Sleepover!

So I have a lot to blog about, the last couple days have been tons of fun. Even though It seems as though we have somewhat of a regular schedule now, nothing is ever the same. Theres always something different that happens…

Friday we went to a place called Discover to Recover, which is a center for children who are infected or affected by HIV/AIDS. We will go there almost every Friday for the whole day and do whatever they need for us to do. The last 2 Fridays they havn’t had much for us to do because the woman who runs it, Patricia Sawa, has been out of town. Patricia is an amazing woman who has HIV and travels all around the world speaking and counseling people on the topic of HIV. She really is truly an amazing woman. So this Friday was split up and Caroline, Megan and I helped cook their lunch, and Allison helped with office work and Chris taught and played with the kids…
We got to peel the potatoes, cut the onions & tomatoes, and lucky me I got to cut up the meat~fat, bone & all...


Later that night we went to Ben & Christine’s, who are a couple we will be working with on Wednesdays as well as some other random ministry opportunities. They invited us over for a good old fashioned sleepover...



They have 3 children of their own as well as take care of 4 orphans. I really enjoy them and love the work they are doing here. Ben is a pastor and a teacher and travels all over eastern Africa setting up schools as well as speaking and apparently he’s a master at hanging mosquito nets…He’s one of my favorites…




They made such a delicious dinner, all of my favorites were present…fried potatoes, chipati and intestines…yikes! Dinner would not have been complete without Home Alone 2: Lost in New York…

We like to snuggle...

Clinton & Caleb...

This morning we woke up and decided we wanted to go into town to buy scarves. What made it even better was that we had planned on just going home after our slumber party so we never brought a change of clothes, hence having to go into town in our PJ’s and unwashed faces. Wait it gets better, the ENTIRE family decided they wanted to go too…
But it was fun, we became a LOT closer as a result…


This afternoon was awesome. We finally got to see some of the Oasis kids since they started school. We met at Milimani school just down the street from our house…


Steward and I played basketball…


This is his idea of defense…

I know Im lame and Ive posted about this kid a ton but I just love him and I can’t stop thinking about him and he’s just the best. I got to see him again today and I swear that every time I get to see him he’s healthier and more of his personality comes out.
Today we went for a walk and he sang and talked a lot more. He’s so smart and he learns so quickly.




Chris was comparing the size of Elias' leg to his hand...




Check out Gail and her pot socks…



Allison and Gail...



Also, a side note, Sister Freda's always needs support. Everything's pretty much run in house, and the work they are able to do is phenomenal, but they dont always get paid...So consider this a shameless plug if you feel like donating, those of you who know me, know Im no good at this, but trust me, its an amazing place worth supporting...


We started our day at Oasis, which was fun, we got to see some of the kids in their uniforms, but it made me miss them even more, knowing were not going to see them everyday…I know Im ridiculously attached so soon, but oh well…

Sunday Church

Today we went to church with all the boys at Oasis, which was awesome! All the boys got up and danced, which we loved!






This little dude, Silvano, copied all my moves!


Afterwards we went to lunch with all the boys...

Apparently it was too sunny for Evans...I also love the headphones & vest he stole from the choir...

Love this kid! Moses and I actually had a great conversation, I wasnt dancing...


Braumweal, Jonah, & I


Braumweal up close..


Paul....


Jonah &I


I'm so sad they are all going back to school tomorrow, definitely proud of them, I'm only sad because I wish I could still see them everyday...At least we'll have the weekends with them

And just because I feel like it, I'm posting a new picture of Elia, he's doing so well!

"Can Life Get Any Better? I Submit That It Cannot!"

I wish I could express just how much I love the kids from Oasis. It’s ridiculous really, how excited I get to hang out with them and then can’t wait for the next time we get to hang out again. Allison & I were talking & we both agreed that every time we are with them we don’t want to say goodbye without knowing when we will hang out with them again…They start school tomorrow so were really sad that we wont get to see them until the weekends, don’t get me wrong were very proud and happy theyre in school were just going to miss seeing them everyday…




Here are pictures from Lydias going away/house warming/welcoming Geoffreys baby party yesterday…



Evans and I brawled...I won even though I got the bloody nose...


Martin & Stewie doing "The Macarena" to "Shut Up" by the Black Eyed Peas







This is what happens when you let them take your camera...

Today was a special day for some of the Oasis kids. The 18 students who had the highest marks or improved the most got a special reward, and this year they got to go to a nature conservatory. But not just any conservatory…they had deformed animals!


It was a pretty interesting place…hence these odd signs we were greeted by when we got there…



The whole place was kind of odd, but it had a good point, jus in a nuclear-fall-out-doomsday kind of way, if that makes…

This was a display on the causes and effects of global warming...A little odd but it gets the point across i guess





It really was such a great time and I think the kids really loved it. Pictures say more than I could so I'd rather just post away…



Steward wasn't quick sure what to make of the cow

Wheres the 4th leg? Oh wait, it's coming out of its butt


After the deformed animals portion of the tour, there was a recreation area...

Heres those pictures I tried to upload earlier..
Chris and one of his favorite people, Freda's husband Richard

One the way home in the back of Pasto Wanyani's truck


Sister Freda & Chris

Emmanuel, hes 5 months old, but is smaller than a newborn. Thankfully he's at Freda's and will grow to be healthy

Things Just Keep Getting Better

So remember how I said I couldn’t wait to get back to Elia, the little boy from Kipsongo? Well…we got done early with our meeting this afternoon, so I grabbed one of the Ukrainian women, Tonya, that lives with us and we headed over to Sister Fredas for a couple of hours…Sister Fredas isn’t very close to our hoe, its actually out of town a ways, so it took a bit to get there, but it was so worth it because my little man was there just hanging out in his crib.




Uugghh it made me so happy to see him! The boys from Oasis of Hope were also at Freda’s. All three houses had been brought out to her so that they could be tested for HIV/AIDS. All of the boys had said they had been sexually active but didn’t know if they were infected, and here that’s a big problem…Esp. since a good portion of them were made orphans because of the disease. As nerve-wracking as it was, it was something that needed to be done.

We weren’t quite sure what the outcome was going to be but we hoped and prayed for the best, but deep down we thought there might be some boys who were positive…So after hours of waiting the results came back for all the boys…
ALL were NEGATIVE!!!




Not one boy came back positive…We were so happy and relieved. And you could see it all over their faces as well.
Lydia told us how this morning before they left for Sister Freda’s, one of the boys had come up to her and nervously asked that if someone came back positive, would they have to move out of their house. They thought that if they tested positive they had screwed up and that they would be penalized for it by getting kicked out. Lydia quickly reassured them that no one would get kicked out and the only thing that would change is that they would have to start taking medicine and everyone would take care of them. It just made me sad that they thought they were going to be turned away. It just makes me want to be there more to reassure them that they are not going to be turned away and that is why we are all here is to show them how important they are…
Today was a good day☺
Well I had planned on posting more pics, but Kenyan internet isnt so great and allowing me to at the moment, so I will post more pics later