A babysitter

Anyone know of a good babysitter - Reliable, responsible and energetic????

We want him to get used to someone right away. And get used to us going out and knowing that we are coming back. (That it is ok)

By the way, What do you pay babysitter these days??

Sleeping Like a Baby

We just got back from Calgary. It only took two hours for Marcy and Irakoze to get through customs and immigration. I think I wore a grove in the spot on the floor in the airport in anticipation of them coming through the doors. When they finally did what a wave of relief that washed over me seeing them. Then Marcy stopped and showed Irakoze his papa and as soon as he saw me he ran to me with his arms open, right into my arms (we caught the moment on tape. The first restraunt on Canadian soil was Boston Pizza, and it took about 5 minutes in the car and he was asleep :) Marcy soon thereafter. Sooooo Good to have them home!

All your prayers were much appreciated!

Not maybe, but DEFINITELY SATURDAY!!!!!!!

We are leaving tomorrow. I am SO glad. Now I really feel like he is our son, since I can come to Canada with him. We are so blessed as a family. :)

Maybe, possibly Friday ?!?!????

Maybe, You never know, have to wait and see!! Fingers and toes crossed. :)
They are doing an investigation today and tomorrow to make sure we didn't BUY him. Yeah, that's right. But you know what there are retarded people out there who do such things. Heard of one just this week. And it's because of these people why I can't go home.
I will find out tomorrow if we can go home this Fri. :)

Happy Father's Day Back at You

Thank you my love. Wish I was here or there as well. Miss you guys so very much!

I guess I should be wishing you a Happy Father's Day as at the moment you are both Mama and Papa. As a Father's Day present I long for nothing more than to have you and Irakoze being back here in Canada with me very soon.

I thank God for you Marcy, for your courage and strength, and your love.

Love you both! I will keep the prayer candle burning.

Happy Father's Day, Papa!!

Wish you were here or we were there. Probably the latter :)
Have a Great Day - Love you!
And to all the other Father's out there.

This one's for you honey!!

I never thought that I would miss you this much. You are truly my soulmate and helpmate, and love of my life. I love you with all of my heart and I love our family!! I will get through this, but not easily without you. As I type this, I am running after our son every second word, because he is getting into everything on this desk. (he just threw a roll of masking tape on the keyboard and the page disappeared.) - I know that you are laughing, because you know exactly what I am talking about. Oh, now he closed the little gate , I chased him ,and he is cracking up laughing. Now he is picking up the phone. Anyways, I need to go!!!!!
Everyone else, this is why I won't be going on the internet. lol
Mike- I am more in love with you everyday because you are such an awesome papa. You all know that Mike is a man of few emotions. But having a son has brought out many different sides and emotions from him. The son shines out of his son for him. I never had to say "pay attention to your son", "spend some time with your son"
Mike you are a great papa!! He loves and misses you so much!! :) He is always talking on the "phone" to papa.
I love you and see you soon :)

Faith was there, but it didn't happen

I had faith today that the visa would come through and that we could all come home tonight. We packed all of our bags, including mine and Irakoze's to be ready for the phone call to come. But it never did. The official's and God did not see fit. But that's ok, we will continue to press through. It will be tough to handle business with a very busy toddler, but we'll be ok.
Thank you for all your concerns, well wishes and offers to help.
Please just keep praying. They say that our file is moving, but still will give us no timeline.
Mike leaves in 1 hour. You can contact him for more of an update. Because I may not be on the internet much. I use it in a office and my son is mr. picky fingers. :)
We will be ok. Hopefully, we'll leave soon!!

Such a sad day!!

