Worley Family

Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you...

2010-11-02T10:38:00.000-04:00

"Before I formed thee in the womb I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee..." Jeremiah 1:5. These words have come to have a new meaning, a deeper connection to my life in the last 24 hours. How very true. How very blessed. How very undeserving I am...

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted anything. Life has gotten busy, stressful, crazy...just like yours, I'm sure. To fill you in on life a little bit, since the time we've found out that we are having a little girl, we also found out that she is extremely tiny. At the first ultrasound we had back in September, she measured in the 4th percentile for size. Anything under the 10th percentile is alarming. At the second ultrasound we had on October 13, she measured in the 3rd percentile. Because she was maintaining a growth curve, my doctor said that she wasn't too worried. She thought perhaps our little girl was just small - perhaps she took after her daddy. Nonetheless, we were given the title of "complicated pregnancy" and were referred to a Maternal Fetal Medicine specialist where I would have to go for a level 2 ultrasound. I spent much time crying for the first couple of days. I was worried, even if my doctor wasn't. But after telling only a few people and asking for prayer, after a couple of days, I felt a great peace about it. I expected to go to the doctor's appointment with my specialist and find out that everything looked normal...just tiny. I expected to have to go to have routine ultrasounds once every 3-4 weeks for the remainder of this pregnancy to make sure that she is indeed growing properly. I was told that if she dropped off her growth curve at any point during the remainder of the pregnancy, they would probably induce me immediately because she'd be safer outside than inside. This is what I expected to live with for the next few months - a little bit of worry, but a "normal" pregnancy with regular ultrasounds (and, honestly, who doesn't like to see their little one moving around in there)?

Boy, was I surprised when we went for our first Level 2 Ultrasound yesterday. I was nervous and was sick most of the morning, but by the time for my appointment arrived, I was doing better. Chris was with me (thankfully he was able to schedule his clinic for the morning instead of the afternoon on such late notice) and having him with me gave me greater confidence and peace. We were called back after waiting over an hour in the very busy waiting room and explained that she was very small and there was some concern. The lady doing the ultrasound was very nice - very quick and efficient, looking at the tummy, head and femur to get proper measurements. When she was done, she said, "I'm not sure why you think she was measuring so small before - she's perfectly normal!" She's about the 45th percentile for size now. Less than three weeks ago, she didn't even weigh a pound. Yesterday, she weighed 2 pounds. Less than three weeks ago, she was abnormally tiny. Yesterday, she was a perfectly normal, healthy little girl (and yes, after we found out she was okay, I did ask if they'd confirm that she IS in fact a girl!).

I'm feeling very blessed today. I don't deserve such a blessing. I'm not as faithful to my God as I long to be. I don't spend the time with Him like I want to. I don't spend the time reading His Word or just talking to Him that I should. And yet, in the few times I did cry out to Him, asking/begging for a healthy baby girl, He heard my prayers and He answered them. It's not possible for a baby to grow so quickly. It's unheard of. It's a miracle. It's MY miracle. The Lord is working and moving in my life, and in the life of our baby girl already - before she's even born - what a loving, gracious, dependable, self-less God we serve. He is good. His love is overwhelming. And my heart is very grateful this morning. And I'm grateful for those of you who did know our situation and spent time praying for us. He heard our prayers, and he answered them. I admit, I'm confused - I can't figure out how this could happen. But as Chris and I drove home last evening after shedding tears of joy and relief, we decided that it didn't matter how it happened - it didn't matter how many questions we may still have - we're just going to claim our little miracle and be thankful. And so we'll leave it at that: our little miracle, known, loved, and protected by our loving God. We have much to be thankful for!

IT'S not an IT Anymore!

2010-10-13T19:20:00.000-04:00

After months of anticipation, we finally have a gender for our newest bundle of joy! It's a GIRL!

Here's her sweet little face, with her arm raised next to her head...

And, here's the evidence that it's a girl...hard to see in this scanned picture, but the proof is there, just the same!

First day of school! First day of school!

2010-08-19T21:04:00.000-04:00

So today I felt a little bit like Marlin from "Finding Nemo." Remember how Nemo excited exclaims, "First day of School! First day of School!" as he bounces on Marlin to wake him up? That's how I felt with Grant. And then, remember the part where Marlin says, "You go out, and back in...then you go out, and back in...etc." That was definitely how I felt today, though I worked very hard not to show it.

Grant was one excited little monkey today as he prepared for his first day of pre-school. He even wanted to sleep in his uniform last night. :) So this morning, he took a bath, brushed his teeth, donned on his uniform and put on his new school shoes all the while talking about how "big" he was. We prayed before he went to school and he asked Jesus to help him not to be shy and to be a good boy.

When we got to school, he met his teacher, Mrs. Morrow, and saw his very best friend, Victoria, in his class. He couldn't have been happier. He even humored me while I took a few pictures. His teacher asked a few questions, and Grant responded confidently and made me quite proud. I was pretty impressed! His teacher called each student up to take their picture, then had them take their back packs to their personal cubby. I went with him and checked everything out. We came back in the room to watch them get started and to pray; then the parents were going to be dismissed. Here's where it got ugly. I prayed that God would get me through it without crying...at least until I got to the car. Now I'm asking Him if He couldn't have made it a little easier. Grant turned around and saw I was still there and said, in front of everyone, "Mom, get out!" Grant never speaks to me that way. Disrespect is not something that is welcome in our home. But how exactly was I supposed to handle this in front of his entire class with the teacher there? I told him to turn around and listen to his teacher, but was so mad, I didn't shed a single tear. When the parents were dismissed, I waved at him, but he clearly didn't want a hug and kiss. He wanted to be independent, and didn't want me there. Sad.

We talked about his comment at lunch and he clearly felt bad about it. I didn't mention it the rest of the day, but tonight as he prayed, he said, "God, Help me not to say "get out" any more because it hurt mommy's feelings." So I think he got it. But I sure was embarrassed. And I sure was mad. So no tears today...we'll see how it goes in the future!

As for the school day itself, he said he loved it! He can't wait to go back again on Monday. Little man is growing up.

It's Official!

2010-07-20T18:25:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I went to the doctor and it was officially confirmed - Worley Baby # 3 is well on it's way! We're 12 weeks along tomorrow, making us due February 2, 2011! Hooray!

The picture on the left is of the head and body; the picture on the right is the body, and if you look closely, you'll see a faint little line with a bump on the end sticking out of it - that's the leg and foot! We'll find out pink or blue sometime mid-September! Woo hoo!

The Prodigal Ducky has returned

2010-05-07T13:32:00.000-04:00

Ducky is a near and dear friend to sweet Mason. When we returned from Africa, I noticed he had Ducky with him at the airport, but when we returned home, I didn't see him around anymore. We searched the house high and low, to no avail. There was no Ducky. Even a call to the airport didn't unearth sweet Ducky. He was gone.

Many tears were shed at bedtimes for the last several months because poor Mason didn't have his sleeping partner. As I have been packing for vacation this week, I noticed a strange bulge in one of the suitcases...Ducky! Mason couldn't be happier. He carries Ducky everywhere with him and the smiles just won't stop. We're all happy to have Ducky back with us again.

4/10/2010 Jacksonville Beach

2010-04-14T14:27:00.006-04:00

Chris miraculously was off work today (he's on an inpatient month this month - ugh!), so we took the boys to Jacksonville Beach. They were having a Rhythm and Blues Festival, and we went out to join in the festivities. We weren't too thrilled with it actually. One quick lap around the festival was plenty enough for me. Perhaps what we were most excited about was the surfing competition (which we never found). We saw lots of surfers, but no competition. The boys were dying to "put their feet" in the water. I told them since I didn't bring extra clothes, that was not an option, but they insisted they wouldn't get them wet. After a while, I finally gave in and instructed them to only get their feet wet. Who am I kidding? After about 2 minutes of dutifully obeying, the boys were both completely soaked. Chris and I just looked at each other and decided it wasn't work fighting it...they were happy. It was just water. After a little while, one of the surfers paddled right up to Mason and helped him get on the surf board. Grant kept his distance and refused to get on, even after the kind surfer offered him a ride, too. So anyway, we played in the waves for a while, then loaded up in the van and came home (a bit more prematurely than originally planned). But hey, we had a good time! It was nap time anyway.

My little surfer dude...when he heard we were going to a surfing contest, he wanted his hair spikey. Silly guy.

Daddy watching his boys at play. So nice to have a day off!

Just like his grandpa...can't keep that head out of the water!

Our young surfer teaching the boys the tricks of the trade

Grant asked me to help him make "pancakes" in the sand.

Jumping over the waves with the boys

They played so hard that both of them fell asleep in the stroller (NEVER happens!) Yeah!

Easter Sunday

2010-04-12T15:55:00.002-04:00

We had a great Easter this year. Chris was unexpectedly off work, so we had a nice time at church, then went to the Hult's for lunch, came home and got ready for the Waltons and our neighbor, Ellen, to come over for shish-kabobs that night. What a fun day!

Wow. Uncontrollable.

2010-04-12T15:47:00.002-04:00

Mason went to bed with his hair wet...this is how he woke up. The more I laughed, the harder he cried.

Easter Outfits

2010-04-09T15:58:00.005-04:00

I took the boys out for a ~~lovely~~ frustrating morning of taking pictures. Neither one of them were cooperating very well, and I was all by myself...it's hard to get them to smile and take a decent picture at the same time. :) Nonetheless, a few pictures did turn out okay, and I must say, I think my little guys are pretty cute, if I do say so myself.

Grant's such a big boy now...

Sweet Mason is getting big, too!

Sweet Boys!

Mason got ornery and started banging Grant on the head with this stick. Such sweet brothers.

Firetruck to the Rescue!

2010-04-09T15:42:00.003-04:00

Aunt Stephi and Uncle Dan gave the boys this cool sprinkler for Christmas. With the arrival of the hot weather, we decided to pull it out of its box, blow it up, and let it spray!! The boys have had a blast EVERY SINGLE DAY for about a week with this fun new firetruck, and I think our grass is liking it too! Thanks, Uncle Dan and Aunt Stephi for rescuing our me with a reprieve from our toasty days. I love watching the boys spray each other down! Love you!

Workin' Hard or Hardly Workin'

2010-04-09T15:29:00.003-04:00

Chris' parents took the boys for a couple of days at the end of March. While they were gone, I worked hard on our yard - pulling weeds, cultivating, laying mulch, planting flowers. It looked like a whole new yard when they got home! I ran out of mulch, though, so ~~the boys~~ Grant helped me spread the rest of the mulch the afternoon they returned while Mason pretended to drive the van. They're getting so big! I must say, it's amazing what you can accomplish when you don't have two little ones to run around after!

03/27/2010 - 6 Years of Terror Bliss

2010-04-09T15:18:00.003-04:00

Yes, I know I look ridiculous! But Chris has wanted to take me out on his motorcycle for a long time. For our 6th anniversary, he arranged for his parents to come take care of the kids and he was going to take me down to Daytona (1-1/2 hours on the interstate, probably 2-1/2 on the back roads which we were taking) to have dinner right on the ocean. I dutifully cooperated and even tried to be excited (despite my ridiculous appearance). I did have fun at first, but quickly noticed the seat was only about 4 inches wide and I couldn't move to adjust, so by the time we were about 30 miles from Daytona, I was in tears and finally got Chris' attention to ask him to stop. We didn't go any further and actually had to call his parents to come pick me up in St. Augustine because my poor bottom was so very bruised. I told him I knew it was all in his plan...he's been wanting a bigger bike. Just as long as it has a bigger seat...

He's such a BOY!

2010-04-09T15:11:00.003-04:00

Not only have we been fishing to their heart's content, but we've also been chasing lizards. One night as we were eating dinner, I looked down to find this strange green frog with huge, bright red lips, clinging to the side of the patio table. Grant, of course, was all about it and immediately picked it up and held it for quite some time. Poor thing was nearly squished a few times and when I told him it was time to put the frog down, I was shocked to immediately see a poor little frog flying through the sky with all four legs stretched out in sheer terror as Grant hurled it into the air to "put it down." I still chuckle when I think about it. The little guy is quite into reptiles/amphibians/fish...He's a boy's boy...that's all there is to it!

Fishing

2010-04-09T13:45:00.005-04:00

So we've spent a number of days fishing in our pond in the back yard. The boys absolutely love it, and I enjoy being outside as a family. Grant is becoming ALL boy - he's not afraid to handle anything. As soon as Chris puts our most recent capture in the bucket of water, Grant's hands are right in there, trying to catch it with his bare hands (this is a big change from last year where he stood way back with his hands clasped in dismay while Mason played with the fishies). Once he does catch one, he holds it up for all to see, and he is even gracious enough to let Mason pet it a few times. He's pretty silly. I'm sure one of these days he is going to figure out that his mom doesn't mind watching from a distance, but if he brings it near her, she screams and runs...that won't be a pretty day. Gross!

03/20/2010 Happy Birthday, Mason

2010-04-05T13:14:00.004-04:00

Chris came home from being on call and we loaded our family into the car (Chris slept on a crib mattress in the trunk while I drove) and headed on down to Bradenton, FL to visit with Grandma and Grandpa who were here for the month enjoying (?) the unseasonably cool Florida weather. We were going to celebrate Mason's birthday with them, so Grandpa planned all sorts of fun activities for us and Grandma made a delicious meal and lovely cake for Mason's birthday. They even had balloons and squirt guns to add to the fun! We had a great time looking at manatees, saw a shark and several sting-rays jump out of the water (I've never been so close to such creatures in the wild...sort of freaked me out!) and even got to enjoy orange ice cream made from freshly squeezed oranges at the local orange grove. What fun! Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa, for a wonderful time! Mason had a great birthday (and we did, too)!

03/14/2010 Mason

2010-04-05T12:57:00.003-04:00

So while Grant was in rehearsal for his play, we took Mason outside and played with him. I was so glad I had my camera because we had so much fun getting him to smile, laugh and play. I can't believe I have a two year old baby already!

Donkey Tales

2010-04-05T12:45:00.003-04:00

Grant was in a musical at church on Sunday, March 14. He, along with all the other pre-schoolers, was a donkey - complete with ears and a tail! They were so cute, thought I must admit, I was a little embarrassed when they started filing out on stage to sing their song and instead of walking out nicely like the rest of the kids, Grant crawled out on all fours like a donkey. I guess he was really in character!

And of our course, how could Chris miss out on the fun???

Mason's Birthday with the Worley Side

2010-04-05T12:35:00.003-04:00

Chris' brother (and his family) and our family wanted to get together again before Chris' parents headed back up to KY, so (because of Chris' very hectic work schedule and Grant's musical at church) everyone came to our house on March 13. ML and Lisa and Uncle Johnny were in town, too, so we even got to see them! We enjoyed playing games and just being together and cramming 8 extra adults into our little house! Ha! Since everyone was together, we had a little cake for Mason a week early and he even got to open a few gifts (Grant was REALLY spoiled...he got a present, too - thanks, Uncle ML and Aunt Lisa). :) We brought the patio table inside for extra seating...we were a bit crammed, but happy! :)

Planting Flowers

2010-03-26T15:49:00.003-04:00

It has been so busy around here, I've taken LOTS of pictures, but haven't had time to post anything. So here goes. My attempt at updating... The weather has been lovely here the last few weeks, so the boys and I spent a lovely afternoon in the backyard planting some flowers a couple of weeks ago. The end result was quite lovely, and our patio looks so springy and pretty now. We're enjoying it so much. The boys LOVE their job of watering the flowers and often fight over who gets to hold the watering can or hose. And of course, when the hose is in use, Grant inevitably sprays himself AND Mason until they're soaked to the bone which results in many tears from Mason and many sly grins from Grant. They're definitely brothers! ...And I hear Mason waking from his nap now, so the rest of the "catching up" will have to come later. :)

Backyard Birds

2010-03-17T18:05:00.002-04:00

When my parents were here a few weeks ago, my dad took me out and they bought us a lovely new set of bird feeders and a beautiful iron pole to hang them on. We haven't had too very many birds as of yet, but they are slowly but surely discovering their new feeding place. I get so excited when I see a little bird out on my feeders. Here are a few pics of my new-found joy in my very own backyard. It's actually hard to get pictures of them because every time I open the sliding back door to take their pictures, they fly away. Boo. (These are especially for you, mom and dad...wish you were here to enjoy them with me! Obviously I know what the cardinals are...do you know what the others are?) :)

The End...

2010-03-16T15:29:00.002-04:00

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about the end of time...could it really be nearing? I'm doing a Bible Study right now on the book of Revelation by Beth Moore. It's been a great study, and I've learned a lot. More importantly, however, I've thought a lot. I feel a deep urgency to share my faith with others, for I truly do believe that the time is nearing. No other generation in the history of this earth has had more reason to be on their "spiritual tip-toes" than we do right now. Prophecies from the Scripture are coming true right and left. The birth pangs of Christ's coming are getting closer together, and stronger, too. It certainly is something we need to open our eyes to and be prepared. Christ IS coming like a thief in the night to gather His church, and we must be ready! It seems that I'm not the only one who has been thinking these things. Every time I turn around, a friend is mentioning it, or I hear it on the radio, or someone posts something on Facebook. The very same time we started our study, our Pastor began a sermon series by coincidence on Revelation! I hear of many other churches (including my parents) doing the very same thing. It seems I am constantly hearing of another "sign of the times" as predicted in Scripture. So I'm learning a lot and am paying close attention to these signs. Did you know that as of this morning, our world has been rocked by 22 earthquakes in 2010 alone? And the US has sustained 6 of those quakes. And what about the unusually cold/blizzards/etc of this winter? There have been many other natural disasters, as well. And what's this about the US and Israel's recent relations? It's all so very interesting... No one knows the time or day, but I believe Christ is faithfully revealing His warning to us through many means as He promised us He would do in Scripture. We need to be listening, we need to heed His warning, we need to get ourselves ready and we need to be sharing our faith with others. The time is urgent. He's coming again (and soon, in my opinion!). Come, Lord Jesus. We're waiting with great anticipation!

