Joys! And Prayer Requests

Ava and Emmanuel

November has been a tumultuous month in Kenya on many fronts, but we are so thankful for the wonderful blessing of friends. One of the surprise blessings in our life is little Emmanuel, who our friend Judy and her daughter Carol have welcomed into their family. Since Judy and Carol live in our home, Ava is convinced that she has finally become a "big sister". After school, she loves to rush off the school bus and look for "Man-well".

In Prayer:

* Please remember our friends in Garissa, who are struggling with fear and forgiveness after last Sunday's grenade attack on a Pentecostal Church that killed two people and injured three others. This is a very tense time in Garissa and throughout Kenya.

* Please pray for our friends in Eastleigh where tension is rising. Pray for safety of the Iftin ladies and the entire community as Kenyan authorities carry out sweeps in their attempt to find members of the Al Shabbab group.

Run Ava, Run!

Ava running in the preschool race

at the annual Rosslyn Academy Sports Day

February has started out with a bang as we are seeing some great progress with the Guardians of Hope program and have the pleasure of hosting the Doerkson family from Manitoba in Eastleigh.

Please continue praying for our family and the outreach projects we are a part of with Canadian Baptists Ministries.

Canada!

Ava ready for the road!

We are back in Canada for our first home assignment. To see more over journey check out our new blog at www.fivekennys.blogspot.com

Hello

Hello from Ava

November is a busy month in Kenya as the rains bring new activity and schools prepare for the end of term. You can read more about our family and ministry at our new blog address:

www.fivekennys.blogspot.com

We are keeping our pre-adoption blog here as a diary of our first three years serving with Canadian Baptist Ministries.

Thank you for your interest and prayers!

The Five Kennys

Laughter

Never a dull moment!

Ava having a good laugh

Ava has discovered her inner artist, unfortunately she has discovered it through decorating our pillows, furniture, walls, and pretty much everything else she is not suppose to draw on. She likes her "magna doodle", but for some strange reason it just seems so much more fun to sneak a pen out of a drawer or purse and find a new surface to scribble.

She and Emma share a bed room, and over the past month Ava has been waking up extra early and climbing the ladder up into Emma's top bunk. We fear the day when she decides that Emma's forehead will make a good canvas!

Getting ready for bed.

Ava wanted to sleep in her new outfit from India.

Happy Easter

After all the travelling of this last month, it was great to be home together to celebrate Easter. The kids were up early, well before church, to see what the Easter bunny had dropped around our apartment. After mommy's fabulous cinnamon rolls, we worshipped at the International Christian Fellowship and enjoyed Easter dinner with friends.

The Boys

The Girls

Bunny Princess

Tristan and Emma facing the foam

at Safari Park Hotel, Nairobi

We had planned on spending the weekend at a local hotel (with a great big pool and a cool waterfall slide), but on our first day there Emma had a nasty fall and caught her chin on a piece of metal. We rushed her to hospital where a plastic surgeon was called in. He was able to patch her chin with nine stitches. She was a very brave girl, and we thank God that her injury was not anymore severe. We pray that she heals well over the next week.

This will be our last Easter in our apartment, as we will be moving at the end of this month into a house close to our children's school and Eastleigh. This will cut our daily commutes by over half. We are excited to have a yard for the kids to play in and a small garden.

HOPE

Our adoption hearing has been delayed until the new year. We are scheduled to go before the high court on Friday, January 23rd, but we will not have this confirmed until January 22nd. Please continue to pray for us through this process. As we celebrate the first week of Advent, we light a candle of hope. Just as in every aspect of our lives, we must hold onto the assurance of God's good and perfect love. We are trusting in the Lord that everything will come together so that we can travel with Ava in the spring.

