Fifth Grade CFS

Erica and Emma at Rosslyn Academy

This week is the annual fifth grade Cultural Field Studies camping trip to Acacia Camp. Erica went as a parent chaperone for Emma's class. We are excited to have them returning home tomorrow after their adventure!

Erica and Mr. Kranik going over the pre-trip rules

Emma's class (and Ava) excited for the big camping trip!

You can see more photos from the trip and read about our ministry in Kenya on our new blog at www.fivekennys.blogspot.com

Advent 2011

ADVENT MEMORIES

Some photos from our Advent 2011

we are now blogging at our new site at

www.fivekennys.blogspot.com

Christmas Concerts

Emma as the Bethlehem Star

Mommy, Emma and Daddy

at the Rosslyn Elementary Christmas Concert

The Bethlehem Stars!

Daddy with Ava at her Christmas Concert

Ava's Christmas Concert

Erica and Tristan on the night of his Choir Concert

Tristan singing in the Middle School choir,

during the Rosslyn Academy Christmas Evening

M E R R Y C H R I S T M A S !!!

Spring 2011 Adventures in Africa

Spring in Eastleigh

The past few months have been a whirl winds as we've served in Rwanda and Kenya with Guardians of Hope, Eastleigh with the Iftin Women's Empowerment Program, and took part in an international conference on Muslim-Christian relations in Africa, held in Lebanon. We've been blogging on our new site at www.fivekennys.blogspot.com but thought it would be fun to post a few photos here. To read more please check out the fivekennys blog!

Erica and Diane Bannister with Patrick in the

Noor Creations workshop in Eastleigh

Vertical Gardening in Eastleigh with the Bannisters

Tim Bannister teaching on sack gardening in an urban slum

Aaron in Cario at the Giza plateau

on his journey to the Middle East for the Arab

Baptist Theological Seminary's conference on

Muslim-Christian Relations in Africa

Pyramids are much bigger up close

Erica in Eastleigh

Monkeying around on Mt. Kenya

over a weekend wedding with friends

Aaron making a new friend

In May, we took the students from Crandall University

on weekend Safari about 4 hours from our home. In two days

we metthree different prides. One had this male with 16 other

lionesses and cubs -- Impressive!

Zebra on the plains of the Masai Mara

We are so thankful for the diverse beauty of Africa

to follow along with our life and ministry please check out our current blog at

www.fivekennys.blogspot.com

and to listen to our podcast go to

www.fivekennys.podbean.com

Monkeying Around

A Colobus Monkey

We met this curious Colobus monkey at Lake Naivasha this past weekend with the Doerksen family visiting us from Willowlake Baptist Church, Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Doerksen family have been volunteering with the Iftin Women's Empowerment Program in Eastleigh.

To read more about what we've been up to this month, please check out our new blog at www.fivekennys.blogspot.com

A hippo in Lake Niavasha, Rift Valley, Kenya

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.

Adventures in 2011

Emma in the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro

January 4th, 2011

Following the elephants in

Amboseli National Park, Kenya

We invite you to follow us on our journey through 2011 as we live and serve with Canadian Baptist Ministries in Africa.

Check out our new blog at

www.fivekennys.blogspot.com

Merry Christmas!

Greetings from the five Kennys

On behalf of our family, we wish you a very Merry Christmas

and God's richest blessings throughout this New Year!

Growth Always Brings Change

Our kitchen garden full of heavy ladened pawpaw trees

We returned to Kenya just over a week ago and are settling back into life and ministry. Tristan and Emma have returned to school at Rosslyn Academy, and we are back to work with our new responsibilities with Guardians of Hope and Somali urban development and outreach.

Last Thursday, we hosted a good Somali friend at our home and during the visit we spent some time in our backyard and little kitchen garden. It was wonderful to see how much had changed in our small patch of fruit trees, tomato plants, and greens. It reminded me of the parable of the farmer who plants the seed and must leave the mystery of growth to God. Matthew tells us that "he knew not how" the tiny seed became the harvest. The transformation was not of his doing nor within his control.

This has also been our experience in Kenya. Growth and change is a mystery. We can tell the stories of a relationships or seeds planted, but who can understand how God draws someone into hope, faith, and compassion. How does the mystery work? Our friend has persevered through much hardship and uncertainty over the past eight months, but we are so encouraged by how God continues to uphold her. She is not the same person we met three years ago. Thank you so much for faithfully praying for the families of Iftin and Guardians of Hope. Please continue to pray for growth and change within their lives.

This young pineapple will take two years to mature to harvest

Sometimes the result of our small efforts bring enormous surprises. Last August, we visited a Luo village in Western Kenya and were given pineapple seedlings by our hosts to bring back to our home. By the end of our four day journey, the tattered plants were pretty beaten up from the tossing and jostling of the journey. I remember taking them out of the back of the Landcruiser and wondering if we should even bother planting. We did. And to our surprise, the forgotten and neglected seedlings have come to life. Young fist-sized pineapples have emerged under the shade of the pawpaw. Amazing. God brings the sun, God brings the rain, and God causes the seed to grow. Without God's loving and powerful hand at work in our world, nothing will grow and nothing will change.

As our friend left that afternoon, she carried an armload of fruit back to her home. She was encouraged by stories of our time in Canada and by the many people praying for her community in Eastleigh. We are thankful for changes that we are seeing not only in her, but within this little patch of the world.

