Camping Trip to the Aberdares!

February was a busy month for us with lots of visitors so Jerrod and I decided to get away for a weekend in the Aberdares. It is a beautiful national park with lots of waterfalls, animals, mountains, gorgeous views, etc. We had an awesome time just spending time together and enjoyed getting out of the hustle and bustle of Nairobi. We never saw another person the entire weekend which was awesome! Sometimes you just need a weekend like this :) We are so thankful for little trips like this.

These waterfalls reminded us of the ones in Kauai.

Our campsite the first night.

There was frost on the ground when we woke up! It was freezing.

This is just part of the road we had to drive on one afternoon, it was crazy steep! Jerrod did a great job and we ended up using 4 wheel drive a lot that weekend.

We saw quite a few water buffalo.

This was our campsite the 2nd night we were there. It was a little nerve wracking knowing you're camping in the middle of the wild but we survived!

A view of Mount Kenya.

Hands down Africa has the prettiest sunrises and sunsets I've ever seen!

A herd of zebras were running from us lol.

Our lunch spot one day overlooking Mt. Kenya!

Trying to drive to give Jerrod a break :)

Blessings,

Amanda

Surprise Christmas Trip Home!

About two weeks before Christmas Jerrod and I decided to book a trip home for the holidays.  We had such a crazy last few months that was really wearing on us, so we thought a break from Kenya would be good for us spiritually, physically and emotionally.  Since it was such a last minute decision we decided it would be fun to keep it a secret!  I ended up telling my dad, because knew we needed to be picked up from the airport in San Antonio.  My dad partnered with Clifton in making the surprise so great.  We flew in to San Antonio on Dec. 23 and my dad told Amy and mom that they needed to run up to San Antonio to get one last Christmas present.  My mom already got her gift so she was wondering what this gift could be, and why would Clifton need to go with him :)  So dad and Clifton headed up to the airport to pick us up, meanwhile my mom, Amy and the kids were at Amy's house.  They picked us up and it was so good to see them.  Jerrod hadn't been home since the previous Christmas so it had been a year for him since he had been in the first world.  We stopped to grab Whataburger (our favorite) on the way home and went to Clifton and Amy's house.  We stayed in the car while Clifton went in to tell mom, Amy and the kids that mom's present was in the driveway.  They thought it was a new car or something LOL.  They walked out and I jumped out of the truck and said "Merry Christmas"!!!  My mom was hilarious, she couldn't believe it.  She kept saying "Are you serious?" "Are you kidding me?" in this really high pitched voice.  My sister didn't say a word, she just stood there with tears rolling down her cheeks.  Layton immediately ran up to Jerrod (his bff) and we all exchanged lots of hugs and kisses.  It was so awesome and definitely worth keeping it a secret!  Here's a video from the surprise...

Then, we told them they had to keep it a secret for two more days, because we wanted to surprise Jerrod's family as well!  So we enjoyed spending two nights in Pleasanton with my parents and sister and her family.  My entire family got together a few weeks ago to celebrate so unfortunately my brothers weren't there.  On Christmas eve we had our annual mexican fiesta dinner with tamales at Amy's.  Then Layton and Molly got to open gifts from them.  Molly was really into opening presents which was fun to watch.  On Christmas day my dad made homemade enchiladas per our request for lunch.  They were yummy!  Then we headed to Houston to surprise Jerrod's family.  We told them we would skype with them at 3:00, so we pulled up right after 3 and Jerrod walked in and said "who's ready to skype?"  His dad was hitting him, and said he had a dream we were home for Christmas :)  Then his mom and memom came running down the stairs bawling because they heard all the racket.  Nobody could believe it.  A few hours later Jerrod's brother Dusty, Seresa and their new baby Madison showed up.  We came walking down the stairs and they were shocked.  Needless to say we pulled it all off with both families!

It was so much fun to spend time with our friends and families.  We had plenty of time to relax, eat lots of good food, go shopping, hang out, play with our nieces and nephews, watch football, and relax some more.  We got back to Nairobi on Jan. 12th.  It has been really great being back!  This week we've been trying to catch up on things around the house and with ministry.  Our director Tom and his wife Linda are in town for a few weeks so we look forward to spending some time with them.  We are also looking forward to the Cowboy Fellowship team to come on Jan. 28th!  It'll be Pastor Pete, my brother in law Clifton, and Adam the children's pastor.  We can't wait for them to be here!

