Lake Tahoe Vacation 2010

Lake Tahoe 2010 Vacation

Word's cannot express the joy and peace we felt while we were on our first family vacation to Lake Tahoe.  Out of the kindness of their hearts, a couple at church gave us a week in their timeshare.  We had a fabulous time being together as a family.

We were able to find a couple great places to sled.  The boys loved going out the doors of the 'cabin' to play in the snow and sled (dangerously) down the hills by the cabin.  Caleb has the skinned chin to show for it!  Ya know, it's just not fun unless someone gets hurt, right?

One of our days, we drove out to visit my grandparents and aunt & uncle about an hour and a half away from our cabin.  It was so great to see them & where they live.

Our entire trip was fabulous & we would jump at the chance to do it again!

Living Simply so others can Simply Live

Happy Almost Thanksgiving!  These pictures are snaps from Halloween, and unrelated to the post below, but they say kids & puppies get people's attention & honestly, who doesn't love to see a picture?  

This is a great post, given to me, second hand, from a friend of mine in MN, Corrie Luebke.

It speaks to what I often times am struck with and believe to be true.  Not everyone will agree, but that's ok.  It's still a good challenge.

Living Simply so others can Simply Live

The Waiting....

 This morning, we prayed, kissed, cried & sent Dad into the hands of his surgeon, Dr. Tell & his expert team.  Dad will be having his heart surgery (triple bypass) today @ Mercy Hospital.  Surgery starts @ 730 a.m. & as we are waiting, I thought of the Dr. Suess book - Oh The Places You'll Go...this specific section.

You can get so confused

that you'll start in to race

down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace

and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space,

headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.

The Waiting Place...

It's nothing spiritual, or even profound, but it's what popped into my head.

We have been & are encouraged by all your prayers & comments.

Kijabe, Kenya - Phase 2 of our adventure photos

Click on this link to go to the Flikr site, if you wish....
Phase 2 - Rift Valley Academy, Kijabe, Kenya

Africa Adventure - Photos of Phase 1, Korr Kenya

Check out the link to my Flikr Photostream for all the photos...  Africa Adventure, Phase 1 Photos

outside the Propst home (bathroom behind me)

Alicia, Claire & Maria on our walk to their' adoptive Mama's Min

Tim & Maria with their adoptive Mama in front of her Min

Maria giving pounds to the kids in the Gobp (village)

Just a sweet girl with Maria, she attached herself to me during Cultural day

Laura Propst, Ameena and Maria in front of Ameena's house

Jim & Laura Propst, Maria, Lynn & Nick Swanepoel

Kijabe, Kenya - Phase 2 of our adventure is complete....

So, Our Adventure continued, on to Rift Valley Academy on Tuesday, October 12, 2010...

The School Bus, with Tim posing for a picture opportunity

We were picked up at the Mission Aviation Fellowship Hanger by the RVA school bus & we were joined by 16 students who were returning to school after their semester break.

My view out the side of the bus

Of course, the photos do not do the traffic, nor the congested nature of the roadways justice, but trust me, the on coming traffic was extremely close.

Notice the thumbs up for the 'Muzungu' (white people)

One of the towns we drove through on our way to RVA

I had the exceptional privilege of going to 'the valley' with JanaMead, Jeanne Brennan & their friend John, a Kenyan National, who works with widows in the valley, encouraging them through food distribution on a random basis. I had the delightful opportunity
of meeting these widows, some of their children they are supporting, which was anywhere from 3-9 children.  We brought them food, some needed $$ to pay the school fees for the children who had been sent home because they hadn't paid their fees & we prayed for them.  What an honor and delight to meet these woman who work so hard and love/care for these orphans. 

Cows & goats were in the middle of the road in the IDP (internally displaced people) camp in the Rift Valley 

View of RVA from the Valley...

Rift Valley Academy is the group of red roof buildings

I got to go to the Village Market (shopping mall) just outside of Nairobi with Jana Mead and Jeanne Brennan & their 2 friends.  They were a part of a Quilter's Guild @ the Mall & I went shopping @ the Masai Market with Jeanne - she was my bartering encouragement.  I had a blast!!!

Masi Market @ Village Market

On the way back from the Market, DeeAnna insisted on getting an ear of corn from the vendors along side the road - I thought it was average tasting at best, but certainly did not miss the opportunity.  The most entertaining part of the experience was watching the vendor play chicken across 2 lanes of traffic to get the corn to us.  He was successful, so it was all good...well except the corn.

Field corn...on a stick?  Well, it's actually just the stalk they don't remove, but nonetheless - an experience.

More to come - gotta get photos from Tim's camera too.

Korr, Kenya Update

We have some down time right now as we wait for our transport from Nairobi to Kijabe today.  So, I'm excited to give you a brief look into where we've been since Wednesday, October 6.

Our flights getting to Nairobi were great.  Long, but great.  Our stops were minimal in length & I believe we went through security at least 5 times, but never left the airport - we were the most secured fliers in the sky~!