I'm "Published."

2010-02-26T08:58:00.004-05:00

Well, sort of - my brother is starting up a business in the Great Smokey Mountains and I had written a short description of the beauty of creation that I found in the Smokeys. He put it in his site! You can go here: http://blog.cabinconnection.com to read about it, as well as to see their site. Check back often as they're just beginning their business and will be adding things to it in the weeks to come! Tell your friends, too - When looking for a chalet to rent, http://www.cabinconnection.com/ is definitely the place to visit first!!

2/20/2010 Kingsley Plantation

2010-02-25T08:02:00.008-05:00

We took the kids to the Kingsley Plantation this weekend while Chris' parents were here visiting. It was so interesting to see the history that had taken place here years ago. It was perhaps especially poignant to me since we had just been in Africa for a month; I cannot imagine such injustice being done to human beings. I stood and watched the African-American parents tell their children about what had happened to their ancestors and you could still hear the hurt and anger in their voices as they described it to their children. I pray that one day the anger will disappear. I pray that that kind of injustice will no longer be present.

I found it sad that we were one of the only white families there amongst hundreds of black families. I applaud them for educating their children on this injustice...I merely think that we should be educating our children on it, too.

This quote was posted in the kitchen area. I just cannot imagine...

"But when a vessel arrived to conduct us away from the ship, it was a most horrible scene; there was nothing to be heard but rattling of chains, smacking of whips and the groans and cries of our fellow men...and when we found ourselves at last taken away, death was more preferable than life."

Ottoba Cugoano of the Fante people

Gold Coast, Africa, 1787

Kingsley Plantation House

Slave Quarters Looking up the chimney in one of the slave houses.

Exploring the slave quarters. The homes were built out of clam shells that the indians had discarded after eating them. They said the mounds of shells were piled up to 40' high! It's amazing that they could make a "cement" and build homes from discarded clam shells.

Playing with the Life-ring on the dock where the slaves disembarked the ship

and placed their feet on American Soil.

Grant had a ball walking through the woods and playing with sticks. We need to take him to Gatlinburg!

Mason just thinks his daddy is the best! I love this age.

Snuggle time with Daddy (daddy's eating it up, too!)

Cheesy little guy. I love his sly look.

Playing on the great Live Oak Trees. They're so cool!

Grant has this new grin when we tell him to smile that is totally fake and looks like he doesn't want to smile and is just appeasing his mother but it makes me laugh every time.

Grant took off with Granny and Grandpa for a while to watch some fishermen so Chris and I had a little time with just Mason. He was so sweet and snuggly. We had fun playing with him.

Mason was giving slobbery kisses all over my face.

A kiss only a mother could love (and then definitely wipe off!)Mason figured out how to do a fishy face. It was hilarious! He was so proud.

2/15/2010 Just goofin' around!

2010-02-25T07:46:00.003-05:00

So I just think my kids are cute and take lots of pictures just for fun. Don't you agree?? :)

2/14/2010 Worley Valentines

2010-02-25T07:20:00.004-05:00

We had a great family day this Valentines Day! We spent the day playing, taking goofy pictures and the boys even got in a good wrestling match. Chris took me out for dinner at Buca diBeppos (where our dinner took forever getting to us and when it finally did it was cold so we got a free dessert!), so the boys got to go to one of their best friend's houses to play for a while, too, which they thoroughly enjoyed. And Chris even got to watch the UK Basketball game...can life possibly get any better than this!?

My boys pretending to be lions Aren't they sweet? Love those boys!

Reflections on a Certain Slum

2010-02-09T07:58:00.002-05:00

I slowly walk along these trampled streets. They’re covered with sewage, trash, drugs, filth and disease. The stench stirs my senses clear down to my toes; It makes me sick to my stomach, and even turn up my nose. How could I love and serve these people, Oh, Lord? Your children, Your people, those whom You adore? I don’t want to touch them; I want to close up inside. Lord, make me invisible, find me a place I can hide. For serving these people is not something I think I can do. They’re dirty. They’re germy. They’re truly covered in poo. I look at these people in horror, dismay. They‘re hungry, they‘re tired and poor...But Okay. There’s laughter and giggles and smiles all around. They’re fulfilled, secure, joyful. And Your grace: it abounds! I don’t know how to do it; Lord, I just want to run. And yet, not my will, Oh, Lord, but Yours be done.

1/20/2010

2010-01-21T06:30:00.004-05:00

Oh, I am just so ready to come home! I’m getting terribly homesick in these last few days. Today I was asked to give the morning devotion. I was speaking of the Psalm that says, “This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it!” I thought I would be fine - it’s easy to be joyful about this Psalm. But I found myself speaking about my children and losing all composure. I miss them so. Clinic was not too eventful today. They did see a couple of things that were interesting. A 1 ½ year old child that looked like he was about 6 months old and a child who had a very strange rash all over his body. I even filled a prescription for someone who’s diet consisted only of potatoes and ugale. No wonder he was having stomach issues! I wished my sister were here today because we had someone here who was deaf but spoke American sign language. I can only sign a few things for my children, so I wasn’t much help. But I knew Stephanie would have saved the day. I came back and packed up all of our things while it was still light out so I could see what I was doing. I have been told that we’re not able to take carry-ons on the plane from here to Brussels, so I’ve been trying to wrap up all of our souvenirs carefully. Hopefully nothing will break. I ran back up to clinic to say my good-byes and was surprised by the entire Dispensary Board who had printed off certificates to thank all of us for coming. It was very thoughtful of them. Afterwards, we had Fantas and talked for a while. One of the members of the board asked Chris if he was married yet. Chris said yes and graciously reached over to introduce me. The man looked at me and said, “If your husband lived here, he would quickly become a polygamist.” I laughed and tried to be gracious, but I must say, I really didn’t find it too funny. Polygamy is common here, so I’m sure his comment was just a product of his culture. In all honesty, however, I wasn’t quite sure how to take it. Somehow I felt like I just didn’t quite measure up to his expectations. I was glad for the sympathetic smile from across the room from my dear husband that assured me that he knows that I’m all the wife he needs! There’s definitely no more room for another wife in our life together! Ha! J Mama and Papa Kibarita arrived today. They have been living in Canada for the last 3 years and haven’t seen their family through that entire time, so the Kibarita household has been busy preparing for their arrival for several days. I know that they are so excited to see them, so I feel a bit like I need to just stay out of the way and let them have their time together. That’s not, however, panning out so well. Yesterday, I was supposed to learn how to make chapati with a lady from the church at her home. She went home to take a nap, however, and never came back to get me, so I figured she just forgot. Today, however, she asked me why I never came. So after I explained, she said she would come to the Kibarita’s tonight. I told her Mama and Papa were coming and perhaps it wasn’t a good night…but I could come to her house. She, however, is insistent upon coming to the Kibarita shamba. She says they’re very good friends and wouldn’t mind a bit. I wasn’t quite sure what to do, so I ran home to tell the Kibaritas and ask their advice. Luckily they think it is funny because they know she just wants to see Mama and Papa. The funny thing is, though, they weren’t even sure who the lady was. “Very good friends,“ indeed. So I’m learning to cook chapati tonight over an open fire. It was pretty interesting. It's quite a complicated process! We enjoyed our evening with Mama and Papa Kibarita and their entire family. We had about 30 people crammed into one living room. We enjoyed our fellowship immensely.

01/19/2010

2010-01-21T06:30:00.001-05:00

Our day began at 2:30 AM when Chris woke me up with a really sour stomach and was sick for the majority of the day. He didn’t get out of bed or even go to clinic today. I went up with Dr. Bunge to have an early morning devotion that Pastor John had prepared for us. Dr. Sams was sick, as well, so he, Chris and Adam stayed home. Dr. Sams wasn’t feeling too terribly, so he was going to go out to pump some water. Somewhere in the middle of the night, we ran out of water, thus running out of the capability to flush the toilet. Not a good problem to have, I assure you, especially with two sick-o‘s. Unfortunately, however, we have not had rain for a few days, so we were left waterless for the majority of the day. We were all so glad to see the rain clouds approaching mid-afternoon because it meant that we may no longer have to use “the hole” out back. It’s not a fun thing to use at anytime, but especially when you’re sick. That’s pretty much been our day…Dr. Bunge and Dr. Sams worked the clinic which was finished very early. I stayed with Chris for the majority of the day. We’re praying for no more sickness. And lots of rain!

1/18/2010

2010-01-21T06:29:00.001-05:00

It’s been yet another busy day here in Mukeu. Dr. Sams made French Toast for breakfast…I was so excited for something familiar. But I still felt like I had something stuck in my throat. I figured it wouldn’t be so bad, but after eating just a little bit, my throat started having spasms again. I took a little nap and felt much better when I awoke and headed up to clinic around 10:00. When I got there, I was amazed at how many people were waiting. I guess the word had gotten out about the Muzungo doctors being in town. They saw some pretty serious situations today. One lady had given birth by C-Section a couple of weeks ago and had what they were pretty sure was a pulmonary embolism. We sent her straight to the hospital. Another young girl came in with blood pooling at her feet and soaking her skirt. Her index finger was just barely hanging on as she had cut it really severely using a machete on the farm. An elderly man who had already suffered a stroke came in because he was having altered mental status. He had a pretty bad infection, so they tried to give him an IV but weren’t able to get it in. After giving him some rehydrating solution, he appeared to be back to normal so they sent him home. He appears to be on his last leg…it’s only a matter of time for him. There was a patient with paranoid schizophrenia, and someone just diagnosed with congenital heart failure. There were lots of emergencies…what a day! I worked in the pharmacy for a while again today. I’m amazed at how the pharmacy works here. I was pretty concerned about it, so I talked to Chris, who explained that it’s just a cultural thing. This is the way they do things here. There have been numerous times that the American medicine names are different from the Kenyan medicine names. Sometimes when I ask about it, they will say, “Oh, I think this is the same thing.” Key word being think. When I press them about making sure it’s the right medication, they just take it from me and give it to the patients anyway, without being sure that it’s what has been prescribed. Today, a man was given his medication and he said that he was having stomach pain and wasn’t given anything for his stomach. The pharmacist asked me what to do and I said that we should ask the doctor if something should be prescribed whereupon he turned around, grabbed a medication off of the shelf and gave it to the man without a doctor’s prescription! Later, I was filling a prescription…I guess I am a bit of a rule follower and when the prescription says something, that’s exactly what I’m going to do. The other guy working with me followed me around and kept taking pills I had just put in, out of the medicine baggie and putting them away. I asked him what he was doing and he said that the patient didn’t really need all of the medication. Just some. He evidently knew better than the doctor did. It really bothered me and finally I just stepped out. The pharmacy wasn’t the place for me today. I think the British tea tradition has had a deep impact upon the culture here. The British, afterall, were the settlers here. Every day at 10:00, clinic stops and they and have tea. Then at 2:00, they stop clinic again and have lunch. Then at 4:00, there is another tea break. The poor, sick, hungry patients just sit there and wait. It’s been hard for us to get used to. Especially today, since we really had life and death situations. The girl who was bleeding profusely and had a finger dangling off was sitting waiting to be seen, and Chris was trying to find someone to help him with interpretation. He asked two girls and they said, “But first we will go take tea.” I explained to them that in the US, they don’t get to take breaks until their work is done, and a girl was really in serious condition and needed immediate help, and they said, “But sometimes we get hungry.” So sure enough, the doctors waited for all of the interpreters to take tea before they could see their next patients. Tea must be a very intricate part of their culture. At 2:00 this afternoon, we were going to go to Kijabe to visit the mission hospital there with Pastor John. We were going to go on Wednesday, but Pastor John wanted to go with us and visit a patient as well as meet with the medical director, so we agreed to go with him. So we climbed into Pastor John’s car and headed out to Kijabe. We learned a lot about the hospital, and we had a productive meeting regarding Kijabe partnering with Mukeu in creating a larger outpatient clinic where more services could be offered, perhaps even Kijabe supporting the building of the maternity health center that we’ve been talking so much about. It was interesting because the medical director said that they had just made a 10 year plan and in that plan, they had decided that the next outpatient clinic they’d like to start was in Mukeu. It seemed perfect timing that we approached them about supporting the dispensary and maternity center. It’s so neat to see God’s hand at work. We got to see Margaret, the lady who had a stroke last Monday. She seemed to be doing well. She still cannot move the left side of her body at all, but is talking and able to eat soft foods. We were able to talk with her for a few minutes and pray with her. All in all it was a productive day. But I must say, I’m so ready to come home. Papa Johns sounds really good tonight! :)

1/17/2010 Another Sunday in Mukeu

2010-01-21T06:28:00.002-05:00

What a different day today was as compared to last Sunday. The sun was shining, and we were actually hot at times. The whole time we’ve been here, I’ve practically been freezing, so it was a nice change. We were a bit tired today because Chris had been up all night running to the bathroom. Something didn’t sit well with him and he was one sick boy. He was taking it easy, trying to feel better so he could make it to church. I started getting ready for church by taking a shower. Showers here are different than back home. All we have is cold water, so to get warm water, you heat it over the fire and pour it over yourself. So I gathered my warm water in a bucket, took the pitcher of water and poured it over my hand. Thinking that it was a good temperature, perhaps a bit on the warm side, I then commenced to pour it over my hair, only to wince in pain because it was burning my scalp. I mean really burning. I tried to turn on the shower to put some cold water one it, but all the cold water was gone, so I had nothing. I threw on my clothes and did manage to finally get some cold water and went back to finish my shower, wincing in pain every time I had to pour even cold water over my head. Chris looked at it and couldn’t see anything wrong with my scalp, so I hoped that it wasn’t too bad and continued to get ready for church, though every time I‘d touch it, it would bring tears to my eyes. We got to church and were asked to sing a song, so we sang with the family that is hosting us for the entire congregation. And then Dr. Sams and Dr. Bunge shared a sermon that encouraged the people here in Mukeu to allow themselves to be the light. Afterall, faith without works is dead. It was very good. A short way through the 3 hour service, I noticed that all of my hair was dry, except the back of my head where I had burned myself. When I touched it, it was just a sticky mess. I burned myself worse than I thought. So now I have lovely scabs and ooze back there. Lovely, huh. I can’t wait to take a good old American shower back home! It’s amazing the things I’ve come to appreciate. Chris slept most of the afternoon after we got home from church and started to feel better by the evening. We made macaroni and cheese from the box tonight. The poor Kibarita family could hardly get it down. It wasn’t my favorite, either, but I’d eat it over ugale any day! Poor Harrison, 6 years old, was forced to eat every bite. And he did it without complaint. He’s such a good boy. Right before bed, I remembered we had to take our anti-malarial pill. I got the pills and forgot to get myself water, so I just swallowed it without a drink. Bad mistake. It got stuck at the bottom of my esophagus and irritated it so immensely that I began having esophageal spasms. I’ve never had them before and was amazed at the pain I was in. The burning and pain were so bad that I couldn’t go to sleep and around 1:00 AM I finally started throwing up. Afterwards I finally was able to go to sleep and slept until almost 7 AM. But when I awoke the next morning, it’s obvious the esophagus is still inflamed and it still feels like I have something stuck in there. It’s causing great pain and inflammation. I’m praying that it will get better very soon. Eating only makes it worse, so I think I’ll abstain from food until it’s not so swollen in there. I learned my lesson. I’ll never be too tired or lazy to get a drink of water with my pills. J So all in all, Sunday was a rough day for me. Between my burn and my esophageal spasms, it’s been a painful day!

01/16/2010 - What a fun adventure!

