Merry Christmas from the SA Hixsons! In our series of firsts here in country, we just celebrated our first Christmas eve and day as a family, and for Bethany, her first hot Christmas (90 degrees and a pool party on Christmas eve!). We managed a good Christmas breakfast of homemade cinnamon rolls, bacon and delicious coffee. We had a meager but meaningful offering of presents, as anything we give/receive to one another has to either be used up, given away, or packed within the near future. We also enjoyed cooler weather and rain all day Christmas, which made us feel
... Read morejust a tiny bit more like we were at home. We’ve been blessed to get connected with a great church and were able to worship on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with them.
Our lawyer and social worker both pushed really hard to get our last documents done before Christmas, to no avail. Government offices are now closed until December 27. There’s a slim possibility we get the passport and visa both on the 27th, but realistically the earliest we will be able to begin traveling home would be December 28. It’s likely it will be later, but we hope and pray we’ll be home within a week!
We were able to get some professional photos taken here at the Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens, and we’re happy to share an official family photo. Thank you all so much for your continued prayers! We definitely feel them as discouragement and malaise are never far away.
*******UPDATE*******
So at breakfast this morning (Wednesday 12/27) our lawyer called and let us know Treasure’s passport was ready. We dropped what we were doing, drove the 40 minutes to pic it, dropped it at the embassy and came back out to our place and started the mad scramble to get tickets and insurance and laundry and goodbyes and pack. About 1pm we were told the embassy was finished with her Visa, so we came back in, picked it, and came back out to our place.
We leave Thursday the 28th and get home via Paris and Salt Lake Friday evening!!! (Steve, we won’t make the HCC Christmas party, sorry). I am sure we will be home before some of you even read this, and that makes me happy!!!!!!!!
Prayers would be most helpful. Looking forward to seeing you all so very soon.
-Brad, Andi, Bethany & Treasure