Well, just in case anyone is checking this website I have to completely apologize that I did not keep you informed as to what has happened with our summer. We've dropped a lot of balls this summer and this is one of them. I will refer you to a new website www.caringbridge.org and then just type in my name AmyLillestrand. It will take you to our newest updates and explain why we didn't get to go to Zambia this summer after all.

Just two weeks away....

Well, we're a little less than 2 weeks away from leaving for Zambia. I think we're all starting to get really excited even though we are still uncertain of a lot of the details of our summer. It is difficult to plan when we live so far away so we are really trusting our African friends to set everything up for us. We've come to realize that they work on a little different time frame than we do in America! We do know that there will be 23 of us living in 2 houses (6 bedrooms each) and traveling together to 3 different cities. We'll be spending the majority of our time on the college campuses speaking with college students but I'm also really excited about joining some friends and some others from their church in the city of Ndola for a week. I'm most excited about spending some time in the orphanage during that week. Ellie just told me (she's sitting right next to me) that she is most looking forward to seeing some animals in Africa - I hope she's not disappointed!

We've gotten all of our shots (the kids had to get 2 or 3 each, depending on what they may have had as infants) and are getting ready to start our anti-malaria medicine. We saw a travel doctor at a travel clinic (did you know those exist? travel clinics?) at Riley Hospital here in town and he was very knowledgeable about all that we needed to go to Zambia. He also gave us some great tips on helping the kids take medicine, and how to stay healthy while we are there.

Probably the next time we write we'll be in Africa. Would you pray for us? That we would stay healthy, that we all would travel well (including all of our luggage) and that our last two weeks here would not be stressful.

Thanks!

Here we go!

This is the first official post of the Lillestrand family blog!
We've set this up as we head out to Zambia for six weeks this summer. Check back to see our photos and to hear what each of us is experiencing on our summer adventure.