2010-01-21T06:28:00.001-05:00

We had been looking forward to this day all week long. We were going to the equator and Thompson Falls today. We hopped in our Matatu which kind of reminded us of a 70s “Love Machine” and sat and sat and sat. I think it took about 3 hours on a bumpy, bumpy ride to reach the equator. We saw lots of zebras on the way and even some giraffe. We had to stop many times for police checks and even once for an entire herd of cattle to cross the road. Suddenly, the bumpy ride stopped, we pulled over to the side of the road and we saw a sign. “Equator.” Wow…that was it. At first I thought, “Well, this is kind of anti-climactic” but then we started taking pictures, a man showed us how a piece of straw in a bowl of water right at the equator just stayed still, but if you went about 20 meters south, it spun counter clockwise. If you went about 20 meters north, it spun clockwise. It was so cool! There is a road that goes right along the equator, so we walked along the center of the earth for a while. We even found a crossroads, so we all stood in different directions - North, East, West, and South. Harrison stood directly in the center. It was fun. Chris haggled with this lady for a figurine for a long time and they finally agreed upon a price. It was much harder to haggle at the equator than at the market in Nairobi. We drove just a few miles to Thompson Falls. Again, I thought, “This is nice - a waterfall, but it’s kind of anti-climactic.” And then we realized that we could hike down to the falls. So we hiked down a very steep cliff. About half way down, I realized that my legs were already feeling like jelly. And I still had to hike back up. I’m finding it’s harder to hike up here at 8000 feet. I get out of breath so quickly. Elevation makes a big difference! Harrison, Victor and Mike practically ran down the mountain and back up. I was really fighting it every step of the way. But I did make it, despite the burning in my chest. And I enjoyed it very much. You know me and waterfalls. Despite my familial heritage, however, I did not stick my head in this water…it was very brown in color and smelled of sewage, so I didn’t even think about it. Sorry, Dad. I’m sure you would have done the same. J We decided to drive to Lake Naivasha and see what we could get ourselves into there. There’s a park called Hell’s Gate that we had considered, but when we got there, they said it was too late. So we pulled into a campground and asked if we could look around the lake. We walked clear out to the lake and there was a man sitting there in a boat. He asked us if we wanted a ride to see the Hippo Family that lives there in the wild, so for 1500 shillings, or about $18, all 10 of us got to go on a boat safari. So we crossed the marshy land on long planks of unstable wood and climbed in the canoe with an engine on the back to embark upon our journey in the mucky, dirty brown water of Lake Naivasha. It was so cool, and definitely the favorite part of the day for all of us. We thought that was funny, because it was the only part of the day that we had not planned. None of the Kibarita family had ever been on a boat before, or seen hippos, so it was quite exciting for them. It really amazed me…they live right here in Africa and many of them hadn’t seen zebras, giraffes, or hippos before. You should have seen the hippos. I was so amazed that they were right there in the wild. We could ride right up next to them. And I got some incredible pictures of them. What a thrill! The Kibaritas kept talking about how funny hippos looked - big heads, little ears, huge bodies and tiny tails! They thought they were so funny. I enjoyed watching them experience this for the first time. It brings a fresh perspective to life. We ate at the Silver Hotel in Naivasha because Adam remembered getting “Chips” (French fries) there the last time he was here. He was craving something familiar, so we all ate chips for dinner. We are so exhausted. The 10 mile hike from last night and our hike up and down a mountain to the waterfall really has us beat. Bed sure sounds good for tonight!

01/15/2010

2010-01-21T06:27:00.000-05:00

Today wasn’t too eventful in clinic…at least not for me. The doctors did see some interesting things. One man came in who had had a brain tumor removed some time ago; now it is back and is making one side of his face protrude. He wanted the US doctors to fix him. He’s essentially blind and moves very slowly and looked to be in his mid 30’s. So young to have something like this affect him. Another young man heard there were going to be US doctors in Mukeu on the radio all the way down south of Nairobi. He had fallen 12 years ago and his leg had never repaired itself. He thought perhaps the US doctors could help him. There was really nothing they could do. He needed hospital care and probably just needed a rod stuck in his leg to repair it. But he couldn’t afford it. It makes you feel so helpless. Chris, Adam, Ruth, Carol and I went into the village today to talk to people about HIV/AIDS. There is such a stigma here about it. If you find out you have it, you’re essentially ostracized from the community. Our goal is to start breaking down those walls. Start talking about it, and encourage people to come to the VCT (Voluntary Counseling Center) to be tested for free. Most of the people just laughed at us and I felt like perhaps it was a futile effort, but we did end up having 2 ladies come to be tested today because we went out to talk to them about it. That’s encouraging. I think the more people talk about it, the better it will be. I did fill a prescription for a lady today who is 16 weeks pregnant and was tested and found positive for HIV. I just cannot imagine. HIV seems rampant here. The orphanages are filled with children who have lost their parents because of this disease. It’s a big problem. After clinic was over, I spoke with my mom for a few minutes. She told me that Mason had had a fever of 105...I was doing really well here until I heard that. At that point, I decided I was really ready to come home. My baby was sick, and I just wanted to be home. He got on the phone and the first thing he said was, “Mommy, I choke.” That’s how he tells me he is sick. Poor baby. Mom said she was playing with him the night before and he looked around and said, “Where’s mommy?” Mom said, “Where’d she go?” And Mason responded with a pouty face, “Mommy gone. Mason baby sad.” We were supposed to go on a nice country walk tonight to Hezekiah’s house before we had dinner at Benson and Dorcas‘ home. Hezekiah is one of the directors of the dispensary. So we set out on our journey, expecting a nice little walk, and ended up walking for about an hour before we finally got there. We had tea, fried eggs and boiled potatoes, visited for a while and then set out to Benson and Dorcas’ house for dinner. It was pitch black, we all pulled out our flash lights and set out on our journey. About 45 minutes later, after trudging through mud in our gum boots in the dark, climbing over barbed wire fences (me in my skirt), climbing through holes in wooden fences, walking through many farms and getting ourselves completely lost, we finally made it to their house for a late dinner. We enjoyed our time with them immensely and were so thankful for their hospitality. They don’t have electricity at all, so we ate with a single lantern in the room and listened to them share a history of their country. It was all very interesting. We walked back to our house admiring the darkness and the vivid brightness of the stars. They are incredible! We picked out a few planets, and even saw the Milky Way. What a wonderful adventure. I think we’ll sleep quite well tonight after our 10 mile trek through the country side.

1/14/2010 - Orphanage

2010-01-21T06:26:00.002-05:00

I was very excited this morning when I woke up to find that Adam and I were going to go with Pastor John to the orphanage to which he is the Director. They were celebrating their 2 year anniversary and we were invited to participate. The ride to the orphanage in Nukuru was really quite lovely. We drove down the mountain into the Great Rift Valley and drove through the valley for about 2 hours. Half way there, we saw some baboons on the side of the road, just walking alongside the traffic! They actually live there - in the wild! It was so cool. Drivers here in Kenya are crazy! I actually thought that we might end up in a head on collision today. I’m not really sure how we avoided it afterall. Pastor John wanted to go faster than the other vehicles so he pulled out into the other lane of traffic, with a car coming straight at us! The other vehicle was flashing his lights and honking his horn, but not slowing down at all. So we started moving into our own lane before we had even passed the car in front of us, managing to cut him off terribly! It certainly got my adrenaline going, that’s for sure! I have laughed all day long about our “hit and run” as well. We were in Naivasha, which is a crowded town and has lots of pedestrians. The pedestrians here do not have the right-of-way, so Pastor John honked his horn as he tried to pull off to the side of the road, into the sea of pedestrians, warning people that he was coming. One of the guys on his bike didn’t pull off far enough quick enough, however, because as Pastor John pulled over, we heard a loud thump and noticed that we had whacked the poor biker really hard! But Pastor John didn’t even flinch. He just kept going. There was no, “I’m sorry - are you okay?” We hit him with our car, and just kept driving. His wife did turn around and look at him, but she didn’t say anything. It’s a different world here. The orphanage looked very nice. I was a bit disappointed because I didn’t get to see much of the facilities. We just participated in the anniversary and didn’t even really get to play with the kiddos. Bummer. It was neat to get to see a part of their culture nonetheless. We were seated at the table of honor along with the Director and board. It was interesting. There were no decorations until after the ceremony started. Then, one of the men who works there started bringing out mismatched decorations: putting streamers behind the table of honor, tying balloons to the pillars (which kept popping because of the extreme heat in the valley), etc. So by the end of the ceremony, the whole table of honor was decorated. The children did various presentations for us. Mostly they sang songs and recited memory verses, but there was one group of kids who did acrobatics. They were very good and looked like they were having so much fun. They even painted their faces with “war paint.” They were cute. That was my favorite part. We had picked up Pastor Kariuke along the way, who was a lovely man - full of information about Kenya and curiosity about the US. He was the guest speaker this morning. He was very gracious and asked me to read the Scripture, so I read an entire chapter full of very difficult words! J I’m not sure if anyone understood what I read because I read it in English, but it was kind of him to invite me in to participate in the ceremony. After he preached, they had a time of prayer which he led. In our country, the Pastor leads in prayer, and then it’s done. Not here. We sat in the blazing hot sun for at least 30 minutes while 4 different people prayed. I’m not sure how they determined who prayed, for how long, and when to stop it. But by the end, because I couldn’t understand a word and we were sitting in the warmth of the sun, I felt my body start jerking! I was so sleepy. Pastor John said a few words, and then we had another 30 minute prayer time. I was convicted a little bit that at home we have our meetings, our celebrations, and then, almost as an afterthought sometimes, ask God to bless it and thank Him for his provisions and seek His guidance. It seemed to be at the forefront here. There was cake at the end of the ceremony. They were very gracious and called the Director, speaker and board up to eat a piece of cake in front of the entire gathering. They then called their “friends from America” up, as well, and we had to take a piece of cake and eat in front of every one. It was a little awkward, but very kind of them to invite us into their celebration. We had a meal and visited with a few people before we left. I learned today that if you take a bite of food and then drink some orange Fanta while you chew, you can’t taste the food and you can swallow much easier! I think I’ll have to take advantage of that tactic more often! Ha! On the way home, we saw a few more baboons and I even think we saw some zebra in the distance. We also saw what they told us at first was the Kenyan President in a motorcade. Tomorrow is National Tree Planting Day and he was headed up to one of the mountains for a huge Tree Planting Ceremony. Later, they suggested it might have been the Prime Minister, too. Not sure. The scenery on the way home was incredible. The sky was full of clouds, but the sun was shining through the bottom of the clouds, revealing individual rays of sunshine on the earth below. And the clouds themselves were outlined with a bright rim of yellow sunshine shining out upon the Great Rift Valley (and a volcano by Lake Naivasha! You can see where it exploded years ago. So neat). We didn’t get home until fairly late and were quite tired. One of my favorite pictures that I will hold in my mind happened right before we got home. People use their bikes and motorcycles here as a means of transporting large items - wood, water jugs, etc. There was a man driving a motorcycle this evening that had an entire 3 piece sofa attached upside down to his motorcycle driving down the road. I couldn’t get a picture, but I laughed so hard when I saw it. Can you imagine driving a motorcycle with a sofa attached to it!? Crazy!

1/13/10

2010-01-21T06:26:00.001-05:00

We awoke to such a strange rhythmic sound. I got my camera because it was a beautifully sunny morning and I had heard the mountains are glorious on clear days. When I got out there, I figured out the strange sound: Dr. Sams and Dr. Bunge were outside pumping water on a machine that functions just like a stair stepper in the US up to a holding basin on the roof of the house so that we could have running water this morning. Otherwise, we’d be using the outhouse! So they got their exercise this morning, and we are so grateful! The mountains and sunrise were glorious, indeed. So peaceful. When I got back to the house after taking a few pictures, Chris was donning on his gum boots and said he was going to milk a cow! He did great! I must say, he has a very quick response: the cow starting going potty half way through and Chris snatched up the bucket of milk to save it and backed clear up against a wall to escape the deluge before I hardly knew what was happening! Wednesday is immunization day at the clinic. More than 70 mothers brought their babies less than 12 months old for weighing and immunizations. I got to weigh the babies. They have a scale with a hook on it that hangs from the ceiling. You lay the baby in a fabric sling and take the 2 fabric handles and hang it on the hook. The poor babies just dangle there and you can’t help them from banging their heads lightly on the wall as they hang there. I really think I almost dropped one when I tried to “hook” it. Scary! Adam and I went to one of the primary schools around noon today. Adam took his guitar and played some music while I helped with hand motions. The teacher asked several of the older girls to present a few songs to us, as well, which I really enjoyed. They dance with everything. I’ve enjoyed that very much. After they sang, the teacher asked us to tell the students a little bit about our country. I looked at Adam, he looked at me, and then he turned around and sat down. The little punk! Ha! I guess the “history lesson” is up to me! So I told them about where we live, talked about the schools, etc. Then we let them ask a few questions. The first question they asked was, “Who is your President?” They knew full well who our president was…Obama’s family is from Kenya, and they are very proud to have Kenyan roots in America. We had a great time with the kids. After our presentation was over, we walked through them to leave and they got ahold of my hand. I really was afraid that I might lose my arm because they were pulling so hard. Everyone wants to touch you, feel your skin, your hair, your nails. They haven’t seen many white people, so they’re very curious if you feel different. It’s fascinating. They do have a bit of a mob mentality, however. If you pass out stickers, you’re surrounded and mauled. Just walking through them, I was being pulled so hard, I wasn’t strong enough to keep myself ahead…I really was afraid for a moment. I was glad the teacher was there to help me. It makes me wonder, when Jesus walked on this earth, I wonder what it was like for him…was he mobbed? Were people so curious about him that they’d run along side him just to watch him? Did the children want to know where the healing from his hands came from and nearly rip his arm off? I can imagine it was like that at times for him. I’m praying that the Lord will give me a bit of His grace to handle it like He did. Because there are times I just want to wrap myself up so no one can touch me and spare my arms from dislocation! Ha! I laugh when I say that, but I am a bit serious. We made dinner for the Kibaritas tonight when we got home. We decided we were going to make Pancakes, scrambled eggs and fried potatoes. Were we in for a big surprise. Nothing turned out like we wanted it to. I tried to make the potatoes. We peeled them using great big long knives, then I cut them into small chunks, put some vegetable oil in a pan and stuck it over the fire. All they have to cook with are wooden spoons, however, so I didn’t have a spatula to get the “fried” part to stay on the potatoes. It just kept building up on the bottom of the pan. So we ended up with potato mush. The pancakes kept burning because we had to cook them long enough, but the pan was too hot. And when I went out to make the eggs, they said they were already done and showed me the pot. When I looked inside, I didn’t see scrambled eggs….I saw hard-boiled eggs. So we had pancakes, potato mush, hard boiled eggs and ugale (they weren’t sure they’d like our dinner so they make a traditional Kenyan dish that looks like mashed potatoes. It’s corn meal mixed with water and stirred until it’s so stiff you can’t stir it any more). I was laughing so hard by the end of it. Such an adventure here. Surprisingly, everything tasted really good. It’s as close to “home-cooking” as we’re going to get, I think. Fun memories. I’ll treasure them for the rest of my life.

01/12/10

2010-01-21T06:25:00.002-05:00

As we walked to the AIC Mukeu Dispensary this morning, Chris looked exhausted. He kept telling me just did not know if he could do another day. The last few days of clinic have been emotionally and spiritually exhausting! It seems every day had has held a life and death situation: women with gaping leg wounds, children trapped in the hospital, a woman covered in terrible burns because she was locked in her house which was doused with kerosene and lit on fire, and now a woman with a stroke. It has been intense, to say the least. Chris and I spent some time in prayer this morning, asking for a quiet, uneventful day, and the grace to handle whatever might come our way. The Lord must have heard our prayers, for today was very uneventful; even boring at times. I found myself in the pharmacy again, which I enjoy for a number of reasons: 1) The ladies who work in there with me are hilarious and I enjoy them very much. Today I was teaching them to use a camera - they’ve never used one before. It was very funny. 2) I feel connected to and a part of Chris’ ministry I have actually wondered if pharmacy school might be in my future when our children get a bit older. I’m really enjoying it very much. I took our 5 suitcases full of medication and unloaded it in the pharmacy here in Mukeu. It is so nice to see full shelves and know that the people here will be taken care of for a long time. Chris saw his patients today, but there was nothing too exciting. We were finished with clinic by 4:00 and convinced Chris and Dr. Sams to get a hand-made suit from the village, as well, so we went back to the tailor’s shop where they picked out their material and were fitted for suits. It’s just a tiny little shop with several foot-powered sewing machines. There was hardly enough room for the 5 of us “Muzungoes” (White people) in there, but somehow we managed to squeeze in about 25 of the neighborhood children, as well. It’s funny - you walk anywhere here and you inevitably end up with a stream of children following you. I often wonder where their parents are. Most of the people here seem very comfortable with us. The girls in the clinic told me my hair is “Smart” and want to know why I would ever cut it because they thought it would be beautiful long. It made me laugh because here I have no blow dryer or straightening iron. I have not had a “good hair day” in my opinion since we’ve arrived. It’s nice to know that even when I think it looks bad, they think it is “Smart!” Ha! The children in the village all want to pet my hair. They tell me it is so soft. The comfort levels and boundaries are so different in the US. It’s not too often you pet a stranger’s head at home! One of the ladies, Carol, has a little girl named Nympha. She is adorable - about Mason’s age. Her mother is so welcoming, warm and kind. From the moment I met them, she has been encouraging her daughter to “Go to your auntie.” It seems like I’ve adopted a niece. Everyone is anxious for you to love them. It’s fascinating. At home, we shield our children from strangers…especially strangers that we perceive to be different from us. We ate sheep for dinner tonight. It was disgusting! Every bite I took was full of fat and bones. Finally, I decided it was better to just leave it on my plate than to continue gagging so obviously. Tomorrow night, we are making dinner for the family we are staying with. Boy, I can’t wait! J Chris and I came to bed early tonight. We haven’t had any time alone since we’ve arrived in Mukeu, and I think we were both looking forward to just talking and processing the things we’ve seen in the last few days. Usually when we do go to bed and try to talk, we’ve been falling asleep while the other one is talking. It is so nice to connect and hear what is going on in each other’s hearts without falling asleep!

