Celebrating the 4th of July, Kenyan style!

This 4th of July made me realize how blessed I am to be an American.  The Lord blessed me by allowing me to be born in the United States of America!  Throughout my life I have often taken my freedom and rights for granted but God is showing me what a gift and a blessing those freedoms are, as I live in Kenya.  Since it is not a holiday in Kenya, our day was fairly regular...language school.

We did take some treats to language school to share with the other students who are from DRC (Congo), Brazil, Rwanda and Kenya.  I baked apple pies, which was fun experience as I had to make everything from scratch (they were yummy!)  And we took mini sausages, they are not true hot dogs but it was the closest thing I could get for the crowd.  It was comical as we explained what these items were.  No one would touch the "hot dogs" until we promised them they were not dog meat.  They were a bit leery of the pie also because they do not eat many sweets.  Once they tried the pie, most of them really enjoyed it and wanted more.

After language, our boss invited us to come over for a cookout American style.  We grilled hamburgers and hot dogs.  Ate deviled eggs, baked beans, chips, pasta salad, homemade ice cream and of course more apple pie.  Later, we had a bonfire and made s'mores.  It was a wonderful celebration of America's Independence!

Our Househelper, Mama Joy and her husband Peter (Peter brought the flag shown in the picture...our family could not contribute to the decor...these items did not make the luggage cut!)

Many thanks to Uncle Jeff & Aunt Kathy, the first grilled hamburger in 6 months tasted REALLY good!

Roasting marshmallows.

Warming up by the fire...it is winter here.

Mama Joy and Baby Joy...love her beautiful smile!

My sweet boys...love them!