Monkey on our roofdeck

It's three o'clock and I'm at my desk typing away email response. My phone buzzes and Nadia's speaking excitedly on the line.

"Did you get it?"

"What?"

"The picture?"

"What picture?"

"The monkey on our roofdeck! It was trying to eat our lettuce and basil and I had to get Winnie to shoo it away because I was too scared and she said that's what you're supposed to do - just shoo them away."

"That's great, Honey."

"And I moved all our herbs onto the ground floor so he won't eat them."

Lana at Lavington Kindergarten

Lana started her first school ever last week - three mornings per week - and is having a blast. The grounds are warm and happy, with old growth tropical trees and brightly painted slides and swing sets. Lana's actually learning stuff too! This morning Nadia and I were both amazed as our two year old actually fit together legos, even matching and aligning ones of different lengths so her stack looked neat.

I asked Nadia, "Have you seen her do this before?"

Nadia, surprised, "Heck no!"

And Lana was all excited about a red and blue streaked painting she made and brought it hope to show mommy and daddy. Very fun!

Neil

First family safari - Hell's Gate and Crater Lake

Saturday morning, amidst an unseasonable drizzle and fog, we left Nairobi with some new friends of ours - Jason and Krista Wendle, their son Jonah and our driver Alfred - for a two hour drive out to the Rift Valley. The view from the escarpment was washed out. It felt like we were in a cloud! But after descending it cleared and we made it to Hell's Gate national park to see zebra, giraffe, warthogs, gazelle and other fun critters. After a great picnic of Italian salami, sharp cheddar, crackers, yogurt, etc., we headed for a hike through the main gorge area.

The narrow canyon was a mini wonderland of florescent algae filled hot springs, glassy black obsidian stones and undulating rock walls. The whole hike down the gorge - probably a mile or so - was lined with waterfalls and pools of various heat levels. Some tepid, others barely touchable. One, as Nadia said, was 'the perfect temperature for dishwashing.'

We then went to our fun 'tented camp' at the Crater Lake Lodge. It's a gorgeous private location, very peaceful with tons of birds - including a few flamingos - and colobus monkeys. Nadia went on a quick night game drive and saw everything from hippos to an African kangaroo, which of course is not really a kangaroo but some sort of hopping hare. The next day (and not very early because Theo was up half the night), we went on a game drive in Crater Lake's private reserve and saw herds buffalo, elan, giraffe, gazelle, and zebra along with hippos, baboons, and a ton of brightly colored birds.

It was a great trip!

waiting

We are waiting. Waiting for word on when we can call the shippers. Waiting to buy 4 tickets to Nairobi. Waiting to be able to tell everyone ANYTHING. So. Anything new? Nope, just waiting...

Here's Theo (at your left). Doing his impersonation of his sister's favorite doll.

Enjoy. If you need us...we're waiting.

Kenya here we come!

The Ahlsten family goes to Africa! By mid-July this little family will be set up in Nairobi, Kenya. Between now and then we have to pack up our lives here (in California). Take a LONG flight (like about 20 hours) with a 2 year old and a 6 month old - please start praying now. And we have to figure out where we're going to live in Nairobi (either short-term, until we find a place for the next 2 years or if it works out move straight into something spectacular).

All prayers are welcomed!!!

Stay tuned.

SUPERtoddler!

Lana got a Halloween costume AND a new set of wheels today!

Another Day in Paradise

Good morning! It has been a LONG time since the last post. Little Boy Ahlsten is on the way in December and Little Girl Ahlsten (Lana) is tumblign her way into new words every single day. Daddy is doing very well at work at Google and mommy is doing better every single day at her job taking care of daddy, the kids, herself, and the house.

Our days have become downright predictable, a lot of playing, giggling, running around outside, kicks inside my growing belly and dinners around the kitchen table.

It's good. Have a blessed day!

^1-2I, Paul, am under God's plan as an apostle, a special agent of Christ Jesus, writing to you faithful believers in Ephesus. I greet you with the grace and peace poured into our lives by God our Father and our Master, Jesus Christ. ^3-6How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He's the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son.

^7-10Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we're a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth.

^11-12It's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.

^13-14It's in Christ that you, once you heard the truth and believed it (this Message of your salvation), found yourselves home free—signed, sealed, and delivered by the Holy Spirit. This signet from God is the first installment on what's coming, a reminder that we'll get everything God has planned for us, a praising and glorious life.

^15-19That's why, when I heard of the solid trust you have in the Master Jesus and your outpouring of love to all the followers of Jesus, I couldn't stop thanking God for you—every time I prayed, I'd think of you and give thanks. But I do more than thank. I ask—ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory—to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for his followers, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him—endless energy, boundless strength!

^20-23All this energy issues from Christ: God raised him from death and set him on a throne in deep heaven, in charge of running the universe, everything from galaxies to governments, no name and no power exempt from his rule. And not just for the time being, but forever. He is in charge of it all, has the final word on everything. At the center of all this, Christ rules the church. The church, you see, is not peripheral to the world; the world is peripheral to the church. The church is Christ's body, in which he speaks and acts, by which he fills everything with his presence. (Ephesians 1, The Message)