Keeping it real

I realize that my kids will probably read all this stuff that I write about them one day and after that last post I feel like I should do some clarification so they don't get the wrong idea. Gus does cry sometimes. Ford has worked hard to earn the nickname "The Hornet" and Claire is sometimes so whiny that I want to dunk my head in a bucket of cold water to escape having to endure one more whiny sentence. So there, kids, you are sweet and smart and funny but you are also real kids and some days you wear me out. But I wouldn't trade it for the world and I love you.

My Sweet Kids

What a fun summer it has been with these three. It has flown by with all the excitement of welcoming Gus into our family and getting settled into our new way of life with three little ones. Sometimes I feel like an octopus trying to do 8 things at one time but I'm thankful for my experience as a waitress and a nurse that has made me somewhat of a master multi-tasker and that makes my life possible. Here's some updates on the kids for those interested . . .

Claire is 3 1/2 now and just a doll. She and her Daddy have a slobbering love affair going on :) that is fun for me to watch. She loves to just stroke his face and tell him how much she loves him and he calls her his "sweetie" and yearns to spend time with her. They are planning a date for sometime in the near future and she talks about it all the time. Claire is bright and thoughtful. She and Ford have really hit a stride in their relationship where (most days) they play together nicely and I get to hear giggles and laughter and silliness coming from her room where they like to play. She loves Gus and tells him so about 20 times a day. She is a huge help - getting me diapers, finding a lost paci in the back seat, pretty much whatever I ask her to do she does with a smile and a loving heart. She loved gymnastics and ballet this summer. I can tell she has gotten stronger and more flexible since she started both. She has also finally learned to pedal a bike. It took forever but she finally has it. Since we are starting homeschool in Kenya I thought I would start building in some time each day to have some school time. To my surprise she is really excited about me being her teacher because she "wants to be with me all the time . . . forever". I know she won't always feel that way so I'm relishing in it now. We spend some time each afternoon after the boys are down for their nap doing some "school papers" (workbook pages), starting her handwriting curriculum (Handwriting Without Tears - awesome) and reading. Her not me. Yep she can read. I know, she's 3. She just knew all the letters then she knew all the sounds then she just started sounding words out and asking me how to spell everything. Now she reads little books. So fun! She is excited about moving to Kenya and asks me a lot of really thoughtful questions about it all the time. I show her as many pictures as possible so she can have a mental picture of our new home. I also kind of promised her that we would get a dog and a bunny (Rhett doesn't know this yet - I guess he will now) I think I can sell him on it because I hear we need a dog as a security system and a bunny is a great pet for a 3 year old - it just hops around our yard and eats our scraps. We will deal with when a big bird of prey swoops down and takes Flopsy away when and if that happens. The other day I had to tell her that her grandparents wouldn't be at her birthday party in Kenya. This obviously made her very sad and she said she didn't want to go. She told me instead she wanted to go to "that place where they grow pineapple and there are no snakes". I asked her "Hawaii?" Her response "Yeah - Hawaii - that's where I want to go!".

Ford . . . oh sweet Ford. He hasn't changed much since the day he was born. SWEET. Just a pleasure to know and be around. He is very tough and playful and boyish but yet still tender and gentle. He is so loving (minus a few hairpulling episodes with his sister). He loves to play outside and cries and cries and cries when we make him come in. He loves to throw balls, or rocks, or sticks or whatever. He loves to jump off of just about anything too. His vocabulary is increasing everyday. He says cute things like "I wanna EAAAATT!". He doesn't know the words to his favorite songs (Twinkle, Twinkle; ABCD; God Our Father) but he knows the tune and makes up the words as close as he can as he goes along. His favorite book is Good Night Moon. He could find that mouse on every page the second time we read it. He keeps a few books in his bed and I will find him in there long after bedtime just browsing the pages enthralled. He welcomes Rhett or me home with a huge, running, arms wide open hug and a "Mooommmmyyy! or Hi Daddy!" in the cute way only he can say it. He says good bye to everyone with a big kiss square on the lips. He tells us when he has a poopy diaper (holding off on training until we make our move). He eats everything and loves cookies. He falls asleep at precisely 1pm every day and sleeps until 4pm. He goes to bed again at 7pm and wakes up at 730 am. You can set your clock by him. He has almost learned his colors but he calls pink "Claire" which I think is pretty cute. He also points out letters and calls them all "E". He has no idea we are moving to Africa - how much can a 22 month old understand about that? But I think he will be pretty psyched about it once he realizes all of the outdoor potential.

