By Plane, Ferry and Train!

Hello All from Italia!
We made it here after about 31 hours of traveling by car, plane, plane, car, ferry, car, ferry, car (in that order)!  We only had one small breakdown by Sallie as she tried to wake up after being up for about 24 hours and then only sleeping for about 1 1/2 hours!  Can you blame her?  Here are some pictures we took along the way:

Sunrise in Amsterdam

Sallie at sunrise in Amsterdam

Timothy at sunrise in Amsterdam!

Me and Sallie and Timothy - the first Gelato for the kids (that Timothy and Sallie remember!)

Timothy on the Ferry from Civitavecchia to Sardegna

Sallie being cute!

Cynthia and Reno are wonderful!  They seem to be doing great and are very busy here with life in LaMaddelena.  I had forgotten (not really) how beautiful it is here.  We went strolling through the town and had cappuccino and gelato!  The kids were in heaven.  We only have 3 days here and leave for a short 2 day stay in Rome tomorrow (Sunday).  We plan on seeing the Vatican, Colosseum, the Forum and what ever else we can.  We have been there several times and Trevor has too, but he would like to see it now from an almost adult's eyes and not those of a 3 year old!  I can't blame him.

Lela, Me and Theresa at sunset at the Cabin

Nick, Timothy, Sallie, Anya, Tia and Xavian

A wonderful Italian dinner

Jim, Timothy, Trevor, Me and Sallie at the cabin

Reno cooking Pancetta and Salsicce

We went to the beach yesterday and we are like bright shining lights compared to the dark skinned Italians, but no one laughed at us (at least not out loud)!  Minimal burning was had due to the copious amounts of sunscreen applied.  Here are a few pictures:

Jim and Trevor trying to get some color on those white bodies!

Sallie and Dad

Nick, Timothy and Sallie (Nick is a new friend who lives in Michigan!)

We plan on packing up today (oh joy!) and heading to another ferry to take us to a car to take us to a ferry to take us to a train to take us to Rome tomorrow.  It should be fun.  We tried to travel light on our way to Michigan, but we have had to pack bags inside of bags as we will be loaded down on our return to Kenya!  We have one computer with us and were scheduled to have 2 returning, but just in the last week things have changed and we will now have 4 returning!  Jim is a computer buying nut!   It's a good thing there are 5 of us traveling and most are now pretty useful as baggage carriers!

We will be back in Michigan on Wed afternoon.  We depart from Rome at 6:00 am and arrive in Michigan at 1:00 in the afternoon.  How does that happen with a 2 1/2 hour trip to Amsterdam and another 8 hour trip to Detroit?  Jet lag should not be as bad as if we were coming from Nairobi.

Trevor has decided he wants to learn Italian and is working on an angle to come back and stay with Cynthia and Reno for a time!  I think he would enjoy that!

Being here in a land of plenty, we are so reminded of the stark contrast with Kenya.  People here have sidewalks, they adore their kids (and show it), they have cars and can eat gelato.  Sometimes when there is enough, people tend to forget where all of those blessings come from.  Please don't forget!

 

Please keep us in your prayers as we travel home to see family and friends.  We are looking forward to it!

In His Hands,

Jullie T.

In His (Protecting) Hands!

Hello All,

I wrote earlier that we were heading to south east Nairobi (we are on the north west side) to pick up the kids from camp.  Well, it was only by God's protecting hand that we actually got there!  We were on the highway and there was an accident in front of us.  A flatbed truck had pinned a bus to the guardrail.  So, the traffic, which wasn't much, was going around it to the left.  We ended up at the end of the line (Nairobi drivers are very pushy) and were just at the back end of the flatbed, when a truck came screaming up behind it.  It crashed right into the flatbed and crumbled right before our eyes then started to twist to the left (right over our car).  Amazingly, no one was seriously hurt!  Just seconds before the crash, there was a man crossing the street right there walking through the slow cars and the driver of the truck was higher up then the flat bed so he was not hurt.  We were able to move the car right out from under the twisted cab of the truck with out a scratch!  If that truck had crashed into us instead of a sturdy, empty flatbed, we would have been in serious trouble.  God surely protected us today!

Rose, our house help, told me an humbling story the other day.  I bought a cup with a rose on it a while back and so that is her cup.  I get a cup of coffee for her every morning and then either she or I make chai in the afternoons.  That cup is very special to her because someone thought enough about her to give it to her.  In her past, someone that she worked for actually served her and another worker chai out of a plastic tub (kind of like a margarine container but bigger).  She felt like a "nothing."  Just the simple act of seeing someone and thinking about them can be an amazing blessing not only to yourself but to others!


