Did I forget to mention…We’re home!

Did I forget to post that we’re back home in Kenya?? If you’re following our journey on Facebook or Instagram, you’ve already seen us back at Tenwek, but I realized I haven’t posted it here! Sam and I made the long trip back to Kenya last month, arriving around the 15th. It’s hard to know exactly what day it was after all the time changes and jet lag.

Sam is a pretty amazing traveler. Our two long flights were New York to Amsterdam (8 hours) and Amsterdam to Nairobi (9 hours). We only had enough time between each of our flights to get to the next gate and jump on the plane.

The best thing about the long, international flights is that we each get our own movie screen. Sam’s favorites this time around were Toy Story and Frozen. He also really enjoys getting meals on his own tray table, but he rarely eats anything besides the pretzels.

We landed in Nairobi at about 10pm local time. I don’t have any pictures of our reunion until the next day because, well, that’s just not what I was thinking about at the time. Kenya isn’t a culture where outward physical affection is shown between men and women, but I didn’t care. As soon as I found Pete outside the airport, I threw my arms around him and gave him such a kiss. We decided we never want to be apart for an entire month ever again. (But that was already obvious.) I jumped in the van while our bags were being loaded in the back and hugged my Ella girl so tightly she asked me to let her breathe. It was a moment where I seriously thought, “Is this my daughter? But look how beautiful she is!” Ella and Sam gave each other the sweetest hug, and Ella kept kissing his head. They didn’t leave one another’s side the entire next day.

Sam introduced Buzz and Woody to his favorite slide at the place we always stay in Nairobi.

We also had our own little Christmas, slowly opening each of the surprises I had brought back from Minnesota. Ella was most excited about her LOL Surprise Doll. Have you seen these? Apparently they’re a big deal right now. After her cousins each got one for Christmas, we found videos of the dolls on YouTube and I knew Ella would be thrilled to have one of her own. We just can’t find them here in Kenya.

It was so, so good to see my boys together again.

My mantra in the days following our return to Kenya:

When we eventually made it back to Tenwek, I discovered a couple surprises Pete had arranged while we were away! The first was the nearly-complete chicken coop. It’s made even more progress in the last few weeks and will be ready for chickens when we return from more travels in April!

This gorgeous table was also finished while we were in Minnesota. I had picked out the design for the carpenter before leaving. We love hosting friends and co-workers for lunch, but the original table in our house wasn’t quite big enough for everyone. This is a table I dreamed of having made for years before we arrived. It’s eight feet long and can fit lots of friends! We’ll eventually have more chairs and a long bench made for the other side. For now, our porch bench fits perfectly.

Being home has been wonderful. Sam has done beautifully and is sleeping better than ever before. He doesn’t wake during the night and no longer needs an afternoon nap to make it through the day. We’re so thankful he was able to have his surgery! We’re back in the regular swing of school for the kids and now Pete and I are fully in language classes each morning.

Just a couple days after getting home, Pete and I flew off for a very unique ministry trip. I’ll have photos posted of that soon, so be sure to check back. Thank you all so much for your prayers during our month in Minnesota!