Our Last Days...

It is hard to believe that we will be leaving in just 3 days for Africa. Our last few days in Virginia were amazing, and the commissioning service was wonderful. It was hard to say good-bye to so many going out all over the world to share. We are so thankful for the time we have had with our friends while we have been back in St. Louis. Christmas was very special this year with our families from Arkansas and Tennessee traveling to see us.

We are also very excited to meet our new family in Africa...It will take us 48 hours to get to Botswana. We will have an eleven layover in London where we will spend Luke's birthday...site-seeing. A few days after we arrive in Bots...we will get to go on a prayer retreat for our region in South Africa. I hope to be able to update our blog as often as possible.

Last Days in VA

It is hard to believe that our days in VA are about to end. We are excited about our work, and the time we have spent here has been precious. This is our last full week. Next week we have our commissioning service and fly home on the 18th. We have plans to visit with our families from Arkansas and Tennessee and see as many of our friends as possible. I have to work on getting our tax stuff ready...packing our suitcases and lockers with summer things...which seems kind of weird! Thank you for praying for us. Many of you all have sent us packages, letters and emails, which really brightened our day. We love everyone! Check out this Christmas tree! (Kim)

Washington D.C. trips

Thanksgiving

We got to see some of our good friends from St. Louis!! the Hamilton family are precious to all of us.

Shot and Haircut pictures!!

Luke thinks this is fun...NOT!

Kelland is crazy for shots...hmmm!!!

Shots, Beautiful Weather, 5K, Henna Tattoo & A Yellow Jacket!

Yesterday we got out of school early to go get shots. Me, Luke & dad had to get 1 while mom got none. Now for those of you who don't know, which I'm sure a lot of you don't know, but Luke HATES shots. He just about passes out when he gets them. So to see him getting ready to go into the room was really funny. He did good though. We have to go back 2 more times, so be praying for Luke! hehe.

Today is soo Beautiful! it's so crazy to think it's a November day. This morning while mom, dad & Luke went to a hair cutting class I went & ran a 5K. Aww. I felt soo good after running it! Me, Gracie Lynn & Jon were running partners! At the end we held hands and crossed the finish line together. it took us about 37 minutes to run it all. After that I took a shower then went & hung out with friends until lunch.

When I went to the Indian Market I bought some Henna for me & Trinity to use this weekend. Well after lunch we headed over to my quad to get it so my mom could put the designs on it. Well Trinity wanted me to go first just to make sure it worked & just in case my mom messed up it would be on me not her! hehe. Now for the Henna to stain your skin you gotta keep it on there for an hour before wiping it off. Me & Trinity decided to go to the library to check our e-mail. We were there for a while then headed over to the Global Center to hang out & stare at each other & thumb wrestle. We walked in & started to walk around when all of a sudden.. Now sometimes I can't tell when Trinity is joking with me or not so it is sometimes hard for me to believe her when she says silly things like what you're getting ready to read...

...Trinity says "Oh my goodness Kb!!" I was like "what?" She said "There's a yellow jacket on your head!!" "No there's not!" "YES THERE IS!!" So I shook my head. Then she's like "It's on your bum!" I looked but didn't see anything so I thought she was just kidding. Then THATS when I felt it & Trinity said "It's on your leg now!" I looked and there it was. crawling from the back side of my leg to the front of my leg!! I just stood there, even though I wanted to freak out. I waited until it got more on the front side of my leg & I told Trinity to give me her shoe. She took it off and threw it at me. Then I *SMACKED* the yellow jacket off my leg across the room somewhere. After it was off of me I started to freak out! Haha! it was really funny!

Self Defense Class---- International Markets anyone?!

Alrighty so last night I started taking a self defence class which is every Tuesday night. It was fun & we didn't really learn a lot yet, but we have 5 more weeks of if. Our teacher was soo funny! I love that guy. At some times it was hard to understand what he was saying, but eventually you caught on! hehe. We learned 5 different moves.

Today the youth class went on a field trip to some International Markets! It was really fun. First we went to a European & when you walked in it smelt really good! there were many different things to choose from. Lots of candy too! Well when we got there Mrs. Deborah realized she forgot her money so she sent Chris back to the school to get it. But the school was 15-20 minutes away, which meant he would be back for 30-40 minutes. Well when Mrs. D was ready to pay she brought the stuff up to the counter & started talking to the lady. Then she told her she didn't have her money with her but would leave the stuff & come back, because we were walking just right down to the Hispanic shop. The lady told her she could just take it & come back & pay for it when Chris got back. We were like are you sure? She told us she trusted Mrs. D. She could see it in her eyes she could trust her! it was Really cool! Eventually Chris got there & we payed for it of course! Well next was the Hispanic shop. There were lots of different things too. I've eaten cactus before & found it there so I bought it so my class could try it! Third we went to the Indian shop. it was very little. not a lot to choose from. But there were some small bracelets she let a couple of the girls have for free. She was very giving. I bought some Henna tattoo stuff which was $2.59, but she told me she would give it to me for only $2. it was cool! She bargained with us! hehe.

For lunch we went to a Mediterranean restaurant/market. What we had was like a pizza thing & some type of bread wrapped in beef, which was alright. After lunch our last stop was an Asian shop. We walked in & since C & G are from China the first thing they said was "It smells like home!" it was cute to see them all excited!! we were there the longest & there were many different things! Mrs. D started to talk Vietnamese with the lady at the counter! it was cool! Something REALLY funny happened while we were there, but I promised a certain person I wouldn't put it on here. SORRY! hehe. :]

In the end I ended up buying something from every store! It was really cool to see the so many different cultures & religions! And we were gone all day we didn't have time to do any school! woo hoo! hehe.

Tonight at supper we were done eating, but just sat around to talk & hang out. Randomly Trinity says "Who could wear that outfit?" Me & C looked to see what she was talking about & saw this Huge outfit that was apparently made for someone large. C said "Kb could wear it!" I looked at her & said "Do I LOOK fat to YOU?!!" She started to laugh then was like "Noo. I didn't mean it like that.. you would wear something like that in Africa considering the fact it's from Africa!" hahaha it was sooo funny! we just laughed after that!

Alrighty well I got TONS of stuff to do! aggg!! keep praying for us!

LOVE YOU & MiSS YOU!!

*kisses*

Love Kb :]