Isnt that annoying when you know lots is going on but there's no new blog entries or photos about it? haha.

This is the picture to go with my dad's entry below: the boys meeting grampa for the first time since Asher was 2 months old.

The boys opening some of a seemingly endless parade of presents. Judah got a sweet new lunchbox - Spiderman! and some stickers, tattoos, cards, a Spiderman figurine, etc. Asher got... nothing. haha.

once Asher got used to grampa

lunch on the deck.

the AJRs (Allan John Reimer; Asher John R.) eating litchis on the deck.

We spend a lot of time on the deck just now. It's such lovely weather (although a bit too warm during the midday if you ask me, but the Manitobans are definteily not complaining).

Eric and Lara arrived late last night - we havent any photos of them yet because they slept until 11! despite my best efforts of banging on their door at 9:30, 10, 10:30... gah. They're all now at the club pool with Judah. My dad went along to pick up Judah from school this morning and brought gifts for Judah's classmates from a coworker. I'm sure there'll be photos posted soon of that.

Mostly there's just a lot of playing and hanging out, wrapping presents. Tonight we're off to the Raphia for dinner and maybe a tree trimming evening... i'm hoping to make a few Christmas goodies to eat while we do that... hm, or i suppose we could wait until Geoff and Brielle get here to do that - we'll see. Geoff texted me Monday night to instruct us not to have too much fun before they got here on Saturday. Haha. I'm very glad they're coming in during the afternoon though, because these two midnight arrivals - with the inevitable chatting and settling in until 1:30am have made me feel like I'm having jet lag! yuck. Anyway, that's done now, so it's relaxing and playing from now on in. Woot, woot!

Sunday we leave for Andasibe/the Rainforest until Tuesday. Until then you may (hopefully) hear/read from some other guest bloggers. Eric's usually amiable for that kind of thing. My mom was quite overwhelmed yesterday with our trip downtown, so perhaps i can persuade her to tell us about it.

hey!!!! we're here. after a 2 1/2 day journey, which included a pretty nice layover in Paris, we have already:
 - spent our first hour (or so) in a sweltering airport getting through the efficient Malagasy customs - ALL our luggage made it!!!! and the meat was apparently still mostly frozen/cold
 - been greeted at the airport by Josh who whisked us through the barely lit parking lot filled with many porters eager to help load the bags for a couple of euros, or as many you'll give them.
 - been welcomed by Jocelyn at her wonderful home (they really have done a fabulous job creating their home since the last time we were here) at nearly 1:00a.m., which is, of course, way past her bed time; we sipped some wine, and chatted a bit until we forced ourselves to go to bed.
 - been awakened at 4:00am by the first cockcrow of the morning; and after donning the AF issue ear plugs and mask went back to sleep till 7:00 or so; not a bad first night's sleep, particularly given the fact that i had slept a total of about 6 hours including our last night in Canada.
 - given our grandsons the first of many hugs; deb actually awoke when asher got up (i think she did) so she had already made initial contact; deb, judah and asher came to wake me at 7:00 and it was a super thrill to see asher dashing to come and greet me while i was still in bed, and then realizing what he was doing halfway there and veering off to the side while running at full speed....'OOoops - who is that guy in the bed? and why i am running at him with such reckless abandon?'; after a few smarties he became a lot more confident. judah, of course, was bouncing up and down and we reconnected with him in a hurry. Meeting the boys this morning is the dream realized.
 - had a fantastic breakfast with our hosts; ate some litchis; drank a few cups of coffee; continued to gain more of asher's confidence; met irene, first of house help to come to work, etc, etc.
josh just said - 'you don't have to write a book', so i'm booking off.

It's 11:32pm. We've already slept almost 3 hours tonight, but now i'm up again blogging while Josh is waiting at the airport.

Friday was Judah's 5th birthday. He felt fine despite fears the day before that he was still going to be feverish and pukey. It was somewhat anti-climactic therefore to have only one gift to open and a normal school day for his big day instead of a party with jacked-up little boys. Alas.

It seems that 'guns' are on the preferred present wish list these years. Judah got 2 large 'double barrel' water guns for his birthday gift from Josh and i. I also made gingerbread men people snowflakes for his school class.

