Ground Breaking!

   Yeah, the trucks have arrived with the supplies to start on the house!  We heard a big truck enter the camp last night around 10pm. This morning the crew and supplies headed to our compound and have been busy.

Language

   We are now learning the Toposa language. We have a language helper that comes everyday for about three hours. We are doing pretty well with the basic words but not so well with conversations. The boys are picking up the language, too.  Walker loves to say "mata", which is hello, to everyone he sees. Everyone laughs at him and word has made it around town that he can speak Toposa. He loves the attention!

Living in Sudan

   Okay, everyone has been asking where we are living and when will get into our house. We are posting pictures of where we are living now, the land where our house will be and a "little friend" that came to visit us the other night.

   We are living at Mango camp which is about 8 kilometers from where we will be living.  We have electricity, running water, internet and great food.  The staff at the camp is wonderful and have made us feel at home.  In the picture of the house we are staying in you can see Walker swimming in a tub that the workers found for him to play in.

   You can see the water tower on the land and the clearing that has been done. The house should be well on its way to Sudan. The papers were cleared and the trucks left Nairobi on Wed.  We can't wait!!!  Once the house and materials arrive on site, the company says it will take approximately 8 weeks to complete.

   The last picture was taken approximately 20 minutes prior to this blog. It is a puff adder (zebra snake) hanging out at Mango camp.  The armed security guard killed him with a rock.  Now, the kids understand the importance of carrying a flashlight at all times. If anyone knows where you can get a mongoose, we would love to buy one!

   Many answers to prayer: Walker has an amazing nanny, we have found language tutors and begin on Monday, the house is on its way, homeschool is going well and God has provided friends for all of us! What an amazing God we serve!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

   By the way, GEAUX TIGERS!

We are home!!

   We have arrived in Sudan! It has sure been a long journey and an exciting one since we have been here. It is very dry and hot, hot, hot. I would let you know the exact temp but there is no weather man here to let us know.  The kids have been absolutely amazed since we got off the plane. They may not speak Toposa but they are having no trouble  making friends. We have all been rubbed on and laughed at more than you can imagine. Walker is the laugh of the town. They aren't sure if he is a girl or a boy and his pacifier cracks them up.

   Today we met with the head chief of the area we will be living.  He has been so nice to us and he even remembered our names.  He told us that he is glad that our family will be living in the village. We can't wait to move out there!!!

   The house situation is  looking great. We got the okay on Friday and the company said that it should be on the way within days. Once it makes it up to Sudan it will take about 8 weeks to assemble. We can't wait!!! 

   The pictures are from the visit with the chief. The  kids were playing while we were talking. Benton fell in love with this sweet little boy.  Davis and Walker were busy playing and dancing around with the kids.

   Tomorrow morning we will attend a church in a nearby village that was started last October when were last here. It has been averaging 70 attenders. 

   Happy Father's Day to everyone!  We love you all.

   

Heading to Sudan

   We are leaving tomorrow morning for Sudan! We are excited to finally get to Toposaland. The boys have been counting down the days for weeks. We leave at 6:30am and should get there around noon. We have the plane to ourselves with luggage, appliances and other junk we have collected along the way. I will post a picture of us on the plane, it should be funny. 

   Thank you for all your prayers. We love and miss everyone.

Adventure

   We went to Lake Nakuru National Park for a quick getaway earlier this week.  We had a blast seeing the animals and staying at the Lodge. One the day we arrived, we spotted a pride of lions, a leopard, rhinos, water buffalo, gazelle, flamingos, zebra, baboons, wart hogs, monkeys, water bucks and much more.  The boys had the best time seeing all of Gods creation. Our driver, John was tickled at how much the boys enjoyed themselves. The Lodge where stayed had an amazing view.  We could see all kinds of animals from our back porch. We will definitely visit this lodge in the years to come! Hope you enjoy a few of our favorite pics from the trip.

Still in Nairobi

   We are back in Nairobi getting things ready for the upcoming move.  The plans as of today are that we leave for Sudan on June 18th and will be staying at the Mango Camp until we have a house to live in. The Sudanese government has re-opened the border to NGOs so we will be able to get our house and belongings into Sudan hopefully soon. Praise God for opening this door for us!!!

   We are taking a surprise game park trip for the boys this week. Davis' birthday is this week so we thought that he would love to see all the animals.  We will post lots of pics when we get back. 

   40/40 was fun and we learned lots of new things. We stayed with a Zambian family for 3 days and learned to harvest and cook African style.  The boys had a blast and made so many new friends and memories. One memorable moment was eating catepillars and capinta (sardines). Walker ate them and he thought it was the funniest thing. The kids stayed so dirty.

   Please continue to pray for the house situation to work out and for us to get all of our belongings quickly. Also, we are starting homeschool so be in prayer for me to have patience and for the boys to learn well. We miss everyone and hope that you all have a good summer. Please keep us updated on how you and your family are!!!