Final week @ the Home

Me and Faith Ann <3 She's still so beautiful and soft and quiet, but she's grown up so much: she can  stand and walk, she's starting to make the cutest sounds, and you can tell by the expressions on her little face that she understand a lot of things. Once she said "Mallory" -she loves Mallory, they're each other's favorites. I love her too, though, and she is such a sweetheart. I spent a lot of time with all the babies (especially Jeremiah, Faith Ann, & Billy) my last week at the home, and I'm really glad I did. I took some short videos of them, so maybe I'll try to post one sometime.

I baked 85 brown sugar cookies for the kids, babies, and staff a few days before we left and passed them out at snack time. -I told you I was in a baking frenzy :)  I will miss turning the metal pieces on the stove (where the knobs used to be) to adjust the heat on the stove or turn on the oven, approximating everything for recipes, and cooking supper with Courtney and Mallory, entirely 'winging it.'   I am looking forward to my own kitchen at home, however, where my dear sweet mother will cook things for me <3  I changed my mind about stopping at home between landing at the airport and reporting to Camp Andrews, so I'll get to see my house and Snickers and Tabby, and stay there with my family for an hour or so.  Travis is coming, too! His parents can't make it to pick him up at the airport, so my parents will drive both of us back to our house. 

Joyce's birthday was April 29th, and we made spaghetti and baked a cake to celebrate. Mallory scripted the design on the front of her birthday card, and I wrote a message for her :)

Mal decorated the cake, I made the chocolate icing, and Hannah made the yellow.
Everything good we make is the result of collaboration and team work :)

packing' up, packin' up.

My shelves in our room with everything cleared away and packed. I love packing <3, but it was sad to think about leaving while working on that. The most significant part of packing is organization and strategy and thinking through what you will need to have access to. -but that's my favorite part. I started the process several days before we left, so thankfully all I had to do Wednesday morning was pick up my bags and go. That gave me more time to say my goodbyes and hug all the kids and babies. - I didn't want to let go of Mercy <3, and I saved Billy for last. All I could say was 'I love you', and 'I will miss you,' and squeeze them tight. It was especially hard to say goodbye to Hannah, but she came with us when Greg drove us to Kericho, and we said goodbye at the bus station. 

Bumba :) -Jacob Kipchumba. We were talking about names with Joyce, and she explained that 'Kip' is boy, and 'Chep' is girl. (for their middle names). She asked me what time of day I was born, and then told me that my name would be 'Olivia Chepkerui.' -that means "born in the afternoon."