Gus is almost 4 months old. He is a carbon copy of my other two babies - really delightful and fun. He eats well, sleeps well and is really adaptable. I'm trying to let him settle into a routine but it's a challenge with these other two in tow and all that entails. There have been few naps in his cradle and many, many naps in the car seat and swing. Hopefully as school starts after Labor Day I can let him get at least two of his naps in his bed around the carpool schedule at school. We will see. Gus is full of smiles and makes lots of cute little noises. We are currently battling out whether or not he is going to suck his fingers (his preference) or a pacifier (my preference). He only cries when he gets too tired and other than that just kind of hangs out with us! He has rolled over a few times from front to back which I think is earlier than my other two. I don't know how much he weighs right now but he looks very healthy to me. Verdict is still out on his eyes. We thought blue in the beginning but now I'm not so sure. Rhett is hopeful he will pull through and have brown eyes like him. I'm hoping for a sweep with blue - we will see! He is dearly loved by all of us and has been the perfect addition to our family.

I've composed no less than 5 mental blog posts in the past few weeks. I just can't get them down. My parents are here for a visit for the next several days so maybe I'll be able to catch up!

Babyland General

We took a quick road trip this weekend during a whirlwind two days in Athens and drove up to Cleveland, GA - home to Babyland General and the Cabbage Patch Kids. What a fun place! I have such fond memories of this place as a little girl when I adopted my Cabbage Patch Kid fresh from the patch. Claire had a great time too. Very little, if anything, has changed in all of these years since I was last there.

Meet Cate Elizabeth - the newest member of our family (and yet another thing to pack for Africa ;) She is just adorable and Claire is a wonderful little Mommy to her. She chose one with brown eyes since all of ours have blue and Daddy feels left out being the only one with brown eyes in our family (although I'm starting to think Gus might be switching over to the brown team - we will see). Claire feels bad that I don't have a brother or a sister so she said that Cate could be my sister. So sweet. We saw several "Cabbage Births" during our visit. I laughed out loud when the "doctor" said he was giving Mother Cabbage and "easy-otomy" during the birth. I guess you can find humor is such things after you have birthed three babies!

For those of you unfamiliar with the whole Babyland General concept this all might sound kind of strange. Picture a hospital with a nursery, NICU (yes, real isolettes), a bathing/weighing area behind a big glass window and various other arragements of Cabbage Patch Kids (as school, playground etc.) Every so often they announce over the intercom that Mother Cabbage is in labor and everyone runs to this big tree where a doctor comes and assists in the "birth" of a Cabbage Patch Kid. They do an ultrasound during the birth process and if the TV screen is pink- girl and blue, well you know. I remember after the kid was born being able to yell out names to name them but today the ones born were already claimed so the little girls got to watch their very own CPK being born then name it themselves. We chose to adopt one from the nursery with a hard head and a slightly lower pricetag. We still got a great birth certificate and Claire got to name her. She chose "Cate" - I asked if she wanted to spell it with a "K" or a "C" and she chose "C". I've always liked it spelled that way so I was glad. I think Elizabeth is in honor of "Emily Elizabeth" of Clifford fame.

Ford stayed behind with Pa Pa to play ball and swing outside. He wouldn't have appreciated it but Gus was a fun compainon for our day and can check it off of his places to visit. Overall a very fun day with lots of memories for Mommy too!