1/11/10 Thoughts from Chris

2010-01-21T06:25:00.001-05:00

Wow, where to I start - what a day - it’s about 20:00 and I’m just now getting back to the farm. I’m not sure how to start. So it goes something like this: This morning, after about a 1 mile muddy walk in the rain down to the dispensary, Victor, one of the persons living at the Kibaritas, came running to the clinic saying that Margaret, one of the ladies who works on the farm, was found passed out in the field and that she wasn’t making sense, or that’s at least what I could make out from the broken translation of a frantic Victor. My immediate thought was, “Oh, great. Someone who has been working in the field and didn’t drink enough water because most Kenyans don’t drink enough water. She must be dehydrated. No big deal.” So I walked another mile back to the farm to check it out. I did not run - I really thought it was no big deal. Was I in for a rude awakening! By the time I got there, she was laying in the grass face down in her own vomit. I immediately took her vitals. She was found to have a Blood Pressure of 260/140 - yes, that is correct - not a typo. It was repeated 3 times on each arm. Her heart rate was in the 50’s. So, as an aside, it had been raining and if you haven’t been able to catch up with Sara’s blog, the road from the town to the farm is passable by a donkey or dirt bike. There’s no such thing as 911 or an ambulance out here. Long story short, we were, by the grace of God and a very generous man with a 4 wheel drive truck, able to get her to the front gate at Mukeu, after which I carried the lady to the dispensary as by this time she was becoming even more unresponsive, responding only to painful stimuli. We were able to administer 20 mg Hydrolyzing (a blood pressure medication via IV to help lower her BP) and it dropped to 200’s/100’s. Our immediate concern was….stroke. In the US, we can call 911, have a rapid response team arrive and wisk her off to the nearest latest and greatest stroke center. But this, as you know, is NOT the US. We were finally able to call a family friend who has a taxi as most people do not have vehicles here, which would have to suffice as an ambulance, myself and Monica, a family friend, would travel with Miss Margaret through muddy roads to the nearest hospital, Kijabi, a local mission hospital. The drive was somewhat treacherous, even nauseating. It was all I could do not to choke from the stench of her own vomit all over her and now me. After getting to Kijabi, I was very blessed to have run across another American doctor working there. I told him the brief story and we were able to take her back immediately to “Casualty,” which appears to be their equivalent to the ER. After speaking to one of the residents taking care of her and examining her with him, it appeared as if she indeed had suffered an MCA stroke and he requested basic labs/etc. “Sure!” I thought. “Sounds good to me!” A few labs and a STAT CT of the head to look for evidence of a bleed/stroke, right? Well, not exactly. After speaking with the resident, the nurse handed me a bill and instructed me to go to the cashier window. And so commensed my education of the Kenyan health system. Before obtaining these labs/etc, you must pay upfront. If you want a CBC, that’s $5 or 35 KSH. If you want a chest X-Ray, that’s about $20. All in all, just for the basic work-up (not truly an admission) was 4500 shillings in cash. Then after you pay, they give you receipts and you, not the nursing staff/MA’s, take the patient to the X-ray lab. You must help hold the patient’s arms and lift them to get the x-rays. Let’s just say this is a different experience than in the US. After all of the tests were obtained and we had been waiting for quite some time, the brewing, impatient Muzungo (that’s me - Muzungo is the Kenyan word equvalent to Greengo/white person), found out that there is no CT Scan available; in fact the nearest one is clear in Nairobi. Even if it was possible to do this, neither Monica, the family friend, nor myself, the “rich “Muzungo” could afford the cost of transportation, let alone the expense of a CT Scan. And, by theis point, it was too late for any immediate intervention. The damage had been done. I was unsettled to say the least. Finally, after composing myself from all of this frustration, the determined, by this time angry Muzungo (that’s me, again) forced one of the “consultants” as they call them (we call them admitting docs) to review her story. He was a fellow American Family Practice doctor. He agreed that she would be admitted to the hospital. Finally, after nearly an 8-10 hour ordeal, I could rest assured that we could get her admitted. But this thought came too soon. To keep this story from getting any longer, I will just say that after 2 hours of negotiation with the disposition counselor who informed us that we would have to pay a 10,000 shilling deposit before the patient could even be admitted, I finally convinced them to waive the fee, and she was admitted. What I thought was going to be a bogus call for a syncope episod, turned out to be a devastating stroke and a raw education of a somewhat different medical system than I am used to. I wish my story ended here. I wish I could say that this lady, Margaret, was not a single mother of 5 children, the oldest of whom is 17 years old. I wish I could say that she recovered completely to go home to her children. I wish I didn’t have to tell a 17 year old boy that he is suddenly the caretaker of his other 4 brothers. While I may never understand, I do pray again for a miracle and a fresh touch of God’s grace. What a day.

1/11/10

2010-01-21T06:24:00.002-05:00

Monday…our first day of clinic in Mukeu. We arrived early and excited to begin our work here. Right as the clinic began, Chris came and told me he was going to make a little house-call. Someone had passed out while working in the fields. Do you remember the Mike I spoke of yesterday? It turned out to be his mother. So Chris grabbed his medical supplies assuming this 48 year old woman was just dehydrated and headed out to pay her a visit. When he got there, however, he quickly realized it wasn’t as simple as he suspected. He blood pressure was dangerously high and he knew he had to get her up to the clinic ASAP. I was working in the pharmacy when Chris came back. There was a lot of commotion, all 3 doctors and 2 nurses were trying to get Miss Margaret to respond to them. I kept hearing them shout her name, trying to get her to open her eyes, follow directions, etc. It seemed like an eternity of controlled chaos. I tried staying calm and finish my duties in the pharmacy, but I was really afraid for this woman. It did not sound like things were going well at all. My eyes were filled with tears and all I could do was pray for my husband, and pray for Miss Margaret. I was really afraid we were losing her. I’ve never experienced anything like that before. So I stood in the pharmacy right next to the room where Margaret was having a stroke right before their very eyes and they could do nothing to stop it and prayed for a miracle. As I looked up, a faded, wilted Bible verse that was taped to the wall jumped out at me as if it was as plain as day: “Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you and you will honor me.” Psalm 50:15. No other words could have touched my heart any deeper than those. It was my prayer for the remainder of the day. Chris took Margaret in a taxi to Kijabe, the closest hospital to our small village (still an hour’s drive). They got a few tests done and waited all day to get her admitted. I was a bit worried about him. I don’t know that I had ever been so glad to see him as when he walked in tonight. We had finished the clinic, walked through the village where Dr. Bunge and Adam were measured by a tailor for a handmade suit (you should see their irons! They are about 6 inches tall and the handle lifts up so they can put hot embers in it to heat it. So cool!), I passed out stickers to the village children (you should have seen them putting stickers all over their faces…the extreme joy from such simple pleasures is incredible) and walked all the way home through the mud before Chris made it back. He looked exhausted! I must say, no longer am I merely proud of my husband. Today, I really was in awe of him. I could not do what he did today in a million years. I’ve heard him speak often of such situations at work. I know what he does. But I’ve never seen it. Today I did, and I’m truly in awe. I’m so glad to be able to understand him better now. Because it was a dear family friend who had the stroke and also because Mike is hired help at the Kibaritas, Mike came there after school to help milk the cows, etc. He didn’t yet know that his mother had collapsed. We naturally assumed that he did, so he was quite shocked when we told him what poor shape his mother was in. He silently listened as he held himself up with the assistance of a table, and then dutifully went to finish his chores. He and his brothers came for dinner, but they stayed in their own home without a parent tonight. They, tonight, are essentially orphans. Mike really amazed me. He asked the blessing over our food and spoke with such strength and grace as he prayed for his mother in Kikuyu and then proceeded to pray for every single person in our circle. Then, after his prayer, he graciously got up and passed a plate to everyone. He was selfless in his servant hood, even in the midst of his sorrow. I learned a lot from this 17 year old boy tonight. He is a gracious servant. I pray that others might say the same about me some day. I have a lot to learn about selflessness.

1/10/10

2010-01-21T06:24:00.001-05:00

What a lovely day we have had here in rainy Mukeu. We awoke this morning to a chilly, cloudy day, but it certainly did not put a damper on the Lord’s Day here in Africa. We walked into town to go to the AIC Church of Mukeu where we were greeted with very loud music in the native tongue of Kikuyu. The west has obviously had a bit of influence here because they sang with microphones and a keyboard despite the relatively small size (I’d say there were about 150 in attendance). Someone played the keyboard and added synthetic drums to a retro beat. It didn’t quite go with their traditional African singing. My favorite was when they sang acapella and played hand drums. Then I really felt like I was in Africa! It was wonderful! We didn’t understand a word that was spoken, but we did recognize a few melodies and sang along in English: How Great Thou Art and What a Friend We Have in Jesus. I also surmise they said the Lord’s Prayer after prayer time and joined with them in English. What a blessing it is to worship along side brothers and sisters in Christ even though we cannot communicate together. The Body of Christ is an amazing thing. The service was filled with a lot of dancing, singing and clapping. It seemed like we were truly immersed in their culture. Isn’t it amazing that God understands every tribe, every tongue, every culture? Isn’t it amazing that God binds us all together in Christian unity? How incredible! I do think I made a bit of a fool of myself today. For the offering, everyone went forward to drop their offering in the basket. I was sitting between Dr. Sams and Chris in a very small row. Chris had gotten up and Dr. Sams wanted to, as well, so I just got up and went forward with Chris so as not to disrupt the flow. Once I got up there, I looked around only to realize that I was the only woman who had gone forward. Everyone else was male. I hope I didn’t commit a major cultural faux-paux! After church, we came home to rest for a while. We went for a long walk through the country side. It really is incredibly beautiful here. We’re surrounded by mountains. It’s amazing to see how people live…one woman lives in a small tin home with 5 of her children. Her oldest son, Mike (who is employed by the Kibarita family with whom we are staying) lives next door. The tradition here is that when you are a 14 year old boy, you build your own house. So several years ago, Mike built a home for himself of sticks and mud. He is so proud of it. And he is thrilled that he has a cow and a few goats to go along with it. Can you imagine building your own house at 14 and still living in it 3 years later? Wow! We had a meeting with the AIC Dispensary board to discuss what we will be doing this week. It was great - they are trying to build a maternity ward here, so we had a brainstorming session to come up with some ideas to make this dream a reality. It looks like Monday-Friday we will have clinic at the Dispensary. Then on Saturday, we are going to Lake Naivasha to see some hot springs as well as to the equator. Right now, we are on the south side of the equator. It’s not every day that you get to see the center of the world…I’m excited. I’ve heard that if you stand on one side of the equator, a piece of grass will spin in a bowl of water in one direction. Then if you switch to the other side, the grass will spin in the opposite direction. Isn’t that so cool!? We came home tonight through the pouring rain and were soaked to the bone and covered in mud. It was so nice to sit by the fire and warm up a bit. After dinner we sat around in a circle and sang songs - both in Kikuyu and English. It is so amazing to me that even though we are worlds apart and speak very different languages, the Lord hears us just the same. I told Chris tonight that I feel much better about this “mission” experience than I did the first week. I feel like here we are immersing ourselves in their culture. We are living in their homes, eating their food, listening to their dreams and trying to help them. And in turn, they want to hear our dreams and ideas. This makes my heart much more at ease.

1/9/10 Mukeu, Here we come!

2010-01-21T06:23:00.000-05:00

We started out nice and early this morning…4 AM! We loaded up our bags and set out on our next adventure. I’ve really been looking forward to this! The drive started with rain…not a good sign of things to come! Tabitha, our hostess, called shortly after we left and said it was raining very hard in Mukeu and parts of the road were impassable. Things got pretty interesting! Most of the ride was pretty uneventful. It was a shame it was raining because as we went up in elevation, we had beautiful views of the Great Rift Valley. It was too foggy to see anything, but hopefully it will be clear on our way home so we can see it then. After we got off the main highway, it was like we took a step back in time. We did not see any cars. Instead, if people went anywhere, they rode their bikes or on top of a cart pulled by donkeys. We got to the road, “Keep Left” and some men were standing there motioning us to go another way. It had been raining so much that a few spots in the road were nothing but mud. There was no way we could pass through. So we had to find another longer, still dirt, road. We made it to the AIC Dispensary which was wonderful, but from there, we had no way to take the matatu to the home in which we were staying because the roads were so bad. We weren’t sure how to get our suitcases and groceries there. No fear, however, for they had already thought of that…we had a cart with 3 donkeys attached to it waiting for us. So we loaded up our stuff on this rickety old cart, donned on our ever-fashionable gum boots which we were able to find in the village and followed the donkeys 1-½ miles through the sticky mud to the Kibarita “shamba,” or homestead. J I’m not kidding. This really happened. The home in which we are staying is very nice. It is a concrete block home with several bedrooms and even a working toilet! We do have to pump water every day to a holding basin on the roof so we can use the toilet and shower. There is no hot water, though, so in the morning, we heat water in a big pot over a fire and spoon it over ourselves in the shower to bathe. It makes it really hard to shave your legs. Ha! There is no kitchen as we think of it. Instead, they have a smokehouse with a large stone in the center of the room with 2 holes cut into it where the flames come up and heat the pots. You stoke the fire with wood under the stone. It’s very smokey. They all complain of asthma and burning eyes. It is no wonder! I was in there for 5 minutes and I couldn’t breathe and my eyes were burning. These ladies are in there all day every day! They have my deepest respect. After getting settled in, we all took a nice long nap in our beds that are basically about a 1 inch mattress laying on top of a piece of wood. When we awoke, they had lunch for us…we are now eating the local fare…I did manage to get it down without gagging…I can’t say the same about dinner. J We went on a walk down to “Keep left” where we found a truck stuck in the mud. Chris and Dr. Sams helped the local drunks push it out of the mud. We grabbed a Fanta and walked back after receiving a very skewed history lesson. Did you know that the US gained it’s independence in 1948 and is not really independent at all but is owned by Africa? We enjoyed a beautiful view of the mountains as we walked back and even saw a rainbow. It is lovely here. So green, lush and fresh. The crops are plentiful, though I would imagine a lot of work. They do everything by hand here. When we got back to the shamba, we even got to watch Victor milk a cow! I’m determined to try it at least once before we leave here. What an experience! I will say, however, I’m not so sure about this whole no refrigeration thing. After milking the cow, he went in the barn to get the milk he’d gotten that morning and had set out all day for our dinner. Hmmm… I think we did not bring enough warm cloths. It is very cool up here, especially in the evenings. We both crawled into bed with long pants, long sleeve shrits, socks and 4 blankets tonight. Hopefully we’ll stay warm enough with each other’s body heat. Here’s hoping for a good night’s rest!

1/8/10 Happy Birthday to Me!

2010-01-21T06:22:00.000-05:00

I think I had the coolest birthday ever today! We woke up very early and boarded a bus to Nairobi National Park, a reserve just outside of the city. Here, they have all of the African animals except the elephant in a protected but free environment! The first thing we saw was a giraffe. He was standing right in the middle of the road so we couldn’t pass. At points, we were so close that if I would have put my hand out, I’m sure I could have touched him! Chris and Adam crawled out of the windows up to the top of the bus so they could see better but were promptly reprimanded and made to get back inside. Sometimes, boys just never grow up! J We saw a few Eland and then in the distance, our driver noticed a group of lions! So we sped over to where they were and watched them for a short while. Right after we left the lions, our bus got stuck in the mud. I was a little bit freaked out because we were so close to the lions in their natural habitat where they hunt for their food. It’s not like a zoo where they make sure they are fed daily. We had to pile out of the bus to push it out of the mud and I felt like a walking target. Yikes! Luckily it didn’t take long to free the bus from it’s bonds of mud, but I assure you, I was definitely on constant watch! We had what the World Hope group said was the best safari any group had experienced thus far. We saw rhinos, water buffalo, Eland, Impalas, various birds, ostriches, zebras and it seemed like hundreds of giraffes. Everywhere you’d look, you’d see a tall head sticking out of the horizon. While we were watching a pack of zebras, suddenly we realized that we were not the only ones. There was a pack of 5 lionesses that were watching them, too. And they were obviously on a hunting trip. You should have seen the slow, stealthy rhythm of their walk with their heads lowered and tails curved. They were really quite graceful. So we watched them furtively sneak up and prepare for attack. Then, before we knew what was happening, there was a stampede of zebras, a lion leapt up, swatted at the zebras and pounced! At first, I thought these lions were surely successful, but they only wounded the baby zebra. They all got away. I was really amazed at how easily the lions gave up. I guess they wanted an easy kill. So they started scouting out their next target: a giraffe…we didn’t stay to watch the attack. Our driver said that it would be a long time. But, we did sit about 6 feet away from hungry lions as they rested between attacks. We were instructed not to lean out of the van even to take pictures because they were so hungry, we were a viable lunch! Wow. It was definitely cool to be so close. You should see some of our pictures. A short while later, we saw some baboons. Our driver said we could get out for a closer look, but he said we had to close our windows or else they would come in the bus and steal our food/money/whatever they could get their hands on. So we all dutifully closed our windows and got out to take a closer look. The last person out of the bus, however, forgot to close the door, so when we got down to the baboon, he ran up to the bus, got inside and sat down in the front seat. We were lucky we were able to get him out quickly and safely. I thought we might have quite the predicament. I must say, I was a bit frightened when he charged out of the bus. He seemed wild, dangerous and frightened. Yikes! But I did double over in laughter when I saw him get on the bus. It was so funny. It was an experience that definitely added to the adventure. All in all, it was one amazing safari. What a cool birthday gift! After our safari, we went to the market where we haggled for various items…I think we got our Christmas shopping done! We found some really cool things and had fun discussing prices. We came home to rest and the rest of our group prepared to leave Kenya. We wish them well and enjoyed our time with them so much. Our remaining time in Kenya will be much different without them. Tomorrow morning, we board our Matatu at 5AM for Mukeu. We hear the roads are extremely muddy and impassable at points. We tried to find gum boots here in Nairobi, but were unsuccessful. We could have a couple of filthy, muddy weeks ahead of us. Please pray for us.

