168 hours...No Way!

What an exciting week it has been!

Today is Sunday...

168 Hours ago we were packing frantically in our mud house in rural Kenya, saying a few good-byes and excited for the trip ahead of us.

The next morning, we were up at 4am to finish packing, load the van, and head to Nairobi.  The van left at 6am.

In Nairobi we stopped at the Sheldrick elephant orphanage and it was awesome!  We were able to interact face to face with baby elephants, touch the live tusks of young elephants, and watch Grandma get run over by an elephant!

Face to Face with a Baby Elephant

After the orphanage we went to KFC and reminded ourselves of American food and what was soon to come.

The first flight was full but comfortable, the second was half full so we each had two seats, and the third and final was very cramped, but we finally arrived in Chicago after 40 hours of travel (18 in the air).  Without an active phone we used the airport wifi to contact our driver and soon he was there to take us "home".

We made it to the Comfort Inn Newville around 7pm on Tuesday, ordered a Rosatti's pizza and settled in for the night.  The next morning the kids swam and enjoyed American food while Jodie and I got right to work:  find a car, check on the house, activate our phones, call loved ones, have friends over, plan our trip, etc.  Friends stopped by and welcomed us with their love, others called to chat, and a good day was had by all.

#HotelLife

Thursday, Jodie went to the laundry mat, while Keyta and I activated our phones and bought a van.  Actually, now that I reflect, Marquite spent so much time with her friends these past few days this is one of the rare things we did together!  On Thursday, less than 48 hours since we had arrived home from Kenya, we were sitting in the pool with some great friends, eating, drinking, and reminiscing.  Our laundry was done, we were packed and ready (again), our phones worked, and we had a van...and a plan!

Friday morning, we were up and ready to go, did some final packing for the trip, called and activated AAA, called and put insurance on the van, packed the van and was off.  Quickly, we dropped some bags at my parents house, signed the paperwork at the insurance agency, filled up at Kwik Trip, got groceries at The Pig and headed out.

The kids at Gettysburg

Friday we left town at about 11am and drive to Chambersburg, PA (26 miles from Gettysburg) arriving at 2am, thanks to Google sending us on a wild goose chase through rural Appalachia.  Saturday, we awoke, drive to Gettysburg (loved it) and started out towards Boston.

Is this a real cannon?

About 100 miles from our hotel (near Boston), a loud clanking started-followed by dragging-and including a very loud muffler sound.  God, had placed us near a rest stop, so we pulled over to check it out.  Sent some pics to a car friend, fed the kids, and went to the gas station to find "something" for a temporary fix.  When the gas station attendant saw me and heard what I was doing she laughed out loud and went into "fix it" mode.  She looked everywhere for something to use, told me to pull my car up, and assured me she could help.  I went to the car, called our other hotel and asked them to cancel without any penalties (which they did) and pulled the car up where our new friend, and angel, Kayla, came out and "temporarily rehung our catalytic converter".

Meeting our Angel, Kayla

Amazed by God's plan, placement, and timing we thanked her-drove to the nearest hotel and settled in for the night.

It is now the next morning, the kids are downstairs enjoying their breakfast, Jodie is still in bed, and I am typing this blog.  In an hour we will be out the door (in our van) to drive to the commuter rail to catch a train to Boston.  There we will meet one of our best friends, Todd, and spend the day on the Freedom Trail, Jodie will get some Clam Chowder, and the kids will visit Harvard and MIT (no pressure kids).  Tonight, Jodie will get her lobster and we will enjoy the company of our friend.

Tomorrow, we will get the car fixed and head to Connecticut to meet our friend (and fellow Kenya traveler) Mason Wood for lunch!  Then, off to see one of Jodie's closest childhood friends in New Jersey where we will be staying for a few days as we explore The Big Apple.  In NYC we will explore the city and see all of the big sites and hopefully meet our friends (and fellow Tiders) Casey and Jenna as they continue their lives in the Big City after growing up in E-town.  After NYC...who knows?

Thanks for the love, prayers, and support!  We appreciate all you do for us!!

The Klamm Fam

Holey Socks...

In the past, when a sock developed a hole, it was very easy to throw it out.  These days, it is tough to throw out a holey sock.

