Last Monday we left Dad and Uncle Jim in Nairobi to fly back home. it seems like yesterday we were picking them up! Click HERE for some pictures of Dad’s first day in Kenya when we took him to the giraffe center!
Dad spent over a week in Nakuru with us and we loved being able to show off the kids and our lives over here. It was wonderful to be able to take him to the baby center and introduce him to the kids but also just to relax and let him experience everyday life in Nakuru. We got fresh squeezed juice and mandazi, met the ladies I buy vegetables from and were invited into their home, got pedicures (after lots of convincing), led youth group, relaxed on our porch, and much more.
One of the highlights was getting together with one of Dad’s old friends from college. They haven’t seen each other in 30 yrs but Dad had sent us a name about 3 months before asking if there was a way to find him. Cason asked one of the women he works with and her response was “well I know him, he lives just down the road, let me give you his number.” It’s a small world. So we had him and his wife over for an American meal along with another couple from our church. We had a great time fellowshipping together and the best part of the evening was creating an “elf yourself” video with them in it and playing it for them. It was so much fun and I don’t think we’ve laughed that hard in a long time.
Dad also spent a lot of time at the baby center. The children loved him and keep asking where Babu John is when I come. Momo’s response is always wisely telling the other children “he’s in Nakuru with Cason” or sometimes “he’s playing football with Cason.” Momo and Mesh consider themselves the wiser of the kids and like to keep the other smaller children updated on where all their visitors are :) Click HERE to see some picture of my dad at the Baby Center... the kids loved him so much and we had so much fun!
While Dad was here we also got to have a traditional Kenyan meal with a family from our church. It was so much fun and they surprised us with ice cream for desert! They sang us a fun parting song to send us off at the end of the night.
At the end of the week Uncle Jim joined us and we headed on to the Masai Mara for a “safari camping” experience! The tented camps are nothing like traditional camping - They are complete with tile floors, four poster beds, showers, bathrooms, and robes! We felt quite pampered and had some great game drives. Dad brought rain everywhere he went and it definitely followed us to the Mara. Our second day there we have a torrential downpour and hunkered under blankets in our canvas topped safari jeep while the plains we were attempting to cross quickly filled with water and began to look more like a lake than African plains. We eventually found higher ground and where able to watch the water rise from a safe spot. It was pretty incredible to see. Click here for some of our safari pictures, including some of an elephant family and lions – we’ll post more when we have some time.
On Monday after a tearful goodbye we left Dad and Uncle Jim in Nairobi while Cas and I headed to our Christmas field meetings. It was very hard to leave Dad but fortunately we are back in Nairobi today to pick up Corinn (Cason’s sister) who will be flying in tomorrow morning to be with us over Christmas!
We’ll post more soon, including more pictures from our safari! We hope you all are having wonderful holidays with your families!
Love, Colleen
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