Orientee

We have spent the last 4 days here in Boone, NC at Samaritan's Purse HQ doing orientation for World Medical Mission. It has been a really fun time meeting other people in the post-residency program as well as some other international field staff. We have learned lots of new abbreviations and acronyms :) and have been introduced to the incredible ministry here at "SP". Seriously, this is an amazing operation. SP has several different branches of ministry including one of the best and most comprehensive disaster response programs in the world. If there is any sort of natural disaster Samaritan's Purse is there - usually first - to help. There is also Operation Christmas Child - you know the shoe boxes collected around the holidays. It may seem kind of silly but wow - these shoe boxes of gifts go all over the world and open many doors to ministry and discipleship. There are a number of other smaller ministries and projects going on all over the world and of course there is World Medical Mission which is the organization of which we are now a part. The main purpose of WMM is to send physicians short term (a few weeks to a few months) to mission hospitals all around the world to supplement or relive the staff there. In addition, the Post- Residency Program sends physicians to serve for two years directly out of training. We are SO thankful to be apart of this ministry. The people we have met this week- post residents, families and all levels of leadership at WMM and SP are just wonderful and so encouraging. I will link our blog wilth some of the post residents soon so you can stalk them and read about their journeys as well. The people and families we have met this week are going to Ecuador and three different hospitals in Kenya. There is another orientation group next month with more folks headed in different directions!
So one of the many expressions that has been added to my vocabulary this week is "on the field". Example: "If you need anything while you are on the [mission] field let us know and we will help you". What does this mean "on the field"? When I hear "field" I just automatically think of a sports field. Actually the mental picture I get is of the Clarke Central High School (my alma mater) soccer field at night with the lights on (I played a few games there while I was in high school). Anyway, I got this mental picture and starting day dreaming of us getting prepared to get "on the field" to play in this really important game . . .

Right now we are kind of on the sidelines getting warmed up - getting our equipment sorted out and fitted properly, reviewing the plays, stretching and assessing what is going on in the game. Our coach, Scott, and water girl, Mary Elizabeth (hee hee) are making sure we have what we need and doing some last minute preparation as we prepare to take the field. (Scott is the PRP director and ME is his assistant). We are asking some of the other players on the side lines about their game plans too.

But wait there are more than just the players and coaches at the game! There are lots of people that make it possible for us to play. The fans in the stands make it financially possible for us to play with their ticket sales and consession stand purchases and the game would seem odd without their applause and cheers. If we get knocked back on our heels during the game the crowd can spurn us on with shouts of encouragement or cheer when we make a goal! There are also the people we can't see that are making the game possible like the guy in charge of the lights and field maintenance. These people are like the support staff that do the invisible and often thankless jobs in missions like travel logistics, guest house hosting, hospitality, accounting or other important jobs like IT or biotechnology which are essential to the success of our mission - without them we wouldn't have a surface to play on and we couldn't see what we were doing.

So here we stand on the sidelines finally ready after a lot of practice and preparation - admittedly a little anxious but also really excited in a "butterflies in my stomach" kind of way. We are ready to get "on the field" with other missionaries who are doing this thing! We are waiting for the coach to send us in and as we take our first slow steps onto the field we are keeping our eyes on the Captain of the team who has already gone before us. We are looking to Him for direction. Not only is he the Captain of this team - He created this game and knows how to play better than anyone. So we look to Him to guide us and teach us as we play. He promises that He won't leave - He will be there guiding us every step.

OK, I know at this point my analogy is getting pretty silly and theologically weak but it was just a flash of a picture in my mind today! I don't really have any great pictures of anything this week but I'll try to snap a few tomorrow and share them with you. After our orientation wraps up tomorrow we will be headed back to the Shirleys mountain home for the weekend where we will be reunited with Claire and Ford before making a stop at Rhett's brother's home in Georgia for a few days then heading back to the 'ham. Time is FLYING by. We are anxious to get to Kenya but we also have so much going on here and so many things to look forward to before we leave. By the way, still no bites on our house so please continue to pray for us. We have lowered the price a bit and are hoping that will generate some interest soon.

