Magic Drying Machines, Bad Cheese, and An Attempt to Drive Outside the Comfort Zone...

I am not even going to apologize for the lack of entries.  So there. It seems to be redundant when I look back on previous posts, but you all know I am thinking it.  Where to begin?

The fam took a trip to Tsavo National Park, somewhere between Nairobi and Mombassa.  I continue to be amazed by Seth's driving prowess as he navigates the Kenyan "highways."  And, to be perfectly honest, he has become such an aggressive, daring driver, that I am concerned about how he will adapt to the polite, no, you go first, driving of the United States.  Between skirting in and out of traffic, avoiding families of 4 on small scooters, navigating around semi trucks that have tipped over (literally), and ignoring my sharp intakes of breath and stomping on my imaginary brake, he has really figured this whole Africa driving thing out.  More on my expertise later.

My first thoughts on Tsavo was that it reminded me of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.  This was what the world would look like if we were living in a post-apocolyptic one.  It is extremely dry, dusty, and appears quite inhospitable.  It has huge mountains and lava flows that make you feel as if you are on the moon. I am doing a poor job of describing it..you almost have to see it to understand.

The first night we were in Tsavo, we stayed at Maneater's tented camp.  It is located near the famous Tsavo raillway station where as the story goes,  two  male lions stalked the campsite, dragged Indian workers from their tents at night and devoured them.   The lions are told to have eaten over 130 railway workers.  For the next nine months, a man hunted the lions.  He hid in a railcar one night, waiting for the lions to come to camp, and fell asleep in the railcar.  The lions discovered him and ate him.  Eventually the lions were caught, killed, and can now be found at Chicago's Field Museum.  If you have some spare time and are thinking of the Sonnonstines, Netflix the movie "The Ghost and the Darkness" starring Val Kilmer, in order to learn more of the story.  We saw neither Val Kilmer or any lions, but it was a great place to spend the night.  We could hear the hippos snorting, coming up near the tent to say hello, but the wildlife otherwise left us alone. 

The next day we traversed the gamepark hunting for animals.  We saw the often spotted giraffe, gazelle, funny-looking birds, but no real exciting game.

We arrived at the next lodge we were spending the night at and discovered an amazing wateringhole. The sweet receptionist noted that often times the elephants stop by for lunch.  We kind of rolled our eyes at this and went to sit down for the buffet.  Shockingly enough, there were at least 10 elephants bathing, playing, and cooling down at the watering hole, right in front of our table.  It was awesome.  The elephants of Tsavo have a reddish tint to them.  The elephants dust themselves in the red dust to keep themselves cool in the heat of the sun.  Claire was initially impressed, but then became more interested in throwing food off her tray.  Sometimes I wish she were a bit older so she could appreciate all of this, but we will have the pictures to prove it.

We went out on another evening game drive, and Seth began to tell me that he thought we oughta turn back because his stomach wasn't feeling right.  We returned to the lodge just in time for food poisoning to rear it's ugly head.  Now, I know that many of you may feel bad for Seth. And, looking at him curled up in the fetal position, I initially did as well.  But, then, I remembered the Sonnonstine drive to eat every possible odd and strange food and it all made sense.  As we were sitting on the verandah, lunching with the elephants, I distinctly asked him if he should be eating the most definitely unpasteurized cheese that had been sitting out for who knows how long.  He shrugged me off, told me it would be fine, and continued to dine on his dairy delight.  I am convinced that was what got him sick.  Pity party canceled.  He should have listened to me.

That evening, with Seth asleep, Claire and I sat out on our deck that overlooked the watering hole.  Que the Lion King soundtrack. Coming across the plains was a pack of elephants--at least 50 of them!--coming to drink and bathe.  It was absolutely breathtaking.  Elephants trumpeting, splashing, giving their babies showers with their trunks.  Waiting patiently on the outskirts were tons of zebra and beyond that were gazelle and impala, all waiting their turn for a moonlit bath.  I woke Seth up to see it and even in his state of food poisoning, he was speechless.  That made everything--the four hour drive, the rough terrain, the sick husband...all of it was worth this one moment.  Claire, Seth, and I fell asleep to the midnight party going on right outside our door.  And, for all of you worried about Seth, it wasn't anything time, a little Immodium, and watching Star Wars on the couch all day Sunday couldn't fix.