Waiting for our flight out of London Heathrow - Thursday 8 AM London Time, 4 AM our body time.

We arrived in Nairobi without a hitch & sailed through the Visa line at a snails pace, but with no hiccups.

Waiting in the passport line @ Nairobi airport - Thursday, October 7, 930 pm, Kenya time, 130 pm body time - minimal sleep!!

Our sleep @ the Mayfield was brief, but it was sooooo nice to stretch out for a few hours & have a nice shower before heading to Korr.

Our room @ the Mayfield Missionary House - we slept from about 11 pm until about 6 am (Tim a little less).

We lightened our load, leaving most luggage at the Mayfield and went to the Mission Aviation Fellowship hanger to board our plane to Korr.

Tim in front of the Mayfield Missionary House, our backpacks ready to head to Korr  - 745 am.

Whoa...this is our plane.

Our plane to Korr -Tim's taller than the plane & the pilot commented on how we were @ MAX weight!!

We were packed in, no doubt - had to hold my backpack on my lap, I'm ready for the adventure.  I just kept telling myself, 'It's just like riding in a go-cart'...

The flight was amazing and smooth, with lots to see because we were so low flying.

Village in the Korr area, we are getting close to landing in Korr

Typical Rendille woman, carrying her sticks and collecting as she walked.  These are possibly part of her Min (hut) she is building/repairing in her Gobpe (village)

The student's feet.  All the students had shoes, although some very worn & all very dusty/dirty.

Tim speaking to the students in Korr during a session.

Playing 'Me - Switch'

Tim had a fun time trying to instill the concept of not cheating during the game.

Tim walking into the darkness of Korr -it's hard to capture darkness with the camera.

Riding in the back of the truck was much cooler than riding in the cab.  I loved it!

Tim a.k.a. Mr. Dessert Man, ready for any adventure

Kids @ the cultural day, they loved having their picture taken and then looking at it on the screen.

Can you find Tim?  These are our students, dressed in their cultural clothes & beads for cultural day.

Maria with the girls all dressed up in their beads for cultural day.

This little girl attached herself to my side for the day.

Tim, just being Tim with one of our students in Korr.

Africa in 5, 4, 3 days...

Our Immunizations are complete...And, we leave Kansas City on Wednesday @ 120 pm - so the itinerary says!

The above picture is where we are headed the morning after we land in Nairobi.
The below picture is what our flight from Nairobi to Korr will approximately look like.

This picture is of the 2 most precious little children that God has given me & I will be praying for them unceasingly while we are in Africa & they are in the capable, loving arms of our family.

Please pray for them too!

Here we are, the 2 that are headed to Africa.  Please remember us in your prayers.  

We will be in Africa October 6-21, 2010

Where do you put things for safe keeping????

Tim told me to 'write this down', and my blog seems to be the best place to do so.  

Silly bands have entered our world & both boys are excited about them, to say the least.  Caleb bought them with some birthday money we found the other day & he has been generously sharing with his brother...This is a good thing!

this is a picture of the 'mystery' shape silly band

The other night, I told them both to take them off before bed - they just look too tight & I didn't want their hands to fall off over night.  So, they did & went to bed.

In the morning, circa 6:45, our Caleb gets up happy as usual and wonders to the bathroom to go potty and get in his shower.  As he's getting to the toilet, he reaches in the front of his underpants & pulls out a hand full of....Silly Bands!!!

So, I says to the boy, I says...Caleb...what, how, why are there silly bands in your underpants?  He smiles cleverly and replies, Mom, I just didn't want to lose them.  Good idea, son.  Now, give them to me & get in the shower!  Ok, Mom.

His first purchase of silly bands

Immediately, I run downstairs to tell Tim about the hilarity that just took place.  He too busted a gut laughing and admiring the cleverness of our 6 year old!  Gotta love that kid.

Kindergarten, Here He Comes...

There's no doubt that Caleb was excited for his 1st day of school, when he came running into our room just before 7 AM.  He was so excited to jump in the shower & get the routine started.  He had requested pancakes for breakfast & had one giant pancake - plate size!  He didn't quite finish it, however, and told Tim that he left a bit on his plate because he didn't want to have a fat tummy for Kindergarten.  :)

The cutesie bulletin board - Dr. Seus & Mickey Mouse, very Kindergarten.  The students' artwork will be displayed here throughout the year.

He found his desk (which he had chosen during PT conference on Monday) & began to soak it all in.

The cubby, of course!

I drug Tim out of the room, well, at least I was the one to say...Let's go!  Caleb was comfortable & happy, which made me excited to leave him & hear about his day later.

So, off I went to work & Tim/Josiah off to church for some work.

We met back @ home to get to school promptly before 11:05 pickup time & waited anxiously for our big Caleb to come bouncing out the entryway doors.

In true Caleb style, he did not disappoint & came grinning from ear to ear out those doors & went sprinting to his dad & Josiah...I was across the parking lot, but got a running hug as well.



It was a fabulous day & Caleb gave it a for sure to go back again!  This is the beginning of a bright school year for this young lad.