We have had progress towards getting a contract signed for the Bethany Kids of Kijabe Hospital Children's Center.  Looks like they will sign a contract early next week.  We are going to delay the start until we get back from the states though.  So, mid September we should actually be taking a shovel to the ground!  How exciting is that!  At first, we thought our timing of leaving for 4 weeks was not very good, but as it turns out, it will be OK.  We will look forward to actually building this pediatric wing we have been working towards now for the last year and a half.  Things sure move pretty slowly around here, but you know, all in perspective, when we look back 10 years from now, who will know?

The kids had a great time at camp this week.  They came home very dirty and smelly with lots of laundry! 
Here are a few pictures:

The girls of Sallie's group

Sallie's Cabin

The Girls of Suswa

A very dirty Timothy and Sallie!

Jim and Timothy

We are getting ready to leave here next Tuesday.  We will head to Rome and spend a few days in LaMaddelena with Cynthia and Reno.  We are so looking forward to the get away!  On our way out of there, we will spend 2 days touring the city.  Not looking forward to the heat and the crowds, but looking forward to showing the kids the sites.  Trevor has seen the city several times but all from a stroller, so this time it will be a little different!  We will be back in Michigan on Aug 1 and stay for 3 weeks.  Looking forward to seeing you all!

Here is a picture of a tree/vine that I took today.  It has a Weaver bird nest on all the ends!

Here is a bougainvillea, amazing!

We sure are glad to be heading home!  Hope you all have a great week and rest in God's Protecting Hands!



In His Hands,
Jullie T.

School is Finally Out!

Hello All,
Oh, Happiness for the little things:  I am sitting here with a cup of Chai (almost gone though!) and kids quarrelling in the background after sleeping in till 700 and doing my blog.  Life is Good!

This was a great week for us.  We had progress on the Peds wing, and the sanitation system, the kids got out of school, we went to the graduation of a good friend from a local Bible College and got to hear/see Trevor playing in the Jazz Band and the Wind Ensemble:

Peds Wing:  We met with our potential contractor this week, who, by the way, is an Italian (big plus for them in my eyes)!  We had a good meeting and are zooming in on an agreement (regarding price).  The Bethany Kids Board is meeting on Sunday to discuss the matter and hopefully ratify the agreement so that we can sign a contract with them.  If that happens next week (before we leave) it will be because you all are praying for it!

Sanitation System:  We had a design meeting this week with the professor that we have contracted to be our consultant.  We are very close to the solution for and locking in the design.  I am not happy that I will be leaving just as we are mobilizing digging crews and pipe crews.  But, our Engineering and Facilities Team here is doing a great job and I am sure will get things done.

School is out!:  The kids finished up on Thursday.  They are all excited to be done.  This past week was what they call "dead week" for the High School though, so there was really not much going on.  Graduation for Seniors is today.  We are not invited though.   You have to be blood related to get a ticket!  There was (and is) a lot of crying going on up there this week as everybody says their "good-byes."  Some of these kids have been here since 5th - 7th grade!  Here is a picture of Timothy and some friends as they did the final flag lowering ceremony:

Our good friend Patrick Saruni graduated with a diploma from the local bible college - Moffat Bible College.  This was 3 tough years for him.  He is a Maasai and just getting through to a high school diploma without any money was an amazing accomplishment.  But now that he is a pastor, he will be able to go back to his people and help them understand God's love.  He is so excited!  He will actually return for one more year to get a higher diploma so that he will be able to work with the African Inland Church.  Here are some pictures of Graduation day:

Jim, Patrick and another friend with her baby.

Who is that old lady on the far left?

We are very proud of Patrick.  He calls Jim "Mzee" (which is old man in Swahili).  It is not a put down though, it is a sign of respect.

Band Concerts:  Last week end all the bands and the Choir performed.  It was great!  The jazz band played for about 1 1/2 hours on Sat night and then the Wind Ensemble was on Sunday night along with the Choir.  Trevor has gotten so good on the Trumpet.  He has an amazing teacher (Mr Taylor) here and has improved so much.  He had a solo in Jazz band and just blew us away with the sound.  He had been talking about how Mr Taylor wants him to start looking at buying a better trumpet for college that will cost $600 - $800!  I was a bit taken aback, but after hearing him play with this trumpet, it makes me want to get it for him!  This picture is rather dark but I like it all the same:

Here is another picture of Trevor that I found on Face book.  It was at the Sophomore Restaurant where he had the role of Maitre D'.

