in kenya now

it has been so long sice updating that now we are in kenya and doing well. We are in what many call the "honeymoon period" where everything is new and automatically good and wonderful. Over the next few posts, perhaps you will see the highlights of our lives in Kenya.

highlight number 1: the animals-

Even on our way out of nairobi to narok, the kids and danielle got to see baboons, various birds and several herds of dom

esticated animals...all of which drew a lot of excitement and anticipation of the next sighting.

Just after moving to our home here in Narok, we spoted some monkeys just up the street...how good and wonderful. a couple of days later...they were right on our front porch.

Our new home has a great view, we can see across the river, but in a lot of ways it is nearly resort quality views of plant life. with such wonderful plants and trees, there is a draw for the birds. And the variety of the birds is amazing.

We have even spotted several animals that we don't know. one little guy that we have seen a couple of times is a furry little fellow that is about 4 inches tall at the shoulder and about a foot long, with fur and four legs. could it be a ferret? or something else?

So in all of this we are amazed by our surroundings, but fully aware of the need for us to get back to studying. Our formal language teacher isn't arriving until the 10th of OCT so for the present we are self teaching. Our focus has been on vocab as nearly anyone will correct how you say something so our helpers are nearly endless. we anticipate a time when we will get more interaction than flashcards and will get to begin to understand the grammar of Swahili.

leaving

Tomorrow we board a plane and head for Kenya (actually, for Detroit, then Amsterdam, then Kenya). All of our checked bags are packed and weighing 50-52lbs each. All that is left will/should/hopefully fits in our carry-ons and hopefully doesn't weigh a ridiculous amount. We left our house on Wednesday, Sept. 7th and have been spending time together as a family on a vacation of sorts. We are staying in a hotel, doing some fun things like going to the beach, using up gift cards, going putt-putt, swimming in the hotel pool, and watching movies. It's really just some emotional downtime between saying our goodbyes and our hellos. E and J are sharing the pull-out couch while M sleeps in a pack-n-play in a closet. Kevin and I have a separate bedroom. We have been making phone calls, saying our last goodbyes, and skyping with the grandparents for the last time this side of the pond. It's still a bit surreal and hard to believe we're moving to another country. It'll eventually sink in though, right?