Little Spooner

Yes, yes, it's true. Even Jack has mastered the fine art of nose spooning! Let's all congratulate his newest milestone. See below for Tessa's spoon photo. She has moved up to the soup spoon, so we're proud of her too.

Potty Time

Well, we're only officially training one of them on the potty, but the other is just there for entertainment. We're entering the 2nd week of training, and it's actually going pretty well. I never knew we could be so consumed in this type of activity, but I have to remind myself that we are teaching her a major life skill. Plus, this stage makes me thankful for our concrete floors!

Unfortunately, I didn't get a good photo of when Tessa and her friend Micaiah decided to wear the potties as hats. Fortunately, they were clean at the time!

Surprise Surgery

When we got to Nairobi, I went to the doctor's office just to have a sebaceous cyst checked out, and 2 hours later walked out of the hospital having undergone surgery! What a surprise - but I'm glad they were able to fit me into the OR and get it done. The doctor said it was infected but isn't worried about the lab results, the tissue seemed benign, and I only have 3 stitches, but it was quite an experience anyway. The worst part was having 2 minor accidents driving out of the hospital (yes, they let me drive myself) but even those turned out with barely any damage.

Tomorrow I've got to get Dusty to pull the stitches out, but it will be a long, long time till the hair regrows. I'm just happy the whole thing is over and that only a spy would know where to look to see where they implanted the super-hero chip in my cranium. Watch out world - here comes SuperKim, whose powers are yet to be seen!

We're Back

Hey everyone out there in blogland. We're back and trying to catch up on everything that has been put aside since June, when we began traveling. We're happy to be home although we have had a great time this summer on vacation with our families in Europe and on the Kenyan coast for our branch conference (see pool picture). It has been so long since I last made an entry that there is too much to say, but we're all doing well and readjusting to normal life - in this case, a very good thing indeed.

The kids had a great time in the pool and ocean during conference. Even Jack went under water. We have an annual waterpolo match for the ladies and one for the men. The guys said it was harder to push Dusty around this year since he's regained his weight. What a rock! Tessa refused to leave the water, even when her lips were blue. Her favorite thing was blowing bubbles, and she loved her floaties, even when she wasn't swimming.

Yeah, we did also have some business meetings, which went pretty well and seemed shorter than previous years. We had a good spiritual refreshment speaker, but I felt like I missed a lot of what he said while I was attending to Jack's needs. Tessa had a great time in the childcare - so much so that she stopped crying when we dropped her off and then didn't want to leave. This must mean parental success - or the childcare team's success. Whatever - we were all happy. And at the end of the session, when the kids performed their songs and verses, Tessa pulled the classic maneuver by trying to take off her shirt and revealing her belly for the whole audience!

New Employee

Here's the biggest news around the Hill Household: a washing machine! We bought it this weekend from some friends who are returning to the USA, the most common route to get good stuff. This photo will give you a good idea about how fascinated we all are with the new toy in our kitchen. What would have taken an entire morning to wash by hand can now be done in an hour. I never appreciated a washing machine in the States the way I do now. Especially with cloth diapers! Yipee! And easy entertainment for the kiddos included for free (when we have power).

Spooning Talkington Style

We just found out that Tessa is a verified, identified, tried and true Talkington (Kim's family)! She has just passed the ultimate Talkington test. We couldn't be prouder. Dusty passes occasionally, and we haven't tested Jack yet, but his time will come. Me, myself, well I can boast of hanging multiple spoons all over my face, and the random fork at times. The Talkingtons have been known to practice this esteemed tradition en masse at many finer restuarants around Dallas, including the Dallas Country Club. Yes, the other diners always look on in awe and great admiration.

Hand Suckin' Good

We thought you would like to see one of the local restaurants in Mwanza, a city 3 hours to our south where we spent the weekend. We go to Mwanza for medical purposes, to visit friends, to get the dog to the vet, and this weekend for getting additional pages in our ever-shrinking passports. Anyway, this place serves chicken and fries and obviously stole their slogan from KFC's "finger - licking good," but doesn't this slogan have a much more scrumptious title? There are never napkins here when you need them, so just suck 'em! I will admit, it's pretty tasty food.