Little travels with a little baby

Gus took his first flight last weekend for a trip to Washington, D.C. (See the little airplane on his outfit :) He is our youngest flyer so far at 2 1/2 months but was a piece of cake on the plane. He slept the whole way on both flights. I even brought a book on the plane . . . and read it. I don't remember the last time I did that!

We were in Washington for a meeting that Rhett's mom was chairing for families of POW/MIAs from Vietnam. We got to spend time with Rhett's family and since Rhett was feeling under the weather we spent some nice quiet time in our room with a nice quiet baby who looked like this most of the time . . .

We had so much fun hanging out with Gus alone for the first time since he was about 3 days old. We even took in a few sights. We had heard about the new Capitol Visitor Center which cost $$,$$$,$$$ so we thought we'd like to see where our tax dollars are going.

The visitor center was very nice. I'm not sure worth the pricetag but nice just the same. Gus was seemingly unimpressed with the whole deal . . .

But he was a lovely travel companion and we had a great trip. Oh I almost forgot! We saw the President! We went to see the military parade at the Marine Barracks and the President was the guest of honor. I was standing about 15 feet from him and Michelle (although there were several secret service and a few Marines between us) as he left the Barracks. It was interesting to see the whole Secret Service scene with snipers and the whole nine yards. Of course none of us had our cameras for the Presidential sighting. Oh well. I'm not a fan of him or his politics but it is still exciting to see the President!

Provision

The days are laid out before us. We leave for Kenya on November 5. There is certainly a lot that is going to happen between now and then. I'm trying to live each day and not get too caught up in all of the things that I could (and some would argue should) be worried about. Our house is still for sale, we have several things left to sell and a few more to buy. We are preparing in several different ways for our "new life" in Kenya but don't know exactly what that new life entails. This is right about the area where the rubber meets the road.

We are taking God at his word and trusting in Him. Some might think we are taking this whole "trusting God" thing a bit too far. After all isn't that just a Sunday schoolish term you use when referring to how you are waiting for God to conform to your plans? You don't actually pack up your life and move to Africa. You certainly have to be willing to move to Africa but you never actually have to go. Well, we are following and trusting and being upheld by His promises for those who do.

One strange thing about his whole "missionary" thing (a term that is kind of loaded and I haven't quite come to terms with yet. I don't feel like I need a label - I'm just me - going to share the love of Christ with those who do not know Him. I guess missionary is easier to throw around a conversation than that so I'll go with it for now) is money. I find it all very awkward. In order for us to be able to do what we are going to do (move to Africa to provide medical care for suffering people and evangelism to those who are not in a relationship with God) we have to walk away from our paying job here in the States and depend on others to support us. Let me clarify that first, we are depending on God to support us through others. It seems as though the modern Church has come to see it as I first described it: as people supporting us and not God himself. Hence the big campaigns and fund raisers and other means of drumming up funds that look no different than any other charitable organization out there except for perhaps some prayer and churchy language inserted here and there. It just seems so awkward to see people who are going to fulfill the great commission going around begging, petioning and otherwise asking people for money. This whole process of "raising support" has always kind of pricked my heart in an odd way but just recently am I understanding why. It all started when Rhett read George Mueller's biography about a year ago and encouraged me to read it too. For those who have not read it I also recommend it to you. It changed everything for Rhett. He was so inspired by Mueller's life and his total dependency on God for his every need. God was so faithful - just as He promises to be.

The problem seems to be that we rarely need God. Especially related to finances and especially in America. We have Plan A and Plan B and often several more letters than that! We have nest eggs and emergency accounts, college savings for our children, rainy day funds, vacation accounts, 401(k)s and IRAs. We have everything handled. It's as if we are saying "Thanks God. I've got this one. I'll call on you when someone gets sick or if I really want something that I haven't already planned for". I think that the picture of New Testament Christianity is radically different from this. The picture we see there is one of complete surrender and Lordship of Christ in our life. Everything.

