Hi People! We just wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas and thank you for your continued prayers and support this year as we embarked on our adoption journey. Our internet is still not up and running, so no pics of Christmas yet, but when it comes back up, we will keep you all busy reading and catching up on all that is going on here. Again, asante sana!

Princess Sundi

Our computer got a virus, so we have been without it for a few days. Sorry to those who faithfully check our blog each day. Hopefully, we will be doing a better job from here.
Sundi has decided she wants to be a ballerina -I told her NO WAY, kiddo, but she doesn't listen to me! I am not too worried, she rocks out more than she prances, so I'm cool with it.

School is OUT!

Monday was a celebration to close out the school year in Soweto. Most of the kids came as well as a bunch of other kids from around Soweto. It was a lot of fun to see them and play games with them. They were all excited to have this be their last day of "learning." (Not that they learned much!)
For Jeromy, this was the first time he has been back to Soweto since 2005. It was really neat for him to see the land and how things have progressed. He was really happy to spend time with Samuel as well.
We took a few photos, but not many. A lot of the day was spent inside with the kids and it was pretty dark. However, a few came out, and we hope you enjoy them.
Hey, Becca, Tom, Andy, Matt, and Michelle, Sam sends his love.

Isn't she gorgeous??

This one too! She stole Jeromy's heart.

Ellie asked for us to take pictures while they ate, then begged to be in the picture!

I took this picture specifically because here is my Scarlet...surrounded by all boys and perfectly content. Daddy is getting worried!

Hey, Becca. Miss Cheeks is back. Her name is Faith. She is a stinker! Cute though, huh!

A street child. Not a part of the academy....yet!

This is Michelle. She is one of the sweeties that make me want to stay in Kenya forever. I mean, come on, look at that face! If she doesn't steal your heart!

Sundi's adoring look is for Pastor Samuel. I think he is one of her favorite people here.

Sundi decided to take Damon for a walk this afternoon.

The boys outside of Samuel's new house.

Sam and Pam in their new kitchen.

Samuel in his new living room. Sam loves to pose for a picture!

The first meal served.

Look who is learning to use a spoon!

Focus, Damon. What you do not see is the next second where that whole spoon full of food ended up in his lap. Sundi needs to stop distracting the little guy.

Whoop, Whoop! That's the way!
To be honest, I am really struggling with this new skill ( if you want to call it that). If you think letting Damon eat with his fingers was a mess, you should see the floor after this one!

Tonight, we decided to start working on stuff for our tree. We started with a popcorn garland. Sundi did a great job threading the popcorn. Half way through the evening, Anite asks, "Whose idea was this???" I laughed, I am not sure she loved this American tradition.

(Note: Damon's pants were a joke, I do not make my kid wear his britches up to his armpits.)

How fun. Okay, so Sundi is a FUNNY girl. I am going to tell stories on her now while she is too young to get mad...

The other day, we were walking home from the mall. She heard a very loud bird in the tree. It took her a while to figure out where it was. Once she saw it she look at me with a questioning look on her face and asked, "ELEPHANT?"

On this same walk, we came across three chickens along the side of the road- a common sight in Kenya. We were counting the chickens in swahili.."moja, mbili, tatu...Sundi looks up at me with a mischievous grin on her face and says, "Chakula!!!" (meaning FOOD!) She's such a little Kenyan!

Last story: Michelle brought be out a few Tae Bo videos. Sundi likes to "exercise" with me. Although she spends half of the time "correcting" my form for me. She watches the film, then checks to see that I am doing it correctly. Ha, if I am not, she teacher eyes me and tells me what to fix! Well, this one video is called "Get Amped." At certain intervals, you have to do the said movement really fast. While you are doing the move, Billy is yelling GO! GO! GO! Well, today after I was finished working out and I was in the kitchen making dinner, Sundi comes in and starts punching in the air yelling "CHOO! CHOO! CHOO!" (If you remember from Michelle's blog, choo is the word for bathroom over here!!!!) I died.

oh, one last not so funny but it still makes me laugh...Sundi is calling me Kimmy. Where she got that one...I can only imagine. I think she hears people call me Kim and she adds a "y" to the end of a lot of names... I keep telling her it's Mommy not Kimmy, but it cracks me up every time she says it.

So, Mama Sundi aka "Kimmy" signing off for tonight.

December 6

Damon and Daddy getting ready for a big trip to the mall to watch our first ever movie!



Veggie Tales. One of Daddy's favorites!
Memory game. Daddy doesn't have to let Sundi win on this one!


Hey, it's Jeromy, back to Kenya after 3 long months and one week (but who's counting?) It is so thrilling to be re-united with my family. I was afraid that maybe Damon would forget what I looked like and that Sundi would be upset with me (and therefore distant). Praise God, we picked up right where we left off and have had SO much fun! I am also so excited to see the amazing job that Kim is doing with our children; they are not just more interactive and better listeners, but they are simply more "whole" little people than they were a few short months ago. They know they are loved, and they are so much more secure, confident, and happy as a result! Way to go, Mama Sundi!

