We've Got Mail!

Deron came home from work Friday with not one, not two, but three boxes!!! We had mailed two of the boxes to ourselves when it became evident that we had more than we could comfortably pack in our suitcases and carry-ons.* We have now been reunited with a number of items (including kid hangers, a book for me, a Lightning McQueen cup for Micah, and a bag of Jolly Ranchers that were part of a wonderful birthday goody box for me and which were a popular hit with everyone old enough to speak) and it is yet one more step toward getting settled and feeling at home. The third box was a L*ands End order and I am looking forward to sleeping in t-shirt cotton sheets tonight. The sheets provided get the job done, but most of our neighbors made room for their own sheets in their suitcases and there is something to be said for familiar sheets. Yay!

We also learned that our air shipment made it to Kenya last week!!!! Once we made it through our check-in at the embassy and once Customs receives/received certain notification, the air shipment will be released to head out to Kisumu. I am excited about all of it, but the top two items are toys for the kiddos and stain sticks for laundry. The latter is far and away my biggest thrill as I have yet to identify an equivalent to our stain remover sprays or sticks since I have arrived here. And with two little boys happily playing outside and one little boy intent upon feeding himself and very cavalier about food spills, well, suffice it to say there are a lot of stains and my good old friend the stain stick will be warmly welcomed here! :-)

In other news, we flew out to Nairobi last week and got checked in at the embassy. There wasn't much time to sightsee per se, but the boys and I were lucky enough to be hosted by the wife of Deron's supervisor and she took us to all sorts of wonderful playgrounds and also a mall that had coin operated rides. The boys LOVED every minute of it and I enjoyed her company and insights very much!

We got to drive around some of the residential areas while heading out to these various playgrounds and there is so much beauty! It reminded me of Hawaii at times because of the bougainvilia, hibiscus, birds of paradise, etc. I am very much hoping that our next visit to Nairobi will afford us an opportunity too visit the giraffe sanctuary and the elephant orphanage. We keep hearing good things about them and I am sure the boys (and the adults!) will love them!

There is a store at the embassy selling things from the U.S. that we might miss from home. Our host took Micah there while Deron and I were getting one briefing or another and Micah selected F*ruit Loops cereal because it looked like the Ch*eerios he was used to eating at home. (give or take a little sugar and artificial coloring) He calls them "fruit hula hoops" and that makes me smile because it sounds kinda cute.

It is the weekend again and we are very thankful for a little down time because last week was a bit of a whirlwind. The mosquito screens are in place and we made a grocery run this morning AND we have a working fridge again. Every day we get a little more functional. And functional is good! :-)


*They arrived in Kenya in a mere 6 days but were held up until now because we had not yet checked in at the embassy. I am curious if things will always move so quickly?! Because seriously. Six days from Atlanta to Kenya?! Wow!