Somehow this whole idea of self-perservation which is so contrary to Jesus' teaching is accepted and even celebrated in most Christian circles. We've decided to go another direction with our finances especially related to our overseas missionary work. We are not asking for "donations" or "financial support" from anyone. We are taking our requests to God, we are praying - a lot - and trusting that He will provide for us. I am excited about testifying to how He does that in this blog.

Several people have asked questions about this so here is a quick (or maybe not so quick!) expanation of our situation and how we are handling it. We knew about 2 years ago that we wanted to go and serve but didn't know exactly how that would work or how we could make that happen. We were so thankful to find World Medical Mission - whose purpose was exactly that - to help physicians straight out of training transition directly to the mission field. One of the main ways they accomplish that is with finanical assistance. They are providing us with some monthly financial support and with some upfront expenses related to going (plane ticket for Rhett, needed vaccinations for Rhett, etc.). You may have noticed I mentioned the expenses covered for Rhett but not for the other 4 of us. WMM provides assistance directly related to the physician but if they were to fully support each family going (there are a lot of us and we have a lot of children!) they could probably send about 3 families. All that to say that our expenses exceed our WMM support. By how much? Who knows. What are our additional needs? I dunno. But the neat part is that God most certainly does. And for that we are thankful.

So when people ask what they can do for us or how they can help us it is difficult for us to say. We don't feel right raising X amount of dollars when we don't know if that is what we need. So our respose to people who ask to help is "We definitely have needs but we don't know exactly what they are. If you'd like to pray for us and feel led to give to our ministry this is how you can do that". In the mean time we aren't going around asking people for money or sending support letters to everyone we've ever known since kindergarten. We can spend our time and effort telling people about God and this amazing gospel He has given us and less time talking about us and what we need.

So we talked about it and decided to include this information for the blogosphere, too. That is why you will see new information in the margin about how to support us financially. This isn't a petition just a portal for those people who read about what we are doing and want to be a part of it. We will also we using this blog to ask for specific prayer needs as we prepare to go and while in Kenya. For those of you reading that we know personally you will soon be receiving a prayer card in the mail from us. It has our family picture and quick info about where we are serving in addition to three prayer requests: 1. For our Faith 2. For those people we are going to serve and 3. God's daily provision. We humbly ask you to pray those things for us as often as you can. Stick that card on your fridge, in your Bible, in your car, on your washing machine - where ever you will see it and pray for us.

In addition I can't wait to tell you about the amazing ways that God will be providing for us, financially and otherwise, starting now. HUGE praise! One thing standing between us and Kenya was 3 plane tickets (Gus gets to fly in our lap for a nominal fee and WMM is picking up the tab for Rhett). These tickets usually run around $1800 a piece so we were talking about a lot of money to get us there. Until someone is our small group stepped forward with a lot of Sky Miles and got us to Kenya. Done. Wow.

Next . . . we had only told a few family members and close friends who had asked about our ministry account at WMM. We were somehow overlooked on getting our monthly statement since January so we were so surprised when we saw that someone had commited to monthly support starting in January and someone else had given us a very big gift that will cover most of our "out going" expenses. This was such an encouragement to see God providing for us in this way. It is affirmation that we are in His will and encourages us to press on. I feel like He is meeting me where I am - often doubting - and saying "Trust me".

So there are some other things we definitely are still praying about and waiting on. Our house is the main thing. For Sale. Pray that God will show Himself in a mighty way in the sale of our house. This may make you start thinking things I've been thinking. What if the house doesn't sell? What if God doesn't provide for us? It is often that thouse thoughts creep in but I know that the adversary wants me to doubt and wants me to come up with a contingency plan so I don't need God. I trust Him and I'm laying it all out there. No matter what happens it will be good and part of His perfect plan.

