Take a Hike...

I really like my 8th graders.
A lot.
So when they asked if I wanted to hike to the Hot Springs with them, well.. duh.
So we all gathered...

took a few captives...walked through Goblin Tunnel to the sounds of many, many shrieks and squeals (the boys too..)and were on our merry way. Of course they needed to stop and climb the cliffs...and have yoga balancing competitions...and... other competitions...and "ooh" and "aah" at the pretty scenery... [Note: This is Mt. Margaret.. according to Kikuyu legend, it is the top of Mt. Longonot (the volcano to the right of this) which blew off in the first eruption. I love it...]This is the waterfall we hiked to back in December... SO FUN!So we caught up to the rest of them...Jenny fell...And we sloooowly hiked straight down to our beautiful destination:While the kids went into a long dark tunnel filled with water to swim in another area, Jenny and I took the opportunity to take some beautiful pictures...
One of the students found a rotting skull... terrific...I told them to make funny faces... obviously we'll be working on this for the rest of the term...And then we hiked back with only one scary adventure...
All in all, it was an absolute blast... these kids are more fun than I ever hoped for and I am, again, indescribably grateful for having this opportunity.

Last night I realized how little time I have left here and teaching these kids, and it was really hard to think about leaving them. I've spent so much time hanging out with them and talking about their lives and getting to know their hearts and trying to get them to do homework... :)

However, I am confident in God's plans and at least know that, whether I'm here or not, God will continue to move in their lives.

But I'll still really miss them....

Blackrock

Each year there is a rugby tournament here in Kenya called Blackrock. It's a big deal. Seriously.
Here at RVA, rugby is king. Therefore, Blackrock is a big deal for RVA as well. JV and Varsity both made it to the semifinals for the cup (champions' trophy), both played their hearts out, and though they both lost it was quite the exciting day.

You know how rugby fans always claim it's better than football because it's way more intense and rough since they don't wear pads? They're quite possibly right. Here are some pictures to prove it. We're in red :)

BIG NEWS!!!

RVA HAS WIRELESS, HI-SPEED INTERNET!!! No joke, it's been hilarious seeing (and being part of) all of the ridiculous reactions. Students texting each other and running to grab each other to show off the internet in the labs.. biggest excitement: They can watch YouTube videos without waiting 40 minutes for them to load! Googling things just because 1) we can and 2) we want to see the speed.. This is so much fun :)

So in honor of the new hi-speed, I figured I'd update on life here, seeing as it won't take 2 hours to load a post.. WHOOP! :)

We started off term 3 with a Caring Community a couple weekends ago. Jenny and I were brainstorming what to do and decided to have a birthday party for us ALL! So we decorated the house, baked a cake, bought some jewelry from the dukas, grabbed a goofy game (Quelf - so fun!) and partied with our girls.

Note: I'm jumping around with excitement because I no longer have to compress the pictures.. THIS IS SO MUCH FUN! :)

So praise God for His blessings: the internet and, way more importantly, these 6 incredible girls... oh the fun we have... :)

Mom's Visit, Part 2 (and a very good part it was..)

The Thursday of mom's visit brought probably the most exciting thing - a long-awaited trip to Bernice's and Little Lambs. Mom and Aunt Vickie have heard all about Bernice, my inside worker and dear Kenyan friend, and her son Dennis and have been anxiously waiting to meet the lady who has helped to keep my sweet house together and served with such a beautiful heart :)

We started out with lunch at Bernice's. Bernice and I have been talking about this day for months and she was so excited to finally be able to serve Kenyan food to my family. Surprisingly, I think my mom even sort of liked it! After lunch Dennis entertained us with his reading and dancing. Dad sent over a wind-up flashlight that has a radio on it and I don't think he could've picked out a better gift. Dennis LOVED this flashlight (Bernice says he falls asleep listening to it every night.. so cute) and we loved watching him dance, so it was great fun. Bernice showed us around their house and shamba (garden), we named the cow Daisy, and then we headed off to Little Lambs.

Dennis just lost his teeth and is so proud of his "futbol goal" :)

Little Lambs was, as always, so good for my heart. Joy flows beautifully there. These kids have been one of the greatest things about being here, and it was such a blessing to be able to share this with my family. Mom, Vickie and April all loved playing with the kids and had so much fun playing their games and watching their skits and songs. My Aunt Vickie brought over sweatshirts for the kids so we were able to hand them out.
:)My Aunt Nancy sent over these hats and you would've thought we gave the kids $100000 each by the excitement they had when we showed them these. They started screaming and jumping and high-fiving each other like they won the lottery, then proceeded to turn them sideways and walk like gangstas... it was ridiculously cute.
Before Mom came I begged her to stay longer than the planned 8 days, but she refused. Lucky for me, the volcano exploded and they had to stay 4 extra days :) A couple days into it I remembered I had wanted to take them to a Tea Farm in a town, Limuru, about 45 minutes away but didn't think we'd have time. Well now we did! The tea farm was started in the early 1900s and has been passed down through generations and they now conduct small tours through the land and serve a delicious meal in an old, gorgeous farm house. This ended up being such a great little trip and exactly what we needed after the stress with the airlines...
The tea fields... beautiful!!Our tour guide showing us through the woods


I can't even begin to express how thankful I am that God gave me the opportunity to create memories with BOTH of my parents here in Africa... who would've ever thought!? Wow, to see the way that God has brought all of this about it absolutely incredible and such a beautiful testament to the ways that He works. To have my mom and dad beside me in the midst of what I love so much has meant the world to me. Once again, asante sana (thank you very much) to all of my supporters for giving me this opportunity. It has been such a joy to be used by God and see Him working so beautifully over here. Praise Him!