Kenya, part 2

I forgot to mention in Part 1 that on Monday and Tuesday while we were back at Harrison's church waiting on the afternoon Bible study to start, we got to spend a lot of time just playing with the children that were always hanging around the church. We took a lot of sports equipment to give away and it brought so much joy watching them play soccer and learn how to jump rope.

Paul and Thomas

This is Doris, Harrison's second youngest child. She is so sassy and I could just eat her right up!

Just look at this next picture. Really look at it. These are two kids that go to Harrison's church and hung around the whole time we were there. It's such a good picture of how much the older siblings take care of the younger ones. And by older, I mean starting around age 7-8. And bless this sweet boy asleep on his sister's back with raggedy, pitiful clothes on. It makes my heart happy and sad at the same time.

Wednesday was New Year's Day and we were told we would not work that day because everyone would be off and celebrating. So we decided to spend the day at Harrison's house. They had fresh goat for their meal, which is a huge and rare delicacy. They referred to it as steak. Needless to say, we passed.

That would be a freshly slaughtered goat hanging from the tree. Peter, one of Harrison's sons, is holding its head.

I took finger nail polish and painted all the girls fingernails, which they more than loved. My mom had sent small gifts for all of Harrison's family so I gave them those too. A small rubber basket ball from the Dollar Tree occupied the young boys for hours and they were more grateful than any child I've ever seen.

Sweet baby Sharon!

Joshua had this tire 3 years ago and he's still playing with it. He runs around pushing it and stays entertained for hours.

Baby Sharon in an outfit my mom sent.

Look at Doris' dirty shirt. Bless it.

I told Harrison I wanted a picture of the whole family so several of the children went and changed into their Sunday best. Y'all, these people will make your heart melt about a million times a day.

Harrison's family plus one random child. I wasn't about to ask her to get out of the picture.

We were all sitting there having a good 'ol time when all of a sudden the children starting running through the bush yelling. Turns out there were baboons in the mango trees nearby. That definitely added to the excitement of the day. I had no idea they ever came that close to the villages and had only seen them on safari. We got to see several of them but never got a good picture because they were so fast. Paul was especially excited to see them since we weren't able to go on a safari and he could not get over how huge they were. All in all, Wednesday was a day of rest and visiting and lots of memories made!

Thursday we visited what the pastors called the slums of Malindi. Instead of being way out in the bush, we were in the villages right outside of the city. It broke my heart that they referred to it as the slums, because although we could tell a difference between that and further out in the bush, most all of Kenya is far worse of than the slums we have in our city. It was especially hot this day and I actually got a little sick in the late morning so Paul insisted I go back to the hotel for the rest of the day. Let me just say this-you don't want to be in the bush, let alone the SLUMS of Kenya, when your stomach is upset. I hated to miss out on any second of our trip but it was what it was and I was much better later that afternoon. I hate we didn't get any pictures from this day. You have to be very careful what you're taking pictures of because there is either a chance you will offend someone or they expect for you to send them the pictures.

Friday we went to the Indian Ocean to participate in baptizing some members of Harrison's church. This was such a cool experience. Harrison usually goes to the beach at least once if not twice a year to do baptisms. The beach is so close in distance but a pretty far and difficult walk through the bush and over a ton of coral. It's no easy task to get there without a car or shoes, which just brings you so much perspective to watch people eager to make that journey in order to be baptized. We took a car and I even considered that to be some rough traveling. I was holding my belly tight and praying for protection over baby Walker-seriously, that's how uncomfortable the ride was. Anyway, we sang some praise and worship songs and Chuck gave a brief sermon on what it means to be baptized and then it was off to the water.

Saturday was another "off" day so Paul and I went to Sita Hidden Academy to visit. This is a school my mom and I came across back in 2010 and she sponsors two students there. It's a private school and the majority of the children are orphans. Italians are huge tourists in Kenya and the school gets a lot of support from them. Everlyne, the oldest and first student my mom sponsored, just went off to high school (much like our college) so I really don't know when/if I will ever see her again. Most of the students weren't around since school was still out for Christmas break.

Furaha and Everlyne

Look how skinny these poor cows are that belong to the school.



This is Wilfred, a sweet old man who had a heart to start this school after he retired. They were excited to get some PE equipment!

This is the preschool class. Some Italians who visited left Seven Dwarf stuffed animals on the desks for the children to get when they came back from break.

 



 

That afternoon Harrison's church had a kwaheri (goodbye) celebration and service for us. A lot of the new Christians we'd witnessed to earlier in the week came which meant so much to us. We sang, danced and heard testimonies and thanks of several of the church members and Harrison's family. We got a huge cooking pot for Harrison's family and also for when they provide food for church members and others in need. They were so grateful.


Paul and I were given African wraps as a thank you gift from the church and Harrison's family. We thought it was funny that they gave me blue and Paul purple. Just another reminder that that kind of thing doesn't matter there.

Sunday morning Paul, Chuck and I all went to the same church-Christ the King Baptist. It was the same church Paul and I visited and worked around on Thursday. It's the biggest and nicest church I've ever seen in Kenya and was built by a missionary years ago. Paul and I taught Sunday school to the children while Chuck taught the adults and then he preached the sermon. Everyone was SO welcoming and excited to have us there. It was an awesome way to spend our last day in Kenya.

