Escape - and a lot to be thankful for!

Thanks to a very generous volunteer physician, who gave up two weeks with her family to come and work in my position at Kapsowar Hospital (and also gave up another two weeks of work to quarantine upon her return to the US), our family was able to take a much needed vacation for the first time since January. Here are some pictures from our very relaxing and rejuvenating vacation.*

Dominic found this beautiful starfish during his first "snorkeling" expedition (mostly just sticking his face under the water from a standing position, but he did a little swimming too)

Dominic and a baobab tree (he was in "Baobab" class at his school in Nairobi last year)

View of the resort at night

Latte macchiato by the pool

We stopped in Nairobi to visit some friends and do our Christmas and birthday shopping. Here is Dominic enjoying a salad at Burger King :)  He also downed an enormous chocolate milk shake.

Kris and Dominic riding a camel on the beautiful white sand beach

Dominic with some delicious dessert at the resort

Finally, a very blurry photo of our last night of vacation, relaxing by the fire and playing a game of Ticket to Ride at Brackenhurst, near Nairobi

We're back in Kapsowar, back to work and play in our beautiful little community. We enjoyed a socially-distanced Thanksgiving dinner, but we were a little late and didn't get a chance to share the things we're grateful for this year. Here's what I would have said:

- Our family and friends who have supported us in prayer, encouragement, and financially throughout a very difficult year, personally and globally

- The team at World Medical Mission, who have walked us through some dark times and who arranged a volunteer to come and work for me so that our family could take a much-needed vacation

- The volunteer who actually decided to travel in the midst of a pandemic specifically so that I could take some time off

- My Grandma, who sent an iPad for Dominic and I to use during homeschool - which has made a huge difference in our mornings!

Finally, here's a scene from a morning this week (my first attempt to load a video onto this blog, apologies if it doesn't work...)

*Some of you may wonder what a missionary family is doing at a beautiful resort like this. It's a legitimate question, and a dialogue that I would be happy to have, but this blog is probably not the best venue. If you have questions or comments about our vacation, please send me a comment or email!