The Cross in Kenya Africa

This is the video of a prior group carrying the Cross through the slums of Africa...it just gets ya going!

In two months

In two months Bret and I have...decided to go to Kenya, sent out 150 fundraiser letters, received passports, had six shots, had a dinner raffle, purchased plane tickets, had a huge garage sale, and have accumulated $5,500 dollars and have officially reached our mission trip total with 24 days to spare!!!

Saturday we had a group meeting for the trip, which made it all official. We have a great group of people going with us and can't wait to get to know them all some more. As of right now this is what our time in Africa will look like...

-We will be staying at an Ostrich farm. There are multiple tents that will have a shower, bathroom, and bed. Meals will be provided there and from what we hear are pretty tasty. Water will be provided but if we want a coke it will be an extra .70! Crazy how different the economy is.

-We will be carrying a cross through the slums of Africa. Nothing dangerous, we are told that there might be slanders toward us but nothing too violent. Besides holding those sweet kids, this I think will be what Bret and I look forward too.

-We will go to two church services at the orphanage. I hear that these are AMAZING. Looking forward to being apart of something so great.

-A lady who is probably in her thirties, lives in Amarillo, started an orphanage with her husband, not far from ours. Her husband was killed in a motorcycle accident a couple of years ago. The orphanage is named after her husband. She will be traveling with us, she seems like a super neat lady. From what I hear we will be doing quite a bit with her orphanage as well as ours.

-Dedicating our orphanage. Since the bus accident the building of the orphanage slowed down, so no huge production will be made like previous plans were.

From everything I have been told I'm starting to think that for me personally God is using this experience for me to learn something. I think I will learn far more than I will teach!!

Drum roll please....

This past weekend we had our garage sale for our Africa trip. It took me all week and in between naps and meals to get it all together but the sale was a success!! The grand total.....$643.00!!!!!! Bret and I joined forces and made the sale happen. The sale opened at eight but those early birds were coming at seven thirty.
We estimate over fifty dollars on just donations!




Coffee in a texas mug, donations, and my meme's money box=good luck:)


We literally used every table in our house

Airplane ride home...Check

Our plane from England arrives in Dallas May 20th at 3:40 p.m. Bret and the rest of the group will be driving from Dallas to Amarillo but I will be hopping on plane in Dallas at 5:30 and arriving in Amarillo at 6:30. That gives me thirty minutes to get in a car and race to Canyon for my friends wedding rehearsal. Whew! I have faith that I can do it!!!

From the very beginning not knowing any details I told myself that there is no way that I'm going on this trip if its during my friends wedding, which I am the one and only bridesmaid. I prayed about it that it would all work out....come to find out it will be extremely close but I think it is once again reassurance that we need to be on this trip.

I have a photoshop class every Wednesday and while at class Bret and KK go to church. Last night he picked me up and told me about some news about Africa. The village that we will be visiting...many women and children were in a bus when it flipped over injuring over 14 of them. The small church is devastated and trying to pick themselves up from this earth shaking incident.

Think about it....there are say thirty people in your village and church and fourteen of those people are badly injured, that could completly change a church. This means our main mission will not be to go dedicate this new children's home but to help pick up these people from such a horrible incident. God called us on an ever greater mission that what we first realized.

Raffle for Africa

Our dinner raffle was a success!! We sold a ton of tickets, and by we I mean our families;) I come in contact with a minimal amount of people a day, so thank the Lord I have a popular family! The winner was MaryAnn Thompson. She is the secretary for Chatty's school and a mom of one of Chatty's friends. I wish I could have given everybody a dinner for just buying a ticket. Everyone was so generous!! This Saturday we have our first and only meeting at the church discussing last minute details. Also, hoping that we can squeeze in a huge garage sale. Bret seems to think that this weekend would be the best so garage sale this weekend at mi casa, tell all of your peeps to come and support our Africa trip!!

Easter isn't all about eggs and the Easter bunny...

It is a great thing when your hear your child spreading the story of Jesus. We were in the car the other day and she started sharing the story of Jesus to Dean, and when He died on the cross for our sins. Her details were right on! The two of us want Easter to not be all about the Easter bunny and hunting eggs but about Jesus!!

Easter

We came home last night and started to unload the car...it seams almost as bad as Chrismtas. Tons of candy and a ton of eggs!! The Easter bunny came to our house and left KK with some goodies, her favorite being a zhu-zhu pet mouse. You all know how she is with her "imaginary mouse". After all of the Easter hunts we gathered all the change and KK decided to go buy her mouse a cage with her own money. Starting early on the whole saving and buying your own toys:)

The weather was beautiful and we could not have asked for a better Easter...


Chatty came over and we dyed Easter eggs. I asked KK which one she wanted to leave the Easter bunny and she picked the brown one out of all that color. It made us laugh.




KK and her mouse..



Doesn't she just look precious in the dress we made?

Give your heart to Jesus

Everyone knows how much KK loves to sing....well church has only made that love for singing grow even more. Every Sunday she comes home with a new song or learns the words just a little better to a song. The Hokey Pokey, Kennedee style



Wednesday Bret and KK went to church while I went to my Photoshop class and when I got in the car she was so happy because she learned the "real" ending to the Hokey pokey.

Work of Art

There have many many pictures that Kennedee has painted and even more drawings. She paints whenever she gets the chance and is drawing every time we get in the car. Painting is usually a mixture of paints and her drawings look more like oceans, just waves of black ink. Lately we talk about her drawing "objects" if that even means anything to a four year old. Flowers, people, whatever she wants. Today we ran an errand and of course she wanted to draw. She hands me her paper so I sit it in my lap while I finish a talk with Bret. I look down and see her first drawing of a person!!!! He had arms, eyes, smile and dimples. I am so proud of that little girl. Enjoy her work of art, because it will be on the fridge for a long time and then possible even framed!