I am also grateful that I am able to do some work remotely, so that I have as much time as possible with my family before leaving them again......although I have so enjoyed the last 2 days that it will be difficult to do anything other than play with the kids!

I am so excited that on Sunday I will see the new land in Soweto with my own eyes for the first time! It is so cool to hear how far God has brought them in the past three years, and even more incredible that He has allowed us to follow along on this journey.

In summary, I am the luckiest man that I know!

Ugali!!

Sundi is loving having her daddy here. I was a little unsure of how the first days of his visit would go, but the kids were super excited to see him and Sundi has been his buddy almost all day! She keeps walking up to me and saying, "Daddy?!" and giggling. Of course, she keeps asking when he is going to leave...but who can blame her?
I'm sorry this is all we have for the day. I will do a better job tomorrow..it was hard to get pics of Daddy because he slept most of the day. He should be feeling more rested tomorrow!


Tonight we ate Kenyan food Kenyan style! This meal is called Ugali. It's basically corn meal with spinach...basically. My kids love it, but we don't have it much because while spinach is good for you, refined corn meal is not so helpful.
I am not sure if they really like the food or just like getting to eat with their hands! (Well, Damon eats with his hands all the time, but nothing so messy!)

Random Pictures from a few weeks ago....

Before Michelle came out, we spent five days at Peter and Faith's. They are the founders and directors of Happy Life Children's Home. They have taken very good care of us while we have been out here.
On this day, Sundi got to go to school with Abby and Tim, Peter's five-year-old twins. She was super excited. As she had to leave at 6:30 (and we all know how much I love early mornings...) I let her sleep with Abby and their nanny, Freida, got her ready for school. I was staying in their guest house across the driveway. I could hear Sundi yelling, "Whoop! Whoop!" as they all got ready for school. She was so happy. Not sure homeschooling is gonna work for this girl. She is just very social! Not sure, though, that this mommy is ready to give up seven hours a day to anyone, especially another teacher...we'll see.
My little tough guy. Damon is rough and tough, but inside, he is such a sweetie. (Looks like he has a dress on doesn't it?)
On Saturday, we went to a place called Village Market. It has a mini water park. This is the kiddie pool. Man, was it cold. Couldn't keep the kids out of the water, but they were blue by the time we left. People don't heat their pools in Kenya...even when it is cool outside.
Okay, this one is from last Saturday. This bench was really fun. It had little dents in it for your bum. We were testing it out when a man walked up and offered to take our picture. My one thought when I look at this...isn't Damon a beast of a kid???

And now, about our day: Not really a whole lot to report. Sundi is starting to catch on that Daddy is coming. She keeps saying, "Daddy, hapa(here)? Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday (with three syllables not two.)"
Heard from the courts today. Seems they want to split our case and appoint Sundi's guardian in January and Damon's in February. Hopefully our lawyer can at the least get them both on the same day so that Jeromy only has to be here for one interview and not two. Not that I don't want him here as much as possible, but it is costly to fly and take time from work. Ah, but we shall just have to wait and see how that all goes. We will keep you updated.
Sundi, Damon, and I tried to make cookies for Jeromy today. Blah...I used a box mix for which the directions were in CHINESE!! I know, right! Here we are in Kenya, and I manage to get a box mix for cookies where the directions are in CHINESE! So, yeah, I took a guess...not a very good guess, they ended up a flat, sticky mess. Oh well, it's the thought that counts, right???
So, that's our day. Oh, on a side note (this is for Nicole and all the other mothers out there engaging in the wonderful adventure of potty training...I was in the bathroom today, thinking, hmmm, I better take Damon it the toilet soon...well, I walked out and he was standing in front of a pool of pee-pee clapping his hands and saying, "yeah!!!!" I think he is a little confused!

No court date this Friday.

"When God gets us alone through suffering, heartbreak, temptation, disappointment, a broken friendship, or a new friendship-when He gets us absolutely alone, and we are totally speechless, unable to ask even one question, then He begins to teach us.
As you journey with God, the only thing He intends to be clear is the way He deals with your soul. The sorrows and difficulties in the lives of others will be absolutely confusing...Jesus cannot teach us anything until we quiet all our intellectual questions and get alone with Him."
I find myself in that place today, highly disappointed, rather speechless, and not even sure which questions to ask. Just got off of the phone with our lawyer's office-we do not have an appointment with the courts tomorrow. In short, our documents were not pulled and we were not put on the schedule. I don't know why, but I do know that no matter how unsettled my spirit feels about this, or how disappointed I may be, what really matters right now is my response too the situation. I want to be angry, I want to cry, but more than that, I want respond in a way that undeniably brings credit and glory to Christ. Samuel said, "We believe we are all letters that will one day be read. I want to be a letter that others want to read over and over. A letter that brings people to Christ and glory to God." Well, I don't want my letter to be one of self-pity or anger. One might say at this point such feelings are justified, but I keep reminding myself that Jesus did not sit on a cross for me feeling sorry for himself or being angry at me for committing the sins that put him there. No, he surrendered to love. A thwarted court date does not even compare, does it?
In closing, keep praying. They say they are going to try for next Friday. While you pray for that date, please pray that all things are able to happen as God wills. Let's not try to force things that are not in His plan. Also, pray I stay focussed on the right attitude and keep a chin-up! I'm quite sure I cannot do that without your prayers.