1/7/10 - Clinic/Home Visits/Orphanage

2010-01-21T06:21:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was such an exhausting day…we were all very tired this morning. We had about 20 more patients left over form yesterday to see, so Dr. Sams and Dr. Bunge worked on that while Chris worked on some procedures. I watched Chris and, once again, was so very proud of him. He’s good! He really knows what he’s doing. It’s nice to know that even after 6 years of marriage, he still impresses his wife! Ha! He drained fluid off of a man’s knee and removed an implant from a woman’s arm. I watched both procedures and took pictures without a problem. After the arm procedure was finished, however, I suddenly felt very light headed and had to sit down. It’s not for the faint hearted, for sure. Chris had a patient today who told him that her 7 year old daughter had fallen and broken her arm in November. It was so bad that it required surgery to reset it. When it was time for her release from the hospital, however, the mother could not pay, so the hospital is refusing to release the girl! Isn’t that incredible? Every day she stays, the bill goes higher. They have been known, we’re told, to hold patients for 3 years or more. One translator even said that sometimes they finally just withhold food from the patients until they die. So sad! Chris sent someone from the Hope Center to the hospital to verify this story and sure enough, it is true! It is going to take $500 USD to get this child home with her mother. We brought it before the rest of the group, hoping that we could raise enough money to get this child out of the hospital. And yet it’s only one child. I wonder how many more are out there… After we finished seeing patients, Chris and I went our separate ways. He went deep into the slums on home visits, whereas I went to the orphanage. Chris saw some amazing things. He said he’d write a post on that (including the woman who had been locked in her house while she was sleeping, had the house doused with kerosene and lit on fire. Luckily someone heard her screaming so she got out, but is covered in 3rd degree burns and may not even live, the fish market on a table by the ground right next to a flowing river of sewage and flies, and two parents who had AIDS). So since he’ll go into more detail about that, I will tell you about my experience at the orphanage. I have always wanted to work in Africa in an orphanage, so it was very important to me to get to one while I was here. In my mind, I guess I expected to see 1or 2 ladies in a room full of screaming babies. What I found was much different from that. It was a welcome respite from the extreme poverty and neglect we had been seeing. It was beautiful, clean, and there were so many workers that I actually felt like I might be in the way! The children were loved. They were ere clean and smelled so good. And they were so happy and well-adjusted. They were so happy to sit in your lap an sing and play. I was amazed. It was so lovely. And I came away feeling a strange dilemma; one that broke my heart: If I were a mother in the Kilamgari Slums, could I keep my child with me while knowing what a lovely life he could have in the orphanage? Is it better to have a mother and father and live in extreme poverty and filth and disease in an unsafe place, or live in a safe place that is clean where they regularly receive medical care and are loved by the many people who work there? I’m still not sure of the answer. What a terrible quandary to face. As we left, it was time for the kids to come outside and play. So they ran after us all the way to the gat and stuck their little faces and hands out of the bars and watched us go. It is a picture that I think will be stuck in my mind for the rest of my life. I just wish we could help them all. Beautiful, sweet, loving children who need a mommy and daddy to love them.

A Few Thoughts from Dr. Chris

2010-01-06T14:58:00.001-05:00

So I don't do this blog thing so much but I did see some interesting but very emotionally draining patients today so let me give this a go: After my first few patients today, I thought I was just going to have to quit! My first 6 patients took me an hour and 1/2. Mind you between the 3 docs, on average we are seeing 80 patients a piece per day. We tested many people who were HIV positive. *I saw a mother of 4 who had just 3 weeks ago lost her 4 month old son to some unknown illness and now was complaining of vaginal bleeding. She was obviously depressed, to say the least. She needed further testing, which I couldn't provide. I could do nothing medically for this patient, and I'm sure she probably won't be able to afford the testing. * I saw a 23 year old lady who had gone up country for a job, left her 2 year old son with the grandmother. When the mother came back, she found out that her 2 year old son had died from overwhelming sepsis. She was just married and had been trying to conceive again and had been trying for nearly 2 years. She begged me to help her. She wanted a child so desperately. Once again, she needed further testing. I could do nothing. * I saw a single mom with 2 young children with newly diagnosed HIV - just diagnosed today. She has no support. She has no husband. She has no money. When I told her the news, she looked at me as if I had given her a death sentence. And while there are programs available for her to receive treatment, I, personally, could do nothing. * I saw a mother who complained of multiple pelvic symptoms and had a child who had a fairly large lesion on his groin. After further questioning, she admitted that the family was being sexually and physically abused by her husband. I have a dispensary of Tylenol, a few antibiotics, steroid cream and a few other random medications, none of which can treat this. I could do nothing. And these were just within my first...6....patients. I wish I could say the rest of the 70-some patients were not so complicated, but many of them unfortunately had similar stories. I've gone to four years of undergraduate. I've gone to four years of medical school. And now I'm half way through my residency. There's nothing that prepares you for this. While I may say I could do nothing, I did do something. I prayed. I prayed like I've never prayed before. I prayed for a miracle. Miracles. While I don't know if any of these circumstances will change immediately, I do know that God has me here and brought them to me. I pray that even if their situations don't change, and even if I may never see them again, that they will find comfort in Christ alone and that we may experience eternity with Christ together. As you read this blurb in our blog, please pray with me.

Day 3 of Clinic

2010-01-06T13:08:00.005-05:00

Whew, what a day! I worked in the pharmacy today and I really enjoyed it! I think I found my niche - at least for the time being. Yesterday and even on Monday, I felt a little bit useless a lot of times - I just played with the kids. I know, I know - that's important, and the kids need love, etc, but I got burnt out quickly from that. And I wanted to be involved medically with Chris. So today, working in the pharmacy, I was able to kind of see what Chris had been seeing, give them medicine, etc, which was a very nice change. Chris even came and found me a few times with patients that he had been working with and asked me to pray with them. And I felt a little bit like I had something to contribute. I have a good husband...I think he heard me loud and clear through my tears last night and worked hard to incorporate me today. He's so good to me. :) There was a baby today that visited. His mother tested positive for HIV, was a single mother and had 5 children. The youngest was 18 months old. The only thing he ate was breastmilk at a year and 1/2 (remember, his mother had HIV). He looked perfectly healthy...except for the fact that he looked like a 5 month old baby. He was itty bitty. Beautiful. But obviously not thriving. We suspect that he, too, has HIV, although he tested negative today. It's not unusual for children to test negative even when positive for up to 18 months. Time will tell. Nonetheless, AIDS was an overwhelming factor in today's clinic. It was kind of a rip-your heart out, I just want to take you home and love you kind of day. We started clinic 2 hours late today because the children had a program at the school today for us. The different classes sang songs, recited verses and entertained us for about an hour. It was wonderful! I loved the songs in Swahili, especially. It was beautiful to watch the children lifting their hands while they sang to the Lord. It was the best part of my day. After they were done, the headmaster said they could greet their guests and the children just ran full-speed ahead to us practically attacking us with huge smiles and hugs. Chris enjoyed playing with the kids...one of the first times he'd had that opportunity. We got some GREAT pictures. I'm trying to get them up, but it's taking a long time. I'm working on it, I promise. We had to close clinic before we saw all the patients today. We were shooting for 200 patients today, and they let in 240, even though we started 2 hours late. So it was getting dark, we couldn't see anything in the pharmacy because it was getting too dark, and the doctors were having trouble examining the patients. Not to mention, we're in the slums and it was getting dark. So finally, they gave tickets to the remaining patients and told them to come back in the morning. We almost had a revolt and they actually charged the doctors, shoving their children at them, pleading to be seen. It was actually a bit frightening and very, very sad. I'm glad we can see them tomorrow. So all in all, we saw 220 patients today and 14 of them accepted Christ! We're pretty excited about that. It's been very successful. We're excited. Tomorrow, I am going to the orphanage. Chris is finishing up the patients from today, doing some procedures (like removing a 6th finger from a child) and going on a few home visits for people who are too sick to come to the clinic. It should be another emotionally draining day. Much love to you all. Thanks for your prayers. They mean so very much.

Day 2 of Clinic

2010-01-05T12:15:00.005-05:00

I'm weary tonight. I'm tired, worn out, sore and just plain mentally and spiritually exhausted. I played with the children today most of the day. I think I'm going to ask tomorrow to be in the pharmacy. I have two babies at home that I play with, wrestle with, who compete to get my attention, and I was really pretty excited for a break coming here for a few weeks. There's no break...not only do I miss my babies, but I have hundreds of other children playing with me, wrestling with me, competing and fighting to get my attention. I've been mobbed for two days by children- and I enjoyed it for the most part. But tonight, I'm drained. I'm looking forward to a change of pace tomorrow. Clinic was again a success today. Chris was just as wonderful as he was yesterday. He even got to practice a bit of osteopathic manipulation on his last patient of the day which was fun to watch, and I think he enjoyed it, too. He saw several interesting things again today in clinic including: * An umbilical hernia that contained intestines * A lady who had a broken leg from being run over and drug by a bus and also had a large laceration on her leg. * Some type of dwarf who had other congenital anomalies that none of the doctors had ever seen - after researching more tonight, it appears a mutation of the fibroblast growth factor receptor-3 (FGFR3) gene...duh what was I thinking. * A child with one eye that had a cataract, was recessed and was smaller than the other. * The lady with the leg ulcer from yesterday came back and it was markedly improved...a picture's worth a thousand words...I'll try to post the before and after soon. I got to go to the school today with Adam, Dr. Sams' son. He took his guitar and sang with the kids for a while. I helped with hand motions and singing and took a few pictures. the kids were amazing. They stood in perfect rows and would answer any question in perfect English in perfect unison. I stood there with tears in my eyes as I listened to them sing at the top of their lungs, "Jesus loves me." It was precious to listen to. Praise report for today: we saw 240 people in clinic and 17 people came to know the Lord!! Yeah! I'm tired tonight. Please pray for stamina for us both. I think we're just exhausted. Much love to you all. Missing you. Someone give my babies a kiss for me and tell them mommy misses them. I'm really missing them tonight.

Pride and Mission...do they mix?

2010-01-04T13:43:00.003-05:00

Is it wrong to feel incredibly proud on a mission trip? If so, I am quite guilty today. You should have seen my husband today working in the medical clinic. The grace with which he handled the 172 patients we saw today was admirable - Christ-like, loving, gentle and kind. I stood and watched him handle these patients with such care, and I beamed with pride. We have been married for nearly 6 years. I've known him as a loving husband, great father, a meticulous medical student, a diligent resident (and quite frankly a work-a-holic, forced though it may be), a wonderful provider and a caring friend. But never have I seen him in the role of "Doctor." I must say, I could not be any prouder to be his wife than I am today. Because I saw a part of my husband that I have never known today. I knew what he did, but I've never seen him do it before. And I'm awfully proud. I was a bit nervous to return to the World Hope Center today. I shared with you earlier my experience in the slums. I was afriad of my reaction to it and spent a lot of time in prayer over the last few days, as I know many of you did, as well. Thank you. I was not sure I was ready to go back there again today. I started out assisting the doctors as they needed it today. Okay...maybe it was more like taking pictures like crazy for a while. Because of the doctors' great efficiency and ability, however, I quickly learned that there wasn't much need for me there. I decided to try to entertain the children for a while with 2 others. We sang songs, played "Duck Duck Goose" etc. It was amazing to me how many kids came to the medical clinic without their parents. Older siblings brought their baby siblings. This one little girl wanted to play so badly, but her hands were full with a baby, so I offered to hold the baby while she played. Sweet, sweet baby who didn't smell good and was wrapped in a black scarf that was soaking wet. As I held this sweet child that would not take her eyes off me (the Kenyan's told me it was because she'd never seen a white person before) she pottied all over me 3 different times. It was running down my skirt, soaking it, my shirt, and the floor. I prayed for miracles before we came and today I witnessed my first miracle on this trip: I didn't care. I didn't care that they were dirty. I didn't care that I had potty all over me (well, okay, maybe a little, but not like I should have). I didn't care when I was sitting on the floor playing that the little girls could not stop running their fingers through my hair because they said it was soft and silky. I actually had fun with them. They made me laugh, brought me joy, and I was able to love them. Two days ago, I did not think that was possible. Thank You, Lord, for my miracle. I must admit, I was never so thankful for a shower and clean clothes as I was tonight! Chris saw some pretty amazing things today: * A woman who's earlobes were huge - they were actually keloid scars from previous piercing. * A man with what they think is polio - I have never seen someone that when they walk, their toes are floppy. Amazing! * A boy with a partial ruptured quad - there was actually a divot in this kid's leg! * A woman with an open wound on her leg that she's had for five years so deep that you could visibly see about 4 inches deep into her leg, nearly down to the bone! Most of what he saw, however, were people who just wanted to be touched and loved. The most wonderful news came from the pastor tonight. Because of the evangelism shared today, of the 172 patients seen today, 30 of them came to know Christ! I'd say that's exciting and successful! If only one person came to know Christ through this trip, I'd feel like it was all worth it. And there's already 30! Praise the Lord. Missing you all. Thankful for your prayers.

01/03/2010 What a Day!

2010-01-03T13:53:00.004-05:00

What an interesting day we had. I think I needed a day like today to recover from yesterday. :) We started out with church this morning. I was a bit surprised by church. I guess in my mind, I pictured a bunch of words I couldn't understand, music I didn't know, drums and dancing. There was some dancing, which I found I really enjoyed. But the music was all the same music that we sing in the States. And everything was in English. We did enjoy it. I just expected a big cultural church experience difference. But it was very similar to what we would have at home. After church, we went to the Giraffe Park! What an experience that was! At first, I was a bit afraid that we paid extra money to look at Giraffes from afar. We couldn't get the giraffes to come up to the pavilion for anything. We went and listened to an informational talk about giraffes, and Chris and I both held a giraffe leg bone. Boy, was it heavy! Then we went back out to the pavilion and there were two giraffes standing there, waiting to eat. At first, we just hand fed them. And then we got brave...we put a pellet of food between our lips and the giraffe came at us with his tongue! We were kissed on the lips by a giraffe today...not an experience you can claim for every day. One of the guys in our group actually put the pellet on his tongue and "french kissed" the giraffe. That's where I draw the line. Gross. We had a quiet afternoon sorting medications for our clinic tomorrow. I took a little nap, we watched a bit of "Out of Africa" which was filmed right here where we are. We ate dinner at the Karen Blixen house tonight, which is who the movie is about. We actually saw the house that was in the movie tonight. Karen Blixen had a coffee plantation here years ago and was instrumental in preserving the land for the Kikuyu tribe. We are actually staying in the town of Karen at Karen Holiday Homes. We've seen the name "Karen" on nearly everything around here. She was obviously greatly appreciated and respected here. Dinner was very good. We had steak, broccoli and cauliflower with french fries, tomato soup and strawberry ice cream. I felt guilty eating such a nice meal. It seemed like I shouldn't be eating like that on a mission trip. I couldn't finish everything and all I could think about were those people a few miles away in the slums who probably didn't have dinner tonight. I'm sure they would have loved my ice cream. I think I'd be happier "roughing" it a bit more after seeing what I saw yesterday. We sure are a spoiled people group as Americans. I did enjoy our meal, though. We sat with a lady named Sue who was a missionary to a small tribe in Thailand for 26 years with her husband. She had so many amazing stories to share. I really enjoyed listening to her tonight. She was a great encouragement to me. Tomorrow morning we start our medical clinic. We're excited, but a bit nervous. Please be in prayer, especially for Chris, as he works with these people. Pray for miracles. Pray for healing. and pray for protection. Love you all. Miss you. Please check http://www.masonworley.com/ to see our pictures. Someone got a great one of me kissing the giraffe...I'll have to see if I can get it from her. :)

Pictures

2010-01-02T14:46:00.002-05:00

I'm not able to upload pics to blogger for some reason, but I can to Flickr. Feel free to check them out at www.masonworley.com.

