Africa

Dear Friends,

When I was younger, I told God that one of the places that I would never go to is Africa.  That being said, just take a guess  as to where I am going this summer?  Africa!  He has been doing some amazing work in my heart and now, instead of saying “I will never go there”, I am screaming, “ SEND ME”.

This July, I will be going to Kenya, Africa to serve the young orphans living there.  My team will spend a week at Little Eden Orphanage, where we will be putting on a vacation bible school each afternoon.  While the children are attending school, we will be working on projects that need to be taken care of around the orphanage grounds. In addition to our work at Little Eden, we will be spending three days in the slums of Nairobi.  There is a tremendous need in this capital city!  Yes, there is a great need  in a monitory sense but their spiritual needs far out way their poverty.  Our goal is to work with a church that is newly established within the cardboard and mud walls of the capital.  It is here that we will be sharing and serving with the people who live there.

I am sure many of you don’t know that I have a deep and growing  passion for orphans. My husband and I would love to adopt ourselves one day and it is such an honor and privilege to be able to serve the sweet children in Kenya.  God has given me a special call to “go” and I am counting on Him to call those of you He has called to “send.”  Each member on our team is asked to raise $4000, which seems like a daunting task to me.  However, if I know that I am called to go then I know  he will provide.  Whether you feel called to give financially or not, I would love it if each one of you would pray for me.  I will be away from my family for two weeks serving in a part of the world that is far different from mine.  Prayers for strength, humility and a tremendous amount of overflowing love would be so appreciated.

Thank you so much for taking time to hear my story and where God is taking me.  I am very excited to see what God is going to do through all of this!

Much love,

Elizabeth
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If you feel led to give, please visit here and sign in as a "guest" (right side of the page).  You will be asked to fill in a form of information and will need to select "Kenya" when asked about which trip you are contributing to. Also, there is a question asking,  "To whom would you like your gift to be directed?" and this is where you would fill in my first and last name.

Fall Arrived

        Well, fall arrived today, in all her glory! It was 90 degrees yesterday. 90 DEGREES!! Nobody should have to live with 90 degree weather in October. It's awful! But overnight a big ol' front moved in and made this Nebraska native a very happy girl. I complain about the weather here all the time; I really try not to sound like such a whiner but it really does take a toll on me! It's like my brain just expects the cool weather and when it doesn't happen it is kind of like I have a tic in my brain... fall, fall, fall.

       Anyway, it's HERE so let's move on and enjoy it's happiness!

It's "Fall"

       Fall, fall, fall... can somebody PLEASE tell me where fall is?? I know it doesn't really exist in our part of Texas but every year, I hold onto some type of hope that cool crisp air is going to roll in from the north (sigh). I just want to pull out my warm sweaters and boots and head out in search for apple orchards, pumpkin patches, and some piping hot cider. 

 
        Instead, we are still strutting around in purple shorts and bug spray. It's not ideal but I try to remind myself that January will be well worth the heat that we have to endure right now. I have heard rumors that it used to get much cooler here (hard for me to believe) and jackets were a requirement at one time or another. I guess we are just another victim of this crazy warm-up that seems to be effecting everybody. So, we will just smell our leaf blossoms and call it quits... we will light our fall scented candles and bake pumpkin muffins non-the-less.

Kansas City

 Trying hard to get caught up... 

We spent two weeks in Kansas City this summer, while Andy attended a workshop. My in-laws were kind enough to drive down and spend one of those weeks with us. We had such a good time and the kids enjoyed being able to do some fun things. 

We ate dinner at some crazy restaurant that was like The Rainforest Cafe but with dinosaurs. Addi wasn't crazy about the loud dino roaring and kept her ears plugged for 95% of our time there.

 Kansas City Aquarium

Sea World

We had such a great summer! We were gone almost the whole month of July and spent time in three different states. I am just now trying to get all the pictures downloaded and on to the computer/blog. I really don't want these pictures and memories to get left on the camera and forgotten. 

This was actually one of the last things we did this summer but first off the SD card and so we will be going out of order. SEA WORLD San Antonio.... AWESOME!! I think it was my favorite thing we did this summer. If you have never been, you really must! It was such a fun experience for everybody in our family. Andy's parents drove down and met us in San Antonio, which is only a couple hours away from us. So glad we did it!

You could purchase little things of fish and feed the dolphins!! SOOOO cool!

 I think one of the greatest things about Sea World was the area they had set up for the kids. There was a great splash pad and climbing structures for the kiddos. Our kids spent HOURS in this part of the park. They also had an awesome block party with the Sesame Street characters. SO FUN! Addi loves Sesame street.... not so crazy about the giant characters walking around near her though :)

He is like, "who are you"?

"Ummmm..."

I love this black lady getting down with Zoe

All the Moms were totally shoving their kids towards the characters... "Go stand by Rosita".

Don't you LOVE Abby Cadabby?? I DO! So does Addi.... probably because she thinks Abby's name is Addi :)