It’s hard to believe I’m writing this from Zambia. After talking and dreaming about this for over three years, we are here. There has been so much build up and hard work from so many people to get to this point. But eventually we dealt with all (or almost all) of the details, packed our many bags, checked them all in, said our goodbyes and were on our way.

Probably the part Caleb and Micah were most excited about was the plane ride as this was their first. The first leg to London consisted of lots of TV shows, some colouring and about an hour of sleep from each of them. Because we had a 12 hour layover in London we decided to get a hotel which was a great decision for our family. The late sunrise in that part of the world made it still feel like night time, we changed into PJs and went to bed. Each of the boys slept a good 6 hours. I, on the other hand, was worried about sleeping through the alarm and missing our next flight so I was checking the clock frequently. But a few hours of sleep, a shower and a room service picnic were definitely nice.

Then came the 11 hour flight to Johannesburg. Micah slept about 5 hours and the rest of us got none. I never expect to sleep on planes but I assumed the boys would. But Caleb happily watched his shows (thank God for individual TVs) and kept busy. I caught up on some movies and worked on my Tetris and Pacman skills.

Finally, we had a short layover in Joburg and were on our way to Lusaka, the capital city in Zambia. Caleb finally fell asleep, dead to the world, resulting in a rough start to his Zambian experience but eventually perked up in the van, all three 4 year-old boys having a lively conversation while the rest of us went in and out of consciousness. We were thankful that all of our luggage made the long journey with us.

Now we’re at a beautiful guest house on the outskirts of the city having just enjoyed 11 hours of sleep. Exhaustion has its benefits when dealing with a seven hour time change. We’re not sure how long we’ll stay here before we make the six hour drive to Macha. The presidential election is on Tuesday and we’ve received varying advice on when to travel. We are also waiting to hear how things are progressing with the new well that is being dug at the school. We can’t completely move into our new homes until the new water source is hooked up. Please pray that process goes smoothly.

Thanks for all the love and support that has helped us get to this point. I can’t believe we actually made it and are about to start our new lives in a part of the world we already love.