01/02/2010 The Congo Slums

2010-01-02T14:17:00.003-05:00

Thirteen years ago I have vivid memories of being at church camp and feeling a strong call to mission work. Since then, I have had a burden upon my heart for the people of Kenya, Africa. It has taken me 13 years to finally get here, but I was so excited when I learned that my wonderful husband had gotten me a ticket to go with him on the mission trip I've felt "called" to since high school. Africa was something I oculd do to serve the Lord. I could love those people. I could hold those babies and "be Jesus" to those who I would come in contact with. I could do this. Until today. We were dropped off in the slums of Nairobi today - in the Congo Slum - the worst of the worst. I walked around trying to take it all in, and was sickened by what I saw. There were thousands of people milling around these tiny streets that were covered in trash. They don't have trash pick-up in the slums, so everything ends up just littering the streets. We didn't just see people, however. We also saw goats, sheep, cows and even chickens running wild, eating what they could, relieving themselves where they wanted to, and living amonst the thouseand of people. I saw people sitting washing the shoes of those where were perhaps a bit better off and could afford someone to scrub their shoes with their bare hands. You see, they needed their shoes scrubbed desperately because their is no sewage system in the slum, either. There were many streams running through the streets that you had to walk around or jump over because they were not streams of water, but of human waste. I watched a little boy bring a bucket out of his "home" and dump it into the stream of sewage. I watched little children completely barefoot running alongside these streams, playing, jumping, laughing, working, caring for siblings, etc. I saw babies who's families didn't have enough money for diapers, so they'd run around with bare bottoms. While our pictures do show a bit of the desolation, they cannot capture the stench that permeated the entire slum. Someone described it as raw sewage mixed with marijuana and alcohol. I've never smelled marijuana, so I cannot attest to the accuracy of that statement, however, I can say that it was so strong that it took your breath away and made you sick to your stomach. I had to fight back the gag reflex many times today. I just cannot imagine. People live like this. It's their normal life. I was amazed at the children. They were so excited to see us and we gained quite the gathering while we walked through their streets. At some points, I was absolutely fighting the urge to panic, because there were so many children surrounding us: posing for pictures, trying to hold our hands, etc, that I couldn't see our whole group. It scared me. I couldn't imagine being lost in those slums. I'm certain that I wouldn't survive. And yet this is where these people live. Babies live here. Babies who don't have diapers, who can't take baths, and who play with deflated bicycle tires for their toys. What would I do if I had to raise my babies here? Wow. I found myself struggling greatly today. Not only was I shocked to see and smell what I saw, but I was shocked at myself, and my reaction to all of this. I always knew that I could love the people of Africa. This was something I had dreamed of for years. I could do this. Until I got here. And I didn't want the children to come near me. I didn't want to touch them. They walk around in raw sewage all day. It's all over them. They're filthy. Their clothes are dirty and they don't smell good. They haven't washed their hair in perhaps years and you can easily see the build-up of crud on their scalps. And yet they want to be touched. They come right up to you with huge smiles and their faces and want to hold your hand. They place your hand on their dirty, smudged faces and on top of their heads just to feel the warmth of your touch. They wanted to be loved. I had a little girl on each hand today as we walked; and I didn't want to. I cringed. I didn't know what to talk about. I didn't know how to react. How can I do this, Lord? How in the world can I love these people? Help me to get past appearance, filth, stench, and love these people with Your love, Your grace, Your compassion. Because I cannot do this on my own. I did hold their hands. And I did try to talk to them. They said they knew who Jesus was because of the good the Hope Center does in the midst of their slum. We sang "Jesus Loves Me" together, and one little girl sang me some songs in Swahili and in Kikuyu (her tribal dialect). So I'm trying. I'm praying and am just TRYING to love them at this point. But right now, I feel numb. And I just don't know how to do this. So pray that while we (I) are in a place of inadequacy that the Lord will fill us with His presence and that He would meet the needs of His people through us. I know we cannot do it on our own. It's raining here tonight. Here I sit in a nice dry hotel with a full tummy while thousands of people just 10 miles away sit in the slums of Nairobi in their homes with water pouring in, hungry and trying to stay dry as they sleep. Yet, they'll still be at church tomorrow with a smile on their face and without a single complaint. It sure is a lot to think about.

1/2/2010

2010-01-02T01:42:00.000-05:00

It’s 9:00 AM…good morning! Strange to think that it is 1:00 AM back home and all of you are sleeping soundly in your beds. I have been awake for a couple of hours. I was awakened by a rooster this morning. J It was difficult sleeping last night. I kept hearing strange sounds - dogs barking, strange bird sounds that I don’t think I’ve heard before, etc. At one point, I jumped awake because Mason was crying and he needed to know which room we were in so he could find us. Ha! It just turned out to be some animal howling. Kind of made me sad. This morning I am listening to several men hand building a convention center next to our house. It’s really amazing. It looks so different than construction back at home. I wish you all could see it with me. Missing you, praying for you and thankful for your prayers today. It’s going to be a busy day.

1/1/10 We Made It!

2010-01-01T16:30:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year! Well we finally made it - here it is - about 4:30 PM back at home. It’s 12:30 AM Kenya time! After embarking on our adventure at 7:30 AM EST yesterday, we’ve finally arrived at our destination, Karen Holiday Homes in Nairobi. I’m sitting here having already been confronted by my own materialism and selfishness and we really haven‘t even begun to see anything yet. At the airport, all I could think of was how very hot it was and how I couldn’t wait to take off my sweater. And now we are here in a very nice hotel…much nicer than many of the homes here. I am thinking of my nice queen sized pillow top mattress that affords us luxury and comfort every single night at home in my air conditioned house as I sit here in my very hard bed in an itty bitty (but nice, don‘get me wong) room surrounded by a mosquito net that we just sprayed with OFF with the windows closed because you definitely don‘t want to let in any stray mosquitos. You can imagine, it smells pretty good in here! Ha!

Our trip getting here was pretty uneventful, although Dr. Bunge’s bags were completely lost once we made it to Nairobi. We were met by two gentlemen with very big smiles who welcomed us warmly and carried our bags out to our matatu - a Toyota vehicle that has room for 12 people to cram in. I guess it is similar to 15 passenger vans in the States, just much smaller and you pack in like sardines. Evidently, they are quite the popular vehicle here. Did you know they drive on the wrong side of the road in Kenya? That took some getting used to. There were a few times I jumped because I thought traffic was coming head on! At first, the roads seemed pretty normal, but after we got a few miles away from the airport, true Kenyan roads showed their faces. I thought of Mason who, whenever we go over bumpy roads, just says “Ahhhhhhh” for as long as he can to hear his voice bounce. He would have had a hay-day here. I’ve never been on such bumpy roads - and they were even paved! Have you ever seen the movie, “Cars,” where Lightning McQueen fixes the road in about 2 hours? That’s exactly what it was like.

Our driver, Pastor Charles, told us all about the political uprising that happened here a few years ago between the different tribal groups. Thankfully that’s all over now, but there still is a lot of animosity amongst the people. Pray for peace to come over this land. I just cannot imagine.

Tomorrow, we are going to sleep until about 9:30 or 10 (if we can - this jet-lag stuff is really tough!) and then at noon, we are going into the slums of Nairobi. I’m sure it will be a wonderfully educating and very emotional day. Pray for us, please, as we go into this part of Nairobi - for our safety, that we would see these people with the eyes of their Loving Father, and that we would be effective witnesses of His Grace and Mercy.

And the adventure begins….Good night.

(I have been trying to add pictures for a while, but it won't let me. I'll keep trying...could just be a weak internet connection. Sorry)

Here We GO!

2009-12-31T14:49:00.004-05:00

Well, we're off. I'm currently sitting in the USO (a nice "waiting room" for military personnel and their families) in Houston, TX, waiting for our flight to Amsterdam to depart. We have had a whirlwind of a couple of months getting ready for our departure, but have been blessed beyond measure and have seen God's hand at work in mighty, incredible ways already. I can't wait to see what He does when we finally make it to Nairobi (only about another 24 hours from now...) Ugh! What a long trip! We sent out letters asking for prayer for many items at the beginning of November and have been overwhelmed with the amount of prayer and support that we have received. We had a goal of $6000 to raise for the trip, knowing that it would cost us a bit more than that and figuring that it was an extremely lofty goal. We thought the week before our trip that we'd be about $1500 short. But on Christmas Eve, we opened the mailbox and found exactly $1500!! We have had a bit more come in after that, as well, so we're thrilled that we're able to purchase additional medications and fulfill other needs while we're over there. What a blessing! I did what I thought was impossible...I left my babies for a whole month. Leaving those two sweet little guys was so difficult. I stood in the bathroom this morning and cried out to the Lord, saying, "I just don't think I can do this!" And I was really serious. But I did it. I hugged them and kissed them and told them I loved them and then turned around and walked away before they were even buckled back into their carseats. I still get teary when I think of it, but I know they're in good hands and that we're following the Lord's will right now in going to Nairobi. There's a peace. As soon as we got into the airport, we went to check in and they wanted to charge me for my bags. They didn't charge the other 3 travellers I was with, and when I called they told me I had 2 bags up to 50 pounds, so I was very confused about why I would be charged. Especially when I had been so diligent to make sure I knew all the details before we left. The people at the counter and on the phone were incredibly rude to us - and even told us they didn't believe us when we said we were on Active Duty Military Orders...good thing we did have the orders to prove it. In the end, after about 40 minutes of trying to figure it out, we finally paid the $50 and just let it go. It wasn't worth a fight. It occurred to me about half way through this incredibly frustrating scenario, that the Lord had His hand even in this...He knew that I needed something to distract me from leaving my babies. I still think God was taking care of me in all of this and keeping me from breaking down in the middle of the airport! And, amazingly, someone from our church gave us $100 to help with extra baggage costs right before we left. It covers exactly what we need for our round-trip. The Lord's hand is definitely covering us. So anyway, we're on our way. Please keep us in your prayers and we'll update you as we're able to. Mom - give my babies a huge hug and kiss for me. Tell them mommy and daddy love them!

Our Christmas Decorations are Complete!

2009-11-18T19:47:00.001-05:00

11.14.2009 Cows and Wows

2009-11-18T18:49:00.005-05:00

I'm not making this title up..."Cows and Wows" was definitely the name of the Jacksonville Agricultural Fair located in Downtown Jacksonville amidst the skyscrapers and convention halls. We had a fabulous time showing the boys the real live cows, chickens, bunnies and sheep, walking through all the rides and food pavilions (we bought our tickets online, so we printed our tickets off the computer and I walked out of the house without any cash, meaning that we couldn't play any games or eat any fair food. What a bummer!) and watching a few shows. The shows were the highlight. We watched a man basically wrestle a real live alligator - wow! Then we went and saw a pig race. Grant was chosen to be the cheer leader for our section, so when our pig won, he was called up on stage. They asked him his name and he said, "I three." They said, "Oh, but what's your name?" to which he eloquently replied, "Ummm...." The crowd got a kick out of him. He received a blue ribbon (even without knowing his name) for winning and he was so proud of that ribbon, holding onto it for the rest of the evening! We also saw a dog show that was absolutely incredible. It was fun to watch the boys take it all in. They were dancing, singing, laughing and playing all night long. What a fun family night!

Dancing before the pig races started

Boys and their toys...

2009-11-18T15:43:00.007-05:00

11.08.2009 Decorating the Christmas Tree

2009-11-18T15:21:00.004-05:00

The day had finally come...Chris was home and the boys were so excited to decorate. Most especially, however, they were greatly anticipating the setting up of the Christmas train, who's box had been tantalizing them for days. They couldn't wait to put that thing up! They were so cute as Chris pulled it out of the box. They both tried to help put the track together and they were so excited once it was finally up and running...they stood there, both of them jumping up and down in sheer excitement as they watched it go round and round. It really was precious. Patiently waiting for the okay to take the train out of the box...

11.07.2009 Christmas in a Child's Eyes

2009-11-17T13:26:00.005-05:00

We were going to decorate for Christmas on November 8 after Chris came home from work, so while he was on call on the 7th, Grant, Mason and I pulled out the Christmas tree to set it up so when Chris got home, we could decorate. Grant was so cute. As soon as he saw the box for the tree, he started jumping up and down, and all he could say was, "I'm so excited!" over and over again. I had the tree put together before their nap, but no lights were on it. So when the lights were on after he woke up from his nap, he came out rubbing his eyes, and they just kept getting bigger and bigger. After a few minutes of standing there silently rubbing his eyes, he turned around just as quickly as he could, tore off back to his bedroom where he shouted, "Mason, Mason, you gotta wake up! CHRISTMAS is here!" It was so cute.

As we had started decorating, I sat them both down and talked to them about Christmas being Jesus' birthday, and how he was born in a stable and the shepherds and wisemen came to see him and worship him. Then I told them that it was their job to put the Nativity set under the tree. They worked on it for at least an hour. After a while, Grant came to get me to see their handiwork. They did a great job - everything was perfect...except I noticed one thing that was strange. There was a race-car driver from one of his toys in the middle of the nativity scene.

I said, "Grant, who's this?" as I pointed to the race-car driver.

He matter-of-factly said, "That's a man like today, mommy."

I said, "Oh, it is, huh? A man like today?"

"Yep," he answered, "because we need to worship Jesus, too, Mommy!"

I thought that was great theology! Needless to say, the race-car driver is part of our Nativity set this year (and maybe every year after this, too). I'm not moving him for anything!

New favorite pasttime

2009-11-17T13:20:00.003-05:00

The boys have a new favorite past-time. They beg to do it at least 100 times a day. And I must say, it's getting me some great exercise as I run along beside them now that Grant's figured out the Turbo Speed button. :) They both hop on the toy motorcycle together and we go up and down the street for hours. They LOVE it. Aren't they cute?

Biketoberfest

2009-11-17T12:33:00.004-05:00

Here we are half way through November and I'm just now blogging about something that happened half way through October. Sorry. Life has been so busy lately...

Chris was so excited to get to go to Biketoberfest here in Daytona back in October. His cousin, Chey, and his friend, Marty, came down here to stay with us and the three guys drove their motorcycles to Daytona Saturday morning, home Saturday night, then back again Sunday morning, home Sunday night. And then Chey and Marty drove all the way back through the frigid weather to KY. They put over 500 miles on their bikes in just two days. I can't imagine how many miles Chey and Marty put on their bikes on their trip to FL (they drove all the way down to the Keys before coming back up to Jacksonville). That's more driving that Chris had ever done. He LOVED it!

Our two little guys were bummed that Daddy was gone so much - and on the bike, nonetheless. But we did go to Destination Daytona with them one day and had fun looking at the motorcycles. Grant picked out a patch to put on Daddy's new leather vest (yes, a leather vest...he's big time now, people). As hard as we tried to find something other than a skull and cross bones, that's what Grant thought his daddy needed, so since we told him he could pick it out, we went with it. Actually, his vest does look pretty neat with the reflective skull on the back at night time. And yes, I do roll my eyes every time I see it. :)

As a side note, it's official...I'm a true biker's wife now. I went on my first ever motorcycle ride just yesterday while hanging on for dear life to the back of Chris as he drove me through our neighborhood that has a speed limit of 25 mph. :) Whoa! And I must say, I had fun! I was a little nervous, but it definitely was fun. Chris laughed at me and said I had a death grip on him. At least he finally got me on the thing - a year and 1/2 after we got it! ;)

Correction - Mukeu (Not Mukuyu)

2009-11-17T08:40:00.006-05:00

So today I received an e-mail from someone with the correct spelling of the village to which we are going. It is the Mukeu (Muh-kae-you) village in the heart of Kikuyuland with a native tongue of Gikuyu. From what I can tell, it seems that while the people we will be staying with will speak Swahili and English, the majority of the people in the village will not speak either. Translators will definitely be necessary! The clinic's location will be up in the mountains. I hear it's beautiful. Due to the high elevation, even though it is close to the equator, we will find it to be rather chilly in the mornings and evenings. The average daily income here is about $2.50. And yet I'm told that the people here are more content and fulfilled than most Americans.

The population of the area is about 20,000. Compassion Works International has built a medical clinic and dental clinic there already; they are working on a maternity ward for the clinic which is desperately needed (women will hike to the clinic more than 5 miles in labor, have the baby, and hike back home within a couple of hours of giving birth) as well as a library for the community.

When I described the village before in my previous post, I spoke of an orphanage there...I don't believe that is the case afterall. So as you're praying for these people, use the limited information in this post, as opposed to what was given you before. Sorry. :(

I did find a picture of the medical clinic, but I can't save it to my computer to attach here. If you'd like to see it, as well as the family that I think we're staying with, go HERE. Otherwise, here are a couple of pictures I found of Mukeu. The first is of Dr. Sams (who is leading our trip this year) when he was there several years ago inside the medical clinic. The second is of the people waiting outside of the clinic to be seen.

Our mission trip needs

2009-11-12T15:33:00.010-05:00

After our meeting last week with World Hope, I learned that there are several items that we are in need of for our trip: * Vitamins (especially children's and pre-natal) * Hand Sanitizer (we are taking gloves to examine the patients, however, we will not be able to change our gloves after each patient, relying on hand sanitizer to do a good enough job of sterilization. * Over the counter drugs such as tylenol and motrin - adults and children's * Any basic hygeine items such as Toothbrushes and Toothpaste * Ziplock Bags - we will be prepackaging the prescribed amounts of medication in ziplock bags to speed up the dispensing process in the pharmacy. * As always, LOTS of PRAYER is needed, too! :) You can find our prayer requests HERE In addition, any and all medical donations would be greatly appreciated! Thank you all so much for your incredible support as we prepare for this mission trip. It means so much to us, and I know that many lives will be changed (including, and perhaps most profoundly, our own) as a result of this trip.

Our first meeting with World Hope!