What next?  Is this post getting too long? Sorry!  I will be less wordy in the future, I promise!  Magic Drying Machines.  I have been volunteering at the orphanage near my house--The Nest.  They currently have 23 infants--newborn to about 18 months.  The women who work there HANDWASH the diapers (really just rags) for all 23 babies.  Can you even imagine?  Because it is "winter" here, the diapers take days to dry and they simply do not have enough diapers to wait for them to dry so they are putting damp diapers on the babies causing horrible diaper rash.  Some of the ladies and I are taking turns bringing the wet diapers home, drying them in the dryer, folding them, and returning them as soon as we can.  One afternoon, the poor woman who runs the orphanage asked me if we could get them back faster.  I told her that with that many diapers it takes a long time for them to dry.  She said, "But, madam, magic works like THAT," and she snapped her fingers.  I couldn't help but laugh.  She had no idea what a dryer was.  She thought we had a magic machine of sorts that would dry them immediately.  I tried to explain to her what a dryer was but I am not sure she understood  my sad explanation.  So, everyone, next time you are complaining about having to do the laundry, just think about how magical it really is and how lucky we really are!  I have tried to write Pampers and Huggies to see about possible donations for some disposables.  Will keep you posted.


I was going to humor you by writing about my attempt to drive outside my comfort zone, but I fear you will all fall asleep...this post has turned into one that is much, much too long.  Thanks for staying with me on this one, faithful readers!

 Missing all of you and sending lots of love.  Off to perform magic and make sure Seth has clean underwear for work tomorrow....

License to Parent

I used to nod my head emphatically when I would hear people say, "You have to have a license to drive a car.  Why don't you have to have a license to be a parent?"  Until now.  It's possible that this jet lagged mom of a very jet lagged baby is who they are talking about...I should not be attempting to mix bottles and make baby food in this state. I also think that I should head to California now to star in the Hollywood re-make of "Night of the Living Dead."  I am a walking zombie. 

Yowza.  Claire and I arrived back in Kenya on Thursday night and are sloooooowly adjusting to life back on African soil. Ms Claire did beautifully transitioning from Kenya to the states, but is having a rockier time with the time change on this leg of the trip.  She keeps waking up about 2 in the morning ready to play for 3 hours before going down for a little siesta.  It's amazing how creative a mom can get when she is trying to get her baby to just go to sleep.  All in good time and I know we will be back on track.  Pray for me until then... :) 

We had a fabulous trip back home with visits to both Minnesota and Texas.  Claire reunited with her extended family like a day had not passed since she last saw them.  Both grandmothers taught her new tricks (high fiving and winking), grandfathers crawled around on the floor with her and snuggled while watching tv, aunts and uncles gave so many kisses her cheeks were chapped, and cousins made her laugh til her belly ached.  We could not have asked for a better trip.  Except maybe to have had better weather in Minnesota. :) It was most definitely worth the jet lagged nights we are having now. 
 
I just wanted to update all of my faithful followers--letting you all know that we are home again -and will be beginning all sorts of new adventures.  We already have a few trips lined up.  In the same time zone, of course.

I Swore I Would NEVER Be That Mom...

It's amazing how time can seem to move so slowly, and yet I can't believe it's been over a month since I have written.  Weird how life works like that sometimes...

Seth was able to take Monday and Tuesday off this past week and we went to Amboseli National Park.  Amboseli is on the border of Kenya and Tanzania and is the home to Mount Kilimanjaro.  Seth, Claire, and I left at the crack of dawn Sunday morning to head to the game park.  The park is only about 150 miles from Nairobi, but with the bad roads and crazy drivers it takes a lot longer than it should to get there.  Luckily, Claire is an awesome car rider and snoozed most of the way. Seth and I joke that she won't know what to do with herself in the car once she actually gets to the US on paved roads--the bumps seem to naturally rock her to sleep.  I, on the other hand, am continually worried that she will get shaken baby syndrome along with malaria while on our little excursions. 