Our Day in Soweto

We spent the day in Soweto today. The kids are on break, but Samuel and company still look after them and feed those who would otherwise not eat. Since not all of the children were there, I had a better chance to connect on a more personal level. It was a lot of fun teaching them how to play hopscotch.
I was privileged to a part of their lunch hour prayer time. Whenever I am invited to take part in a Kenyan worship service, I feel ushered into a place that I feel is closest to the holy of holies spoken about in the Bible. Sometimes I wonder if it is because the people of Kenya have nothing, so they are able to worship freely, with an emptiness that allows such room for the Holy Spirit's free movement. Not that we cannot experience such things in America, but it seems to be more the norm in Kenya.
Today while I was in Soweto, I offered to wash the children's dishes. Do you know what they said? "Mama Sundi, do you know how to wash dishes?" I was mortified. Sure, it was kind of funny, but it was also a shame that they think a white woman doesn't know how to wash her own utensils. It's not their fault, that's just the white they know. Grace kept saying, "Mama Sundi, you are really challenging me." John took a picture on his phone so he could show all his friends the white woman that washes dishes in the slum. I was so humbled.
Well, that was our day, and we are so blessed.

Today, it’s just me-being transparent.

Imagine that today is November 26^th. Some days it seems like such a short time ago that I said good-bye to family and friends and boarded a plane to embark on the adventure of my life! However, I must admit that most days, home is a distant memory. So much has changed in these past months. I have been through so many refining moments. So many life altering lessons-it’s been quite a process. It seems things like that have a way of making or breaking who you are. Some days, I feel like I am breaking, but then, there are those days when I step aside and let God step in. I wish I could say that was every day. Why can’t it be? But then, broken is part of the process, too, isn’t it?

The past few days, I have felt very broken. It seemed like a deep sadness had set in. I tried not to think about it, but it finally caught up with me. So, today, I took a long walk with Sundi and tried to sort it out. It’s loneliness. (I am assuming now that Michelle has left, those reading my blog are my dearest friends, so it goes without saying how much I do not relish time alone.) I’ve been thinking a lot about that. Here in Kenya, I have learned true emptiness. Not a bad emptiness, but where everything familiar and comforting is gone and you are left with just you, God, and Satan in a battle that without the noise and distractions of daily life, you really see and feel. I have learned that the battle, at least for me, is for my mind. I think the heart and the mind are so closely connected that it almost goes without saying that if one controls the mind, the heart is already committed. I now understand more fully the importance of taking every thought captive… so that the mind of Christ is in me. I think in every day life, especially in a place so controlled by lists and schedules as America is, it is easy to distract oneself from the thoughts in ones head, but is that really what Christ means by taking every thought captive? I am inclined to think not. For me, in this place in my life, it means filtering every thought through truth. Wow, Satan tells some very believable lies-even sometimes he tells the truth in a way that is not beneficial.

So, that is me today, learning things I would never have slowed down to learn had I not come here…thankful for the process…hoping I never forget the lessons learned.

Okay, people, it's me..alone this time. It's a little intimidating to load my point and shoots (as Michelle refers to them) and hope you people can deal with the lack of sarcasm coming this way! In the end, you'll probably miss Michelle as much as we do! But still, point and shoot or not, you cannot change how CUTE my babies are!

Of all the pic I took when Michelle was here, this is my favorite. Sundi was Michelle's shadow the entire time she was here. At first, we weren't convinced it was Michelle she loved, but rather Michelle's camera; however, the camera (not the Mac-daddy) stayed and Sundi was still pretty depressed after Michelle left. Actually, today was the first day she ate a full meal. (Sorry, Daddy, I had to drown it in Ketchup to get her interested.)
It is hard to find the right words to tell you people who spend your time and money to come out here how much it means to me as you put into my child all that she has missed for so long. Thanks you is simply not enough.

We had the weirdest schedule when Michelle was here. This was our last night's meal. Yup, this is what we all ate for dinner...talk about the five major food groups...cookies, soda, chips, popcorn, and french fries!!! When I put the kids to bed at midnight, they were still flying high!

Chocolate chip pancakes

Below: what I swept off of the floor after our meal!