The exploits of Mattias - at 6 months

Mattias had his 6 month check-up yesterday (at 6 months and 3 weeks old) and received a clean bill of health from the pediatrician - and 3 immunizations. We are so thankful for his good health & growth! Here are the stats on our Mr Solid: 

2 ft 4 inches tall (85%), 19 pounds 8 oz (75%)

He is a very happy, easy little boy (despite somewhat unpredictable nap duration on some days...). He LOVES his big brother, and absolutely lights up when he sees Timo. They like to try and wrestle/tackle each other now, and play together in Timo's crib. Mattias also loves the jolly jumper, going for walks, and bathtime.

We've had a lot of cool, rainy days this month but on a few occasions he has gotten to sit outside on a blanket and watch Timo play basketball. One day he sat happily playing with toys the whole time I mowed the grass (no small task!). Don't worry, it's a push mower, so it's safe and quiet.

Classic scene of a happy childhood!!

Here's Timo and Jim hard at work "shoot basketball hoop", as Timo says.

Rusk Time

No surprise here... the newest member of the family also likes rusks!!

Mats is gnawing on a cardamom rusk and doing a very respectable job of turning it into mush.

This particular batch of rusks has a mysterious story. Our normal homemade rusks (or should I say, Jim's) is the South African version. We LOVE these, and Jim makes several very good versions. They are hearty, mostly-healthy, very crunchy - perfect for dipping in coffee for a quick breakfast or an afternoon teatime. (It's possible that I am snacking on one right now with my afternoon coffee...) Plus we have lots of good associations with them because we ate them on a daily basis while in Cape Town. 

The Rusk Tin, which I got at a second-hand store in Cape Town

 

 
However, this last batch (which, shockingly, I made - I never make the rusks; Jim is so good at it) was another style, called "Cardamom Rusk". We have had the recipe in our box for a while but never made it. They are more a Dutch style or American style - sweeter and not as crunchy, though still extremely yummy. The recipe was given to us and says "from M Cox" on it, in her handwriting. Now for the mystery. I thought a family member gave us this recipe from her collection, which was written out by her friend, "M Cox." But, no! The person from whom I thought we were given this recipe says that indeed she didn't pass it on to us. So - who DID? Where did this recipe come from? Who is "M Cox"??? Any clues out there from our faithful readers?  

*Note: to make a vegan version of the Cardamom Rusk, I substituted soy buttermilk (soy mixed with apple cider vinegar) and flaxmeal for the egg.

And for fun - photos from the archives of the older two at this age. Boy, we sure do have round-headed, dark-eyed, sparsely-haired (is that a word?), cute children! Gemma wins for chubbiest wrists. Timo wins for most hair. And Mattias wins for tallest.

Gemma at 6 months - first rusk!

Timo at 7 months

Africa & Europe #2

Here is part 2 of my recent trip to Africa and Europe. This second post is about my visit to Black Forest Academy in Germany en route home from Africa. See my previous post for details about why I was visiting. 

Below are some pictures of this beautiful corner of Germany, as well as our good friends who are currently serving there, the Greathouses, Cagwins, and Adams.

I arrived on Saturday morning after an all-night flight from Ethiopia. To help me stay awake, Chris and I went for a walk around Holzen, the small village in which they live and not far from Kandern, where BFA is located. Here we are admiring someone's well-ordered wood.

Good friends from Wheaton College days, Joel and Kristen Cagwin, and their four children. I stayed with them, which afforded us many hours of conversation each evening. It was wonderful to catch up on each others' lives. They live in the same neighborhood we lived in when we were at BFA 10 years ago!

Chris and Jenny Greathouse with their four children. We met the Greathouses at BFA's new staff orientation in 2002, and have remained good friends ever since.

Jay and Nancy have been at BFA for many years. They played an important role in welcoming us into the BFA family when we arrived. It was so much fun to see them again! We enjoyed a meal together at a  German restaurant (what other kind might we choose!?) in Sitzenkirch, a village not far from Kandern.

Herring with cream sauce and spaetzle.

Wienerschnitzel and fried potatoes.

Great German beer with a great German meal!

Downtown Kandern.

Vineyards on the edge of Holzen, just outside Kandern.

A cool old barn in Holzen.

The lovely little church in Sitzenkirch.

Chris is the assistant principal of BFA's middle school.

The fountain and church in the center of Kandern.

Africa & Europe #1

In April I had the privilege of spending 4 days with Christine Mutua, the director of our MA program in East Africa, and her wonderful family: husband Daniel, and children Hope, Shalom, and Fadile. It was a restful, fun time during which I enjoyed their hospitality as well as the beauty of northern Tanzania. 

Specifically, they took me to see Ngorongoro Crater, an incredible natural phenomenon and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is the world's largest caldera (Merriam-Webster says: "a volcanic crater that has a diameter many times that of the vent and is formed by collapse of the central part of a volcano or by explosions of extraordinary violence"). During rainy season, it is filled with an amazing array of animals. Enjoy the pictures below!

From Tanzania, Christine and I flew to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to meet with the leaders of a theological college there to discuss potentially partnering with them to offer our program to leaders in Ethiopia. I spent the summer after high school (1997!) in Addis, so it was really fun to return and see how the city has changed, which it indeed has. Far more tall buildings and far fewer herds of goats and cows trekking through the traffic-jammed roads than 18 yrs ago.

From Ethiopia, Christine returned home and I flew northwards to another place I haven't visited in a long time: Black Forest Academy. Julianna and I were missionary teachers there in 2002-2004. It was wonderful to be back in the bucolic Black Forest region and to see the school. Even though most of our friends have moved on, some have remained, such as good friends Chris and Jenny Greathouse, plus the arrival two years ago of Wheaton friends Joel and Kristen Cagwin. Chris is starting a Leadership Center at the school designed for both students and staff. Since part of what we (DAI) do is consulting, I stopped through to see if we could assist in some way (our mission is leadership development, after all). 

Enjoy the pictures of these excursions in this and the following posts.

First up, a visit with Christine Mutua, a member of our MA Admin Team, and a day at Ngorongoro Crater. Then, a few pictures of our visit to Ethiopia (mainly food with one pic of our hosts).

I'll post pictures of my visit to Black Forest Academy in post #2 to follow.

My colleague Christine with her family at their home in Arusha, Tanzania. I had a wonderful few days with them!

A day in exploring the wildlife of the Ngorongoro Crater.

Next stop: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Our lunch: injera be wot together with our hosts.

Let the fun begin!

After we've finished. Yum!

With our hosts, Semeon and Frew, both administrators and leaders of a theological college in Addis, Ababa. Christine and I were visiting to discuss the possibility of partnering with the college to offer our MA in Organizational Leadership in Ethiopia.

Enjoying an after lunch macchiato. 

First banana

Here's Mattias trying out banana for the first time - he was able to hold onto the fruit and get it into his mouth without a problem, but he is still figuring out how to swallow and how to then reach down and pick up smaller bits that have fallen on the tray. I gave him the bottom third of the banana and cut off about a half-inch of the skin from around the top. That way he can grip the skin and gnaw the soft part on the top.

the bib is just as yummy