Blessings,

Amanda

Dubai & Bahrain!!!

I went on a short trip to the UAE and Bahrain a few weeks ago with two good friends here in Kenya.  We all needed to renew our visas so the timing worked out well and I wouldn't have to travel alone somewhere since Jerrod's visa doesn't expire until February.  Since we don't have a "work permit" yet for Kenya, we are on tourist visas that last 3 months.  After the 3 months is up you get it renewed for another 3 months.  After that 3 months is up you have to leave East Africa for a few days in order to get a new tourist visa in Kenya.  So basically we have to leave East Africa every 6 months for a new visa until we can get approved for a work permit or missionary visa.  It's actually really annoying but because of it I was able to see a small bit of the Middle East!  Dubai was the cheapest flight out of Nairobi besides Ethiopia, and I mean what is there to see in Ethiopia? lol So the 3 of us journeyed to Dubai & Bahrain for a few days!  I must say I was ready for a break from Nairobi and Kenya in general.  We really had no idea what to expect and I must say that both places exceeded my expectations completely!

I'll start with Dubai, UAE....
We flew in to the airport which was so nice and Western feeling, immediately found a Starbucks to get our fix because it had been a few months for me since I had Starbucks, then made our way out of the airport (after we found Daley's passport...long story) to catch the metro rail.  It was only $6/day so we definitely decided to take the rail instead of a taxi.  I couldn't get over all the huge buildings that were so modern looking.  I felt like I was in the future or something.  We got off near The Dubai Mall, so we could see the Burj Khalifa.  It's currently the Tallest Building in the world standing at 2,722 feet!!  Here are some pics of that...

Then we walked around the city which was super clean, and made our way to the Dubai Mall.  It's the World's Largest Mall, with over 1,200 shops!!!  They had everything you could think of from designer brands, to shops you can actually afford, restaurants, coffee shops, tons of food courts, literally everything!  It was awesome!  In the mall is the World's Largest Indoor Aquarium with the World's Largest Viewing Panel!  I think Dubai just wants the worlds largest everything :) It holds 10 million liters of water...crazy!  Had lots of fish, sharks and rays which were really awesome to see so close.  Here are a few pics I took walking to the mall, then pics of the aquarium.

We shopped around the mall a bit, found Forever 21 which was super fun, had more Starbucks, and ate lunch at Macaroni Grill....amazing.  It was delicious, not sure if it's because I hadn't had it in so long, or if it was really that good LOL.  After spending the day in Dubai we headed back to the airport to board a plane to Bahrain.  Bahrain is a little island off the coast of Saudi Arabia.  Has about 700,000 people in it.  My friend Michelle has a life long friend that is stationed there in the Navy so were able to stay for FREE!  Here is where we stayed in Bahrain!  These pics were taken looking off the porch.  It was really beautiful!  It's called "The Floating City"...

Bahrain is really Western feeling which was a nice break from Kenya.  We were able to eat good food, site see a bit, go to the mall, and relax!  Our first full day we took a tour of the Grand Mosque.  I must say I had no idea I would find it so interesting.  I've always wanted to know more about the Islam religion, especially because there are quite a few Muslims in Kenya.  We had to wear the full burka in order to tour the mosque, and our guide told us we could ask anything we wanted.  So, we definitely took advantage of that.  We sat down in the upper balcony of the Mosque for about 3 hours asking a million questions and we talked about the differences between Christianity and Islam.  I learned so much and I must say since that conversation I have had a much greater appreciation for Christianity.  What Jesus did for us on the cross is the foundation for everything we believe, which they see as nothing of importance in their faith.  It was really sad though, to see hundreds of people praying and believing in something that will only take them to hell.  I have to say it all became very real to me.  We need more people to GO, and share the gospel especially to the Muslim population which is over 2 billion people today!

The 4 of us on the tour....

From the balcony, looking down where they do the prayers.

An outside area for them to pray if inside is full.

Where they preach from on Fridays...

Me with the guide...

The leader who is singing the call to prayer...

Outside the Grand Mosque

The Bahraini flags...

We even got to go to a Camel Farm!

We got to hang out at the pool one day that over looks the Persian Gulf :)

Blessings!

Amanda