I want to give you a little background story to help explain the title of this blog entry.  When I got to Nairobi one of the first stories someone told me was about an elephant trampling.  Apparently, a woman and her baby went on a walking safari with a tour guide.  Now, walking safaris are typically done in areas that are  "non-predatorial".  That is, you should only stumble upon giraffe, zebra, impala, etc.  Well, apparently this lady and her tour group stumbled upon a mama elephant and her baby.  The mama got scared, stampeded towards the group, and I am sure you can guess what happened next. Awful. When my neighbor was telling me this story I thought, "Who would even THINK about taking their baby in an area that could be dangerous?!?"  Fast forward to Seth and I at Amboseli. :)

America has taught me that there always is a fence, generally an electric one, when wild animals are involved.  Seth and I seemed to forget that we were in Africa, where safety is an afterthought at best.  We were on an elephant hunt and I was NOT going home without seeing one.  We found a place marked "observation hill" and went to check it out.  Poaching is a huge issue in Kenya, particularly in regards to elephants who are wanted for their ivory.  Observation Hill was created so that the game park workers could look over the plains for poachers.  We got to the hill and didn't see anything.  There were some stone steps leading to the top so, after some consideration, Seth and I decided that it was safe to take Claire up to the top to look over the park.  We certainly weren't in an area where lion were (think tall grassy plains and we were in sort of a swampland) and could see no immediate danger.  So we hoofed it up to the top of the hill and not 20 feet away were about 8 grazing elephant--one being a mama and her baby.  I almost died.  I was THAT mom. :)  Now, we were in a covered "shelter" with a short brick wall between us, but...  At any rate, it was amazing.  It was so still and silent and we were able to watch the elephants having lunch...ripping up huge tufts of grass to dine on with their trunks.  You could hear them chew, it was that quiet.  Beautiful Kilimajaro in the background, elephants so close we could just reaaaaaaach out and touch them.  Awesome. Needless to say, we didn't take our time getting down the hill to get back to the car.  Breathe easy, everyone got back in safe and sound.  But Seth and I looked at each other, sharing the same thoughts...WHEW.

As we turned around to head home for the afternoon we nearly ran into a hippo, also eating his lunch and meandering through the park.  He was adorable and was accompanied by two little white birds who enjoyed dining on the bugs on his back.  They would jump up on his back, nibble, and get down again.  I was surprised at how big hippos are!  I know that sounds silly--I knew they would be heavy, obviously, but I had no idea how tall they are as well.  I bet this one was just shy of 6 feet.  They have very fat, stumpy legs but huge bodies.  Hard to believe that this sweet faced animal can be one of the fiercest in the park.  Seth and I sat and watched him for quite a while.  I was enjoying our little friend when I heard Seth, "Look in the rear-view mirror."  Our elephant friends had grazed over to the other side of the hill to finish their munching...not 30 feet from the path we had just walked down.  It was at that point that I made the command decision that we will not be getting out of the car on our excursions again.  Woah. Well, at least not with Claire.  Africa is making me a bit brave, I do believe.


We had a great time at the game park--seeing the incredible Kilimanjaro, walking with the monkeys at the resort (I did NOT like the baboons who were there---some as tall as me and I am scared to think weighed as much, also), witnessing two lions after a morning kill wandering in to the grasses to take a nap, hippos, elephants, warthogs, ostrich, and more.  I was able to see the Masaii tribesmen herding their livestock through the grassy plains, wearing their red plaid cloth and carrying spears in case they ran into any lions.

One of the workers taught me a Swahili phrase to say to Claire at night.  "La la salama, m'toto." It means sweet and peaceful dreams, my baby.  We have many memories to bring home with us from this adventure and something to add to our goodnight ritual, as well.

I laid in bed Monday night, my sleeping Claire in between Seth and I, listening to the hippos snorting in the swampland near our cabin, and just thought, I am so blessed, I am so blessed.  What a journey.  For every moment during the day I wish I were back home, I need to remember that there is much worth having here, too.  I need to take this all in because it will be over before I know it.

La la salama to all of you!  Sending more love than we can hold, all the way from Africa.
Sarah, Seth, Claire, and Walter

Zebras, Giraffes, and Warthogs. Oh my!

Sorry it has been a while since I have written.  I warned you once we turned in the mutatu and got our CRV we would be hitting the roads. AND Seth has been out of town quite a bit this month, leaving me a single mom.  While the baby is beyond wonderful, it is exhausting.  A big shout out to all of you who have done this alone.  Wow!  Anyways, I digress.  We have gone on a few small trips around Nairobi...nothing big, just getting our feet wet. But you know I will be sure to bore you in great detail about those trips.