2009-11-04T08:35:00.002-05:00

Chris and I had our meeting last night with World Hope and are really excited! I took a bunch of notes, and thought you might be interested in seeing where we'll be, what we'll be doing, etc. I have included a tentative schedule below, along with website references so you can see what we're doing! Love you all! Thanks for praying. We will be staying at Karen Holiday Homes http://www.karenholidayhomes.com/ which is off the beaten path and about 20 minutes from the Hope Center. It is very safe, clean and does have a pool, if interested. A washing machine is available in the house. Wireless internet capabilities are available at the house as well as at various restaurants so for at least the first week, we can update you here. Tentatively, the schedule while we are with World Hope is as follows: Sunday we will go to church (1-½ -2 hours) and sort medications to prepare for our upcoming clinics. Monday we will go into the slums and make “house calls.” We will call on these people later in the week to check in on them, as well. Tuesday - Thursday we will be having clinic with occasional breaks for such things as watching the children perform music at their schools, watching the national “football“ team sponsored by World Hope, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Hope, the giraffe park http://www.africanmeccasafaris.com/kenya/nairobi/excursions/giraffecenter.asp, etc. If you have not seen the movie “Out of Africa” watch it. Evidentally it was filmed here. Chris will be doing "doctor" stuff here, and I will be working alongside him, as well as volunteering in the local orphanage (which if you know me, you know my dream has always been to serve in an orphanage in Africa - I couldn't be more excited!). Friday morning we will go to the Safari National Park http://www.africanmeccasafaris.com/kenya/safaris/parks/nairobipark.asp, Our mini-safari is just a few hours and should be over by noon. We will then leave for a small village where we'll be spending the remaining two weeks. Chris and the other two doctors will be doing clinics. While I'll be helping out in the clinics some, I will also be helping out with daily life - milking cows, hauling water, washing clothes by hand, cooking, entertaining the local children, etc. We're really excited to be staying in someone's personal home and living traditional village life first hand! Many of the homes there are traditional mud huts with dirt floors, etc. The family that we are staying with does live in such a home. They have, however, built a cinderblock home on their property where they host any mission families that come. This is where we will be staying. There is no running water from what I understand, and may or may not be electricity. They cook all of their food in a "smoke house" next to their house and I hear we'll be eating a lot of goat...hmm... We will be walking 1-2 miles each day through the mud (we have to get special "gum boots" that go up to our knees to do this) to get to the clinic on top of a plateau where this village is located with all dirt/mud roads. Between the hiking and goat-eating, I think I'll be losing some weight! Ha! It will be so interesting and I can't wait to share our stories with you. I'm sure our lives will never be the same. Thanks for continuing to pray with us! We'll keep you updated!

10.31.2009 Halloween Trick or Treating

2009-11-01T15:53:00.005-05:00

We had a blast trick or treating this year! We had 9 kids all together and they really were down to business! It was seriously something like 90 degrees here that day, so it was REALLY hot - I had on a skirt and T-Shirt and I was miserable. I'm so impressed with these kids for having these costumes on! I tried to convince Grant to leave the part from around his face off, but he would have nothing of that. He wanted the WHOLE costume. Half way through the night, he looked up at my, crossed his arms, and sighed really big. I asked him what was wrong, and he just said, "Mommy, my legs are just really sweaty!" Ha! Go figure!

Mason didn't get into trick or treating too well. I thought if perhaps I would go up with him to the first 5 or so houses, he might figure it out, but he didn't, so I figured if it wasn't important to him, there was no way I was walking up to every house for candy. :-) He sat in the stroller most of the night contentedly holding his pumpkin. We realized later that he had figured out how to take the paper off of the suckers and I'm pretty sure he ate around 3 suckers...Hmmm...we finally took the pumpkin away. He definitely had a sugar high!

We came back to the house after trick-or-treating and had chips and salsa, apples and caramel dip and some drinks (definitely no hot chocolate down here this year!). All in all it was a great night. We enjoyed the fellowship and of course nothing's better than trick-or-treating for a kid! ;-)

10/31/2009 Halloween Carving Pumpkins

2009-11-01T15:32:00.003-05:00

We had a great day! Chris had (most) of the day off, so we spent the morning running errands and just enjoying being together since he's been working so very much. After naps, we went to the computer to have the boys help pick out a design for our pumpkin. After deciding upon our design, we gingerly embarked on our pumpkin carving adventure. Mason we less than amused and really just wanted to be held. Grant, however, found great joy in smelling the pumpkin, touching the insides and even using a pumpkin carving knife all by himself! He was quite the little helper and we ended up with a great jack-o-lantern! We spent lots of time in the bathroom with the lights off admiring our work together as a family.

10.30.2009 WBC Fall Festival

2009-11-01T15:21:00.003-05:00

We had a great time going to the Fall Festival at our church this year. I was so impressed! They had opened it up to the community, had live music from members of our church, I would guess around 20 different games that the kids could play, a professional photographer taking pictures of the kids in their costumes, huge bouncy slides, etc, free hotdogs, chips and drinks! A great time was had by all, and by the end of the night, there was hardly any room to move because there were so many people. I'd say it was a great success! We invited our friends Lenox (the mailman) and Lincoln and their mommy and daddy and enjoyed hanging out with them. So glad they came!

10.27.2009 Halloween Costumes

2009-10-27T21:53:00.003-04:00

We had such a lovely day playing in our Halloween Costumes today! The boys love their costumes; so much so that I can hardly get them to take them off! I was a bit worried because Grant wore the Tin Man costume last year and remembered it. He was insistent that it was his and threw a fit any time he'd hear Mason was going to be the Tin Man this year. That is, until he got his Scarecrow costume in the mail today from Grandma Beutler. She made him the cutest little Scarecrow costume and he no longer cares that Mason's the Tin Man because HE's the SCARECROW! How cool! And Mason just loves his hat. Silly boys. They DO look very cute, if I do say so myself. We took them to the pumpkin patch tonight and they definitely stole the show. I'm amazed more people don't dress up to go pick out a pumpkin down here. I mean, it's not like you're going to a field to pick your pumpkin like up north. It's not a dirty endeavor, and the costumes make it so much more fun! It's a good trade-off for not having a real pumpkin patch.

Our African Adventure!

2009-10-16T10:07:00.003-04:00

Dear Friends, When we began our life together nearly six years ago, we created a vision for our life. As part of that vision, we dreamed of serving the Lord together in the capacity of medical missions. We have had several opportunities to fulfill this calling in our life, however, it seems that with each opportunity that has presented itself, Sara has ended up pregnant, and we have not been able to go. In fact, we've joked that perhaps we misunderstood our calling and we're just supposed to be fruitful and multiply. Earlier this year, Chris was presented with an incredible opportunity by to accompany his Family Medicine Program Director, Dr. Richard Sams, to Nairobi, Kenya on a medical mission trip through the month of January 2010. It was not even a possibility in the beginning that Sara would be able to go with him, so you can imagine her surprise when he came home one day and announced he had purchased her ticket to go with him for the entire 3-1/2 week mission! With great emotion, he said that "We can finally begin our ministry together." What a blessing! We have prayed for this opportunity for years. We will be going through the organization, World Hope (http://www.weareworldhope.com/). While we are there, we will be working in an outpatient setting at small medical clinics in remote areas of Nairobi. Chris will be seeing hundreds of patients, many of whom have not seen a doctor in years, if ever. Sara will be taking vitals, working the pharmacy, and helping wherever else she may be needed. It is with this purpose in mind that we write to you - our dear family and friends - and ask that you partner with us by keeping us in your prayers through the upcoming months. Please pray... * That we would be prepared mentally & Spiritually for the things that we will encounter medically. * That Chris would be given the gift of healing. To God be the GLORY! * That the medical team (3 physicians, 2 family members) would be protected physically from the diseases in the area, including HIV, malaria, and various tropical fevers that he can't spell. * That we would have many opportunities to present the Gospel of Christ boldly to those with whom we come into contact. * That Grant and Mason will be safe, healthy and secure, and not miss their parents too much. * That we (especially Sara) won't be distracted by missing our children. * That God would show us His heart for His people and we would not return home unchanged. * That we are able to come up with the $6000.00 it will cost for us both to serve our Lord in this way. We cannot do this without you, the Body of Christ. We are so thankful for you - for your prayers, and for partnering with us on our first medical mission trip. I cannot wait to see how the Lord will work in our lives, and the lives of the many patients we come in contact with during the month of January. Serving Him together, Chris and Sara "...Lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest." John 4:35

10.07.2009 Flowers and Silliness

2009-10-12T16:36:00.003-04:00

One of the favorite past-times of the boys is helping me water my flowers. I think this can be attributed to the fact that most of the time they just spray each other until they're soaked from head to toe. I have enjoyed having flowers so much this year (especially since the ones in the pots I got for free!! Yeah)! My Mandevilla is my prized possession that I bought when we moved to our new house. For a long time I didn't have a trellis for it but I put one up a couple weeks ago and it is really taking off and climbing up the trellis already! Love it! Oh - and I was doing laundry. One of Grant's jobs is helping me mate socks. He mated Daddy's dress socks and then put them on with his underwear. I thought it was pretty funny and he was quite happy to pose to showcase his silliness.

Tent Togetherness

2009-10-12T16:17:00.004-04:00

Chris has been working crazy hours now that he's back on inpatient service at the hospital. Most nights he hasn't even been home before the kids go to bed. Tonight he was home by 7:00 so we had dinner as a family, and then we let the kids stay up until about 9:30 to play with daddy for a while. What a fun night we had! The boys built a blanket fort in our room and played in it for a while. When they had finished with that, a pillow fight ensued! They're such boys, for sure! ;-)

10.03.2009 Happy Fall!

2009-10-12T16:03:00.004-04:00

We have some dear friends down here from New Jersey, so they're used to lovely fall weather like we are. This week we had some lovely "fall-like" weather, with some of the evenings even reaching into the 50's and the days only getting into the mid-80s. It was perfect. So we decided to have a fall party; unfortunately, however, by the time Saturday rolled around for our party, it was in the 90s again. So we made Mexican Chicken Chowder and ate it outside anyway! Ha! We also made an incredible taco dip and yummy apple enchiladas. Thanks, Julie, for making fun fall deliciousness with me! We had a great day!

09.27.2009 Grant's doing his hair!

2009-10-12T13:18:00.002-04:00

We were getting ready for church this morning and Grant's hair was sticking out everywhere. It definitely needed fixed before we could go to church, but he would have nothing with that. So finally he decided that he wanted to do his hair all by himself. So we let him. Half of it was spiked, the other half was combed forward; he even pulled out the gel to make the spikey part stay up. But he sure was proud of it, so we didn't have the heart to change it. Sure enough, he went to church like that. I'm sure everyone thought he looked like an unkempt child, but I figured it was worth it for him to be proud of himself. And it certainly made me chuckle. Of course I had to throw in a picture of sweet Mason, too. Aren't they handsome boys?

09.26.2009 Typhoon Lagoon

2009-10-12T13:11:00.002-04:00

It has been quite the week. Grant has been testing me every second of the day, and I am at my wits end! Chris is working like crazy and has had several frustrating days, only to come home to a wife who is ready to pull her hair out. Grant took diaper rash cream and spread it all over the walls, furniture, bedding, his brother this week - TWICE! He got in so much trouble the first time I never dreamed he'd do it again. He's also purposefully gone potty on the carpet in his room and climbed into Mason's crib and went potty on Mason, too. I don't know where this behavior is coming from, but it has taken every ounce of determination and purpose to make it stop. This definitely cannot go on! So thanks to my mom, I've been working on some creative disciplining and I must say, I never knew I could enjoy disciplining my children so much! Some of it is quite fun and even therapeutic! ha!

So after a very frustrating week, we needed a break. All of us did. Chris' niece was down here in FL at his parents house with her hubby and 2 kiddos, so we arranged to meet them at Disney's waterpark, Typhoon Lagoon for the day on Saturday. What a blast we had! The kids were perfect, well behaved children, and we enjoyed catching up with Tiffany and Mark, playing with Jade and meeting Bryce. What a fun time! Thanks, guys, for giving us a much needed break! Whew!

09.22.2009 My Little Helper

2009-10-12T13:07:00.003-04:00

Grant has found a new love - vacuuming! And I must say, I love having him help out, too! Ahhh - the kids can finally help. Is this the reason people have children afterall?? Surely it must rank high on the list! Ha! (Oh, and I chose this pic, mom, so you could see our patio furniture - you haven't seen it yet, have you? Isn't it pretty? It has cushions that go on it, but they're put away right now)

09.19.2009 Car Show at the Landing

2009-10-12T12:53:00.004-04:00

There was a car show downtown today, so we took Chris as a fun thing for him to do. There were all sorts of cars - he needs to be writing this post evidentally because all I care to tell you about was the fountain! I'm sure he'd be greatly disappointed in me! ha! It was sweltering hot, and we found a fountain for the kids to play in. For a while, Grant was not there, so it was just Mason. It was very cute because all these old people would stop and watch him and enjoy this little guy playing in the water. They were even pulling out their cameras to take picture of this stranger baby. It was amusing. Soon, Grant and Daddy returned and they joined in the fun, as well. They were soaked, but a good time was had by all - even while we had to look at the cars! Ha!

09.18.2009 Fun Night Out!

2009-10-12T12:49:00.003-04:00

I realized that Chris and I had not been out on a date in a very long time. So, as if we had to have a reason to celebrate, I racked my brain for a fun idea for a date! It occurred to me that the 19th is the 6 year anniversary of when Chris proposed to me, and the 22nd was the 7th year that we had been together. So I lined up a babysitter and took Chris on a progressive dinner. We went to a Mexican Restaurant for chips and queso (we always went to a little restaurant in Wilmore for this when we were dating) then we went to Waffle House for a patty melt plate (yet another of our frequent dating haunts). We were going to go to Wendy's for a frosty afterwards, but we were so stuffed, we just couldn't fit it in! So we took a trip down memory lane in an entirely new city and enjoyed ourselves immensely! It was fun!

09.16.2009 Sleeping soundly...

2009-10-12T12:36:00.003-04:00

I realized it was pretty quiet around here, so I went in search of my little one. Grant was in the playroom playing by himself and I couldn't find Mason anywhere. Anywhere, that is, until I went into my bedroom to find him having pulled the pillows off of my bed, his blanket and "duckie" off of his crib all snuggled up on the floor. It was too precious not to take a few pictures! :-) It's moments like these that make me realize just how few moments we have with our children. Boy, it's going fast!

09.08.09 That's my boy...

2009-09-22T20:28:00.001-04:00

Grant is still the Water King! He loves anything to do with water...including spraying his unsuspecting brother with the frigid water hose!

Labor Day

2009-09-22T20:25:00.002-04:00

We had a nice labor day this year - nothing too eventful, but we did have a few friends over for a cookout. All the kids were wild, and I think all the parents were ready to get them to bed, but overall we had a great time! And this was the view I had outside our sliding glass doors right after I put my kids to bed. Isn't it beautiful!!!

09.04.09 Studio 77 Disco Party!

2009-09-22T15:05:00.006-04:00

At our church here in Jacksonville, the choir sings all year round. Obviously during the summer, lots of people go on vacation, etc, so attendance in the choir is lower than normal. As part of the attendance campaign over the summer, if you maintained 80% attendance or above, you were invited to Studio 77 in our Family Life Center. You were encouraged to dress the part, and the best dressed male and female would each win a prize! If you know me, you know I really get in to this kind of stuff! My family would have had a ball doing this...perhaps we'll have to keep that in mind for a family gathering in the future! :-)

Chris actually surprised me and really got into it, as well, even insisting that I buy him the platform shoes with the goldfish in the heel. He was quite the ham, and people in choir now know me by my husband. I've been in choir for over a year and people know me as Chris' wife. Go figure!

Chris actually won the best dressed male, and I was surprisingly in the top 4 of the women! Yeah! We fared pretty well, considering that we'd not even been born in the 70's! Ha!

We went with Scott and Amanda Hult, good friends of ours from church, and we had a ball! They're definitely the kind of people to go to something like this with. They're hilarious! Amanda giggled pretty much all night, and Scott was cracking jokes right and left.

Chris' wig wasn't laying right, so I put my hot rollers in it to see what we could do with it. Chris was thrilled! Ha!

Dan Mullis, Chris and Scott Hult, two of our great friends down here.

Me, Amanda Hult and Carrie Mullis, dear friends of mine down here.

Chris and Violet, the two "Best Dressed"

Afterwards, we went to Chili's for dinner. Of course we were still in our costumes. As we were walking in, there was a lady standing outside smoking a cigarette. Scott, Amanda and I all got through the door, and as Chris was coming in, she said in a husky voice, "Where ya'll been tonight?" Chris just smiled sweetly at her and said quite matter-of-factly, "Church!" She was silent for a moment and then sarcastically mumbled, "Whatever!" I don't think she believed us. We all got quite the giggle out of it, though. In fact, I laughed about it for days! What a fun night!

09.03.09 Backyard Fun!

2009-09-22T14:42:00.004-04:00

Chris was home early this night, so we had an early dinner, resulting in some fun family time in the back yard! We tossed balls around, blew bubbles, and just sat down by the water watching for fish! Chris even taught the boys how to spit sunflower seeds. Nice, huh! ;-) We had a lovely evening enjoying each other, and I think I got a few good pictures out of it, too!

