First Day

Cradle of Love road

Brooklyn and I woke up early friday morning partly because of jet lag and partly from excitement. We went to the nursery where two of my dearest nanny-friends happened to be waking up from their nightshift and surprised them. It was a pretty special reunion. We stayed there in the nursery for awhile and helped get the babies ready for the day then moved onto the big house where there were so many familiar faces and smells. It is just SO good to see everyone and to be here.

A friend's house....she wasn't home. Hopefully she'll be there today!

Brooklyn and Anita

on our little walk to visit friends

Mama Ndizi! (The banana lady!!) I visited this woman countless times with the preschoolers to buy bananas. We would all just sit there and eat them with her and I never knew if she liked it or was annoyed with us because she doesn't speak a word of English or smile very often. However, I gave her a picture of us all together with some little gifts and she was so excited! This was definitely a highlight of the day.

This is the picture I gave her :)

I took Brooklyn to the playground at the near by college where we used to take the kids for preschool. 

She enjoyed it almost as much as the preschoolers did! It probably would have been more fun with some friends, though. 

Zawadi! She was one of the first babies I met here 2 years ago. She has so much personality now!

My little Jeremiah! He's all grown up and so sweet!

Jerry!

Bebe Helen! So good to see her!

Big birds in the back yard

We're Here!

Cute little traveler ready for her first flight!

Saying goodbye

Here we go!

Brooklyn's first meal on the plane....just so happened to be mac n' cheese - her favorite!

Sunrise out of the airplane window as we got ready to land in Amsterdam

Experiencing Amsterdam in the airport :)

more fun in the airport!


From Amsterdam, we had an 8-hour-flight to Kilimanjaro airport!  It was SO exciting getting off the plane and driving down the familiar roads to Cradle of Love. It's been dark ever since we arrived so we're looking forward to seeing everything and everybody in the morning. We're staying in one of the ADRA huts tonight, which is a treat because it has a hot shower and nice beds and it's right on the compound.



Here is a photo of Brooklyn sitting like a princess with her mosquito net draped above her in our little home for the night.

                               

                                                        The adventures begin tomorrow!

At the Cabin

                                                                                                             

One of the highlights of the Gerber's summer is visiting the Mowat's cabin. There's nothing like spending time with good friends on a lake in the summer! Thank you, Ryan, Karen, Katie, and Sarah for your friendship and generosity. Once again, we had a wonderful time!