A friend and I went to the Kazuri Bead Factory a few weeks back.  It is located in Karen.  For any of you who are familiar with the movie, "Out of Africa," Karen is where the author, Karen Blixen lived.  It is an upper class neighborhood about 30 minutes from where we live.  A British woman started the factory to give jobs to
single mothers who had no means of income.  Today there are over 300 women employed by Kazuri, women who have fair wages, good working conditions, and a medical clinic that provides free health care for employees and their families. The tour was fantastic and we got to watch the process--from the preparing of the clay, to the making and painting of the beads. 

You could even design your own necklace and they would make it for you. The rooms where the ladies worked were filled with women humming, singing, chatting, and laughing.  It seemed as if this place was a little piece of heaven for these women--a place where they were safe and were given means to provide for their families.  Amazing.  Made me feel the need to buy several necklaces instead of just one...must support the cause, you know.





The following Saturday Seth, Claire, and I woke up at the crack of dawn and made our way to Nairobi National Park.  It is about 4 miles outside of Nairobi. It is amazing...right in the

middle of the city is a preserve filled with wild animals--lions, rhino, giraffes, zebra, gazelles,warthogs, and so on  As we pulled into the parking lot we saw two warthogs hanging out near the picnic tables hoping for a little snack.  Seth told me to quick grab the camera and as I was getting it out they ran away.  Apparently, their nickname here amongst safari goers is "Fed Ex" because of how fast they are.  Once in the park we saw tons of zebra (there were so many that about 10 minutes in we stopped pointing them out), gazelle, and  other animals.  We were a bit too late too see the lions.  They come out early, make their kill, and sleep the day away.  I was thrilled, however, when we turned the corner and a giraffe was walking down the road towards us.  He stopped for a snack at a nearby tree and then walked right past our car, popping in to say hello.  For a brief moment as he walked by, dwarfing our CRV, I worried about giraffe attacks.  Seth asked me how many people I knew who were mauled by giraffes.  I told him none, but perhaps that's because they never survived to tell their tale.  Apparently unconvinced, he kept the window down.

We could have reached out and pet him.  We spent about 4 hours in the park--Claire loving every second of it, although she was more interested in her teething ring than the wildlife around her.  Seth's chest was puffed with pride when we arrived home, our car coated in red dirt because the neighbors commented on how dirty the car was and how we had finally broken the new car in.  All in all a great day.

The following weekend Seth was off for President's Day so we headed to the Giraffe Center, an orphanage created to protect the endangered Rothschild giraffe.  The Rothschild is found only in the grasslands of Africa. Setting my fears of giraffe attack aside, we climbed the platform to feed and meet the giraffes.  I know this sounds silly, but I am continually amazed at how TALL these creatures are!  And they have these huge, gorgeous brown eyes with eyelashes mascara would kill to go on.  Seth and Claire fed Daisy.  I remember, as I took the picture of my baby girl with a giraffe breathing on her, thinking what an amazing experience this was for her...only to realize that Ms. Claire had no interest in this 19 foot beauty hovering over her.  Kids these days.  Oh well...it was one Seth and I won't forget!

That is about all this currently single mom has time for right now.  Life is an adventure for the Sonnonstine clan and I never know what tomorrow will bring here in Africa.  Time to rest up.  Night, y'all.

Walter on a Bed of Herbs and a Bus Full of Kenyans.

Many of you have asked how Walter is doing.  The dog loves Africa.  He loves it from the tip of his furry tail all the way to his wet nose.  It's like he wakes up every morning, stretches and shouts out, "I love Africa."  At least that's what Seth and I think Walt is saying.  And why wouldn't he?  Our town home is right next to the tennis courts and no less than 3 tennis balls wind up in our yard on a daily basis.  Our gardener, Bonifis, takes him on a hour long walk, ending with a visit to the dog park where he plays with Dixie the hound and Munga the shepard.  He lays on a bed of mint leaves and gnaws on his dog treats.  He sleeps on a sheepskin rug Seth bought on the side of the road for 1200 Kenyan shillings.  Walter loves Africa. 

