Back Home and on the go!

Hello All,
It has been about 5 weeks since I last posted.  We have traveled to Rome, Michigan (Flint area, Reed City, Traverse City and Petosky) and then a stop over in London and back to Nairobi.  It has been a very busy time, but the break was much needed and there were even some parts that were relaxing!

LaMaddellena:  I wrote some about our trip to LaMad in the July 28 post, but wanted to put in a few more pictures.  We had lunch with Filomena and she looks great!  It was so good to see her:

Trevor and Filomena

Having Lunch with Filomena

 

It was so bright and hot!

 

Trevor and Filomena on the streets of LaMad

 

We spent the late afternoon at the beach (it was too hot to go in the middle of the day), and the kids had a great time swimming with some friends.  Our great friend Cynthia got word that day that her brother had passed away in Pennsylvania.  It was so sad. She had to scramble to get travel plans made to get there as soon as she could.   We feel for her pain and pray that God will see her through this hard time.

 

 

 

This is cow intestines that is a delicacy in Sardinia (I think I will pass!)  But the boys tried it!

Strolling the Piazza at night with all the vendors set up.

 

 

Rome:  We had a short and hot but great stop in Rome on our way home.  We got to see some amazing things.  I will post a few of the thousands of pictures we took here:

 

San Giovanni in Laterino Church

 

The city is built up around the old wall

Approaching the coliseum, Timothy encounters a strange man!

 

Arch of Titus and the Coliseum

Inside the Coliseum

 

Sallie looks so small in the Coliseum

 

What an amazing structure!

At the Forum

 

Finding some shade while walking at the forum

Sallie with her parasol

 

Jim and Trevor still at the Forum

 

Trevor and Timothy at the monument for Vittorio Emmanuel II (first King of Italy, 1861)

 

At the Vatican Museum looking at St Peters

 

At the Vatican still

 

From Rome we flew to Michigan.  It was nice to visit with family and friends and get some shopping done.  How many lbs of chocolate chips do you need to last you a year?  Our answer is about 20!  Hope they make it!  Here are some more pictures of our time in Michigan:

 

 

Trevor and Nick building Helms Deep

 

Timothy and Ryan burying a friend (what good friends!)

 

Adults (no kids) at sunset in Petosky

 

Jim and Jullie on the beach

 

Rain came one day and night!  Sallie's room in the tent was underwater!

 

The whole gang camping in Petosky

 

A rough looking bunch!

 

The Griswalds on the move again!

 

Timothy and Ryan

 

Sallie, Ms Sue and Gorden

 

Lunch at Pizza Hut with Rhoda and David (what a treat!)

 

Trevor selling his African Art at the Back to the Bricks car show in Flint

 

 

The Back to the Bricks car show was huge!  There were so many people and cars there, you can't imagine.  Trevor's African Art did OK, but not what he expected.  But, he had a great set up.  We spent the week after that packing and doing some last minute shopping and having lunch with Grandmothers and mothers (what a great time!)

 

We headed back home to Kijabe on the 25th, with a brief stop over in London (11 hours and 40 minutes to be exact).  This was critical as if you are there for over 12 hours you have to pick up your checked in luggage (of which we had 11 at 50 lbs each)!  Hurray for the extra 20 minutes!

 

This week has been a blur.  The kids started school about 7.5 hours after arriving here.  They are troopers!  Jim and I have spent the week getting up to speed on the projects and settling back in.  The sanitation project is moving forward nicely and we are just awaiting pipes that have been ordered.  I will have some pictures next week.  The Bethany Kids Children's Center pediatric wing should kick off in the next month or 2.  We have some work to get done here pretty quick in order to be ready, but by this coming week we should be working at full speed.

 

Fund raising:  We are still working on raising support for our family in order to stay here to see this project through.  We are staying for another 2 years and that should see the project finished and get Trevor graduated from RVA.  In order to do that we need to raise a bit more support.  We would honor your prayerful consideration of supporting us with a one time donation or a monthly contribution.  You can contact us by going to the contacts page, or just go to the donate page at the top of the blog and go straight to EMI to make your tax deductible donation.  Thank you so much.  We really feel led to be in this place, for this time in order to accomplish what God wants done.

 

I will post more about the projects next week.  Things have been such a blur, but I think with some rest (a vacation from our vacation!) this week end, we will be ready to go on Monday.

Over abundance!  It really struck us all as to the over abundance that exists in the states.  Most of you don't realize how much we have, including choices.  I was overwhelmed at the grocery store trying to pick out some vanilla ice cream.  I hadn't had Bryers in 1 1/2 years, so I knew that is what I wanted, but....  I get there and there are 12 choices of just the Breyers Vanilla!  You can choose Natural Vanilla, French Vanilla, Extra Creamy Vanilla, Homemade Vanilla, 1/2 fat Vanilla Bean, 1/2 fat Creamy Vanilla, Vanilla Bean, Creamy Vanilla (full fat I am sure), Fat Free Creamy Vanilla, No Sugar Added Vanilla, Carb Smart Vanilla and Lactose Free Vanilla.  Wow!  I had a headache just choosing ice cream.  I have realized how much stress this kind of thing adds to your life.  When you go to a store and they have 1 maybe 2 choices, you pick it and go, no fuss, no decision making.  Having options is wonderful, but there is a limit to how much I can stand!  And 12 vanilla ice creams I think is my limit!

 

This is a holiday week-end for most of you back home.  Enjoy the last official week end of the summer and we pray that you will hit the ground running with school and all next week.  And, please, eat some ice cream for me!

 

In His Hands,

Jullie T.