Here are some pictures from my latest photo shoots with my sisters

A non-edited picture taken at a funny moment in time. :)

All those animals

I'm combining all our Africa animal pictures into one post. We saw all the animals we wanted to see and more. Before this I thought it wouldn't be that special since I had already seen all the animals in the zoo. But I was reeeeeallly wrong! Seeing them in Africa, in the wild and in their natural habitat was 10 times better.   Plus, this meant better backgrounds for my photos. :)

A pretty bird whose name I can't remember.

Secretary bird

Zebras were absolutely everywhere

Gazelles (they're only about 21/2 feet high)

Topi

We had to wait for about 20 minutes in the rain and the dark in total silence to see the leopard. It was hiding in the bushes--we knew it was there because of the antelope that it had hung up in a nearby tree. Finally, we saw her and her baby, but only for about 3 seconds. Thankfully I got a shot. And it just happens to be my favorite shot of the entire trip. 

We also saw plenty of dead animals

This is about all of the the hippos' bodies we saw. There were probably almost 30 of them but they stayed under water all the time in the day except to take a breath. There was also a baby hippo on its mothers back. (there are probably 10-15 hippos in this picture)

Baboons in front of our tent camp. I know this picture is over exposed but I forgot that it was on manual. oops.  Notice the cute little guy with the big ears!

We saw three lions eating a wildabeast. We were only about 8 feet above them

Cheetah (in the rain)

Hyeana. I did not like those creatures. We all agreed they won't win any animal beauty contests!

More monkeys at our camp

A really fat crocodile. Must have just had lunch. 

Giraffe

Lots of baby giraffe

Warthogs

Lions

Mother black rhino and her baby

An adorable baby elephant. Isn't he just so cute?!

Mama elephant. 

Impala

Ostrich.  Boy can they run!

More Life...

Well here's some more about typical days during our time in Kenya.

Both Carter and I went to the OR to watch my Dad in some operations. For some reason my pictures in the OR got deleted...this is Carter and Andrew in scrubs heading to the hospital from our apartment.

Dad in front of the board that lists all the surgeries that day.

Won't see that here in the USA will ya?

Something I really enjoyed about Kenya is that we walked everywhere. So we went on a hike one day through the woods.

The sign for the hospital and bible college.

Dad gave daily lectures to the anesthetist students.

Dad and his class.

Twice we went to the local church to help pass out bags of maize and beans for the hungry.

Both Emily and Charlotte got their hair braided! Emily's took 5 hours. Her hair isn't normally this long but she had extensions put in while it was being braided.

Emily in the process. 

Life at Kijabe

The view outside our window early one morning overlooking the Rift Valley at 7000 ft. elevation

During our three weeks in Africa we stayed in Kijabe, Kenya. Kijabe is a small town, mainly occupied by missionaries. There is a large (by African standards) hospital and also a large missionary boarding school called Rift Valley Academy. My Dad worked at the hospital teaching Anesthesia while the rest of us helped in various other ways

We stayed in the top right unit of this apartment building. We had a kitchen, living room, three bedrooms, and a bathroom. More importantly, we also had an amazing view outside our windows! 

This is the goat that lived next door. All the (human) kids around us loved the baby goat--he ate very well. :) Unfortunately he was destined to be "lunchmeat" by early September

All the missionaries had access to most of RVA's campus including, racquetball, tennis, squash, rugby, soccer, libraries, basketball, and playgrounds

When walking up to RVA we commonly saw monkeys. As cute as they are they are worse than raccoons (scavengers constantly through people's trash)

We became good friends with another family who have a daughter Emily's age and who happen to be originally from our hometown. This is the mom and Hope, a Kenyan baby they are trying to adopt. 

The elementary school playground had a zip line

and a really fun swing

Roses on our kitchen windowsill

Titchie Swot is the name of the elementary school (the name comes from a British term)

I know this is blurry but we commonly made chapatis for dinner--a staple in Kenya which  is a flat bread

This is the market where we bought all our fruits and vegetables. Inside there are about 10 tables with women selling their produce

This is the "Supa Duka" where we bought our groceries. While the selection was somewhat limited we could buy enough to provide meals during our stay. 

This is our living room/dining room

... looking into the kitchen

a bedroom