on the way to the Aquarium (with Table Mountain in the background), it is made from Coca-Cola plastic bins!!! Pretty awesome...obviously he thinks he's number 1!

Here are some statues of very important people in Noble Square.

From left to right: Albert Luthuli, Desmond Tutu, FW de Klerk, and Nelson Mandela

A close up of Nelson Mandela's statue.

We had a fabulous time in Cape Town, South Africa and would encourage EVERYONE to visit there at least once. It's beautiful, relaxing, so much history, with good food and great shopping.

Prison at Robben Island

After we did the island tour we went and met our guide for the prison on Robben Island. The tour guides for just the prison part are all ex-prisoners that used to be there!!! What a perspective to get while walking around. Sadly, I didn't get any pictures of the outside of the prison, but these will do.

Inside one of the big prisoner holding rooms, this would house about 60 men. They would sleep on the floor and have just 2 or 3 blankets they could use.

Here is the man that gave us our tour. He was in the prison for political reasons.

An example of the ID card for each prisoner.

Their meals. It is divided into two diets, B and C. They were different for different prisoners and what their crimes were politically.

Walking through the outside part of the prison.

In a prison cell. Spencer doesn't seem happy to be in there at all.

Each prison cell had information about one of the prisoners that stayed there. We went into the first one and it was the one where the guy who's prison card we saw.

Information about him, and what he went through.

The small shelf in the cell.

Hallway to go and see Nelson Mandela's cell.

This is where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned. And that was all he had in the cell. The red bucket was the bathroom.

Not much, but what a great leader that came from this spot!

The outside courtyard area. This is where they would do exercises but also work on things like chipping away at stone.

It was interesting to see what the prison looked like and all that those men who were trying to change the political climate in South Africa had to go through.