Living Simply

Hi everyone

As always it’s been an eventful several months since we last posted. In April we had an awesome time with our seniors down at the coast of Kenya. After 5 years of raising money we took off on an hour long airplane ride to a town called Malindi. We stayed at a great resort called Turtle Bay. We left the kids in Nairobi so this trip was also an anniversary celebration time for Eric and I as we celebrated 13 yrs of marriage. Our seniors had a great time hanging out by the pool, boating in the ocean and snorkeling. Eric and I had a much needed rest and it was the longest we had ever been away from the girls so we soaked up our time sleeping in and laying on the beach. Our last night there we had a special poolside dinner for the Seniors . It was a trip we will never forget!

May found us frantically finishing last minute details for graduation as well as packing up our house to move in June. As many of you remember we have had many problems with our last house in regards to the water. In April our landlord tore up the backyard and left a huge mess for three months without fixing anything. On top of that she wanted to raise the rent again so we said to ourselves that we would rejoice for the blessing of that house the Lord provided for us for three years but it was time to be finished living there. After a lot of searching we finally decided that we would move into a brand new three bedroom apartment. We are continuing to learn that sometimes in life God has another plan for you and we might not understand it but it’s His best for us right now. We didn’t really want to be moving in the summer but this past month living here has really cut down on our daily stress of living here.

We are no longer constantly worried about when we will run out of water , how long of a shower we can take, and if we have enough water to do laundry. We feel like God has given us a new theme for our lives this year and that is “living simply”.

At the end of May Kara’s mom was able to come out for three weeks and help us with preparations for Graduation and to pack up our house. It was fun having family here to celebrate Graduation with us. Graduation day came and it felt like we were graduating our own kids. We were proud to see 18 of our seniors walk down the aisle in their cap and gowns. Many of those students we have had since 8^th grade. Eric delivered an address on “Greatness” and what it means to be great in the world and then in the kingdom of God. It was a special time for us as we have been working hard towards this for 5 years. Afterwards we shared a nice meal together at an Italian restaurant with the students and their families. At the end of May I also said goodbye to my good friend Dawn and her family as they head back to the states for a year long furlough. We have become like sisters this year through all that we have been through and I will miss her dearly. I have come to realize in this missionary life that you don’t always live close to your dear friends but it sure is wonderful when you can.

June found us packing up and getting ready to move. In Kenya you have to paint the entire inside of your house before you move so that was a new experience for us as we were scrambling to paint and get painters to help us finish before we moved. We can now add varnishing wood floors to our resume of skills. We have been excited to be in a new place it smells great and everything is brand new. There is a sand playground for the girls, a pool, and best of all lots of water for us to use and not have to worry about. Moving helped us to pare down on some of our stuff and ultimately funded our summer fun this year. The beginning of June we also celebrated Kayla’s 7^th birthday.

The middle of June we got away for a Kenyan adventure to a place in Kenya we haven’t been before, the Aberdares National Park area. We stayed at a unique hotel called the Tree tops hotel . It is an old and rustic place built into the park in trees. Queen Elizabeth II stayed there and it was there that she found out she had just become queen. The hotel is near a watering hole so animals wander in and out throughout your stay. At dinner time we had a big herd of elephants come to the hole and they stayed in front of the hotel for at least 4 hours. Soon after they came they were joined by a rhino. The hotel had 3 levels of viewing the animals, ground level, mid level, and outside on the top deck. After our hotel stay we drove through the park, we didn’t see many animals but found 3 great waterfalls and a cave.

The month of July we are getting ready for our new teachers to arrive. We will be having 8 new single ladies coming. We have been looking for housing for them, getting furniture moved into their new places, organizing orientation materials for the sessions, and meeting with the principal to plan logistics. It’s been a quiet summer as many of our close friends have left for the states for awhile. So we have had lots of time to just be together as a family. The other day we found a compound near us that is a gated community with smooth roads. We loaded the girls and their bikes in the car and had our first family bike ride.

We pray this finds you doing well and that your summer is spent being with family and enjoying a little down time from the normal hectic school year.