It's very rare to see a keyboard or any musical instruments (other than a stick and water bucket) in a church.

After church we went to see some land where another church we work with is having to move to. The church is Airport Baptist and is right across the street from a small airport that is taking over the land the church is on in order to expand. We first heard about this years ago but things move very slow and they are just now having to take steps to start re-building their church. They plan on moving most of the parts of the building but will still lose quite a bit and they hope to make the church bigger. Chuck is hoping that Calvary will help them financially with this so we went to see the land, get more information about what all they need and take some pictures.

After that the day was pretty much gone and we headed back to the hotel for our last night. Several of the pastors came to say kwaheri. Saying goodbye to these sweet people is always so hard. By this day though, I was really missing Gray and feeling very ready to be home. The hardest part is that I really can't imagine not ever seeing them again because I never know what plans God will have for me going back. This trip was so special since I got to share it with Paul. Now he "gets it". Now he shares the same love for Kenya and the people there that I do. We both hope to go back one day but I doubt it will be anytime soon before we can both go back at the same time and with us having another baby in a couple of months, Paul will probably have a chance before I will. I will certainly treasure every second I've spent there and the relationships I've built and what God has taught me and put on my heart through Kenya.

Snow, times two!

A couple of weeks ago we got our first snow of the 2013/2014 winter. It was no more than an inch but was it was beautiful to watch fall and plenty for Gray to have some fun in. He absolutely loved it, just as we suspected he would. We weren't prepared with a sled or snow gear for the baby but we made do. I went inside to get something at one point and came back to Paul and Gray sledding on a cardboard Sprite box that Paul dug out of the neighborhood. You're probably thinking the same thing I was-gross and redneck! But it made for lots of giggles from our boy and that's all that mattered at the time.

Later in the day we ventured over to the Sowers for more fun in the snow.

On Wednesday of this week we got another snow. The weather people had been predicting it would be a big storm but you really just never know what to expect here so we were once again unprepared with sleds and snow clothes. It started snowing around 12:00 that day and snowed all day and through the night and then started again and snowed huge flakes for several hours on Thursday. We ended up with about 10 inches. It was harder for Gray to play in this time because it was so deep and was mixed with some ice but he sure made the best of it. We took his tricycle out and he even got to watch a snow plow in our neighborhood, which he thought was way cooler than playing in the snow anyway.

Poor baby spent most of his time like this.



This is our sweet boy's face while watching the tractor plow snow.

I can't forget to mention that since Paul knew he was going to be snowed in for several days, he decided it was a good time to start on Gray's big boy bed. He's come a long way in just a few days. Here is the picture of the bed we found on Pinterest...

 

And here is the bed as of yesterday (he's gotten even more done today but I haven't taken pictures yet)...

I'm proud of Paul already and can't wait to see the finished product!

The sun is out today and the snow is melting fast. While it's a little sad to watch it go, I have gotten my snow fix and am ready for spring now. Plus, I need to be back at the gym and not eating snow cream. But that's a whole 'nother story!

Happy Friday, y'all!

It was a good weekend y'all!

Friday started with a play date at our house where Valentine's Day cookies and big messes were made which sums up a successful time had by the youngins (and mamas)! Too bad I didn't get one picture of the cuties covered in sprinkles.
That evening we kept Mason and Landon for a couple of hours. Gray says it doesn't get much better than that for a Friday night. They were WILD! Gray and Landon made laps around the dining room table with only minor injuries, while Paul and Mason put all the couch cushions on the floor to serve as protection for their wrestling match. I have to admit, there were times my blood pressure went up just a tad at the thought of adding another boy to this crazy mix. Gray must have been feeling the same because at one point he went and got his four wheeler helmet out of the closet!





All that playing does a toddler good apparently because Gray slept until 8:30 Saturday morning! Saturday we ran errands which included Target and Costco. Judge if you must, but we totally made a play date and lunch out of Costco. Their samples are delicious and there are plenty of them to go around (take that from this big mama who can put away a gigantic amount of food, pregnant or not) and lots of cool toys out on display.



Paul's parents had seen this Radio Flyer tricycle at their Costco and insisted we get it for Gray and they pay us back. None of us argued. It works for so many different ages and when Walker is big enough to sit in it, Gray can stand and ride on the back. Thanks Nana and Grandpa!

As if Costco didn't already make our Saturday great, it also provided our first matching outfits for the boys. The BOYS-still getting used to saying that! They have Carter's three piece sets for 8 bucks and tons of sizes to choose from so I just couldn't resist. We won't have to buy Walker any clothes but I do want them to have a few matching outfits. I can just picture them in matching sweater vests at Christmas time! These are just little play outfits but still cute.

Saturday night we watched the Winter Olympics and I stayed awake past 10:00, so that it and of itself is blog worthy.

Sunday was filled with church, hanging out with our pastor and Bible Fellowship class in the afternoon and more strolls on Gray's new ride. Oh and Gray "made" us this in his Sunday school class...

The weather idiots folks are calling for more snow this week. While I admit it makes me a little excited, I'd be more excited to see Spring come at this point. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

P.S.-I have three blog posts in draft mode, including Kenya part 2. Third world problems, I tell ya!

P.P.S.-Gray is TWENTY months old today! This time last year he was just starting to crawl everywhere and now we are thinking about his second birthday, big boy room and baby brother. Crazy y'all, just crazy!

Happy Monday!

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