Our car arrived last week.  We are beyond excited.  It is a beautiful, shiny, silver Honda CRV.  For the past few months we have been driving around in a mini van rental while we waited for our car to arrive from Japan.  Here in Kenya there is a rather ubiquitous form of public transportation called the "matatu."  Picture a minivan from 1984 with decals of Brittany Spears or other American pop icons all over and you will get a general idea of what they look like.  From what I understand, as we diplomats are forbidden to ride them, they are designed to fit perhaps 10 - 12 people. However,  I don't believe that I have ever seen a matatu with less than 25 people on it.  Yesterday I saw a mother on one with 3, yes 3, children in her lap.   You may even see chickens and goats strapped to the top of the matatu.  There are generally 2 people operating the bus--one to drive and another to collect the small fee to ride.  The second person also seems to have the job of hanging halfway out the window to wave traffic out of their way as they do not stop and are not concerned with accidents or passenger demise.  It is not uncommon to see a matatu in the ditch or turned over on the side of the road.  I tell you this because Seth and I's rental van resembled a matatu so much that we even had the Kenyans fooled.  The first few days we were here I kept thinking Kenyans were so friendly as we were out driving the pot hole ravaged roads.  They would wave and I would smile back.  How welcoming Kenyans were!  It was only after mentioning this to Seth that I realized that they weren't waving at us to say "Hello."  They were waving us down for a ride.  We could have charged prime rates and made some serious dough.  Heck, we could have strapped Claire to the roof with the chickens and sheep to make even more money with additional passengers.  Live and learn.



Needless to say, you can expect my blog to get more interesting as Seth, C, and I now have means to get out and explore our African surroundings.  And if we pick up a Kenyan and a few chickens on the way, so be it. 

Three Reasons...

I haven't written in a while because not much has been going on. One thing worthy of sharing is the drought we are having.  It is summer in Africa and there is a vast shortage of rain.  Not something that is particularly troublesome in the states--annoying when we have to remember which day to water the lawns.  But here it is a matter of life and death for many.  We are in the midst of the La Nina weather phenomenon--the opposite of El Nino.  The grasses are drying up and the animals cannot find food.  Today a girlfriend and I were heading to the grocery store and we saw Masai people herding their cows along the side of the roads trying to find them grass to graze in.  You could count the rib bones on these cows they were so thin.  It made my heart break.  According to a recent news article, ‘Because of the drought, cows in Eastern Province are now selling for 6,000 shillings per cow where once they were worth 100,000/-. They are selling the cows off because they cannot feed them. I have seen very many trucks full of cows coming into Nairobi, bought by businessmen who buy them cheap. They have money for feed. This is how business works during these times.’ And then we pull into our compound where the grass is green, the yards are lush with flowers, and they are washing the tennis courts.  Seriously.  They are flooding the tennis courts with water and then squeegy-ing them off.  I think it may be time for this pesky stay at home mom to write a letter to the Embassy saying this is not necessary.  I may even invite a few cows over to my yard to begin to graze.


Seth and I have been staying close to home until our car arrives from Japan as our rental car is a bit sketchy.  There is no AAA here in Kenya and we are not too keen on being stuck somewhere amongst the big 5 (Lions, Leopards, Elephants, Buffalos and Rhinos) wondering how in the world we are going to get home.  Although, that would make a good blog entry!  We have mainly stayed in the compound with the occasional visit out to dinner, to Nakkumatt for groceries, or visits with friends in nearby neighborhoods.  A friend recently challenged me to write about things that I love about living in Kenya to share with you all.  Not being one to say no to a challenge, here goes...

Being Home with Claire: As I am staying home with our little nugget I am able to take her all in.  I can nibble on her fingers and toes without a worry that I need to be heading off to work.  I can lay on the floor with her and sing songs and read books and play for hours without needing to rush off to Target or the grocery store.  I have the gift of watching her grow--we go on walks and I tell her all about the plants and flowers, point out the geckos running across the street and the funny looking birds in the trees, and we lay in the grass and talk about our day and what we will do when daddy gets home.  I get to stand outside her bedroom door and listen to her coo, sing, and babble away and not feel like I have to hurry in and get her ready to rush out the door because there really is nowhere to go.  Claire is changing and growing every day and I am able to witness all of it.  How lucky I am.  Walter likes having his mama home during the day to snuggle with, too. Watching Seth become a dad has been incredible.  It's amazing to me that even with a job as difficult and demanding as his, he walks through that door and becomes super dad.  I know he has been insanely busy at work--long days where the work never seems to get done, and yet he takes the time to sing a song to Claire before heading off for the day.  Nothing like singing songs about poopy and then heading off to discuss matters with foreign dignitaries and the like.  All in a day's work I guess.  