09.03.09 Disco Fever

2009-09-21T20:49:00.003-04:00

So Chris and I had a 70's Disco party approaching. I had been working on costumes for us and Grant thought that daddy's was pretty cool. He wanted to put it on, too, so he tried it on one night. Didn't he look cool! Don't you just love the chest hair on a 3 year old!!

08.29.09 Helfrich Family Gathering

2009-09-21T20:33:00.002-04:00

We have some dear friends down here that have adopted us into their family. I can't tell you how much it means to me that we are even invited to their family gatherings! While we try not to go to EVERYTHING and allow them their own family time, we always enjoy getting together with them and being a part of a family while we are so far away from our own. They have definitely been a blessing to us over and over again! This time we went to a local lake and played in the water. Mr. Hult brought his sea-doo and we all took turns riding it! So fun!

It was naptime, so I layed down in the van with Mason. He finally fell asleep, and took a good 2 hour nap in the trunk of the van with the trunk up and windows down. He was out!

Grant and his little friend, Victoria...they're like two peas in a pod!

On our way home after a lovely day at the lake, we were just driving along, minding our business when we saw a cop pulled off along side the road. Chris slowed down a little bit and asked me if I knew what the speed limit was because he didn't have a clue. Nope, I didn't know, either. Sure enough, the blue flashing lights came on, and we pulled off the side of the road. The Officer came up to the car and said, "I pulled you over today because you were going 20 over!" Whoa! We had no idea that the speed limit had dropped down to 35 mph! Oops! So he asked for our license, insurance and registration. I had just put our new registration on that morning. Whew! He asked if Chris' license was correct - nope. We hadn't changed the address on it since we moved. Oops. Then he asked for our insurance. We had just gotten new insurance cards and they were sitting on the kitchen counter. Same policy, but expired cards. Oops! We could really get in trouble for multiple different reasons! This could be one hefty bill! So the officer walked back to his car, and Chris is sitting there sweating bullets while I'm trying to explain to Grant that we have police officers who keep us safe and part of their job is correcting us when we do something wrong. So if we speed, sometimes we get in trouble, but it's good because they're doing their job and keeping us safe. I really wanted Grant to have a positive image of police officers. Well, it seemed that all he got out of the conversation was that "Daddy was in trouble!" So even when the officer came back up to our car, that's all Grant could talk about. How embarrassing! It turned out that he merely gave us a warning. I don't know how we got so lucky! But we definitely drove slower the rest of the way home while we listened to Grant saying, "Daddy's in trouble." And to this day, if Grant sees a police car, he says, "Uh-Oh...Someone's in trouble, Mommy!!" So much for a positive police image!

08.24.09 Temporary Tatoos

2009-09-21T20:29:00.002-04:00

Who needs to buy them when you have crayola washable markers? Grant was coloring today while I was doing the dishes. Obviously I wasn't paying good enough attention because this is what we ended up with:

Mason now says "Cheese!" It's really not a good picture, but I think Grant sneaking around in the background is pretty funny. They definitely keep me on my toes these days!

08.23.09 Myrtle Beach Ripley's Aquarium

2009-09-21T12:47:00.004-04:00

We had to get on the road fairly early today since we had such a long drive ahead of us. But we did manage to get to go to Ripley's Aquarium! Ripley's has a great military discount - 75% off! So our entire family went through the aquarium for about $10!! Wow! If you've never been to a Ripley's Aquarium, you definitely need to go. My favorite one so far is the one in Gatlinburg, but this one was quite nice, as well. Definitely worth a trip! We were loading up the car this morning before heading over to the aquarium. Our second story window faced the parking lot and did not have a screen in it, so Chris went and stood below while I tossed all the "soft" items out of the window to him below! It was fun! Afterwards, I closed the window and the kids watched their daddy load up the car below. There were giggles galore! I love it when the boys get along!

Grant is in this shark phase right now - he pretends to be a shark all the time! So he was very impressed to see this actual shark jaw. It was huge!

Mason was so intrigued by this huge fish tank! They were having a feeding show, but I couldn't keep Mason away from the glass. He wanted to be right up there with those fishies! He even started saying the word "fish" today. He's quite the explorer!

08.22.09 Happy Birthday to Chris....SURPRISE!!

2009-09-21T08:38:00.007-04:00

I was so excited about Chris' birthday this year. I had called the wife of one of his best friends from Medical School and asked if we could get together in Myrtle Beach to surprise him! Chase, Lindsey, Parker and Samantha live in Fayetteville, NC, and I had been told Myrtle Beach was only a 3 1/2 hour drive from here, so we figured it was a good meeting place. I didn't have a working computer at the time, so I couldn't research anything, so I depended on Lindsey to secure our hotel, etc. I appreciated her help immensely, and was so glad they could come! So Friday I picked Chris up from work and plugged the address of our hotel into the GPS which Chris had had in his car because he'd been working at a different hospital all month. Uh-oh! Boy, was I surprised! The GPS said instead of 3 1/2 hours, it was going to be about 6 hours! Yikes! So we didn't get to our hotel until 11:30 PM. When we went up to our room, I told Chris I couldn't remember our room number and wasn't sure which one it was, so I knocked on a door. This really irritated Chris because it was so late and he was sure whoever answered the door was going to be really mad that we woke them up. He couldn't understand why I wouldn't just try our key! Boy, was he surprised when his friend Chase came to the door! The poor guy just looked so confused! Happy birthday, Chris! Glad we were able to surprise you!

We spent about 4 hours at the beach the next morning, then came back for naps. That evening we went to Broadway at the Beach which was a fun little boardwalk that had all sorts of little shops, restaurants, etc. We had a great time just hanging out with the Grames family and celebrating Chris' birthday!

We got ice cream to celebrate since we didn't have any cake. While we were singing Happy Birthday to Chris, Mason just couldn't take his eyes off of that nice big ice cream cone! Before the song was finished, Mason had already dug in!

08.19.09 My Boys...

2009-09-21T07:38:00.003-04:00

The boys sure are getting big! It is really amazing me every time I turn around right now. I just took a couple silly pictures so you could see just how big they're getting, too! Grant like to do push-ups these days. Such a big boy!

08.14.09 Funeral Procession for Capt. Scott Speicher

2009-09-21T07:25:00.003-04:00

As most of you know, Capt. Scott Speicher was shot down on the first day of the Gulf War. He was lost for something like 18 years and his remains were just discovered back in August. Since he was from Jacksonville, FL, he was flown back here, and they had the funeral ceremonies here on base. Had I thought it through, I would have taken the boys to the base to watch the ceremonies because of course they were much more decorative on base than off, however, when I realized that today was the day of the funeral, we didn't have time to get over to the base, but the funeral procession was driving right by our neighborhood, so I loaded the boys up and drove a couple of miles to wait for them to pass. It was a great opportunity to talk to them about what it means to be a hero, what it means to defend our country and let them know that their Daddy is serving in the military - what a great heritage! They probably didn't have a clue what I was talking about, but at least it was a little exposure.

The people really came out in droves. I was amazed at how many people came out to line the procession route and pay their respects to this fallen hero and to thank him for serving our country. It really is fascinating to live in a "military town." I've never seen things like this before. I felt really funny taking pictures of the whole thing - it being a funeral procession and all - so there's not many pictures, and the ones I have are pretty terrible, but I wanted to be able to show Chris a few since he was working.

08.09.09 Wes Heeter Visits!

2009-09-19T13:45:00.002-04:00

We have been blessed since we've lived in Jacksonville to have so many friends and family passing through! I heard that my cousin, Wes, his wife Amy, and their two kids Haley and Camden, were on their way through to go to Disney World! We were able to meet them right off of the highway at Moes for a yummy lunch before they headed on their way again. I sure enjoyed catching up. It had been at least 2 years since I'd seen them last. What a treat. Unfortunately, Chris had to work, so he missed out on the fun. Maybe next time...

08.06.09 Rainbows

2009-09-19T13:36:00.002-04:00

Grant is fascinated by rainbows right now. And the fun thing about our house is, for some reason, we see lots of them behind our house. I've seen more rainbows in the last few months than I have in years! This rainbow was aboslutely incredible a few minutes before I took the picture. It stretched clear across the sky, was so vibrant in color, and actually was a double rainbow. By the time I got my camera, however, it had subdued quite a bit, but still had a lovely streak of color through the sky. And if you ask Grant what a rainbow means, he'll beam from ear to ear and proudly state, "God will never flood the earth again!" Way to go, kid! I'm proud of you.

08.04.09 Playing at our Neighborhood Park

2009-09-19T13:32:00.002-04:00

I took the boys for a walk this morning and ended up at the neighborhood park. We really should use it more often. It's quite lovely and rarely used. So the boys had a ball playing today. Aren't they getting so big!

07.30.09 Uncle Jim Visits!

2009-09-19T13:27:00.002-04:00

We had such a special treat tonight! My Uncle Jim and Aunt Cathy have a place down towards Vero Beach, FL. They were on their way back to IN and decided that they had about an hour where they could stop and see our new home! Now I haven't seen them in several years, so I was very excited! Grant and Mason helped me make some chocolate chip cookies, but they hardly let Aunt Cathy eat any. She had brought some glow sticks for them so they wanted to hang out in the dark bathroom with her so they could play with their fun new glow sticks! I really enjoyed seeing them and appreciated them stopping so much. It really meant a lot!

07.27.09 The Peuking Chicken

2009-09-19T13:15:00.004-04:00

Growing up, my mother had this little chicken pitcher that we kids found hilarious. Any time she would pull it out to use, as we poured the dressing/syrup/liquid or whatever was in there onto our plates, we would make sound effects to make it sound like the little chicken was throwing up. It became affectionately known as the "Peuking Chicken." We couldn't wait to use that little thing! So when we went to Italy, you'll never guess what we got as gifts! We each got our own Peuking Chicken, but I have had few occasions to use it since then. I was so excited as I pulled my sweet little chicken out of the cupboard on this particular night. We were having pancakes so I giddily filled the silly thing with syrup. I took great joy in teaching Grant about this little family tradition, and boy did he have fun in participating! Chris just looked at me like I had lost my mind, but I could tell he was quite amused to see his usually prim and proper wife peuking at the dinner table and snapping pictures of her son acting anything but proper at the table! Poor kid must have been so confused; I usually correct that kind of behavior! I haven't laughed so hard in a long, long time! And then I wonder, as parents, just what are we doing to our children???

Can you tell who's Grandson he is??

2009-09-19T13:07:00.002-04:00

My father (okay, and my sister, too) is notoriously known for drinking out of the milk carton/juice container at his house. In fact, I'm not so sure that I haven't caught him doing it when he's come to visit us a few times, as well... It's something that drives my husband crazy, and a portion of my Beutler upbringing that I did not carry with me into marriage. :-) I was quite amused, therefore, when I walked into the kitchen one day to find that Grant had found the near empty 2-Liter of Pepsi from our pizza night the evening before and was gingerly finishing it off...It must be hereditary, afterall! He's definitely never seen his mother do it! Ha!

07.13.09 Feeding the Geese

2009-09-17T20:01:00.002-04:00

We surprisingly don't usually have any birds in the pond behind our house so today was a nice surprise! A flock of geese came and hung out for a while, so we grabbed the bread and headed outside to feed them! All the boys got a little freaked out when the geese excitedly came to greet us...thank goodness mom was there to chase them all away! Ha!

07.11.09 Fishing in the Backyard

2009-09-16T15:17:00.003-04:00

Chris' parents were in for a visit and while they were here, we pulled out the fishing poles that the boys got Chris for Father's Day this year. We went out back to our little pond, placed pieces of hot-dog on the hooks and had a hey-day! Those little boogers really bite! I think we caught 9 or 10 fish in just a little while. Grant has a fit when we throw them back when we catch them, so we put them all in a bucket, he and Mason torment them for a while (ha! - Grant's favorite thing is to pull them out by their tails and watch them wiggle. We're working on how we care for all of God's creatures, but he hasn't quite gotten that yet) and then we throw them back in all at once. We had a great time! The boys just love this fishing thing (Chris included!)

Typical of the boys - Mason's right in there getting in to whatever he can while Grant stands back timidly for a few minutes, checking things out. Don't worry, though - Grant's in on the action in no time at all!

Great Anticipation...

2009-09-16T10:47:00.002-04:00

Yes, my two little guys couldn't wait for the chocolate chip cookies to come out of the oven!

Fourth of July Celebration

2009-09-16T10:06:00.003-04:00

We were so glad to be invited over to our good friend, the Henry's, house for the Fourth of July. They had a lovely cookout with lots of friends, fellowship and most importantly FIREWORKS! When we got there, the kids were playing on the slip-n-slide and pool, having the time of their lives. Soon, however, the fireworks began and Grant was anything but happy. We ended up having to leave before they really even got started and take Grant home to his bed. The poor kid was terrified and just cried the whole time. To spare our friends the misery of listening to a screaming child, we decided it was best to just take them home and watch them in our back yard while the kids slept snugly in their beds. Hopefully he won't be so scared next year!

It took great coaxing to get Grant to even hold the sparklers. Finally he did and appeared to even enjoy it! Moments after this picture was taken, a loud firework was sent off, Grant screamed and threw the flaming sparkler! I rushed over to stomp the fire out of the grass, and held poor, shaking Grant in my lap with my hands over his ears for the rest of the evening...Luckily, the sparkler didn't hit anyone!

Chris' Intership Graduation

2009-09-16T09:36:00.004-04:00

Well, we are finally back into the technological world. I apologize for the hiatus in my blog posts, but our computer broke around 3 months ago and we just bought a new one this week, so I am back into the world of blogging! Oh, how I have missed it!

Chris graduated from his internship program back in June. It was a really neat occasion - the Surgeon General came and spoke (I didn't really get to hear it because Mason started throwing an all out fit right when he started, so we had to get up and leave. Grumble) but from what I did hear, I was very impressed. He was a strong Christian man and charged the graduates to put God first in their lives...only then would they be the kind of doctors they should be. Wow! Not too often we hear speaches like that in the secular world...perhaps especially in the military!

Speaking of the military, I really enjoyed this opportunity to witness a bit of the "pomp and circumstance" of the military's ceremonies. We hadn't had much of a chance to see any of that yet, and we did at this occasion. They were blowing sea whistles, there was a wonderful brass band that played for the ceremony, lots of saluting, orders, etc. It was very neat. Such a wonderful opportunity to explain to the boys a bit of the "military culture." Grant was intrigued...Mason just wiggled! Ha!

So Chris is now a second year resident. 1/3 of the way done. And I couldn't be more proud of him. I hear that second year is by far much easier that the first year, so perhaps we have the worst behind us! Hooray!

By the way, don't all three of my boys look awfully cute? Chris had to wear his "dress whites" so I figured it was a dressy occasion, so I dressed the boys and I up, too. Unfortunately, when we got there, most people were in blue jeans. Oh, well, I was proud of them!

05.17.09 My Cowboy Boy

2009-06-20T22:30:00.003-04:00

Grant has recently discovered Chris' cowboy boots. He LOVES them and several times a day, I will hear the clonk, clonk, clonk of the boots as he scuttles across the tile to come find me and show me that he's a cowboy. He's quite the ham, isn't he! Most of the time he has on the cowboy hat, as well. Silly kid.

These pictures were taken back in May. I've been intending to put them up for a while, but somehow, time is just escaping me! Whew!

Good Morning!

2009-06-20T22:23:00.002-04:00

One of my favorite things about our new house is waking up in the morning and watching the sun rise over the perfectly still water of the pond behind us as I snuggle with my warm, freshly awakened babies in the rocking chair. The water is like a mirror it is so still. Isn't it refreshing and invigorating? It makes me ready to start my day, and reminds me that God's creativity in his Creation is awesome! What a way to start your morning - in fellowship and awe of my Creator!

Reward Chart

2009-06-20T22:01:00.003-04:00

We have recently begun a reward chart for Grant in an effort to motivate him to contribute to normal family life. It has various chores listed for him - making his bed, cleaning the toy room, brushing his teeth, setting the table, clearing the table, and going poo-poo in the potty! Each chore has 12 spaces that are longing to be filled with stickers! I took Grant with me to find the perfect stickers to mark these milestones and he insisted on finding the perfect Mickey Mouse heads to use. After each column is filled completely, he gets a small treat - like an ice cream cone, etc. But once the whole chart is filled, he gets to go to Chuck E. Cheese! How's that for motivation!?

He's so excited and is working hard at filling up his squares! A few weeks ago (yes, I know I'm running way behind on updating this thing!), he figured out the whole potty training thing once and for all! He had been doing great, but he still woke up in the mornings wet and he would never go poo-poo for me in the toilet. But once he saw these Mickey Mouse stickers, how that did change! Grant did great and in less than one weeks time, filled up all twelve squares, resulting in him getting to pick a special treat in addition to the great pride and newfound freedom that he found! He decided he wanted ice cream, so we called daddy at work, who brought home all the fixings to make his famous cookie shakes. After dinner, Grant and daddy were going to make these special shakes to commemorate Grant's great achievement. Grant even got to dip the ice cream! Mason wanted right in on the action, too, and climbed the step ladder all by himself so he could push the buttons on the blender right along with his big brother. It was definitely a moment of whole family pride!! Very cute! We all enjoyed the spoils for Grant's hard work. And we're well on our way to Chuck E. Cheese (I know - Oh, boy!)!