Wednesday, May 20, 2009

More vacation pictures

Josh didn't eat as much sand as I thought he would!
Emily and Bethany enjoyed every minute together

Evan's super smile


Is he a big boy or what? (I'm talking about Joshua, not Eli.)



These days if I can't find Isaac, I just need to look up in the trees. He's in that stage where he's always gotta be climbing something.

Beach Vacation

Four perfect days on the Kenyan coast. We stayed at a lovely all-inclusive hotel, ate a lot of food, and spent most of our time in the water. The weather was great and we so enjoyed being there with our friends the Greenes. Here are a few highlights:


Bethany and Josh enjoyed the pool together

a paddleboat excursion

Isaac learned lots of new tricks in the water

Guy time at the beach


Too much fun - all tired out!

Sunday, May 17, 2009

An incredible, unexpected gift


Last week we had the joy of sharing a few hours with Jason, Heather, and Caleb Fader. Jason and Caleb are Eli's brothers and Heather is our wonderful sister-in-law. It worked out that Jason and Heather arranged a 23-hour layover in Nairobi on their way to Ethiopia to meet their new daughter they will adopt in the next few months. When Caleb, who lives in Uganda, heard of this plan, he hopped on a bus and drove to Kenya in time to spend that night with us. It was an amazing time.
Jason and Heather flew in at 7 pm so we stayed up most of the night until 4 in the morning, talking, catching up, and laughing a lot. We also had a mini-Christmas since they brought at least one full suitcase of things for us that we needed/requested from the States.
We never could have dreamed we'd get to see these family members but God gave us this incredible gift and we sure enjoyed every minute we spent together!

Monday, May 11, 2009

Greetings from Nairobi

We sure are thankful to have a nice break. We arrived in Kenya on Thursday afternoon and our first stop was a burger joint where we made quite a scene gobbling down burgers and french fries. I think we must have looked like we hadn't eaten in a few days.
Today we got back from a wonderful weekend at Rift Valley Academy where we spent a few days revisiting our alma mater (on our ten year anniversary from graduation) and enjoying a few days with my little brother Stan who is in the tenth grade. One of the highlights was watching Stan play rugby - it brought back memories of watching Eli play while we were in high school.
Tomorrow we have a delightful surprise: we get to see our sister and brother in law, Jason and Heather Fader, and possibly even Caleb Fader. Jason and Heather are on their way to Ethiopia to meet their new little girl that they're hoping to adopt in a few months. They planned a long layover so we could spend the day together. Caleb, who is working in Uganda with the Peace Corps, is planning on joining us if he can get a bus here tomorrow.
The following day we fly to the coast for four days at SunNSand Beach Resort with our friends Phil and Emily Greene and their two children. Could it get much more fun than this? I don't think so!!!

Why does sickness like to hang around so long???

Only a few days after returning from our trip to Kenya, Judah started spiking high fevers. We took him to our clinic here in town for blood ...