Samuel Update

We wanted to show some pics of Samuel. They aren't in any particular order but just to give an idea of how he is growing. As of yesterday he weighed 22 pounds at about 4 1/2 months.

Tekoa's Pics

This is another display of Tekoa's artistic side. He loves his little fisher price camera. Although still learning he shows promise. This first picture is Betty. She has been such a blessing helping Rachel around the house and with the children.

Tekoa liked this picture because it shows his Auntie Michelle talking to him on skype.

Dr. Dad

The neighborhood from our front door.

Mom at work.

The Last Couple of Months

We had to say good-bye to the Schmidts. As usual they were a tremendous blessing but there is a time for everything. The six weeks they were here flew by.

This was us enjoying a meal at the guest-house Bill and Jessie slept in. It was the first time they weren't able to stay in our home, but nobody wanted to try it with the size of our current place.

We took a trip to Eldoret and joined the Tumaini clan for a few days. Always delightful.

It's meal time. Can you pick out the little white kids?

We had an opportunity to speak at a rural church recently. This was one of the memorable moments; get a flat tire on the way. It took three people to change the tire and nobody was dirty at the end of the experience.

This was breakfast at one of the church members house before the service. It gave Tekoa a chance to make some friends.

Here are some random pics of the kids. Samuel is getting so big.

Tekoa's camera

This is Tekoa Jeshi Leister. He is three and one half years old. With a very outgoing personality and exuberant laugh he tends to make a scene where ever he goes. But now he has been given a digital camera and loves to use it weather you're ready or not. Still a work in progress but showing potential. Below are a few pics he has taken since his papa, nana, and aunt have arrived.

Samuel Hekima Leister

It has been about 22 months since we had a newborn in our house. But there is a time for everything as the bible says. And now is the time for a newborn to alter our schedules and priorities. What a blessing he is to us as parents and also to his siblings who are still trying to understand the change in its fullness. The birthing process was again by cesarean. This was the third and it is a bit exciting each time. The hospital this time was a bit larger with a few more bells and whistles but anxiety still attempted to steal our peace. God is good though and all went well and continues to be well. Samuel was weighed at 8.1 lbs. He really didn't look that big, but we have no way to weigh him ourselves so we'll go with what they told us. This are twins that were born about 20 minutes before Samuel in the neighboring surgical room. They were big healthy boys as well. Rachel's parents and sister are here for several weeks which is a tremendous blessing. Though are little apartment is popping at the seams when everyone is in the house we are enjoying the extra help with the kids. This is the doctor who performed the procedure. She was very encouraging and since I had been working side-by-side with her for the last three months we trusted her completely. It always makes a difference when we can trust the one holding the knife. Of course anything can happen at anytime for which we put our trust in God, but it was a blessing to be at Tenwek for this delivery.

Papa and Nana Schmidt bought tekoa a tricycle last time we were in the states. With some dismantling and manipulation it fit in a large duffle bag. It got a little beat up on the airplane but all in all it works good. This is after Tekoa and I adjusted the seat and handle bars to fit his growing body. He felt like there were a few more modifications necessary for optimal performance.

We had a great time spending the Easter weekend with the Senior Leisters in their new home. This is Tekoa's new easter shirt. It was supposed to be a nice shirt but he wears it all the time so currently it looks like an old work shirt.

Eliza got a new dress for easter. It kind of reminds me of Joseph's coat of many colors, but obviously not a coat. She loves it of course. What a great hat!

Just today Tekoa was invited to a neighbors birthday party. It was a chameleon party with only one requirement; bring your own chameleon. I searched for a while trying to find one with no success but a security guy at the hospital saw me struggling to find something in the bushes and trees and decided to help. He found one in about 10 minutes. So we got Tekoa his chameleon for the party.

He was pretty attached to it but we decided to let him go after the party. His chameleon did win the big race it was in which was a high point of course.