It has been a day of sadness and crying. We are supposed to fly home tomorrow. But, Mike is just flying home tomorrow. And I don't know how long I will be here. That's right, I am flying solo as a single mom for awhile. Mike has been a mess all day. He is worried about us. Irakoze will miss him so much(as will I). He is a Papa's boy. He will be looking for him everywhere.
We have become such a family unit. And I love my family. I couldn't imagine it any other way. :)
He is a wonderful little boy. He is changing everyday. He has come so far, with listening to us and behaving nicely. He has become such a little man. He is so thoughtful and so, so loving. I probably receive 30+ kisses and hugs a day. He shares, he helps with laundry, after putting on his shoes, he goes and gets Papa's and then Mama's. I am tearing up as I type this. I wouldn't love a birth child any more than I love him. He IS OUR SON!!!
Well, I won't be able to get to internet much with Mike being gone. Irakoze is such a busy little kid, and it is hard to get him to sit still.
Take care and please keep praying.

God Made Them All, And They Were Good!

OK Nola this is just for you so that you have something to read before you go to bed :)

We are at a new location. We are at the Karen Holiday Guest Home and it is so different from where we were. We were at the heart of the city, but now we are out in the boonies...literally. (No pics to attach at this time but it is so beautiful). It is a Catholic owned and run facility. There are 7 cottages (huge houses with five rooms and tons of room) each with huge yards, individually fenced, on a contained street, and the whole compound is then surrounded by a wall and electric fence. It is in an exclusive area and I must say it is very impressive. Presently we have a whole cottage to ourselves although we expect that sooner or later we will have house mates as people, groups arrive daily. Lots of room for Jaxon to move around inside and out.

Today we went to the Giraffe Center which is just down the road and it was amazing. There were nine giraffes in a 40 acre treed area and an observation/feeding deck. We stood on the observation deck and hand fed alfalfa pellets to giraffe. You see them in zoos and such but this was an amazing up-close and personal experience. They are such incredible creatures. So beautiful! And God made them so graceful (despite the way Madigascar may represent them :))
We went on a bit of a nature walk to see a couple of giraffe in the jungle. We walk through some trails in search of these giraffe but all we ended up seeing are a lot of trees, giraffe poo, and bugs. Other than that we got lost for a spell but it was a beautiful walk.

We are holding up well. We thank for this new facility to stay in, it truly is a blessing.
Bless you all and, GOOOOOODDD NIGHT FROM KENYA!

Mosquitos LOVE me!!!

Why I don't know, but they love me. Besides berry picking with my mother, this is the most mosquito bites I have had. I have a couple on each foot, a couple on each leg, a couple on my waist, several on my back, 3 or 4 on each shoulder, 3 or 4 on each arm, several on my chest,several on my fingers, several on my toes, etc, etc.
It was kind of funny; when we were coming to Africa and laded in Nairobi, Kenya, there were mosquitoes in the airport, and then when we boarded the plane to go to Kigali, Rwanda; mosquitos got on the plane with us.
It seems like they come out at night (of course). As soon as I get asleep, they start buzzing in my ears. And I start smacking myself in my head trying to kill them. But, no they keep buzzing - AND I CANNOT SLEEP. So I turn on the light to try and kill them and Mike says, "what are you doing?"
And I explain that I cannot sleep. So last night after turning on the light, trying to kill them, and had no success, I tucked the blankets around me like a cocoon, and put a pillow over my head. Within minutes, I couldn't breathe, I made a little hole for my mouth. And then I thought what if the mosquitoes give me lots of bites on my lips and I end up looking like Angelina Jolie, or worse Lisa Rhinna. lol It would be cheaper than botox, I guess. lol!!
Mosquitos are just another thing than Kenya has more of than Rwanda. Kenya has more mosquitoes, more people, more traffic, everything cost more, etc. (Nairobi alone is 3 times the size of Calgary. ) Kenya is no Rwanda, and Rwanda is no Canada. They are just all different with good points and neg. points. it surely opens your eyes, that's for sure.

Thanks Nola for making those calls!
Irakoze likes to build things and sort things. He will sit for an hour taking large leaves and putting small leaves inside. He is very curious.

It's a Good Thing God Is In Control!

