Today I sat with my Swazi friend, who just lost her sister to AIDS. Her sister was only 42, and she is leaving behind 6 daughters, a son, and several grandchildren who don’t have a father in the picture. It…

Emi went to her friend Ellie’s birthday party on Saturday. It was a polka dot party, so everyone dressed in polka dots and all of the food was round. It was a great little party. Ellie turned 5 years old.…

It has been a great few weeks for me here in Swaziland.  I hosted a group from Children’s Hope Chest last week and was reminded again why Jodi and I are here.   We are people from all walks of life…

Happy Christmas from Swaziland! I know it’s a little late for a Christmas message, but I’m learning just how long it can take to write a blog in between feeding sessions of a little one! We had such a great…

Happy Holidays from Swaziland! It has been so nice to have my parents here with us for the past few weeks. They have been enjoying little Emi as she is already growing and changing so fast. Marius and I always…

  I finally received my American passport and I am so excited to be in my new home in Swaziland. I’m with my mommy and daddy, and my grandparents are visiting from the States. Yeah!  We’re going to have a…

Jodi and I would like to introduce our sweet little Emi Adison Deetlefs. We celebrated our 4th Wedding Anniversary on Friday night, and 8 hours later we welcomed Emi into our family.  We had to have an emergency C-section, but…

Marius and I had such a great trip to the States. I got to be a part of my friend Schramm’s Montana wedding, which was wonderful. I got to be with my family lots, and I was able to speak…

      Here are some ads from our local newspaper here in Swaziland that I have really enjoyed.  Somehow the difference between first and second prize seems a bit, well, less appealing.   I’m dropping Jodi off at the…