The Farm

I realize it is mid-July but I am backing up a few weeks to our 4th celebration. We drove to "South Georgia" to the farm where Rhett's grandmother aka Gamma grew up to visit with family and celebrate the 4th of July! Let's just say that getting a picture of my three at these ages is tough. This was the best I could do. As you can see Gus is growing well and most of his weight has settled into those kissalicious cheeks! He was a great trooper on his first road trip. His brother and sister were too. Are we the only people in America who do not have a DVD player in our car? I've never really thought about it until recently. We just all sing and talk and sleep and do all the same things I used to do in the car when I was little. We did go through each Kindermusik and Praise Baby CD several times on this trip and Ford continuously requests "Uppabubba" (Twinkle, Twinkle) from the back seat but after one stop at Mickey D's to feed the littlest guy, let the bigger ones play on the playground and for 4/5 of us to enjoy an oreo McFlurry we were good to go. And so we arrived in the what some people call "God's country" and what others refer to as a place where "people cling to their guns and religion". Either way there is a particular charm there and I like it.

This is our best attempt at a Shirley family photo ever. It will most likely be appearing on a Christmas card this year I'm sure.


I realized we haven't had a photo of just the three of us since the delivery room so we snapped this one . . .


When I ask her what she wants to be when she grows up she looks at me quizzically and says "A Mommy" as if wondering what else she could possibly want to be. I think it is a pretty high calling myself and I know already that she will be a wonderful mother. She has a mother's heart. Here she is loving on her cousin Graham . . .


It had been a long trip down and once we got settled in our hotel the night before Claire and Ford acted like they were at a slumber party - laughing, giggling and staying up really late - so the price was to be payed the next day. May I introduce you to the Hornet . . .

I borrowed this nickname from another blogger, Darby who has a fiesty little boy. It fits tired Ford quite well and has become a part of our vocabulary around here. Claire can be heard saying "Oh no, Ford is the Hornet again" or "Ford, are you the Hornet?". Well the Hornet showed up at the farm due to the lack of sleep but luckily he crashed - quite literally - on the floor with his beloved Hippo and of course Paci (or na-na as he calls it) while Rhett set up his packnplay for a much needed nap. After we put him down we headed straigh for LUNCH . . .


This is the way we do lunch in the south. This is not even the dessert table and those burners on the stove are full too mind you. Yum. I love me a covered dish luncheon.

The kids spent most of their day on this old tire swing in the yard. They swang and ran and played and swang some more.














This is Ford trying to convince the big kids to let him back on the swing after he fell off. He thinks he is all grown up. I have to remind him and myself that he is ONE! He is up for anything and loves to laugh and have a good time.

Tish got some little baby love since her baby, Graham, is growing by leaps and bounds and is, well, a chunk! I can't believe this time last year we didn't even know Graham yet. My how the time if flying by . . .


By this point in our journey I was pretty well worn out so I put my camera aside but our adventures did not cease. We headed over to Cordele to visit some old friends from medical school that we had not seen in the 5 years since graduation. It was funny to think that the last time we were together we were just two couples and now we have SIX children between the two of us! We had a wonderful time visiting with them and getting to know their precious little girls and darling new baby boy. We had a yummy dinner and some good laughs before we headed back to our hotel. We drove down a hilly country highway with the Lake Blackshear fireworks ahead of us for many miles. I looked behind me to see three sleeping tired children in the back seat, ahead to see a wonderful fireworks show and beside me to see my wonderful man and smiled - my heart feeling really full after a wonderful day of family, good friends and sweet memories.

Father's Day

I sure do miss blogging but it is taking a backseat to everything these days. I'm trying to get away with the bare minimum so I don't miss out recording this part of Gus's life. (side note: Am I using the apostrophe correctly there or is it Gus' ? I should know that.) Anyway, we had a great Father's Day celebrating the wonderfully amazing main man in all of our lives. I am so thankful for Rhett and the amazing father he is to all of our children. He just has such a wonderful grasp on all of the "big" things and how we handle them now and in the future with our children. I'm excited about seeing how he guides their hearts, leads and teaches them in the years to come. I couldn't have hand picked a more wonderful Dad for my kids. He is dearly loved by these little ones.

Here are a few recent pictures of our new little man Gus:

He is starting to look like himself as he looses that "old man" - newborn look. I think he is pretty handsome!

