Hiatt's in the Congo

 These guys...Cory, Trent, Blaise, Sam and Ragheb...make my day!  When I first got here, my heart was heavy.  I missed my family, friends, puppies, home...and I would cry every day!  I still miss all of those things but I don't cry any more.  I share an office with Trent, Cory and Ragheb.  We laugh, discuss work and family, talk food and recipes and then bring them to share. They have truly become my friends as well as family here!   When Sam came back from his Christmas break, he brought back some nice Westland Safety Vests and they guys were pretty stoked about them!  They call them the "inspector gadget" vests because there are pockets and tabs all over them! When you live where there is no mail system, or delivery, it's the little things that make you excited! Trent, Ragheb, Sam, Blaise, Cory

 When we were home for Christmas, Cory wanted caramel popcorn.  His Grandma Hiatt always made it growing up and then his mom would make it.  He was talking to his aunt about it and she sent him the recipe (in his grandmas handwriting!) All on his own, he went to the store and bought a candy thermometer, big pot and all the ingredients.  His first batch burnt, but his second one turned out amazing!   He brought all the ingredients and the thermometer back with him and had Laurene and Junior over to help him make it. While it was cooling, we played games...they LOVE to play games!     The Recipe...

 When we got back from Utah, Nathan, Sisca's nannies son, came to "Uncle Cory" and told him there are frogs living in the pool! We went to take a look and the pool had turned into a pond!!  They had turned to filter off while they were gone and the stagnate water had turned a nice shade of green.  Like I said earlier, Nathan loves learning new things so Cory decided to enlist his help in draining the pool, pressure washing it, and filling it back up!  Nathan was eager to learn! The Before... They started draining it and Cory taught Nathan how to use the brush to clean the sides. Izzy is in the pink skirt! She is such a sweet heart! In the end...there was one frog sucked up in the drain (he made it out) and many tadpoles that were washed away!  The amount of sludge at the bottom is disgusting! Nathan was excited to use learn how to use the pressure washer but eventually his hand got tired and Cory took over! Nathan was fascinated by how deep the pool was!  W...

 It is still only a small group of us here (Trent, Fanus, Cory, myself, Leonie, and Darius) so Trent had a BBQ Saturday evening.  He is quite the chef.  He threw on the BBQ steak and sausage.  Fanus bought him an air fryer and he was in heaven.  He made blue cheese meatballs with pepper and onions and they were delicious!     Pugsly is missing his family, he came and hung out with us! Later that night, we fired up Trent's new fire pit.  The wood was so wet from all the rain, we threw some gas on it to get it going!  One of the logs was growing mushrooms!  

 In September, Sisca ordered a playground for the compound for the kids.  It finally arrived!  It is quite the process...she ordered in in South Africa and it was delivered to a procurement center in Johannesburg.  We have an account there and anything we need gets put in a shipping container there and when it is full, they ship it up.  It get stopped at the border and put in "hold" where they go through the container and taxes are paid to the DRC for the items inside.   Since last week was kinda slow, Cory and Nathan (the son of Sisca's nanny) put it together.  Nathan was so excited to learn from "Uncle Cory" how to work.  His dad is not in his life so it is just him and his mom.  He does schooling online and spends the day on the compound helping with the kids.  He told me he wants to learn to work so it can help cut the boredom.  

 The day before we left for Utah in December, Cory went and bought the compound a new lawn mower.  Morne didn't trust the gardeners to use it so he told them not to touch it.  When we got back, our grass was out of control.  Because it's the rainy season, it was at least 5 inches tall, longer in other places.  I decided to mow it, and it took days because of rain storms and then allowing it to dry out enough to get it mowed.  Cory ended up finishing it off for me...what a sweetie!

 Cory turned 45 today!  I am so lucky to have him navigate this life together!  Before we left I took him out to HuHot Mongolian Grill for lunch which ended up closing permanently a few days later! This is how he spent his day in Lubumbashi... I went to Top Mart and bought him a birthday cake which we shared with the people at the office. (Only half are back right now). He spent some time showing Rufus, the mechanic for Esor, his lock picking kit. We went to dinner with everyone that was here (half the team is still home for their holiday break).  We went to Catch with Josh, Trent, Fanus, Rufus, Leonie, and Darius. Blaise was going to come but got stuck at his temple recommend interview.  The food was so good, Cory got a hamburger with bacon and an egg.  I got a deluxe grilled cheese with tomato, onion and bacon. At the end, the staff brought out a waffle with ice cream and sang to him!  It was a good day, just wishing we were home with family!  ...

We have learned it takes about a week to get back on a sleeping  schedule!  We have been home one week and we slept through the night for the first time! Cory set up his Christmas present and took a nap on the front porch!  The rain is really starting to pick up here and Wednesday's was a big rain day.  We got 45 mm (1.77 inches) in 1 hour!  It turned the streets to rivers!     I was doing my weekly walk around the temple site for my new job, safety officer, and I found this mushroom! I love taking pictures of wild mushroom!

 We flew out early Thursday, January 4th so we had to leave for the airport at 3:45AM!  Kaylee and Aaron were kind enough to get up and take us! I still get emotional leaving my family and puppies, I miss them so much! We had quite the haul we were taking back! Six suitcases, two carry-ons, two backpacks and two totes. We made quite the scene!  When we were in Atlanta we met 15 missionaries that were headed to South Africa!  Most were going to Johannesburg but 3 were going to Durban.  When we boarded the flight we had Elder Frank from Salt Lake City, sit behind us.  He was a little homesick, it was his first time leaving the country.  My heart ached for him, I could relate on a small scale.  I asked him if I could text his mom for him and said, "please." I sent a text then took a picture of him.  I then gave him the phone to send a quick message.  After being on the plane for 15 hours we were descending into Joburg and it was stormy...