Africa is a Continent, not a Country

One snowy (of course) Saturday in January we went to see the movie about South Africa and Nelson Mandela entitled "Invictus". It was a wonderful movie about Mandela's leadership, the evils of apartheid, and how the national rugby team helped unify the nation at a critical time in their history. I erroneously assumed that Victor and Dennis would know all about this story before we even arrived at the posh midtown cinema in Omaha. As it turns out, the only thing they knew even a little about was rugby, and that wasn't much. This is the latest in a series of lessons I'm learning about how big, how varied, how diverse, and how complex Africa is. Just because something happens in Africa does not mean my African sons know anything about it. Victor is fond of repeating this phrase when I ask a stupid question: "Mum, Africa is a continent, not a country."

So I asked them if they were offended when I referred to them as my African sons. They said that they were not. But then, I am their "North American host mother" and I do fix their "North American food". So I think they are very patient with me. And I'm very thankful for that.

In the Kitchen with Victor and Dennis

Being snowed in AGAIN has given us more opportunities to have fun in the kitchen. Victor is always present and helpful at meal time (maybe because he wants to hasten the arrival of the meal to the table- he has grown 2 inches since he got here!). He sometimes cooks for his brothers at home, so he is not afraid to ask questions and try new things. Dennis is a different story. The cooks at the boarding school do not need helpers, and wouldn't have time to answer questions. So it was a big step when Dennis told me he would like to learn how to make pizza so he could surprise Rose, his sister-in-law (he stays with his brother when not at school). Men are not generally found helping in the kitchen because that is considered women's work in their culture.

For our first try, we started with a pizza crust mix and canned pizza sauce. We doubled everything for obvious reasons (what family of 4 is happy with 1 medium pizza? especially when that family includes growing boys?), used 2 pounds of prime ground beef, and a large cookie sheet for the pizza instead of two round pizza pans. This was a little confusing, though, for Dennis. After we put the finished product in the oven, he asked me if it would come out round! We had a good laugh as I explained that pizzas don't have to be round and that the oven will not change the shape of what we put in. I think Dennis enjoyed the process, though he was wondering if he would be able to take the ingredients home that he would need. Next time, we will make it from "scratch" so he can have a better idea how to do it in Tanzania. And if he wants a round pizza, he might want to add pizza pan to the list of things he wants to take home with him. Rose will be so surprised!

Five Christmases!

We loved having a house full of happy, loving, boisterous, and sometimes crazy family members! They are pictured in front of the Christmas tree, which you can almost see behind Victor's head. Victor and Dennis cut it from the ditch with Dick and it was perfect! We also loved celebrating the birth of Christ not once, but FIVE TIMES with different family groupings.

There are lots of things which made this Christmas memorable in addition to sharing it with Victor and Dennis and our other children from Honduras, Michigan, Des Moines, Ames, and Cedar Falls:
*Being snowed in on Christmas Eve
*Having our own worship service at home
*Opening presents by candlelight off and on
*Getting stuck in a snow drift in the 4x4 truck
*Building a snowman at my insistence
*Making Nigerian chin chin
*Did I mention 5 family gatherings in 5 days????
*football, food, fun, family, fellowship, foul weather, and our forever gift- Jesus!

It is much quieter around here now- of course I cried as I said goodbye to my children who live miles away. And I got hugs from my African sons who are left behind. The world is smaller this year somehow.

Christmas greetings to all!

Snowed In!!

My advice to my African sons when we learned we had some snow days was this: "These days are a gift. Spend them wisely." They took my advice and we had three wonderful days full of: Christmas cookie making, new recipe trying, Nigerian deep fat fried vegetable eating, mouse trap car engineering, snow scooping, snow angel making, fast sledding, movie watching, computer practicing, house cleaning, clothes washing, gift buying, more snow scooping, picture taking, homeworking doing, extra sleeping, truck traveling, table talking, and world-of-white gazing. We loved it. Thank you, Snow!

Preparing for Christmas

I wonder if it is even possible to prepare the boys for a Nichols Christmas. They have already figured out that we start WAY earlier in our celebrating than they do in any part of Africa. Last weekend when I asked Victor if I should email his father a scan of our Christmas letter, he said with shock, "NOW??". He said it was WAY too early and that he would remind me when it was time. I'm counting on that because it's going to get kind of crazy around here and I'll probably forget.

I was telling Dennis about the upcoming craziness that happens when all five kids and our precious daughter-in-law descend upon our house, and he said, "It will be FUN!" It will be much different than his Christmases in Tanzania, where he must avoid his family's Christmas celebrations. He is afraid that if he attends, his father will not let him return to school. My heart aches to think about that. So I will concentrate on making this Christmas wonderful for him. I will have lots of good help.

Apparently, our IRIS coordinator has asked for some information on what will happen at Christmas time in our family, and how the schedule will change. Victor said, "Ashley wants an essay!! The answer will be very long!" It all begins on the 17th when the college kids begin arriving, followed closely by the missionary daughter from Honduras on the 18th. The rest of the crew will arrive on the 23/24th and away we go. There will be non-stop celebrating Jesus' birthday from the 24th to the 28th because we have to do our December/January birthdays in there also. We will go caroling as a church youth group and also as a family, attend church together, enjoy our traditional donut feed, open lots of presents, watch movies, play games, watch football, sleep in, and eat special foods that we don't eat any other time of year.

I hope they are ready, because their schedule is about to get seriously messed up! I hope I survive to write about it when it is all over!!

Thanks....Giving

"Count your many blessings, name them one by one. Count your many blessings, see what God has done!"
My husband's family begins each Thanksgiving celebration with this beautiful hymn, and each year we are truly thankful for our blessings. This year, we count our African sons among our many blessings! Victor and Dennis survived two family gatherings, two gigantic dinners and two afternoons of watching football! Some memories: Victor's amazing pass receptions during the backyard cousin FB game; Dennis' visit to the Care Center in my parents' golf cart; post-movie craziness at McDonald's (go see "Blind Side") where Victor tried to suck a McFlurry out of that special spoon; Dennis' fear of a wild animal he heard crossing the creek (he thought it might be a crocodile but it turned out to be a big buck); Victor's surprise at the "smoke" coming out of his mouth when we left for his early morning BB practice; Dennis helping put up the outdoor Christmas decorations; playing SPOONS!; our own children (now adults) loving their new brothers; the sound of laughter late into the night.
Blessings abound! We do indeed give thanks.

Can't wait for Christmas when we can introduce the rest of our kids to their new brothers. More celebrations! More people! More football! More Blessings!!

How do they see us?

I'd like to be a fly on the wall this weekend when the IRIS students are getting together in Waterloo. What are they talking about? Being teenagers, I think that it is very probable that they may be comparing their host parents, their rooms, their schools, their new friends. Certainly they are talking about family rules and siblings and school activities. Can't you just imagine the stories and the conversations? Well, I can. If I were a fly on the wall..........

"What? Your mom doesn't make you breakfast?? Mine fixes pancakes or waffles every morning. Sure wish I could have some cereal!" Or- "Does your dad keep trying to get you to eat everything in sight?? I think I've gained 10 pounds already!" Or- "Your mom washes your clothes?? You have your own room? You have to clean your bathroom??"


I can't wait to hear about their weekend. Hopefully, they will still be glad that they are living with us after hearing about the other families. Whatever they are thinking, I know they will be glad to get home and we will be glad to see them. And that's enough for me, regardless of the stories I'm sure they told about us this weekend!