Paulo's Baptism

I will always remember this day.

Paulo really prepared himself for his baptism. I have been very impressed with how he has desired to know if he even believes this church is true, and how he has searched and studied the scriptures, sincerely prayed, and even fasted to get his answer. He is such a good boy. I love him.

I also love my husband. Hunter was very encouraging and helpful as Paulo searched out his answer. He's an exemplary father. I'm a very lucky woman.

Looking so handsome in white. I love seeing my boys in white. Hunter said the pants baaaarely fit. Good thing he's lost weight since we've been here.

This was the program Hunter put together:

We were all ready to go, and then we found out that another sister, Judith, would be getting baptized that day, too. No worries. We just tailored our talks and stuff to include her as well.

I was so grateful for President Mwembere (the big man standing by the font with the red tie). He worked so hard to get the font in clean and working order so that we wouldn't have to travel to the public swimming pool again for Paulo's baptism. It was so convenient, efficient, and reverent compared to piling into matatus heading to the pool. The members are so excited to have their font working again. This font, by the way, is set up in the middle of a multi-level parking lot. It was positioned right under a spot where the sun shines through. It was quite cool. Not at all what I had pictured all these years, but very memorable and nice.

I didn't take photos, but Hunter also got to baptize Judith after Paulo. I wondered if it reminded him of his mission.

After the baptism, while Hunter, Paulo and Judith got dressed, I lead the branch in some hymns and also the Baptism song on the program. The members liked it a lot and asked if we could sing it a second time, so we did. Hunter said he could hear it from the bathroom and he'll forever associate that song with Paulo's special day. It's a beautiful song, even without the piano. 

The pictures say it so much better than I could. It was such a special day.

PomPom Shorts

Aren't these cute shorts?

Auntie Lani bought them in New Zealand just for Reyna. So sweet.

Paulo's 8th Birthday

I cannot believe that my son is 8 YEARS OLD!!!!

Hunter and I are having all these feelings of nostalgia because now, out of nowhere, our Paulo is no longer a little kid. Hunter's been all solemn worrying and hoping that we've provided him a happy childhood.

We're so proud of the big boy Paulo has become. We threw him a big birthday party the day before his birthday which started at Hollywood Bowl and then ended up at our house. He invited a bunch of friends from school.

Here we are that morning getting ready for the party.

Andre Gangnam Style

Good job on the balloons, Hunter!

When you don't have cake frosting tips, just use saran wrap wrapped around your finger. Works like a charm.

Big boy now.

Paulo did AWESOME at bowling! He set a new record for the month!

Kind of funny someone got him a little Buddha. They said, "Oh! That's Happy Man!" Actually, kids, it's Buddha.

Tanay

Nirav & Betty

Amrit

Betty and Jared

Sunday morning was Paulo's actual birthday. We woke him up with breakfast in bed.

He is wearing clothes in this picture, btw.

Awesome book from Magra. He loved it even though you can't tell from his expression.

Scripture markers and stickers from Auntie Katie and Uncle Jordan

These totally made his day! Good boy.

New Years Day in Utah

Reyna and I spent New Years Eve 30,000 feet in the air.

We flew home to Utah so I could attend my brother Jon's wedding (wedding photos in another post). It broke my heart that I couldn't bring Hunter and the boys to celebrate with us, but it was just too expensive. Hunter said he would find a way for me to go. He didn't want me to regret that I missed it for the rest of my life. So, I was very grateful I got to go.

The flight to Utah went from Mombasa to Nairobi to Paris to Salt Lake City. Not bad, right? But I had so many obstacles along the way that it almost became comical.

1. There was no record of Reyna's infant ticket beyond Paris
2. They had cancelled the last flight of the day to Nairobi (my flight) and had to rush me onto the earlier flight.
3. I discovered some issues with my visa in Nairobi (we'll leave it at that...let's just say I'm so grateful that Kenyans are nice to people with cute babies, including the customs officer. It could have been bad).
4. Reyna got motion sick on the shuttle in Paris and vomited all over us. I cleaned it as best I could, but unfortunately we stunk a bit.
5. Reyna had caught some bug and was having diarrhea the whole time. I wisely had packed enough extra outfits for her to change into, but stupidly had only packed six diapers for the entire journey, so with 5 hours to go on my flight from Paris, I was praying that her sixth diaper would last. Thankfully, it did.

So when I landed in SLC, I was not at all surprised that

     6.  My baggage didn't make it.

In fact, I think I laughed.

It wasn't all bad though. People were nice on the plane. I got a bassinet seat and Reyna slept the whole way from Nairobi to Paris. Then I got a blank seat next to me so I could put her down.

Here Reyna and I are in the Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris. It was freeeeezing, so we kept our hoods up.

When I landed in SLC, Jon was there to pick us up. It was so good to be home. I took one breath of the crisp, cold air and thought, yup, I'm home. This is the air I'm used to.

It's kind of funny because in Mombasa, I feel like I'm breathing dirty air all the time. There's dust, burning trash, exhaust from all the matatus that use diesel fuel, bad smells all over, but I've stayed relatively healthy. In Utah, I feel like I'm breathing clean mountain air, but with the inversion and everything, I immediately developed a congested airway and ended up with a cold. Weird, eh?

Anyway, I wish I had snapped more photos. I guess I was too busy having a fabulous time.

It was so nice to see Lola and Opa again.

Hunter asked me to eat a cookie and chug down a huge glass of cold milk straight out of the fridge for him. So I did.

Also, look at the size of this sour cream! I've missed sour cream.

We had a nice family get together at Diona's to celebrate January birthdays and so I could give Kami and Azar their belated Christmas gifts. We drew their names.

Some of the funnest times were watching Reyna and Dez play together. They played in the bath together...

...they ate together, and we went on a winter walk together.

It was nice to enjoy my nice van again. Boo hoo.

It was pretty cold, but we were able to stay toasty warm indoors.