Emily being Emily!

 This photo shoot was taken at dinner one night. We were all at the dinner table instructing her as to which face to make. She was loving it and getting into the character of each facial expression she made. She has such a creative spirit. 

There was a hole in the floor of the bus!

 Shelbyanne and Emily and I took a trip on the daladala (public bus) to have a play date with one of her friends from school. The bus rides there and back were exciting experiences.


One of the cultural differences that I have noticed here is...when people get on a bus with kids, and there is standing room only, they will put their kids in the laps of whoever is sitting near where they are standing. Sometimes people will give up their seats, but when they don't, people sitting just take strangers' kids.


So today, when the girls and I got on the bus, that is the situation we were faced with. We got on the bus and I put shelbyanne and Emily in the laps of some older women right next to where I was standing. The girls accepted this eagerly, since they didn't want to be standing. I thanked them for doing that so well, and Emily replied, "That's so we can be safe!"


On the way home we were blessed to find two seats next to each other available for us to sit in. We walked back toward the seats as the bus started moving. Emily stopped as she was getting into the seat. When we were finally all seated I looked down to see the reason why she stopped. It was only the size of a grapefruit, but... 


There was a hole in the floor of the bus!

Shy Shelbyanne

Emily loves her brother!

A trip to the market

Today I went to the market with our house helper. It is always an adventure. I was thankful that we were able to walk there, which took about 10-15 minutes, and not be in a hurry. I had two missions today; 1. Buy meat from a butcher; 2. Look at the vegetables and fruits that are available and check out the prices. I have been to the market before, but lately I have been sending our guard to go buy the things we need. It is good for me to go to make sure I get what I want, and to check the prices for the different foods. The tomatoes were 6o cents less per sado (bucket full) this time, which is good to know. I was also able to buy ground beef at a good price. That is good to know.The walk back was a little longer since we were both carrying heavy bags of vegetables. She carried hers on her head, and I carried mine over my shoulder. I told her she needed to teach me to carry things on my head. She laughed, but I was serious! :) Everything I got today at the market and butcher cost less than $20. So thankful there is a market close to our house. Here are some photos of us lately!

  

Donovan wants something.
Can you tell what it is?...
He is saying, "Juice!"

The kids love to play in and around our pool. 

Our pet spider. Rob likes to feed it flies.

Emily's creation. I think it was a cake this time.
Rob's superior Tetris skills have been passed down
to our daughter, Emily.

The kids found a butterfly with a broken wing.
It wasn't able to fly away. :(

What a joy! This is Nice Nuru. Nuru means light and Nice is English for "nice"! I think they call her that because there is another Nuru in our small church. It makes me smile. She is a 5 month old baby of a couple in our church. They came to our house for lunch on Sunday, and was able to hold her for a while. It reminded me of when my babies were that little, although I don't remember my kids ever being that little. I know I haven't said this in a while, but I am so in love with my babies. They are three totally different yet equally amazing blessings. I am thankful to be their mom and Praise God for everyday that we are able to spend together.

 On Saturday, I went to help with the preparations for a lunch that was held before a wedding. The brother of a lady in our church was getting married. When I arrived we sat for a while and chatted. Then they started bringing out vegetables bowls and knives for us to start cutting. I had a blast hanging out with them.

Our house looks a bit different.

You can't have too many cooks in this kitchen.
These kids are so beautiful.

These are the greens and potatos for the meal.

They let me help...only for the picture. I wouldn't want to mess up their process.

This is how the men, pastor's wife, and I ate.

This is how the younger women ate.

This is how the older women ate, including the mama of the house.