Yowsa… I just looked at the date on my last post… October 25th…WHAT…not possible, but alas it is. Sorry for that… I will do my best to recap our last month here, BLOW through our time back stateside and start to fill you in on what’s going on here now that we’re back. You might want to take a potty break, get some popcorn… a coke… put your feet up… this may take a while…
Late October saw us on yet another travel adventure when we spent a few days in Cape Town, South Africa, where RR had a speaking engagement. We went down a few days early, stayed in Stellenbosch, which is only 20 miles from Cape Town, but in the wine country of the area, and feels worlds away. AWESOME is the only way to describe it! We also drove down the coast to Cape Point, the southernmost tip of Africa where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet. Stunningly beautiful and a place that is now ranked near the top of places we have visited…we will most definitely return and HIGHLY recommend it to anyone who has the chance!! RR stayed on after I returned to Rwanda for his speaking engagement at the Wild at Heart conference.
Late October saw us on yet another travel adventure when we spent a few days in Cape Town, South Africa, where RR had a speaking engagement. We went down a few days early, stayed in Stellenbosch, which is only 20 miles from Cape Town, but in the wine country of the area, and feels worlds away. AWESOME is the only way to describe it! We also drove down the coast to Cape Point, the southernmost tip of Africa where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet. Stunningly beautiful and a place that is now ranked near the top of places we have visited…we will most definitely return and HIGHLY recommend it to anyone who has the chance!! RR stayed on after I returned to Rwanda for his speaking engagement at the Wild at Heart conference.
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| Viewing the African Penguins on a VERY windy day... |
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| South African Wine Country....STUNNING! |
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| Cape Point - the southernmost tip of Africa |
When I did return, around midnight, due to flight delays (go figure), I was whipped… and couldn’t really figure out why… it’s wasn’t a really exhausting trip (compared to the mongo one we do going back and
forth to the states), but at 2 AM when I woke up with aches you can’t even imagine, fever and chills, I was like, hello MALARIA, I’m Cheryl, nice to meet ya! Oh, but being the obsessive/compulsive, anal/retentive person I am, I DID have the malaria meds on hand, so I took them immediately… Africans call it “Bone Break Fever” for a reason, and while the first few days were tough (danged skeeters), by the one week mark, I was 100% back to normal…
Just in time for the wolf pack to arrive (ok, minus the Woodhams) :( …the Braswells, Chapmans & Greenwoods arrived for 10 days of going, seeing, meeting and experiencing the local culture. We SO enjoyed all being together HERE. When I think about what it is I miss most about life in the US, it isn’t things, it’s people, and these are the people I miss the most (along with our families, of course). We got a lot accomplished though… strategizing on everything from housing to education. We couldn’t do what we do without their support on so many levels! It was an AWESOME time of work and fellowship!
forth to the states), but at 2 AM when I woke up with aches you can’t even imagine, fever and chills, I was like, hello MALARIA, I’m Cheryl, nice to meet ya! Oh, but being the obsessive/compulsive, anal/retentive person I am, I DID have the malaria meds on hand, so I took them immediately… Africans call it “Bone Break Fever” for a reason, and while the first few days were tough (danged skeeters), by the one week mark, I was 100% back to normal…
Just in time for the wolf pack to arrive (ok, minus the Woodhams) :( …the Braswells, Chapmans & Greenwoods arrived for 10 days of going, seeing, meeting and experiencing the local culture. We SO enjoyed all being together HERE. When I think about what it is I miss most about life in the US, it isn’t things, it’s people, and these are the people I miss the most (along with our families, of course). We got a lot accomplished though… strategizing on everything from housing to education. We couldn’t do what we do without their support on so many levels! It was an AWESOME time of work and fellowship!
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| The Wolf Pack girls (Kelli, Camille, me, Lori...minus Lea Angel) |
On Nov. 21st, I flew back with the gang to the US… early so that I could get the much dreaded surgery on my ankle. But, it turns out, it WAS broken, and no surgery was necessary, but 2 more months in the
walking cast was necessary – ARRRRR!! Barely got that sucker off in time to head back here! Oh, but that was just the start of my ENDLESS trips to doctors – I’ll run through the list quickly, but know before
I start, everything is fine now, and I’m gonna agrabate (as Brit used to say for aggravate) RR for a long time to come! I had to have a basal cell carcinoma removed from my face (USE YOUR SUNSCREEN PEOPLE and NO I do not love the sun, either – never have really), and plastic surgery to repair the gaping hole in my face (a big shout out to Kris Shewmake)! And let me just say THIS out loud. I’m really happy for folks who choose to have plastic surgery for whatever reason… don’t judge, don’t care, knock yourselves out, but I have decided to embrace my wrinkles… EVERY last one of them! Cause there is NO WAY, I would choose to have any “work done” for fun! That little bit I did have done left me looking like I had been in a bar fight, not to mention the pain (ok, I’m a baby, but STILL)! Yeah… not for me! Also had my yearly mammogram, and well, wouldn’t you just know it… they found a “suspicious spot”… REALLY!?!?!?! So more tests and trips to surgeons, and well, it appears to be nothing… will have it checked again when we are back in September, but holy cow, enough already! All of that was overshadowed though by Thanksgiving & Christmas with our families, and our biggest celebration of all, Brittany and Kelly’s wedding. It was a quiet, intimate affair with immediate family and a few of their close friends, at Cedar Gove Inn in Vicksburg, MS. Russell married them, Josh gave her away, and it was a perfect day. This mama unit loves seeing her baby girl so happy!
