Last Monday, after the youth group sleepover at our house over the weekend (see previous post), we attended the missionary fellowship in Nakuru. It is hosted by Danish missionaries in town, and is attended by any missionaries who want to join that live in the Nakuru area. We have people from Germany, Faroe Islands, Denmark, Scotland, America, Ireland, Ethiopia... all over. We have really enjoyed getting to know the people in the group and it has really created a network of support and encouragement. We have made some great friendships with another couple our age from Denmark and are really excited to go to Lake Boringo and Bogoria for a little vacation with them! We have been so blessed by this fellowship and the friendships we have made.
Life at the Baby Center are still going well. We have finally moved the toddlers into a room of their own which has been an incredible improvement. I can actually put toys in for the babies to play with and they are still there when I come back the next day. 
The toddlers get a lot more individual attention from the caregivers because they aren't having to care for the infants at the same time. We can already see an improvement in attitudes with the kids and the caregivers love the change. Click HERE for a new album of kids from the Baby Center, as well as some others including Kenyan birds, Irish Priests, and the infamous Mike Henderson.
Cason and I recently took four of the 
boys on a walk into Ngata, which was so much fun. We had Momo, Andrew, Owiti, and Mesh. One of the women in our church owns a shop there so we stopped in with the boys to visit her and she gave them each a sucker, which is a rare and wonderful treat in their eyes. Other than getting incredibly sticky from the sweets, the boys got to chase chickens, 
talk to dogs (mostly telling them to go away), explore a hotel, and get some quality time with Cas and me. HERE are some pictures of our walk with the boys! They love it when Cas tosses them into the air!
About three weeks ago Andrew got to video chat with my parents and sister. My dad brought out a pumpkin to show him and this normally quiet little boy began screaming and chanting "pumpkin! pumpkin!" He was so excited and throughout the rest of our conversation he would begin chanting "pumpkin, pumpkin" quietly and would get louder and louder until dad would bring the pumpkin out again. It was hilarious and he hasn't stopped chanting "pumpkin" almost daily since. During our walk to Ngata he pulled me down close to tell me a secret, which was of course "pumpkin, pumpkin, pumpkin..." He even got the other boys to chant it on our walk! The boys were sad to go down for a nap after a fun day out. Cas and I are hoping to do more walks like that with the kids.
This past Sunday we had Momo, Emmanuel, and Precious over to our house to play. It was so much fun. We love seeing the drastic change in personality upon getting some individual attention and being away from the large group at the BC. Momo chattered away in swahili the whole time, Precious chatted back in who knows what language and Emmanuel showed off his new walking skills and responded to every question with one of his only words "eh?" Momo loved the new rope swing Cason put up and Emmanuel collected every toy and brightly colored object that he could and tried to carry everything with him. He is our little hoarder :) He found a bright green pitcher and would put all of his treasures in it and carry it with him.
After dropping the kiddos back at the center I joined Cason when he went to play some soccer. I have never gone to watch one of Cason's games so far, I've only ever picked him up from practice (makes me sound like a soccer mom). So I thought it'd be fun to go to this b/c I was told it was nearby and then I could slip out and go to the baby center after a little bit.... Well... TIA. It was not close at all and you had to get there through tiny dirt roads that I feared would destroy my car. I took my camera so I could get some good pics of the team. In the first 10-15 min I struck up a conversation with another bystander and found out that he is currently a teacher and pastor but was a compassion international child! It was really neat, and the family that sponsored him was actually from very close to home in Soron OH. It's a small world.
Crowds of children started showing up partway through the match, most of them to see the Mzungus (white people) that were there. All the kids wanted to touch my skin, play with my hair and have their pictures taken. They did think that Cason was a little rough in how he played :) but other than that I think we were a hit and drew the crowds for the match. At one point I had at least 30 children crowded around me all claiming to be my great friend. It was fun but I was thankful when it was finally time to go home.
We drove the soccer guys back to Ngata and were about to leave when we got a call that someone had a cat for us! We had asked around looking for a female kitten... what we got was a male full grown cat with no ears! 
But he is very sweet, purrs constantly and is getting used to indoor life quickly. Because he is missing the tops of his ears (we don't know if they were bit off or cut off) we have named him Evander Van Gogh – after the unfortunate boxer and troubled artist. Now hopefully he can catch any little critters running around our home. Click HERE to see an album of my new friend!
The last week or so has been really busy as Cason has been getting the budgeting and other things ready for the Executive Meeting this week. The budgets from different missionaries and Kenyan church leaders were due November 1st, but he is still receiving them… even though the budgeting meeting was the last two days! He worked some long nights, and still has lots of work to do before the next meeting in mid-December!
We have a very busy week ahead of us and are trying to prepare for a whirlwind! We are currently at Tenwek for meetings and will arrive back home on Sunday. We’ll try to rest up a bit and maybe go to Cason’s football match, and then we head to Boringo and Bogoria with Mikkel and Margit (our Danish friends) Monday after work. We get back from there Tuesday evening and Cason has to close all the books for the month. Friday Ashley Donnell and a few others from Nairobi will be coming to stay and we are going to Nakuru park for the first time! I'm so excited!
Saturday Cason, Margie, and Mikkel and Margit will be climbing Mt. Longonot with the church youth group while Ashley & Co. and I head to the baby center to play with kids! We'll get back in time to help with thanksgiving dinner (and hopefully the Longonot crew will make it back too!) We are going to have a very fun thanksgiving and our numbers of guest keep increasing, which is wonderful! Then on Sunday we go to the local craft fair and head to Nairobi to pick up my Dad and Uncle Jim! I am so incredibly excited to see them and they are coming sooo soon!
Thanks for reading! Love, Colleen
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