Recent Weekend Fun

This weekend is the first weekend in a month that we've all been home together and Eli has not been on-call.  It's been great to take a breath.

Even though life has been busy this past month, it's also been full of adventures.

Earlier this month we spent a couple nights in Nanyuki, a town on the other side of the mountain.  It was originally supposed to be a writing weekend for myself (since I have few other options for actually getting writing done) but that ultimately didn't work out.  In the end we all went together and I got a tiny bit of writing done in the midst of some good family time.

Also, we were rewarded with the best view of Mt. Kenya we've seen so far.  We even stopped the car to relish it for awhile.  We live in such a beautiful part of the world!

Next up was a "Valentine's Day of Races" that I organized.  Valentine's Day was on a Friday this year, and I figured that people would rather spend the evening together than alone.  And who doesn't love a good 'ol relay race anyway?  The kids had a blast, and the adults did too :)

Can I just say how much I appreciate adults who are willing to participate in kid activities and/or let kids join whatever fun is being had?  Those kind of people are the best kind of people.

I also want to say how much I love this community.  We've never been a part of such a diverse, intentional, and beautiful community like this before, and we are so grateful to be here and be a part of it.  It's been almost a year since we moved here, and it definitely feels like home!

Missionary Kids: Chogoria Crew

Here's the crew.  They're a tight-knit, adventurous, keep-us-on-our-toes kind of crew.  And I love them fiercely!

The Webbers have been at Chogoria for about four years and they welcomed us as warmly and heartily as anyone could.  Their friendship was imperative for our transition to this new site, and remains imperative for everyday life.

The kids glommed onto each other right away and it's a daily joy to see their love for one another.  They are sharing the experience of growing up cross-culturally and they share a unique worldview because of that.  I'm glad they have each other to enjoy this life and process it together.

These seven kids do a lot of life together and I am incredibly thankful for this entire crew!

Victory in the Tooth Department

One day a couple years ago we discovered that Caleb had "shark teeth" behind his bottom front teeth. We didn't even know that was a thing, but after emailing with a college friend who's a dentist, it was confirmed that his adult teeth were coming in even though his baby teeth hadn't fallen out yet.  We thought it was a sure sign that his baby teeth would loosen up real fast and fall out.

Boy, were we wrong!

Long story short, those baby teeth in the front never came out on their own.  The adult teeth were fully in and hanging out behind the baby teeth for about 9 months (yes, you read that right) before we got him into a pediatric dentist to have them pulled.  We waited so long because we kept thinking and hoping that the baby teeth would fall out on their own.  When they didn't, we waited until we were back in the States because we knew that having teeth pulled would be traumatic for this kid.  (It definitely was.)

But finally we got those babies yanked out and the adult teeth were free to move into place where they belonged.

Fast forward to a few months ago when Caleb got some more loose teeth.  We were curious how this round would go, and dismayed when those teeth were also not super excited to fall out on their own.  Long story short, Eli had to yank them out.  It was traumatic with plenty of screaming and tears but it simply had to be done.

Caleb and the Tooth Department have not been on the best of terms since, well, ever.

Then his two front teeth on the top became loose.  We prepared ourselves for Round 3 of Traumatic Teeth Pulling.  But then, by a great miracle of God, one of those teeth fell out on New Year's Day and Caleb didn't even know it!!!  I kid you not.  That boy had been running around outside all afternoon and when he came in and said something to me it was glaringly obvious that a tooth was missing.  When I asked him about it, he had no idea what I was talking about!

Praise the Lord!!!

It felt like such a promise of what God has in store for our son this year.  A tooth falling out without incident?  It was no less than a great grace of God if not a true miracle.

That isn't to say that the second front tooth also came out without incident.  Au contraire.  It was basically falling out but just wouldn't finish the job so Eli yanked it out since the adult tooth was coming in behind it, and we were back to Square One with the screaming and crying and trauma.  BUT, we've officially experienced a major victory in the Tooth Department and we greatly rejoice in that!

Plus, with both front teeth missing Caleb has been "matchy matchy" with this sweet girl :)  Olive and Caleb are less than two months apart in age and it's been fun to watch the teeth falling out for these 7-year olds.

We've got our fingers crossed that we'll see more victories in the Tooth Department this year!