walking cast was necessary – ARRRRR!! Barely got that sucker off in time to head back here! Oh, but that was just the start of my ENDLESS trips to doctors – I’ll run through the list quickly, but know before
I start, everything is fine now, and I’m gonna agrabate (as Brit used to say for aggravate) RR for a long time to come! I had to have a basal cell carcinoma removed from my face (USE YOUR SUNSCREEN PEOPLE and NO I do not love the sun, either – never have really), and plastic surgery to repair the gaping hole in my face (a big shout out to Kris Shewmake)! And let me just say THIS out loud. I’m really happy for folks who choose to have plastic surgery for whatever reason… don’t judge, don’t care, knock yourselves out, but I have decided to embrace my wrinkles… EVERY last one of them! Cause there is NO WAY, I would choose to have any “work done” for fun! That little bit I did have done left me looking like I had been in a bar fight, not to mention the pain (ok, I’m a baby, but STILL)! Yeah… not for me! Also had my yearly mammogram, and well, wouldn’t you just know it… they found a “suspicious spot”… REALLY!?!?!?! So more tests and trips to surgeons, and well, it appears to be nothing… will have it checked again when we are back in September, but holy cow, enough already! All of that was overshadowed though by Thanksgiving & Christmas with our families, and our biggest celebration of all, Brittany and Kelly’s wedding. It was a quiet, intimate affair with immediate family and a few of their close friends, at Cedar Gove Inn in Vicksburg, MS. Russell married them, Josh gave her away, and it was a perfect day. This mama unit loves seeing her baby girl so happy!
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| Formal Portrait - AR State Capitol |
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| Mr. and Mrs. Kelly Thornton |
After 2 ½ months (for me – 2 for RR) back stateside, we left Little Rock to head back on Feb. 7th, but had to spend a week in Germany for RR to have some meetings and get some electrical equipment for here
since we have European plugs and power. We stayed with our friends (ok…they are really like family), the Janata’s. Rene’ is a top executive with RwandAir here in Rwanda, and Jacquie and their four
kids live in Rudesheim… about 45 minutes outside Frankfurt on the Rhine River. Well… it was an AWESOME week being honorary Janata’s… we can’t even begin to thank them for their hospitality! Since the Janata’s had to leave themselves the day before we did, we decided the stay close to the airport in Frankfurt our last night in Germany so that we could get to the airport and make it easy on ourselves the
next morning.
since we have European plugs and power. We stayed with our friends (ok…they are really like family), the Janata’s. Rene’ is a top executive with RwandAir here in Rwanda, and Jacquie and their four
kids live in Rudesheim… about 45 minutes outside Frankfurt on the Rhine River. Well… it was an AWESOME week being honorary Janata’s… we can’t even begin to thank them for their hospitality! Since the Janata’s had to leave themselves the day before we did, we decided the stay close to the airport in Frankfurt our last night in Germany so that we could get to the airport and make it easy on ourselves the
next morning.
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| Rudesheim, Germany |
We arrived at the airport at 5:45 for our 8:10 flight… but had to get our four trunks out of storage (it was easier to store them at the airport than drag them all over the place), which we did without a hitch… got to the ticket counter to get our boarding passes (I had already checked-in online the day before), and check the trunks. So, RR says, we are here to check our bags and get our boarding passes for our 8:10 flight – and the nice, little, German, KLM employee lady says, “we don’t have an 8:10 flight” – EXCRUSE ME?!?!?!? No, we have a 6:50 flight and a 10:50 flight. RR says the look on my face was priceless – I personally felt like I was going to pass out! Turns out, our arrival time into Amsterdam (our transfer point for getting to Rwanda) was 8:10. Now… if you know me, you know I actually pride myself in being the obsessive/compulsive, anal/retentive person I am. It serves us well… especially when traveling. We have NEVER missed a flight due to our own mistake! Cheryl Rainey DOES NOT miss airline flights! Oh, but we did this one… big as Dallas! Well, Arschkarte (a German term that means “that didn’t work out as planned”) So, $500 later, we find ourselves on the 10:50 flight to Amsterdam, but that meant we missed our flight to Rwanda, so we had to overnight there! Not all bad actually, ok… except for another extra $500 for hotels and food and subways and trains, and oh, the battery charger RR found and just had to have for the cordless tools he bought in Germany! No really… we Rainey’s do know how to take things on the fly when traveling, and RR had never been to Amsterdam, so we made a GREAT afternoon and evening out of it, and had a ton of fun! But boy oh boy, was I peeved at myself. Someone jokingly ask me if we went to a “coffee shop,” which in Amsterdam is just a legal place to sell marijuana, and I was like… ummm, that would be a big, fat, NO… CLEARLY, I do not need to lose any more brain cells than I have currently lost! I don’t know if my psyche could take missing another flight – EVER! I’ll stick with Ginkgo Biloba thank you very much!
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| An unexpected, fun day (and night) in Amsterdam! |
So, here we are, back in our little Rwandan home, and settling back in just fine. The garden is beautiful and baby Elizabeth is now SEVEN months old and has 3 ½ teeth. She seems to still be a bit spoiled…
oops… that’s my fault, but she cracks us up daily! I had forgotten how amazing it is to watch babies grow and develop… every day, a new wonder! We are also excited to have our niece, Katie Rainey, with us
for the next few months, and have LOTS of big projects on the horizon, but I’ll save those for the next blog!
oops… that’s my fault, but she cracks us up daily! I had forgotten how amazing it is to watch babies grow and develop… every day, a new wonder! We are also excited to have our niece, Katie Rainey, with us
for the next few months, and have LOTS of big projects on the horizon, but I’ll save those for the next blog!
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| Seven Months Old and Three Teefies |
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| A Big Smile.... |
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| Laughing at me.... |
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| Our garden |
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| Looking good.... |
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| Thanks to Beatrice..... |
Till next time – hugs, love and God Bless!!!
