A day of life in Lodwar

Here are a few pictures to help see what "everyday" kind of looks likes for our family.

Hum...well...this is Taylor slaughtering our first (and last) goat. Also pictured are Mary our house worker, Marco (well the back of his head anyway) and Thomas our 2 full time watchmen. They were impressed that a mzungu (white man) could slaughter! That is what you get when you marry a man from the south :) And yes, the girls watched and loved every minute of it.

Taylor hung this swing up in our compound. It is on a high branch of a huge acacia tree. As you can see it can go quite high! Look away grandmothers! 

This is the girls playing with one of our watchmen's baby and wife. Also pictured is Lyniah, our 7 yr. old neighbor.

The girls LOVE the 20 chickens we have. They spend hours playing/harassing them. This is Andi and Lainey with "Mrs.Fat"

This is a ververt monkey. They are described as "cheeky" monkeys that are very curious.  They come to our compound twice a day and are fun to watch but can be quite mischievous. We are minus one pet turtle because of them...

Lucy. I love this picture because my mom has a picture  of me that is almost identical, chicken and all.

Way to go girls! We collect eggs from our hens. We are allowing 2 hens to keep their eggs so the girls can see how this whole "chick hatching" happens.

This is the gecko that lives in my bathroom. He is only allowed to stay because he helps control the gnat and mosquito population. They are all over the outside of the house also.

Ahhh...sliced bread.... a modern luxury! It usually arrives to Lodwar under somebody's luggage or a cage of chickens strapped to the top of a bus from Eldoret, an 8 hour drive. It is usually smashed and must be "hand ironed" before making a sandwhich.

In loving memory of "Alissa Marie" the dessert tortise. Found missing from her enclosure in March. We suspect it was the monkeys. They had been poking around her cage stealing her mango peels...if we only knew they would be back later for more than just mango peels! 

Beef Samosas. This is a Kenyan food that is similar to an egg roll.  Not too bad, but also not too good for you as it is deep fried like most of their other favorites!

"The Watering Hole" All our drinking, cooking and tooth brushing water has to be run through this filter (thanks Moore Family, we use it everyday!) Once filtered, I refrigerate the water and then add ice and put it in the small water cooler, so we always have ice cold water available. The water straight out of the filter comes out at about 95 degrees. Not so refreshing on a 110 degree day!

We have borrowed a washing machine from some friends here but no drier. Yep,  "we let it all hang our here"!

Our compound backs up to the River Turquel. Its level stays pretty low, but it is fed from the mountains in Uganda. Every afternoon it is filled with laughter from kids playing. Across the river you can see some small mountains.

Kilpatrick Acamedy of Early Learning is in session!They love school ! Here they are finishing up our lesson on rain forest with a parrot art project.

Everyday at 4pm we go swimming in the only pool in town. It is right out the porch door! Taylor redid the plumbing and installed a new pump (isn't he awesome?) and we have been up and running for a few weeks. Andi and Lainey swim great with no floaties! Lucy is still "practicing" but she loves jumping in and going under. She has to be convinced into wearing the "floaties of shame". Love it! 

Our yard is an oasis in the desert. There is nothing else that even comes close to comparing it here in Lodwar. It is full of beautiful, tropical plants and flowers, birds and butterflies.