Flora and Fauna: The flowers here are amazing--full of bright colors and intricate designs.  There is a rumor here that you can plant a screwdriver and it will grow into a tool tree.  I believe it.  Everywhere I walk in the compound or out, either tended or wild, the flowers are breathtaking.  My mom will hardly have time to look at the granddaughter she dreams of holding because she will be too busy taking in all the foliage.  And, I NEVER thought that I would say this but the insects, lizards, and other creepy crawlies are quite interesting (as long as they aren't in my house, mind you!).  The other day I found the shell of a lizard laying on the sidewalk.  I imagine some bird scooped it up, ate up its insides, and then dropped the lizard back on the ground.  The interesting thing was that the shell of the lizard  remained untouched...until I looked closely I had no idea the thing was even dead.  I found myself really wanting to put it in a bag to share with my nephew or my students upon my return to the US but then realized that it would probably get pretty nasty before then.  The birds here are unlike any I have seen back home.  There are HUGE brown birds with long, pointed, scooped beaks who build giant Dr. Seuss-type nests on top of the rooftops.  There are teeny black birds with amazing cobalt blue wings who hop from destination to destination.  And there are little bright yellow and black birds who sit outside my window in the morning and laugh.  I swear.  And this is just in the compound, people...wait until Seth and I get our car and REALLY start to see the flora and fauna of Kenya.


Weather: This may disappoint my Minnesota peeps. but I am growing out of the need to feel 20 degree below zero windchills and having the insides of my nose freeze when I go out to get the mail.  Virginia readers, you are a little warmer than Minnesota, but the snow we got last year was enough to last me for a while, thank you very much.  The weather here is perfect (except for those trying to survive during La Nina).  As Seth says before he opens the curtains in the morning, "Let me guess, 75 degrees and sunny with a slight breeze."  Pull back the curtains and, aaaah, what a wonderful weatherman he makes.  Al Roker would seem amazing at his job if he lived here--accurate with the report every day.  It really is like that--so nice to feel the sun on your face, the breeze on your skin.  And it's never humid--even when there is a huge thunderstorm during the rainy season the clouds just roll in, it rains, and the clouds roll away to bring more sunshine.  Beautiful. 

Are three reasons enough?  For now it will have to be I guess. I am still learning to appreciate my time here.  I have also learned just how lucky I am to have the family and friends I do.  The amount of love I feel coming from skype calls, packages and letters in the mail, emails and facebook messages, people actually caring enough to read this boring blog...I am so so lucky.  Kenya is teaching me gratitude--for my life, my family, just...everything.

The Grinch is in the House

So I am having a rough week...I think that is why I have been avoiding writing.  I don't want it to seem like whining, just having a tough time right now.  It's funny, it usually makes me crazy that the decorations are out at Target before Halloween, but I have found myself turning corners at Nakumatt (our grocery store) and looking for gaudy bows and reams of wrapping paper and there are none.  I miss that.  I miss the shopping malls with the packed parking lots.  I miss the cookie exchanges that I moan and groan about having to bake for.  I miss the aisles of Christmas candy and junk you swear you will never buy but you do.  I miss snow.  I miss my friends.  I miss my family.  They say overseas moves have high peaks and low valleys.  I think I'm gonna need to start climbing that mountain again because I seem to be down at the bottom right now.  Never fear, my jolly-ness will return.

Seth  has been working with a Swedish man here at the Embassy and he and his wife invited our family over to their home last night for a dinner party.  It was the night the Swedes celebrate St. Lucia.  According to tradition, December 13th is the longest night of the year, the Swedish Winter's Solstice (contrary to what we believe is Dec. 21st).  We were told a fantastic story of women wearing candles on their heads, walking to neighbor's homes, to bring light in a time of darkness.  Some believed that this was to keep away the ghosts during the longest and darkest night of the year, other Swedes associate the holiday with WWII--bringing light during a time of darkness.  It was a beautiful, warm night last night and we were all sitting out on the veranda when up the path, in the darkness, came 10 young girls dressed in white gowns with red sashes, carrying candles.  They were students from the Swedish School in Nairobi.  They performed several songs for us.  It was beautiful. I was so glad and honored to be there for that special night.  It made me realize that even though Seth and I can't be home for Christmas this year, we can start our own traditions with Claire that will still make the holidays special for us. 

As I sit here thinking of all of you, I wish you more light than darkness this holiday season.  We are sending lots of hugs and love your way during the holiday.  Now go drive around for an hour to find a parking space at the mall, wait in line for what seems like forever to buy junk you didn't intend to buy, love on your family and laugh with your friends...and think of me!  Merry Christmas, everyone!