A Granddaughter's Heart

       For those of you who do not have Facebook, or did not know, we lost a family member that was very special to me. My grandma passed away yesterday morning and is now in her home in Heaven. I have been thinking of all of the fond memories I have of her, and I wanted to just share a few with you.

     My grandma and my mom both taught me how to make the most amazing Christmas cookies, if I do say so myself. They both let us have the leftover cookie dough, to eat, when we could not make anymore cookies out of what was left. I think they just got tired of us staring at and begging for it. Grandma always put lots of red hots on her Christmas cookies, if we did not eat them all before she could. I use many recipes, now, handed down from her. She made the most amazing hot pickles.

     I loved her personality. My grandmother was short in stature but her personality made her big. She loved everyone and everyone loved her. She was sassy. People loved being around her. Her smile would draw you in.

     I remember riding in the car with my grandparents to church as they went around and picked up local kids to take them to Sunday school. What a blessing they have been to many kids who otherwise might not have had a way to get to church.

     I used to work at the Walmart near my grandparent's house, in the candy department. I was the first person people would see if they came in that side of the store. Every time they would come in, they would stop by and see me and tell me what a great a job I was doing. I always gave them a hug every time I saw them. Which for my almost 5 ft. 10 stature compared to my grandma's 4 ft. 7 always probably looked awkward to other people, but it was just perfect for us. It always made my day when they would come in and visit me.

     Many afternoons grandma and I would play yahtzee. Even though it really is a game of chance, she was the best. I think I only won from time to time because she let me.

     The last couple of years I got to spend priceless time with my grandma. We spent many afternoons just relaxing together. Chatting about everything under the sun. She was so excited for me to come to Kenya and even since I have been here, asking me different questions to know what all I was getting to be a part of.

     Today would have been my grandparents' 69th wedding anniversary. I always used to joke with them about how they treated each other, but it is obvious it made them close. Whenever one would leave the room they would kiss the other one and tell the other they loved them. What a wonderful example for me.

Water Fun

     Not too long ago I went to the kids fun day for school and saw how much they loved playing in the water. I knew I wanted to do something for the kids similar to this. So, we got two pools and let the kids play in them. They love splashing each other and relaxing in the pool with their friends.



Beatrice, Rose and Seenoi relaxing in the pool.



Alex and Moses



Michael and Wycliff smiling for the camera.

Elias Gets a Family!

Thanking the Lord today for Elias and his new mom and dad. Elias was so ready to go home, and his parents were so excited to welcome him into the family. He now has 4 big sisters!!

Tears of Joy

   
   What a blessing it was to be a part of Patrick's home going. His mother was so happy to be taking her son home, she was crying. Praising the Lord today for sending just the right people, at just the right time.

Newest Addition

Joshua joined us Friday at AGC Baby Centre. Joshua weighs a little over 13 lbs. and is about 5 months old.

 

Messy Laughter - Day 2 and 3

Paul making his play dough.

Having fun playing after he finished.

 We ended up spending two more days making play dough to make sure all of the toddlers had their own. There were a lot of smiles and some not so nice faces when they did not listen and decided to take a small taste of what they were making. Next time we will make something together they can actually eat.

Michael's smile is contagious!

Michael and Alex

Joshua having fun mixing.

Joshua made his play dough into a carrot.

Alex

Elias went to try and take a small bite of his and ended up pouring it all down the front of himself!

Bernard

Josephine

Ezra getting ready to pound his play dough.

Ezra

Silas getting a little help to reach his bowl.

Levi

Daniel

Daniel was having more fun with the flour on the table then with
his actual playdough.

Moses making a handprint.

Eve

Melody

     We received a call this morning and went and picked up a 4 day old little girl from the Children's Officer. She is just beautiful! She weighs 8 lbs. 10 oz! We decided that we couldn't have a William without having a Melody, so meet Melody Ann, our newest resident at AGC Baby Centre.

Messy Laughter - Day 1

Today I decided to make homemade playdough with the kids. This way they could each have their own bag and whatever color they wanted. It was a lot of fun for everyone involved. We had to keep a very close eye on the kids because many thought it was cake or chapati (which is somewhat like a tortilla).

 

Patty smiling and having fun. You can see he took a small nibble as well.

 

Erick's finished playdough.

 

Seenoi and Wycliff mixing the ingredients of their playdough together.

 

We kept telling Jared Usikule! (Don't eat.) and Si chakula. (It is not food.) You can tell by his face we were too late when we told him the first time. It was so cute though, he kept trying to sneek a nibble when we were not looking. Don't worry it was just flour, water and salt. It could not have tasted good.

 

Jared and Eunice learning what to do with their playdough.

New Little Cutie

Just about an hour ago we welcomed one week old William Ray to the Baby Centre (we named him after a very dear friend and wonderful man, Bill Dearmon). William weighs 6.6 lbs. and is such a little cutie. Thank you Jesus for William! Please remember to keep William Ray in your prayers!