Sorry it has been a while since our last update but other than waiting for news there has been nothing really to report.
Well, yesterday we got in to see someone from immigration and the short of it is that she took some more info and told us she would read our file and let us know what they would do today. Well when she called this afternoon and said she did not have time to look at it, maybe Monday. The short of it again is that we were supposed to fly home tomorrow and now we are not. Have to change our flight again.

It is a good thing God knows what is happening and is in control because it is enough to drive someone around the bend.

Thanks for all your prayers and please pray that the visa will get passed early next week.

Love You All!

Happy Birthday!

Well, it's Irakoze's birthday today. Not really, but it is. lol
The staff brought a birthday card and a decorated cake with his name on it to our room. The name on the cake was Daniel. His name is Irakoze Daniel. The staff here find Irakoze too hard so they call him Daniel. Why Africans would have a hard time with an African name is beyond me?? lol
And we call him Irakoze. (This is one that he knows) And then when we get home we will probably call him Jaxon. The poor kid - so confusing.

All of the staff here "oh and ah" over him. He is such a friendly kid. He wants to wave and shake hands with everyone. He just loves the attention. He will run up to even the guards (who are carrying guns) and want to get up with them. It is funny. But then he wants back with mama and papa.

So we sang happy birthday and ate cake. He liked the cake but not the icing. Funny kid!

Heads up

Hey guys, it has been a laid-back day here on this Saturday. The shopping at the market was pretty painless :) There was lots of really nice stuff that there was no way we could have brought it home on the plane though.

Just a quick heads up. We got a message from the lady at the MP's office telling us that she has been in contact with the immigration side of things here in Nairobi and that she is doing all that she can for us. We ask that those who have and are thinking about calling her on our behalf (which we are so thankful for friends and family who care enough to do this for us) to please let her do her job. We will let you know if it comes to the point of having to call in. But again thanks for caring. We appreciate you all and we know that you have our backs there at home.

The time difference here is 9 hours. It is 9 pm here right now and it is noon back home in Alberta.

Bless you all, and we can't wait to be home with you all again.

Distractions, Distractions

As Marcy said we are here in Nairobi and it was a rough beginning. Actually it starteds the day we left Rwanda and carried forward.
OK nobody laugh but as we were leaving the house that we had been staying in we were half way down the road in our cab when Marcy said "Oh, we didn't get a picture of where we stayed." So being the good husband that I am we turned the cab around. I just finished taking the pictures when I stepped backward and all of a sudden there was nothing under my foot (definitely a KodaK moment) and down I went into a trough about three feet deep that runs down the length of one side of the street. One foot in the ditch and the other planted firmly on top. I was a little scraped up but the scary part was that I heard popping and crunching in my knee that wasn't in the ditch. I walked away but all day my knee got stiffer and stiffer and I thought for sure that I tore ligaments and tendons. Well today I did a little hobbling but knee seems to be working well Praise God.
The drive through Nairobi to the hotel was like driving in a traffic jam with a tube hooked from your mouth to the exhaust. It was unreal!! But then as Marcy wrote there were a number of unreal moments in our day yesterday. We did get most of our money back from that scam of a hotel we started at yesterday. I had my doubts.
Apart from the trip to the Canadian Embassy, today was pretty laid back. Please pray for Jaxon as he has picked up a little bit of a sniffle (didn't know the human body could hold that much snot) and adjusting to the time change after our crazy day yesterday.
It is all in God's hands! He is above any power here on Earth. All things are possible with God!!!
Pray for me as tomorrow there is a special market set up here at the hotel (which they do only once a year). Marcy currently has all our cash in her purse. ENOUGH SAID! Just kidding we saw them setting up and it looks like some really nice stuff. We could use the distraction tomorrow. Well it is good night from Nairobi, and good afternoon to you all.

GOD BLESS YOU ALL!

