Our LAST breakfast with two of our elders,

Elder Burdick and Elder Clement

on the last p-day we were in Debre Zeyit.

(Elder Napier and Elder Nzime were in Addis

working on visas and work permits.)

Our last day in Adddis Ababa…. had to snap a 

picture of the NEW fence along the light rail!

It is nearing completion in one section by Holy City!

Lunch with Elder and Sister Moses and our last mix-eds

in Ethiopia…. We will MISS them!  (The Moses' AND the mix-ups!)

Saying goodbye to Eyob, Mesi and cute Daisy

in Meganagna

What an AWESOME couple!!

Our last visit to FUJI PHOTO 

We had to get a picture of our friends there.

I went there a LOT to make prints for the members. 

Aregu, a non-member at our Youth and YSA Conference,

was baptized just before we left!  What a happy day!

Elder Burdick baptized him.  He and Elder Payne taught him.

Relatives of Dak and Nhial, two new converts in our

Debre Zeyit Branch from South Sudan

These kids are SO excited about the Church!!  

It was SO hard saying good-bye to Tariku and to the great

elders in Meganagna that we have grown to love!

(Elder Severe is in the sunglasses.)

We got to say good-bye our last afternoon in Ethiopia and visit

with our cute elders there.  We flew home that night….

Elder Dramadri, Elder Taylor and Elder Williamson (ZLs), Elder Mair and Elder Workman

Kalkidan in the red shirt left on his mission the week after we got home!  We taught him in 

institute during the summer when we lived in Addis Ababa and worked at the mission office!

We left Addis Ababa at 11:40 p.m. on Tuesday, January 27th, flew to Frankfurt,

Germany, then to Los Angeles and arrived in Phoenix on Wednesday, January 28th

at 6:34 p.m. !!  What a FUN reunion it was with our family!!!!!

We LOVED seeing ALL of our darling grandkids and the fun signs Jamie made!!

This was taken before we got there…. All of our grandkids in order of age!

Ages: 17, 16, 16, 15, 15, 15 (by ONE day), 13, 13, 12, 11, 11, 11, 11, 10, 9, 9, 8, 6, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2!

We're home!!!!!!!!!!

Our kids

Our kids and their spouses

Our grandkids

We had a private room at Tia Rosa 

for dinner!  Yum!!  Ü

It is GREAT to be home!! 

What a WONDERFUL 18 months!!

We LOVED our mission and will ALWAYS 

remember our friends in Ethiopia.  They have changed our lives forever!

Timkat, the biggest holy day in Ethiopia was Sunday, Monday

and Tuesday (Jan. 18-20). We drove home on Sunday just in

time to see the procession….  It is in celebration of Jesus' Baptism.

Everyone dressed in traditional clothing and even the

varies were decorated!

We stopped and ate at the Indian Restaurant in Debre Zeyit

on Saturday night.  This is Krisna from India, our friend and

the owner of the restaurant.

We took our elders to lunch on Elder Payne's

LAST day in Debre Zeyit before he flew home.

(L-R):  Elder Napier, Elder Workman, Elder Payne

and Elder Burdick

Elder Workman and Elder Payne walking down

the road from their house on his last day...

We welcomed our NEW elders to Debre Zeyit ~ Elder Nzime sitting 

and Elder Clement on the right ~  and said goodbye to Elder Payne

on the left.

We drove to Addis on Wednesday, Jan. 21st to pick up Bob

and Martha from the airport for their ONE DAY stay in Ethiopia!

We stopped by the Meganagna building and they were having 

mutual, playing a card game with Sister Moses.

We met Bro. Jackson's son at the Meganagna building to get a 

painting (the LAST one he did) to take home.  Bro. Jackson

was from the Congo and taught Gospel Doctrine in Meganagna

Branch but passed away a few weeks ago…. We were afraid

it was too late to ever get one of his paintings.

Bob and Martha got in around 9:00 p.m. and we visited at the SIDRA

where we stayed overnight.  Then after breakfast, we drove to  Debre Zeyit

to show them where we have lived and worked for 13 months!

We took them to the Kuriftu Resort  on Lake Kuriftu, for lunch, 

then stopped at the Pyramid Hotel on Lake Bishoftu to show them another lake.

Rick and Carla returned from way down in Southern Ethiopia and came
to the hotel to visit at 5:00 p.m. so we got a picture of all of us.  (It only
took about 12 shots to get a GOOD one!! Haha!!)

Then we all went in a van to the Habesha 2000 cultural restaurant

near Edna Mall.  It was an AWESOME show and we had traditional

food too.  This is the outside of the building ~ St. George Church in

Lalibela and King Fasiledes' Castle!

I got mostly video of the dancers and singers.

Our enjera, with the wats and tibs….

One last picture of me with my two brothers before we went to bed….

(Ray passed away 8 years ago the day before, Jan. 21st.)

Here are more photos from the branch activity on Saturday, January 17th, and also from Tigist's 20th birthday celebration on Sunday, 18th, and the beginning of TIMKAT late that afternoon on our way home.

Fasika (Primary Pres. on my left) and Marta (Primary Couselor)

with Tutu and Tigist, Marta's sisters and Amen, her little boy

 

Tesfaye, Bob's good buddy and Marta's husband

The kind of dress that Ethiopian women

wear around the house 

(A gift from the Relief Society)

Bob's shoes that go with his traditional outfit,

a gift from the branch

My "netela" (traditional scarf) that the

Relief Society gave me along with pretty blue

earrings, necklace, ring, and bracelet!

(A "selfie" with my iPad)

"Cookies" for dessert at Tigist's party ~ deep-fried with green 

cabbage, carrots and onions inside

Tigist and her dad Ayele, the first member in 

Debre Zeyit, first Branch President and first

District President.

Ayele and his wife, Belaynesh with their grandson

Tutu, Tigist and Salem with Euale

The girls instructing me on how to wear my 

new netela….

Tigist's brother gave them a sheep after Christmas

so it was tied to the front porch.

American birthday cake and Ethiopian birthday dabo

The BIRTHDAY GIRL

Elder Wold making sure the gorilla was 

in on the celebration….

Tigist and her friends

Blowing out all 20 candles!

Showing us some Ethiopian traditional dancing….

On the way home to our house, we got to our street JUST in time

to take some video of the procession for TIMKAT with hundreds

of other people!

Every town you see has flags up across the streets 

for Timkat this week