departures, arrivals, prayers, wonderings, HERE WE GO!

I wrote a great blog on Saturday.  It's still on Geoff's iPad. Since Saturday morning when I finished the post, we've had a total amount of one hour of scattered government power. Usually that is not an issue for us because we have a great solar set up. HOWEVER, our five-year old solar batteries have finally bit the dust, so Geoff took part of the system to Kampala last week. Without solar and without government power we have no booster for the internet, thus no way to send/receive emails, post on Facebook or post a blog.

Over the course of the past two weeks while Aunt Ketty and Kimberly have been in Kenya getting Ketty's cancer treatments in Nairobi, we have been involved in quite a variety of activities.

Acacia is holding the P2P weekend material

Acacia and I got away to Entebbe for a Passport 2 Purity weekend. We left Friday afternoon, stopped in Kampala to choose and order new glasses for her (she's been getting a lot of headaches while reading), got to Entebbe around 7 p.m., checked into the Karibu guesthouse and went to our favorite Entebbe restaurant, Faze 3. We listened to our first and second Passport 2 Purity sessions Friday night, but had to finally say adios to the dvd player around 11 p.m. The next morning we had a lovely breakfast while visiting with the owner of the guesthouse and then it was session 3 before we headed off to the Lake Vic pool to swim. It was sweet to hear Acacia comment that the pool was not as much fun with "just the girls"! Apparently, her brothers jump off the diving boards WAY more than I do. 

Enjoying fries and tea at the Lake Vic!

We returned to the guesthouse to listen to session 4 and then off it was to the new Victoria Mall to pick up her reading glasses. We found a beautiful newly built mall complete with frozen yogurt, of which we had to partake! YUM. YUM. ouch. ouch.--the price was astronomical! It was a good thing I was only focusing on the FUN part of frozen yogurt and not the wallet crunch as I was ordering!

Finishing up our last session on the veranda of our room at the Karibu guesthouse

Back to the guesthouse to finish up with our last session and then out to a light dinner. The weekend was truly beautiful. I am so thankful that the Family Life Today organization has put together this material for parents who want to wisely guide their children through the throes of the teen years. Some of the topics seemed a bit "above" her level of experience, but she now has an arsenal of pre-made decisions regarding the tough temptations that may bombard her in the years to come, and for that I am grateful!

 Geoff has been swamped by this and that. Lots of teaching, preaching, meetings, mentoring, maize mill  involvement and helping to build a cement ramp with the boys in our family group! Yes, David family is home to Hasan's house which cares for Hassan and other CP kids who need a ramp to enter our family dining area.

On Friday evening we said goodbye to Aunt Lucy, our David family mother, who went to Nairobi to care for Aunt Ketty. Aunt Kimberly had been there for two weeks and needed to come back for some time off and to work in the clinic again.

I will relieve Aunt Lucy this weekend by traveling on Friday night beginning at 11 p.m. The "scary bus" will reach the Ugandan/Kenyan border around 3 a.m. at which time I will need to exit the bus, walk through immigration to show my passport and pay a $50 bill for tourist entry to Kenya. I call it the "scary bus" because you would too, if you could see how those things hog the road. The old phrase my Dad used to say about us kids running through the house like a "bull in a china shop" comes to mind when I venture back through my memories of seeing the buses driving (hoarding) the Ugandan roads.  But, God is bigger than a bus, and in control above and beyond the skills of the bus driver! I venture forth, no fear!

I'm ripe for an adventure. This should be good.

I will arrive Saturday afternoon the 10th and stay until Sunday morning the 18th. I will accompany Aunt Ketty to her radiation and chemo treatments and make sure she is eating and drinking enough. I'm sure there will be laundry to do and possibly I will get some time to write while Aunt Ketty rests. My main challenge will be to ensure the paper work gets filed for an extension to Aunt Ketty's stay. It seems the border attendants only gave her 30 days on a visa, but her treatment and recovery could extend to 6 weeks. I hope to get her a new visa in the week I am there. Prayers would be lovely as this is a tight time frame!!!

Prayers also are appreciated for Geoff and the kids. Geoff has a very full week during the week I am gone. He will be teaching the IY group of kids for two solid days and attending their sessions while another staff member teaches the third day. All this with the business of an unattended maize mill attempts to function (our current manager is no longer current, having left to secure other employment in Kampala.) Our kids will be in school that week, but Sam is still on holiday. It's been nice to be a part of his holidays, but being gone will not afford me that. I will also miss taking Aziza back to school. So, pray for me, the kids, Geoff, David Family and the Okoth Family. We all need God's hand upon us during these times!

I will take up the Ketty Okoth Cancer Updates while I am in Kenya, but will send them to Kimberly who will post them to her blog. You can continue to find out the latest by clicking on "Ketty Okoth Cancer Updates" on our favorites list here on this blog site.

As I travel across the border and return to the first African country I ever lived in, I'm sure there will be some surreal moments. I have already been told by Kimberly to sit on the right side of the bus so that I will have a pristine view of the Rift Valley as we travel through it. I am excited. So many sites to soak in. So much to process. So many of you to thank for your generosity that makes Ketty's treatment a possibility! THANK YOU!!!  As I travel I hope to snap some shots of the beauty of Uganda and Kenya, but until I have those new snaps,  I will leave you with some of what I see almost monthly here.

Since it's spring for most of you, some lovely flowers are a timely offering ! It is only $4 for a lovely bouquet and that makes it VERY hard for me to resist getting an arrangement when I'm in town!

Vehicles here have the most interesting sayings painted on them!!! A word to those who plot " less than ideal" events for others!

Until I find a better one, this sign ranks as my absolute favorite!!!!! Haven't frequented this place as I prefer my massages sans fracture and bone dislocation!!!