Family Vacation

Emma and Ava playing with their cousins at Basin Head, PEI

We are currently enjoying a few weeks of vacation visiting family and friends in Eastern Canada, before our return to Kenya in August. For more pictures and updates, please take a look at our new blog at www.fivekennys.blogspot.com

Hope you are having a great summer!

About to fly!

We found this nest in our backyard over the Easter long weekend. Looking forward to seeing a little family of birds appear!

We are very excited to be departing next week for our first home assignment in Canada. To follow along with us on our three month long road trip please check out our latest blog and photos at www.fivekennys.blogspot.com

Happy Easter!

The Five Kennys

Happy Valentine's Day 2010

Aaron faces his fear of birds...

Erica with the very friendly

Crown (also called Crested) Cranes

at the Lord Errol restaurant in Runda, Nairobi

We want to wish you all a very happy Valentine's Day!

Erica and I celebrated early this year at the peaceful Lord Errol near our home in Nairobi. Among our highlights of the evening was a wonderful visit with the owner Hans and his friendly 200 lb St. Bernard -- what an incredible animal. We also had fun with a pair of flirting cranes before our dinner. It was a wonderful night!

For more about our life and ministry, please take a look at our new blog at

www.fivekennys.blogspot.com

Happy New Year

Wishing you a great 2010 from Kenya!

Thank you so much for your interest in our life and ministry here in Kenya. Although we've moved our blog to www.fivekennys.blogspot.com we invite you to look back on our first three years serving with Canadian Baptist Ministries as we journaled here at "fourkennys".

May God be with you and may this new year be filled with His grace and peace!

Love

The five Kennys

Wood pile

Ava helping to pile our firewood this afternoon

just before a big thunder storm rolled in.

It was a wet day here in Nairobi, but still no water inside the Kenny house. Our new plumbers will be making the repairs tomorrow afternoon. Meanwhile, we have been on the notorious River Road bargaining for jewelry supplies. Erica and James are finishing off the last phase of the jewelry training.

Both Henry and Reese took great interest

in this Ibis bird that was poking around the yard.

Although they stalked him, neither was brave enough

yet to move in too close.

Happy Birthday

Ava was up bright and early singing

"Happy Birthday" to mommy.

Erica's Birthday Brownies with Tristan and Emma

It was fun to share mommy's birthday evening in front of the fireplace. The kids came up with their own birthday song with party horns. It was a great celebration after a hard day.

Unfortunately, our water problems have not gotten any better. After nearly a week without water (because of city rationing), the city water returned on Mother's Day -- Erica spent most of the day catching up on laundry, until the pipes burst again (for the sixth time). We spent most of today working with plumbers to restore the water. Erica was glad to be able to finally finish our last load of wash tonight.

Puppies

Henry and Reese!

Our family just keeps growing: today we welcomed two Bernese Border puppies into our lives. When we moved into our apartment on Brookside Court, two years ago, we were not allowed to bring our dog Maizi. Although we found a wonderful new home for her with our friend Andai and his family, we were very sad to lose her as part of our family. We had promised ourselves that one day when we were blessed with a home with a yard that we'd have a family dog. We never dreamed of two dogs!

Emma cuddling Reese

Last week, in our busyness of moving in, we began to research available breeds and puppies in Nairobi. On Friday, Paul & Kelly Carline introduced us to neighbours of theirs who had a litter of Bernese Mountain dog/Border Colie puppies -- Our search was over! Over our few visits, we fell in love with these gentle giants. The family have had Bernese dogs for about 15 years. We enjoyed not only the puppies but the five beautiful adult dogs. Together with the kids, we decided to name our dogs after candy bars. It was a tough choice, but in the end O'Henry and Reese Peanut Butter Cups won out. Neither are available in Kenya, so we've already had to explain what these chocolate bars are like to friends.

Tristan playing with Henry

until the last rays of the sun went down.

We pray that their first night goes well. Tomorrow we will be building a dog house together for Henry and Reese. We are looking forward to a fun family day with the puppies.

Home Sweet Home

Our new home on Daisy Road, Nairobi!

This past Wednesday, we moved into our new home on the Northern side of Nairobi close to our children's school and only fifteen minutes from Eastleigh. It was both an exciting and frustrating day. Once we got the electricity sorted out, our greatest challenge was water. The house has three separate plumbing systems and the local fundies (handy men) have been improvising in an attempt to patch them together: We've had several pipes burst in the ceiling over the past few days. Nevertheless, we are thankful for the first showers in our new house today as the many little details are coming together. This is home -- leaking pipes and all!

It has been wonderful to have a yard and a space for Tristan and Emma to ride their bicycles. They have been having a lot of fun playing together with Ava in the garden. Ava has been running barefoot around the house flapping her arms like a bird. The kids have discovered several chamelions in the bushes around the house, and throughout each day we've been blessed with many colourful song birds and even a heron. They have loved being able to play outside over the weekend and explore every inch of their new home.

Our kids making their mark!

Happy Birthday!

Yesterday, we celebrated Aaron's 34th birthday. The day started with a gift our family has been waiting a long time for... the keys to our house. Well, we didn't get the keys to the actual house but we did get the keys to the gate which is still cause to celebrate! We will get the rest of the keys this morning and then begin our move across town.

Daddy gets lots of birthday hugs from Tristan, Emma and Ava

We met friends for lunch and Aaron was surprised with a yummy cake. After school, we went home and started our game marathon. We love games! We played late into the night (actually in was only 9 pm but we are getting older...) and had a family sleep over in our room.

Daddy and Ava enjoying birthday pie.

Aaron's one request for his birthday was key lime pie.

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.