Saturday, June 22, 2013

June

I think blog world time travels much faster than real world time. Or maybe my life just travels faster than my blog writing. Either way, it has been a busy few weeks with lots going on so I will fill you in.
      Jon-Marc (Taylor's younger brother) came to visit us here in Lodwar! Our first family member to visit. And in reality only our second visitor to come see us since we have lived here. Jon-Marc was instantly promoted to favorite brother-in-law status. (Just joking all you other brothers...kinda). He was so great and we all enjoyed our time with him. It is difficult to describe what his visit did for our hearts and spirits.
     Taylor has been suffering from kidney infections and stones. Poor guy. We think it is just the result of the harsh climate here. We were thankful he happened to be in Nairobi for a few days and was able to see a doctor and come home with a bag of medicines. Now I just follow him around with ice water. On another health note we are all five currently being treated for malaria. Tricky business this malaria, it has many faces that come and go in a cycle. I always imagine us healthy, but maybe we are not!
    We said good-bye to Amy yesterday. She has been living with us for the last 8 weeks. She is the finance of a new Pioneers missionary that has just moved to Lodwar. They are both from England and she was so fun to have here at our house. Yes, we have all picked up "bits and bobs" of her cute english accent. Now my girls ask where the "loo" (bathroom) and the "rubbish" (trash) is and call each other "cheeky" when someone has been a bit mischievous. She will return to Lodwar after their wedding in November. Her sweet company was a blessing to all of us.We look forward to their return! (this paragraph was actually all written in my new "proper English" accent.)
   And as you will notice in the pictures, we are plus one girl. Akai (Florence) came to live with us about 2 months ago. She is about 12 years old. Her troubling situation came to our attention via a Share staff member. She is living in one of our free standing guest rooms and attends a private school next to our house. We consider ourselves foster parents. But we will love on her and meet her basic needs as long as she is in our lives. She is so gentle and respectful. She has had an extremely tough past few years. We are hoping for her education to continue (she is a few years behind) and be able to have a bit of a childhood.
     SEND Center progress has been going fast and so great! Taylor and his crew have been doing so much work.Currently four structures are underway:  1 conference center, 2 cottages and 1 freestanding restroom. The slabs, footings and columns have been poured. At night of course, as it is too hot for the concrete to cure properly in the heat of the day. Also rough plumbing has been done on the buildings. Walls will be started soon. The progress is so encouraging to see. Taylor has done a wonderful job. Please few the pictures of this amazing work under the "SEND Center" tab of this blog.
    Another great thing is that we will not be homeless in July! Share Int. is in the process of purchasing the house we live in. A balance of about $35,000 was owed and that money has been raised! How awesome is that??? We are grateful for God's provision and all those who gave.


Jon Marc has made it to the middle of the desert! 

Hello Lucy.

Hello Lainey.

Hello Andi.

Coolin' off in the pool with new floats from Hunny and Pops.

There we are. 

Uncle time.

What? Don't your kids climb the coconut trees in your yard when they want a snack?

cheese!

Jon Marc with all the gals. Akai

Our newest addition. Delilah.


A trip out to the lake to visit friends. This is remote folks!

At the island for church and visiting. 

Headed to the airport. Gone so soon?

homeschool crafts! 

poker practice.
 Lainey emerged from this room later shouting " Mama! I beat Daddy at pokers with a full home!"

Amy and me
Taylor inspecting his work. 

Sunday, April 28, 2013

April is nearly gone...

Hello out there blog world! Here I am again. Lets see...since last post...well too much has happened for me to write everything so I will just fill you in on some highlights.

We headed to Nairobi the Saturday before Easter. We had a great time and did not eat a single traditional Easter food. Indian cuisine for lunch if I remember correctly. While there we also had to wait on mine and the girls dependent visas to be stamped. All done and glad to be through that process. We took a 1 hour drive to the mountains outside of Nairobi to some friends cottage and had a blast being secluded from the rest of the world for a few days. Glad we had a 4x4...it is muddy in the rainy season. Lodwar has had a good bit of rain also. When flying over we noticed Turkana is unusually green and has signs of life across the desert. The rivers even had water in them. This is certainly not always the case!

SEND Center had a big week. Concrete pouring! We were so happy to see this progress become a reality. We are also encouraged by continued donations for the SEND Center. (A center to train and disciple local pastors and missionaries to spread the gospel....just in case anyone forgot what the heck we are doing here!) Taylor is doing a great job and I am so proud of him.

So all in all we are doing fine. Kids, school, heat, goats, chickens, cats....all well! Please keep us in your prayers as we continue life here in Kenya.

A picture says a thousand words....good, I am tired of typing.

Rain in Lodwar

Easter egg hunt with Nairobi neighbors

I have no idea where she gets these expressions...;)

Lucy and Lainey

Lucy has no idea she is about to be tackled.

So silly! Yep, that is the N'gong Hills in the back.

"We're done Mama!"

Mixing concrete

Adding it one at a time.

Supervising

working

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

February



Well, this is some sort of record for me! Two blog posts less than three months apart! Amazing. 

We are all doing great. We are busy with school, gardening, chickens, goats....all that sort of stuff. We could be described as healthy and hot. It is the hottest time of year here. Temperatures in the sun are up to 120 degrees F. Inside the house they hang around 90-95 degrees F during the day. So glad for our little A/C units to run at night. 

The Kenyan presidential elections are coming up on March 4. Please pray that they will be peaceful. Five years ago they were not so. We have done some emergency planning and preparation just in case.  

SEND Center Update:


-Taylor received work permit 11/28/12
-Attained all required approvals and signatures on plans by local government to begin construction 2/14/13
-Purchased a diesel engine concrete mixer
-Bought rough hand cut stone from a local quarry. Masons are currently hand chiseling the block to a more exact size.
- Repaired equipment (backhoe) and began bringing in fill dirt to construction site.
-Taylor has 4 months of supplies (lumber, cement, misc. tools...) headed to Lodwar from down country. Supplied from cities in southern Kenya because they are not available locally.


A goat we slaughtered, our watchmen eat EVERY part leftover.  Yes, that is a head and hooves! 

"Fancy Dinner Night" We live in the middle of nowhere in Africa. We like to keep things lively.
The girls loved this and all were so happy to dress up and wear Mama's deodorant and perfume.

hatching chicks

Awesome to watch the chicks emerge.
                                         

yuck, monitor lizards.
Andi, Linah and the lizard.


Everyone wanted a picture with this thing. Even Daniel, Taylor's assistant.
Yes, Taylor killed it with a tribesman's hand made bow and arrow. 

Did I mention we ran out of water? Don't worry, Taylor saved us! 

Chicks doing great!

"Backwards Night" Just another fun night with our girls. Yes, dessert first.
 Lainey even completed our table with backwards spelled name place cards.





This is goat stew cooking outside over my charcoal grill. Who have I become???

Taylor helped a friend repair this machine. They had to bring parts from Canada and Nairobi but it is running great now. The only one in  Lodwar!

dirt!

This guy! I love him and he can seriously do anything! That is Mt. Lodwar  in the background.
A regular African cowboy!

ahhhh....onlookers. 

"Nothin' runs like a Deere" 

lots of stone!

Cut stones for walls
stone