Disappointments

Hello friends,

We want to thank you all for praying us through this day. We were up early (infact we didn't get that much sleep) and met Sam Mutisya who had driven down from Limuru to join us as our Kenyan guardian ad litum. On our way into the courthouse this morning we received a call from our lawyer telling us that we had been cut from the list of cases (along with 23 others) to be heard today. After many tears (sobs actually), and I have to admit anger (against I'm not sure who), we believe that this is all part of God's plan for our family. It seems it would be much easier if we knew exactly what that plan was, but I guess that's the beauty of handing our lives over to Christ. We get to leave all our troubles with Him and He will guide us through. So even though we are all disappointed today, we know that God is still working on this and He is in control and with that we find peace.

Right now it looks like sometime in January will be the next available date for us to go to court. We will keep you all posted. Thank you all so much for your prayers.

Love Aaron, Erica, Tristan, Emma and Ava

Answered Prayers!

Ava's Case File has been found!!!!!

We were overjoyed to receive a call today from our lawyer that at long last Ava's adoption case file (which was miss filed with the Kenyan high court) has been found! We will be in court on the morning of Friday, November 28th, to have our adoption case heard by the judge -- we are so very excited! We pray that all the parties will be present for the proceedings and that the judge will look favorable upon the adoption. Thank you all so much for uplifting our family in prayer.

Breakfast Super Hero

We were surprised to find a super hero

waiting for us at breakfast today.

We are not sure of her super name,

but she seems to have a number of super powers:

Super google vision

Super Cereal gobbling ability

Super laugh

Super smile

Oh, and of course the super suit, with her own utility belt.

Any suggestions for a super name?

Having a ball!

Watch out! Ava's a great shot with a plastic ball.

Mommy and Ava keeping an eye out

for the high flying antics of Tristan and Emma.

We had some fun together at Nairobi's newest shopping centre, Nakumat Westgate: The mall has a great fun room for children to play in, as well as a pizza restaurant and a very modern movie theatre.

Princesses

Ava in her new "Snow White" dress. She may not be "as white as snow", but she is certainly as dark as yummy hot cocoa.

Our two little princesses!



On Saturday we received a wonderful care package from our friends Andrew, Kelly and Lauren Myers, and in it was a little Snow White outfit just the perfect size for Ava. She loves it. In fact, she must really think that she is snow white, because she refuses to wear anything else, but the dress. On Sunday morning she walked into our bedroom having de-robed, and presented us with the dress (that we had to force her to take off at bed time the night before): "Mommy, Daddy!" she said, more than a little frustrated, as she pushed the dress into our hands and stood up straight with her arms over her head... we got the message.

In Prayer for September

* We are excited to have many of our CBM colleagues returning this month! Paul Carline landed back on Friday evening with Kara, Kelvin and Keenan. Please continue to pray for Kelly and their eldest daughter, Katie, as she begins university this fall in Canada. The Cards and A., will be back a little later in the month.

* Please keep the women in our Iftin group in your prayers as they begin the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Today we were missing a few of the ladies as they find this a difficult month with many extra responsibilities. We will be giving them a two week break from their classes near the end of the month as this will be the most intense and tiring time for most of them.

* Please pray for our entire Somali Ministry team as we work together this fall with strategic planning with The Sharing Way. This will be a crucial time for us as we depend on God's leading and direction for determining the best way forward with our urban and rural development work and ministry.

* Remember our family as we await the last report needed for Ava's adoption. Once Child services submits this document to the court, we will be able to go before the judge and have our application heard. We are still praying for a Christmas adoption!!!

Polar Bears in Africa

For the LOST fans out there, we wanted you to know that there are more than just one polar bear in Africa -- though no Dharma collar on this one. Ava has a special fondness for this little white teddy: she likes to share her sippy cup and snacks with him while they cuddle on the couch. She also likes carrying around an old Chewbacka action figure, one of Aaron's childhood toys from the movie Star Wars, that Tristan brought with him to Kenya. She gives him kisses and encourages the rest of us to share her affection with the blue eyed wookie!

In Prayer:

* Please be in prayer for Manasseh, one of the Kenyan teachers serving at the primary school in Dadaab. Along with the soaring temperatures and challenges of teaching children with limited English, discouragement is a huge spiritual battle. Please pray for Manasseh, Yattani and Kenji as they serve together in this Somali village -- for their physical, emotional and spiritual protection.