Prom 2012...

On Friday, April 13th, Hannah and Cora donned fancy dresses and set off for prom. A group of their friends came to our house to get ready (it was so much fun to watch the girls get their hair done). Our girls are becoming all grown up, which is both wonderful and sad all at the same time.

Red-tailed monkeys & sunsets...

We saw a troop of red-tailed monkeys in the Kakamega Forest and enjoyed a beautiful sunset from the farmhouse porch on Sunday. What a beautiful weekend.

Birds of western Kenya...

The butterflies of Kakamega Forest and Kweisos House...

There are over 400 species of butterflies in the Kakamega Forest, which is amazing. We also saw some stunning butterflies on our walks around Kweisos House in Koru province.

Easter weekend camaraderie...

We drove about 6 hours northwest of Nairobi for Easter weekend, and spent three wonderful days at a farmhouse near a town called Muhoroni. What a beautiful part of Kenya! We drove past huge tea plantations and the farmhouse was surrounded by sugarcane fields and gorgeous views. We also spent a day at the Kakamega Forest, the last piece of equatorial rainforest in Kenya. The birds and butterflies were incredible and we were able to celebrate Easter in God's great cathedral of nature (cheesy but so true). :)

Getting crafty...

Last year I got the idea in my head that I should save the colourful bottle caps available here in Kenya and do something crafty with them. During our recent March break, it was finally time to act on the idea. Brian picked up a wrought iron bistro set that we had ordered from an artisan on Ngong Road and we all pitched in to arrange and cement the caps onto the set. Now we have a colourful and whimsical place to sit and watch the birds in our backyard. Speaking of such, we were gifted with a visit by an African Harrier Hawk on Saturday, perched on the hedge of our front yard (very cool). At the same time, this delicate pale green butterfly stopped to enjoy our marigolds. Wildlife is abundant here! :)

Global Issues Service Summit in Johannesburg...

From March 23rd to 27th, Cora and I traveled to the American International School of Johannesburg for the 2012 Global Issues Service Summit. ISK sent a team of 14 students and 2 teachers and we experienced 3 full days of workshops, keynotes and activities. It was a fabulous experience and Cora met dozens of students from other schools in Africa. For our service day, Cora and I ended up on the same team and went to a local SPCA; there, we emptied a large container of pet food, swept out the container and then stacked everything neatly back inside (and then we were able to spend some time with the animals!). Johannesburg felt like a North American city, with very developed highways and shopping plazas; we didn't get to explore the city but we'll be back there in October for the AISA conference, so we'll be sure to see some sites then.