I snapped this one as he was hanging out in our yard all day on Saturday for our yard sale. He was quite a trooper and apparently was having some pretty great dreams. He was probably dreaming of running around a sweaty barefoot mess chasing a ball all day like his brother did - one day soon little man.

Look at those cheeks!!! Don't you just want to kiss and nuzzle them? You better believe I do all the time. I love this little guy so much. He is my little buddy (or "appendage" as Rhett likes to call him which is quite true as well) and we spend most hours of the day and night together which is exactly the way I want it. We are having some wonderfully busy days here at the Shirley house. I'll be back to blogging ASAP.

I wonder what it will be like?

My mind wonders often to our "new" life in Kenya. I have a million questions and no one to really ask. Just simple little questions about daily life that I keep thinking about as I try to wrap my mind around a completely different life there with our kids. Even though I visited Kenya several years ago and know what it is like on the surface I still have a lot to learn about what it is like to live there. When we tell people about our plans they often have some of the same questions: Where will you live? What is the hospital like? What are the people like? Where will you shop? Where will your kids go to school? I think the thought of Africa causes imaginations to take over and visions of mud huts and lions prowling through the yard prevail. So I'd like to take this opportunity to put all of the mud hut and lion thoughts to rest. A little background to explain this pictures first . . .

About a year ago not long after we joined our small group at The Church at Brook Hills another family joined and immediately we had so much in common with them. He is a pediatric surgery fellow and she is a mom to their 4 children. We learned of their desire to go overseas in missions and we were instant friends. It has been so nice to have someone to really talk about this with instead of just surfacy small talk to people about what our plans. We were in the process of applying to World Medical Mission and then later choosing a hospital in which to work. We knew they were interested in Kijabe Hospital and it was also on our short list. So we ended up choosing to serve at Kijabe and they are still in the decision making process since they are a year behind us in terms of finishing training. They had an opportunity to travel to Kenya and Botswana very recently to visit Kijabe and another hospital. They were able to spend time in each place and seek clarity on where they were going to move. So I sent my friend with strict orders to take pictures of every single thing and, well, she did! So I have some great photos of their visit to Kijabe that helps me have a mental picture of our new home.

The photo at the top of the page is of the "sitaplex" (which means six-plex in Kiswahili) which is a new building with six apartments in it to house visiting doctors at the hospital. This is where our friends stayed during the week they were there. It is possibly where we might live but we don't know for sure. There are also other freestanding houses on the station that are a possiblity. So even though we don't know if we will call this particular place home I thought it is a good representation of where we might live.


Here is the inside. I don't know yet if ours will come furnished or if we will be furnishing it ourselves.

Before you pass judgement based on the window treatments please check out the view from that big ole window . . .

That is the Rift Valley you see there in the distance. I hear the sunsets are to die for.


Kitchen is next on the tour. It is way bigger and has tons more storage than what we are currently working with so I am excited!



This is the 2nd bedroom. Claire and I veto the John Deere curtains and Rhett and I veto our kids sleeping on a rail-less top bunk but both of those problems are easily solved.


The master . . .


This is our heater for those chilly and windy Kijabe nights . . .



This is the playground at the school (Rift Valley Academy). Claire is pumped about those swings!


Here is a shot of the grocery store in Nairobi where I will be doing most of my big shopping. My local shopping will be done at the "Super Duka" - how fun is that name? HA!



Here is the hospital . . .



And here is another one of Rhett's new place of employment.


So there you go - a quick tour of Kijabe.

He's growing up . . .

From Ford 18 months

I while ago I promised some of Ford's 18 month pictures that my friend, Stephanie, took of him. They are just beautiful and truly capture who Ford is these days. We had a great time chasing him around the gardens - very literally. His bare feet got muddy but we did prevent him from going into the lake (barely). Enjoy some of these favorite shots of him. Thank you Stephanie for this gift.

From Ford 18 months

From Ford 18 months

From Ford 18 months

From Ford 18 months

From Ford 18 months