Turn up your volume! :)

The circus is in town! Literally. Mama Afrika Circus has set up right down the road from our apartment. It's only 8000tsh (less than 8 bucks) annnnd 2 for 1, so really we will pay less than 3 dollars a piece to go to the circus! We went to Disco Night at Blue Heron and a guy told us the circus is something you'd expect in Europe and he was blown away. Heath and I are worried it might scare the kids. What age is old enough for the circus? They are almost three and three.

Speaking of kids, Pray comes home TOMORROW! I took down an earlier post at my mother's request. Apparently it was incredibly negative. :) Frustration abound, but tomorrow will be a good day.

Sorry for the short post. I need to get back on the dala dala and get home before dark.

The link to more pictures:

Pray isn't home yet. I picked up the order for transfer of custody on Thursday, but the "hospital authority team" needs to "discuss and decide." I will refrain from further comment on that, suffice it to say, they better "decide" soon, especially since the order is from the regional director of Social Welfare and I'm pretty sure they don't want to upset Mr. Panga. I'm headed back to see Pray next and if he isn't allowed to leave with me yet (which, he is no longer in their custody...I don't get it!!) I will be calling our lawyer.

Otherwise, it has been a great few days. Heath drove me out to NK on Wednesday hoping to bring Pray home, even though the letter was locked in my out-of-town lawyer's office. When we walked in, the kids were supposed to be napping. I snuck around the corner expecting Pray to be in his bed, but it was empty! He was out of bed playing. Silly boy. :) His face was priceless. He ran up to me right away and I got the biggest hug! He kept looking at me and smiling so big. Of course, someone was crying and he started explaining why. (Tumaini because she was scared. Scared of what, I may never know!) I ended up staying until 6pm while Heath went home. It was a fun afternoon. The kids are all doing well. The mamas call Baraka "Pray mdogo" because they say he looks just like Pray did as a baby. :) :) The real Baby Pray is getting huge and SHOULD be walking, but like the other big babies were, he is too lazy.

Yesterday, I went again WITH the letter. Of course, I already wrote what happened then. Apparently if you give a child water and food, he will forget he is sad and won't cry. My attempts to get Dr. Julius to come hold Pray while he screamed and cried when I had to leave failed. I left as my boy sat on the floor sobbing quietly. Another day of his mama leaving him. It breaks my heart.

Now I am off to Shoprite to pick up a few things, then to NK. I have Pray's favorite toy cell phone, motorcycle, and fruit snacks. :) It looks like he won't be getting a nap today!

Link to a few pictures: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2169258&id=4701720&l=1e4c245fa3

I made it in last night. Abeli was at the airport waiting for me and we finally found our way to the apartment. Heath was a nice mommy and let Neema stay up until I got there. Pray is going to seem SO big compared to little Neema. Heath and I are at Blue Heron internet-ing and eating pizza. Soon we will go to the lawyer's office to pick up the custody letter, then on to Nkoaranga to get Pray! I don't even need to say how excited I am (and a bit nervous...)!

Since facebook won't cooperate today, here are a few pictures of the apartment and cutie Neema Eva (pronounced Ava).
My bed. The door you can partially see leads to my own private balcony (Liza, you have one too!):
AMAZING closet (also shows pretty wood ceiling):
View from my balcony. Mt. Meru is hiding behind those clouds:
The kitchen:
The family room:

Pray knows I am coming on Wednesday! Miriam, one of the two volunteers from Germany, passed on my message to him and said he is "totally happy and keeps telling everyone!" :) :)

I'm getting a custom design for this blog. I'm very excited and can't wait to see what it will look like. For now, I'm off to nap. We got home from Nashville at 4:30 this morning and I'm running on four hours of sleep. Catching some lalas before a night of packing. Stay tuned!

*Amy

A different kind of pray this time. Please pray, think positive thoughts, whatever is your thing, for the Mike and Suzanne Mayernick as they hold their daughter Josie Love in Uganda and face so many unknowns ahead. Also for their 6 kids here at home whose hearts must be aching as well. Their blog is joiningthejourney.blogspot.com

Hi all,

I have recently put together a fundraiser with the help of Gwen and Suzanne at 147millionorphans.com. Make sure to turn up your sound and watch the video slide show! Take a look:

prayinghimhome.blogspot.com


And, just because she is precious beyond words (and finally getting meat on those bones!), here is a photo of Pray's future wife, Miss Neema DuPree:



I have no idea why all my posts say undefined at the top. I even changed layouts, but it's still there. I guess we'll just have to deal with it. :) I'm also having trouble getting the title to show up bigger. Kusali is a Swahili word meaning "to pray." Fitting, I'd say.