Yesterday and today Josh and i both scored some early windfalls with regards to Christmas treats: litchis from Manakara (?) brought in by Patrick, the other pilot. Apparently they were 2,000Ar for a huge basket full (very approximately 5kg?) We've got more litchis than i'm sure we can eat in the amount of time it'll take before they go bad, but the sight of litchis in the wooden bowl and the heady scent of them as i work in the kitchen is enough to make me think of Christmas... funny. I must be turning into a 'southerner'. haha. I also received half of a 10kg bag of cashews. There is a place near to our house that processes and sells spices and cashew nuts for exporting. We can buy them there in 10kg bags for 50,000Ar/ $25! We tagged along with someone in the know of how to get there and now we're hooked up with nuts for Christmas at 2.50$/kg. Can you imagine!! 5kg gave me 35cups of cashews. Anybody have some tasty recipes we could try out with cashews in it?

So, with the litchis and nuts put up, i also bought armloads of flowers today, my mother's 50th birthday present yesterday at the Christmas Bazaar (i'm really quite jealous of it!), i put up 6 cups of pureed pumpkin so that i could make, among other things, pumpkin pie in the next few weeks and pumpkin bread oatmeal for breakfast tomorrow. I found a delicious recipe on a hostess blog this past week for a chocolate and pumpkin cheesecake! ACK!

Have i mentioned recently how uncomfortably hot it's been in the last few days! gah! I heard today that Jirama (the grossly mismanaged equivalent of MB Hydro) is sponsoring rain cloud seeding to force rain because the water levels are so low and the rice fields are desperately dry. I suppose i was mistaken in thinking that December was supposed to be this rain-free.

Perhaps tomorrow, if you're lucky, i'll cajole a parent into blogging some first impressions.

I've postponed Judah's birthday party which was supposed to have happened tomorrow afternoon. He's still sick this morning with tummy discomfort and shuffles around the house moaning, asking me to bring the puke pail to wherever he settles down. Alas. Lord, give me patience... and heal Judah's body please!

Despite the bummer of not having the party on his birthday, i'm somewhat relieved to be relieved of cake and cookie duty just now. I'm thinking of having a slow day of baking only gingerbread cookies and doing some rejuvenating before the hosting really begins. I'm realizing what the host of canker sores in my mouth has been painfully aware of for a week already - i'm stressed about having so many people in my house! ACK! Although i'm looking forward to having my family here to spend time with them and have them see where/how we live (or, see how things have changed in the 4 years since most of them have been here) and excited to go on vacation to Vakona Lodge and Le Petite Traversee, i'm nervous - i think - about having so many people in my house and the 'logistics' that it will entail: Feeding 6 extra adults, juggling the hot water tank use, and - perhaps most important - the clash of cultural sleep habits. ha. Is it just me or do other Madagascar inhabiting vazahas have visitors who have trouble adapting to living according to sun-time rather than clock time? Or is it just me who is so protective of my sleep? It would be silly if we were all together in the same house but half of us are still on a different time zone than the other half. Ach. I suppose i tend to stress about things that have the habit of sorting themselves out.

It's hot. And the air is heavy. Just the kind of weather one wants for baking Christmas cookies and birthday cakes.

I've been sewing again today. <sigh> I think i'm ready to put ye olde machine away in the storage room for a few months - i've gone sew crazy in the last few months doing gifts and decorations and preparations for guests that i reckon i'm ready for a break from bending over the desk trying to peer under that foot to ensure that the seam is going just so and is aligned just right. I've a mind to sit on the deck for a WHOLE DAY! and read my book and eat... something tasty knowing that all my decorations, cakes and whatnotall are ready for Friday, that my gifts are all finished and wrapped under the tree, that the days of December are all methodically planned for what we'll eat and what we'll do and all that. But it isnt. And i'm (almost) ok with that.

Judah was forced to go to school today for the morning (7:30-11:30) by his mean old mom because yesterday he stayed home (due to his night time vomit) and larked around with utter glee like he was on holidays. Being sick at home from school, in my experience as a child is NOT SUPPOSED TO BE FUN! Harumph! So today he went, although he complained of a headache and had a mildly hot forehead. In my defense, I did say that if he felt terrible he could ask the principle to call me and i'd come pick him up. When i did arrive at school at the end of the morning he was participating as normal. The girl who comes along on our school drive, however, tattled on him that he had been crying in class. Shame. But when i asked him why he told me that yes, he had indeed been crying because he felt bad, but that he didnt want to go home because he wanted to make me proud. Isnt that enough to break your heart? Ach. And now at 3pm he's still sleeping on the couch since he went there to read books right after lunch. Shame. Poor little guy. "Sickness be gone!" i say.

I'm hoping to go to a Christmas cookie exchange with a bunch of missionary women friends this coming Monday - hopefully with my mom if she's feeling up to it after 35 hours of traveling the night before. I'm supposed to bring 3 dozen of one kind of cookie. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Well, enough of a coffee internet break. Back to the sewing machine!