Grandma and Grandpa

Last week we had the wonderful privilege of visiting Mom and Dad Greene in Bomet, Kenya (Tenwek Hospital). The 10 hour bus trip seemed to go by quickly...even for the kids! When we arrived at our bus stop, Jonathan proclaimed loudly, "We made it!! We're here and it only took ONE DAY!!" (All of our other significant travels over the last year have all taken an average of 3 days to reach our destination!)
After being 8 months away from family, it was a huge blessing to see our children reunite with their Grandparents, and to see Mom and Dad also getting to know and enjoy the kids in the new and fun stages they are in. We so enjoyed all of Mom's cooking and baking. The days were filled with fun hikes and frisbee, and the evenings found us playing cards around the table while the children slept under piles of blankets (it was cold there!). Here are some fun pictures from our 5 days with them. We're already looking forward to our Christmas visit!

Bus ride from Uganda to Kenya.

We arrived on Thursday night, so Dad had to work the next day. He was able to come home for tea, though, and the kids loved seeing him in his "costume".

Jonathan was very interested in all of Grandpa's tools he carries around.

Off to do some more surgery. Bye, Grandpa! See you later!

Saturday we had a fun hike to see the falls. Tenwek mission station and hospital have hydroelectricity generated here.

Eva loves being read to. Here's a Sunday special, "Goodnight Gorillas"

Mom was such a servant to all of us - cooking amazing meals that we'll not soon forget, and cutting all of our hair!

Thanks, Mom and Dad, for the great week! We love you!

Sweet Dance Moves

Pictures from the site

Check out the latest pics from the construction site!

We had a very successful floor-slab concrete-casting day today. The pictures mostly speak for themselves, but I'll explain a bit.
Here is how the mixing is done. Yes, it is as back-breaking as it looks.


This is mostly a slab-on-grade floor with a small portion that is a concrete lid for a mini septic tank. In this picture you can see opening where a manhole cover will go. To the right of that are two empty cement bags, filled with mud, that are place-holders for the "squatty potties" (low to the ground porcelain toilet bowls) that will be placed in them later. Once this concrete has cured, we will pull out the mud and paper bags to prepare the opening for the toilet bowl.


This is a segment of a banana tree trunk that has become a place-holder for a shower floor drain. When we prepare to place the finish floor, we'll set the floor drain in mortar. This clever use of the banana trunk was our foreman Fred's idea.


And here's a group shot. The gentleman in the middle of the back row with the white and brown shirt is our foreman Fred, with whom I have worked very closely. The white guy in the front row is Danny, an EMI intern from Alabama who is helping us out. This entire crew has been very fun to work with.