You see, before, I knew that I could throw away that sock, because there was always another sock.  These days, I am quickly running out of socks, therefore I have to keep and wear even the holey ones.

To be honest, most of the time, they work just fine and I forget that the sock I'm wearing even has a hole.

I am not saying that everyone back home should go around wearing holey socks, but I am saying that maybe just maybe we through things away too soon and that maybe we should consider keeping things a bit longer than we have in the past.

Top: How we dry socks and underwear
Bottom Left: A closer look
Bottom Right: Tomorrow's pair of socks

Rain (and Change) are in the Air!

It is a relaxing Saturday here in Kenya.  The rain is upon us; it fell through the night and continues throughout the day.

The view from Cottage 4 as I type.

The rain brings with it hope and happiness as our friends and neighbors have made it through the dry season and it is now time to plant their small shambas with high hopes for food and profit.

Our neighbor hand tills his land to prepare for planting.

Just as the rainy season inspires our friends and neighbors to prepare their land for planting and raise their hopes for harvest; we too are in a new season of life and must also prepare, plan, and set our hopes high.

We pursued our dream.  We sold most of what we had, resigned from a great job, and moved to a far away land.  We had hopes for what we would accomplish, achieved most of it, and learned more than we could have ever imagined.

Now, we come to a time of reflection. A time of planning.  A time for the next step.

The months ahead are sure to be different than the ones behind us, but adventure and the pursuit of dreams should never stop.

As our friends welcome the rain, we too welcome the change.  While we have loved our adventure and the friends we have grown to love, we are ready to turn the page.

What does the next chapter bring?  It will bring hard work, hope, and a harvest.  Finding a job, traveling the U.S., preparing for the new job, and starting school again.

So as we move forward we first thank you for your love and support throughout the past few months.  Our friends and family have been amazing and we have drawn on that strength when things were challenging.  Next, we ask you to pray for us as we move forward: pray for God's timing, pray for an amazing job, pray for safe travel, and pray for a smooth return back to life in the U.S.

Some of us at the Monkey Park

Love,
Phill and the Klamm Fam

A Tour of Hopewell High School

Post by Jodie Klamm.

A Lesson in Smarties

Smarties have always been one of my favorite candies and on a day trip in 2006 they forever cemented a place in my heart.

A Smarties treat as we start our schoolwork.

It was the summer of 2006 and the first time I had ever visited the great continent of Africa.  As we were visiting the school that we were building five stone classrooms at we became painfully aware that the students in this poor area had never visited one of the world's treasures just a stones throw from their homes, schools, and lives.  Our group talked and decided that we would offer to take many of the students on a field trip to Lake Nakuru National Park.

When the day arrived, we hired three matatus, and tried our best to fit as many students as possible into each van.  After we had squished many in, then the rest of us split up among the groups and jammed ourselves in.  There was at least 18 people in each of the mini-van sized vehicles.  It was quite an experience being jammed inside the matatus with so many excited high school students.  While seeing the beautiful park, famed flamingos, and plethora of animals was great, it was another series of moments that taught me a lesson that I will never forget.

Excited for my day with a group of students I made sure to bring plenty of treats both for myself and my travel mates.  As we started to go and I was sure that no one else would be joining our group I handed each person three pieces of candy.  Small things such as tootsie rolls and of course, Smarties.  Take a second and imagine someone handing you two tootsie rolls and a roll of smarties...now imagine eating them, how long did it take?  For me, two tootsie rolls and a roll of smarties disappear after roughly 30 seconds, sometimes quicker.

After handing out the candy, we took the rough roads to the game park entrance, paid the entrance fees, marveled at the monkeys playing and finally started our game drive.  We drove for a few hours before I noticed the girl next to me, carefully unrolling the smarties, taking one piece, rolling it back up, and putting it in her pocket.  Throughout the trip, I continued to notice this and it quickly became more important to me than anything outside of the van.  I had never once in my life thought about eating one piece of smarties at a time, rolling it back up for later, and putting it in my pocket.  In fact, I was always sure that there would be another piece of candy after it - if I really wanted it, so I never truly treasured the goodness in each piece, I simply devoured the whole roll as one, enjoyed it for a brief moment and moved on.  This girl and this moment taught me something I will remember for the rest of my life: treasure each piece, each moment for what it is and the value will increase greatly.

