New Year's Road Trip

We leave tomorrow (Thursday the 30th) to start off on our road trip.  We're meeting up with Jen's sister, Maggie, and her husband, Winston.  It's basically the same trip that we took with Jen's mom in October, but with a few minor changes.  We'll update once we get back and post pics, but here's an idea of where we'll be.
30th - Stay over at the Bulawayo Club
31st, 1st - Head to Vic Falls, meet Winston and Maggie at the airport, staying at the Safari Lodge
2nd - Canoe/Camping trip on the Upper Zambezi (the river above the Falls)
3rd- One more night at the Safari Lodge
4th, 5th, 6th - Head to Hwange National Park (stopping by the Painted Dog Conservation) and then staying at The Hide
7th, 8th - Drive to Matapos National Park and stay at Camp Amalinda
9th - Drop Winston off at the airport in Bulawayo and then drive with Maggie back to Harare where she'll stay for 2 weeks

We've got lots of things planned, and we've got a new camera for this trip, so we'll be able to share lots of pictures from the trip.

Juno and her cigar

I swear Juno thinks she is human sometimes. She loves to hold her sweets from her Tennessee Grandma in her mouth like a cigar and not actually eat them. Doesn't she look like she has an old man face? I think she's an old soul.

This is for you Will Johnson....

So I was swimming in our pool the other day and looked up to see this amazing bird just hanging out on the rocks right next to our pool. I have asked many people what kind of bird this is and they just don't know. So Will Johnson, my brilliant nephew/cousin (we have our own way of doing things in our family), who can take on any challenge I am sure of it....I would like for you to find out who this bird is that hangs out in our yard. I hope this picture helps you see how pretty it is.

Update

So I know I just posted pictures from Florence, but I thought I would update everyone on what is going on over here in Africa. We just finished our last week of school in 2010, and we are now off for 3 weeks! As much as Grant and I love our students and teaching here, we realized yesterday that we needed a break just as much as they do. We've realized that with all the inconsistencies with our house here, work is the only place we find solace and consistency. I mean how many people do you know that say that???
We have still been dealing with the house going wrong. What is that movie called with Tom Hanks from the late 80s where he buys this fancy house and it falls apart on them. It's sort of like that. One day recently we walked in and the molding in our bedroom had collasped in shambles all over our room and carpet. We don't have a vacuum so by hand Grant picked it up for about 30 minutes.
*Side note- Poor Rosemary brushes our carpet with a rough little brush....things we take for granted. We refuse to buy a vacuum here because they are like $300 or more.
Then people came the next day on a rainy day and fixed it, but dragged mud into our room. Awesome. THEN a few days later, we came home to our bathroom floor like a bathtub because our toilet overflowed. THEN yesterday we find out our borehole is broken again and we have to get water delivered to our house in order to do anything for the next 3 weeks. I hope you are laughing after reading that, because we would like someone to find comic relief in our African saga.
Really and truly though, with much effort on my part and of course Mr. Always Positive Grant, we have continued to find ways to be positive and look on the bright side.This experience attests to how easy we have it in the states. Make no mistake people, you are lucky over there!
But we are lucky here too. Because people have to go through so many challenges, heartache and hard times here, they are very compassionate, sincere people with tough skin and a big heart. We have met so many amazing people. I mean we already have a full schedule over this holiday because we have been invited to so many things.
We will be here for 2 weeks and then off on our trip with Maggie (my sister) and her husband Winston. We have lots of fun things planned including a caneoing/camping trip on the Upper Zambizi in Vic Falls. Not going to lie, a little nervous about this one because of all the hippos that live in that water and the fact that I just found out we will be in inflatable canoes. Sketchy. So keep us in your prayers and thoughts over the New Year while we are canoeing with the hippos and sleeping under mosquito nets and the stars.
So to sum it all up, we miss all of you. We miss our friends and family every day and talk about it every day. We can't wait to be home with people we love and Twain's, mexican food, brunch, fish tacos, good beer, baseball, good beer, good beer and good beer. We are ready to get fat when we come home!
Hope this update finds everyone well. We love and miss you all and Happy Holidays. Christmas won't be the same here without you all.

Florence

So here is a link to our Florence pictures. For getting a new camera we didn't seem to take that many pictures, but we had so much fun with Grant's parents. It was relaxing and I promise if we had taken more pictures, it would have just been us eating and drinking wine and I'm sure people don't want to see that over and over.
Click here and check them out- Florence Pictures

Pictures from Tour de Zimbabwe

So I know this has taken a long time but we have been trying to figure out the easiest way to let you all see all our wonderful pictures from mom's trip to see us. So here it is!!! Just click on the link to Picasa and you should be able to see the slideshow of our pictures! If this works we will attach all our pictures from Italy as well! Enjoy!
Here is the link: Tour de Zimbabwe