He Looks very happy between these two beautiful girls.  But, he says he was "forced" to smile! I don't believe him!  Here is another picture that I found on my phone of Trevor and some of his class mates while we were delivering valentines day sale items:

 Here are a few more pictures from the past weeks:

Jenelle and Sallie with Puppies - Girls and Puppies  - How Happy is that?!

Have you ever been this close to a giraffe?

Sallie at the Giraffe center - Their tongues are so smooth!

And their eyes are so gentle

Hope you have a great week ahead.  We are getting the kids ready to go to camp (Timothy and Sallie).  And, because of that, we will hopefully have a quiet week around here to wrap up some things before we head out.   Please pray that our contract for the Pediatric wing comes together and also that our Sanitation system project stays on time and in budget! 

In His Hands,

Jullie T.



Riding with the Giraffe and Zebra

Hello All,
Awhile back I mentioned how some lady friends and I went riding out in Naivasha with the zebra and giraffe, et al.  I now have some pictures of that day to show you:

Me on Sparks with the Zebra in the background

Christina and Dorothy (German Friends) and our guide

Baby Giraffe

The Giraffe were just lazing in the sun

It was so cool to just ride right up to them

We even saw a blacked backed Jackal

Dorothy, being a good German, brought a proper snack for the end!

We had a great ride, but nothing beats having your own horse so that you know all of his buttons!  Miss you Meeko!  I don't think Meek would have done so well riding with the zebra though.

Trevor had exams this past week.  Glad that is over!  But, in the middle of it all, he got to go to the US Ambassador to Kenya's house with the Jazz band to play for about 1200 people!  The ambassador had a big 4th of July celebration and invited the RVA jazz band to play.  They had a great time and I am sure "wowed" the crowd and got to eat real hamburgers!  We had a cook out with some of the Americans up at the school.  Last year, the 4th just came and went and it was just a regular working day.  So, when someone wanted to have a gathering and BBQ, I was all for it.  It is one of my favorite holidays and my whole year was messed up by not celebrating!  But, it was definitely different having to wear your fleece and warm hats.  It is the winter here and it has been cool.  I have seen the thermometer down to about 54 degrees.

Back to the Ambassador:  We were shocked last week when he announced his resignation.  It was something to do with "differences in leadership style and priorities."  Scott Gration was Jim's last boss in Stuttgart, Germany.  He is a good man and has ties to RVA and Bethany Kids.  We will be sad to see him and his wife go.  Also, the seniors have been invited to his house for the last 2 years for their end of the year celebration.  I am sure that will come to an end too!


Last week, RVA held a baptism during church.   They have a baptismal out back in an amphitheater.  Nine kids dedicated their lives to following Christ.  It was inspiring to listen to them.  But, it was very different to have the baboons fighting in the background!  There have been many baboons that come through Kijabe lately looking for food from the trash bins.  They apparently wanted the same thing because we heard a huge fight going on.   Life here does bring some surprises!

We are still moving forward on the Sanitation project and we may even have some money next week!  The design should be done in about 2 weeks and we can actually get started digging trenches to bury pipes.  I have been sitting in front of my computer for several days working on the project plan (oh Joy!).

We are almost to the point of picking a contractor for the Pediatric Wing.  We have a meeting on Monday with the Quantity Surveyor and the Architect to sort things out.  We should be able to contact the 2-3 contractors that we are zooming in on and talk to them too late next week.  It will be exciting to actually set a contract with someone and start moving with timelines and cost schedules!  As they say here, Pole-Pole (po-lay, po-lay) (Slowly) things get done!  The problem is that we are coming to a head here just as Jim and I (and the kids of course) are heading to MI for a break!  We leave in 2 weeks and that is when the sanitation project and the contractor hiring will be in the thick of things.  Timing is not so good right now.  But, I figured that I got my tickets first (back in Feb) so we get to leave!

The kids finish school this coming week.  They are so excited to be done.  Then we have 1 week of quiet (because Timothy and Sallie are going to camp) and then we pack up minimal things to head to Italy then Michigan.  We will all be ready to soak up some warmth!

Have a great week and we pray that you are standing in God's Grace! (New book by Harry Kraus, Breathing Grace).

In His Hands,
Jullie T.