We're in Nairobi

Well, we are in Nairobi, Kenya. Bev, we may need to call upon the bank of Kurt yet. LOL
Because Immigration is threatening to keep us here for 6 months, they said the minimum for 3 months. I know!!! Rediculous! Please pray hard. :)

What a night! A travel agent at the airport got us a hotel. It was gross and disgusting. And on top of that, we were coughing, couldn't breathe, eyes burning, and it felt like I was swallowing gasoline or something worse. We asked the personnel at the hotel and they said "oh, that's tear bomb gas"
The police were fighting with people, and trying to catch them and throwing tear gas bombs. We're not in Canada anymore. It was scary. The hotel was something that you would pay $40 in Canada and it was $150U.S. I know crazy! I was wiping everything down with lysol wipes. But we couldn't handle the pain in our throats. Irakoze was coughing too. We left. We paid for 8 nights, and don't know if we will get any money back.
Now, we are safe, healthy and happy, but for a much larger cost. The cost of living is INSANE.

Please pray for safety, peace, and URGENCY!!!

Things are moving

Things are moving here. Not in our time, but in God's time. It's hard, isn't it.
I was reading in the Bible a couple of days ago: "my ways are not your ways, my thoughts are not your thoughts... my ways are higher than your your ways, my thoughts are higher than your thoughts."
A Rwandan man here said "You don't need God in America, you have everything. We need God everyday. He is our daily helper. We call on God everyday. And eventhough you pray everyday, you don't REALLY rely on Him."
This has really struck Mike and I, because it is true. And we are brought back to the basics here with less distractions. We are really learning to rely on Him everyday as our daily helper. We give Him the day and ask Him to help us handle whatever may come our way.

We went for Irakoze's medical today. He screamed when he got blood taken. It was such a big needle. Then they gave us a cup and told us to go get a urine sample. I looked at her with an odd look on my face, and asked "how do I do that? She replied, "get him to pee in the cup"
How do you get a 22 month old to pee in a cup? He may not even need to pee, and all he knows is peeing in a diaper. Well, Mike pulled down his diaper and held the cup under him. He screamed and screamed!! So Mike held him, and I held the cup under him. He continued to scream for 10 very long, loud minutes. I was praying, "Lord, please help him pee!!" Mike said, "let's just go". I kept praying and then Mike was praying. I called upon our helper!! "Lord please help him pee"
And then he peed. It was a simple thing, but not to us. It was an answer to prayer. I did not want to come back another day. (another day wasted). What takes a couple of hours in Canada, it takes 2 - 3 days here. We then had to go for x-rays. He stood there so brave and was so good. It was a tough day for him. The x-ray results were all good. Now we are going back to get the results from the blood and urine tests.

We were supposed to come home this Fri. As it looks right now, it probably won't happen. We are trying to get a flight to Nairobi, Kenya tomorrow or Thurs, to visit Immigration in person and to put pressure on them for the Visa.

Irakoze is doing so well. He has bonded to both of us like we were always his parents. His bath time, diaper changing, bedtime has all gotten better. The swimming has helped the bathtime to be better. And we get him to sleep at night, by walking with him in our arms all throughout the house. I know, "you shouldn't do that" But thanks Diane, "whatever works" right?
He has had alot of adjusting to do, poor little guy.

He's vocabulary is now at about 10 words (from 0 words). He says "mama", "papa", "beep, beep", "no", "oya" (no, in rwandan), (great eh, a 2 year old who knows "no" in 2 different languages) (no it's not funny!! lol) He says "what's that?" And he will point to one thing after another asking "what's that?" "what's that?" And we will tell him what the item is. It could go on and on for hours.

Nola-the man is our caretaker at our townhouse. He cuts the grass, cleans the house, washes our clothes, etc. And Irakoze just loves him. You are a loyal follower. Do you read this as your nightly entertainment? Ha HA!! Just joking! I like your comments and of course, miss you too. I can't wait for you to meet him. Hope everything is going well.