What a day!

This is going to be detailed with no pictures. And I'm tired. Bare with me!

Yesterday morning I picked up Betsy, Ally, and the all the girls (that are part of the new Mattaw Discipleship program that are staying in the girls house that Betsy oversees).

We drove about 20 minutes outside of town to where Mary is staying. I checked her out of this cottage hospital, complained a bit to the Dr. for the not so great care she received while Betsy and Anna help get Mary changed and the other girls wait in the van. We then loaded Mary up.

Mary hadn't talked in quite a few days. But when I explained to her that we had come to pick her up and transfer her to a better place, I asked if she wanted to go to which she responded with a little grunt, letting me know she did. We put Mary in a wheelchair and she could barely lift her head. Anna lifted her out and put her in the first row of seats in the van. We stopped and grabbed some bread and water for Mary. You could tell she was thrilled to have it for the ride. I looked in my rear view mirror most of the way, about a 2 hour drive. I watched as Keela and Anna cared for her. Oh and Keela has had malaria the past couple of days and had spent the previous night vomiting. When Mary got in the van though, she perked up and cared for her the next 2 hours. Love in action I tell ya.

We drove back to Kitale then proceeded towards Eldoret. We then headed the opposite direction of Nakuru (our final destination for the day) towards the new place we would check Mary into. We got lost a few times, hit many pot holes that made it sound like the van broke in half, saw the beautiful country side of that part of Kenya, and made it to "Living Room", Mary's new temporary home.

One of the windows on the van popped off along the way. It was a breezy ride.

We got to "Living Room" and had her checked in. The staff was amazing from the beginning. There was a real sense of peace in this place. No doubt the director (American woman) and the Kenyan Dr. and staff were there for the patients, not money, and have proper training. They have some children with cerebral palsy, some children that almost died due to neglect and malnourishment, and then hospice care for some elderly. I was incredibly thankful for being led to this place. It just opened in May. While they got information from me on Mary, she had a "fit" as they called it. A mild seizure. I had no idea she had been having them. Not so sure this last place she was at did either. Where she is at now, she is getting some of the best care and attention I've seen in awhile. We will have many picture updates soon.

Oh how I love Jesus and thankful for his provision.

I'm so looking forward to hearing the improvements Mary will make. Next week sometime we are going back to visit her and see how she is doing. Please continue to pray for her recovery.

After checking her in and getting her settled, we proceeded back towards Eldoret and onto Nakuru for our girls safari overnight.

We left the Living Room all feeling a huge relief for Mary, knowing she will get awesome care and have no doubt she is in great hands.

There are five young women that have been living in the "orange house". Three of them have been here three weeks going through our discipleship program. Two fly out tonight. One flies out next week. And the other two stay until late August. So we took all of them for a safari. Betsy and Ally's first time to go on safari in Kenya. (Ally lives in the orange house with Betsy year round and has a separate ministry she does here but still helps Betsy with the young ladies coming through).

We stop at a grocery store in Eldoret to grab snacks for lunch and pay 10 shillings to use the bathroom. TIA. (this is africa)

We proceed through a lot of traffic, hit insane amounts of speed bumps on a major highway. Stop to let the girls take a picture on the equator. Then get pulled over at a police stop. I get out and go back and forth with the guy on why I have a crack in my windshield. He is obviously wanting a bribe, I refuse to acknowledge that and give in. So I agree to go to court. He then wants to call my husband and they talk on the phone several minutes. Bud was confused. The police man continues to tell me I need to go to court to pay a fee for a cracked windshield. I tell him I will if it is indeed a law because I want to respect the countries laws since we love Kenya and it is now our home. He proceeds to give me back my license and says "do like this, you go back and have that windshield fixed and have a good safari". And I get back in the van and drive away. TIA.

We get into Nakuru and head to a coffee shop we've heard about but never been. It was as though we walked into an American little corner coffee shop. Some white people were eating there too. We check into our hotel and go to dinner. We start playing Nertz (card game) and order dinner. My fish wasn't cooked through, Keela's soup was weird, everyone else liked theirs. You just never know what you're gonna get. TIA.

We stay up till 11pm playing nertz. I was thankful for Bud keeping the kids at home while I had a night away with the girls. We laughed A LOT.

We go to bed by midnight. I get a call at 1:30am from Bud who is freaking out. Elisha woke up screaming and freaking out from a bad cough. He has the croup and could barely breathe. I had no idea what to do or how serious it was. There wasn't exactly a trustworthy emergency room he could have gone to. TIA.

After some advice from our friend Hollie who used to be a nurse here and Bud googling his symptoms, he puts Elisha in the bathroom with a hot shower running to steam up the room. Elisha is able to breathe better. Bud sleeps with him propped up in the recliner and they get some sleep.

The girls and I all wake up and are in the lobby of our hotel by 6am, ready for safari. I'm still a little shaken about Elisha and hoping Bud will call soon letting me know he is good.

We go on safari. At the gate some monkeys steel the girls' breakfast while we're paying for our tickets. Then a monkey runs after Anna. This made us laugh quite a bit seeing as Anna is very tall and strong. And a little bitty monkey is chasing her and she is shrieking in fear.

Bud calls letting me know they ended up getting sleep and Elisha is doing much better.

We start our safari. We saw pretty much all that was to be seen there. Including LIONS! There was a pack of five females and they had just killed something and were feasting on it. TIA!!!!

Giraffes, baboons, gazelle, pelicans, storks, flamingo, buzzard, rhino, cape buffalo, antelope, hawks, and zebra.

We go back to Cafe Guava, the coffee shop in town. Eat some lunch and head back to our hotel to pick our bags and leave. We pray for Anna and Keela and give them words of encouragement. I'm sad to see them go! Betsy proceeds to Nairobi with Keela and Anna, the young ladies flying back to the states. I drive back to Kitale with Ally, Tiara, Tori and Alicia. Everyone had a great quick trip. It was a fun girls outing.

I get stopped by a police again and explain politely that we will get the windshield fixed pronto. I spout out some swahili. The officer waves us through to go on.

We see several road accidents. One that had happened no longer than 10 minutes before getting there. It's a head on collision with a school bus and a little car. The car is smashed completely and looks like a soda can. We pray over the situation and pray again for our safety the rest of the way.

We come upon a small town that looks like it had just SNOWED. We're in shock and excited and pull over to grab some to make us believe what we're seeing. Turns out it was hail, but it made the entire area covered in patches of white, looking like snow. So odd I tell ya. TIA.

I get to know the girls riding with me better. We talk about Jesus. The ride went by quick. We nail more speed bumps, pass donkey carts out of control, see more semi truck accidents, drive on great roads and drive on crazy bumpy roads that feel like you're riding a bucking bronco. Seriously. We stop in Eldoret so I can see if there is a vaporizer/humidifier. I pay 10 shillings to use the bathroom again then go inside Nakumatt. No one has a clue what I am talking about. First they pull out a hair dryer, then a portable heater. TIA.

We continue onto Kitale and make it home. I walk in the house at 6:30 pm, a long day it has been. I didn't even think what I was going to do about dinner for Bud, our children, Ian, Victor, and Jordan. But I was SO thankful to come in and find to my surprise that Bud was cooking Chicken parmesan! Oh how I love my husband.

Now off to bed I go. Thanks for reading if you made it this far. I'm pretty sure you're the only one still reading this mama. :-) I love you too mom! (and miss you terribly... oh and please don't start worrying about Elisha being sick... or that I drive on crazy roads)