As I gave each of my kids a roll of Smarties today, it became painfully apparent that this story about Smarties also applies to life.  Take life one small moment at a time, treasure it fully, and don't skip over the little pieces to engulf the whole piece at once.  This trip has reminded me of many of the life lessons I have learned throughout my life and taught me some new ones as well, but one of the most important ones is this, don't skip the small moments, treasure each piece as it comes.

A huge thank you to my friend Lori Hooper for sending such a nice care package with two big bags of Smarties in it, every time I reach in my suitcase I am reminded of this lesson and smile.  Not only are the candies tasty and remind me of a moment, they also help me reflect of the life I really want to live.

Treasure each piece my friends, because you never know when you'll reach the end of your roll.

The Great American Road Trip

Welcome to the current draft of our Great American Road Trip.

Our current draft of The Great American Road Trip

Obviously, it is not all inclusive or complete, but we have worked through a few things to get this far.  The feedback and suggestions have been wonderful, please keep them coming.

Jodie and I really appreciate the offers that have come in the last 24 hours of places to stay while we are on our trip, thank you!
Here is the tentative itinerary:

Arrive Minneapolis, May 28th and stay with some friends for a few days.
Head to Edgerton, WI for a one nighter (shindig anyone?) Saturday, May 30th
Go to Fulton Church on Sunday, May 31st, have lunch with ??? and head to Morrison, IL
Arrive in Morrison, IL (Tony and Amber, here we come!) on May 31st and leave on June 1.
June 1st leave Morrison for Pierce City and Joplin, MO (Dorothy, hope you're ready for us!)
Leave Pierce City/Joplin on June 2nd and head towards Moore, OK for the day
Leave Moore, OK on June 2nd for Kansas for 3 nights
Leave Kansas on June 5th for Denver/Windsor/Estes Park, CO for about a week
Leave Colorado on June 11th and head towards Galveston, TX (will need to stop somewhere in-between)
June 13th arrive in Galveston and stay one night
June 14th leave Galveston for New Orleans, LA
June 14-17 New Orleans
June 17th leave New Orleans for Panama City
June 18th leave Panama City for The Villages
June 18th-21st stay in or near The Villages, FL
June 21st leave The Villages, FL for Key West FL
June 21st-June 24th Key West, FL
June 24th leave Key West, FL for Daytona Beach
June 24-June 26 Daytona Beach
June 26 leave Daytona Beach for Hilton Head
June 26-28 Hilton Head
June 28 leave Hilton Head for Myrtle Beach
June 28-30 Myrtle Beach
June 30th leave Myrtle Beach for Colonial Williamsburg, VA
June 30-July 2 Colonial Williamsburg
July 2 leave Colonial Williamsburg for Philadelphia, PA
July 2-July 5 Philadelphia (Fourth of July in Philly)
July 5th leave Philadelphia for New York City
July 5-July 10th New York City
July 10th leave New York City for Detroit
July 10-12 Tyler Brooks' wedding in Detroit
July 12th leave Detroit for Gettysburg, PA
July 12-14 Gettysburg, PA
July 14th leave Gettysburg for Boston, MA
July 14-18th Boston, MA
July 18th leave Boston for Cedar Point, OH
July 18-19 Cedar Point OH
July 19 leave Cedar Point for Niagara Falls
July 19-20 Niagara Falls
July 20 leave Niagara Falls for Washington DC
July 20-July 23 Washington DC
July 23 leave Washington DC for Smokey Mountain National Park (TN)
July 23-July 28 Smokey Mountain National Park
July 28 leave Smokey Mountains for Chicago
July 28-29 Chicago
July 29th leave Chicago for Wisconsin

Want us to stop by and visit?  Please send us a message or comment!
Want to drive out and join us for a part of the trip?  Please send us a message or comment!
Let us know what you think, we are super excited!!!
See the map below:

So, we've decided on...

We are super excited to announce that we have made our decision!

We have thought, discussed, prayed, and thought, discussed, and prayed some more.

While we would love to stay in Kenya for another two months, we are very excited about a new opportunity for our family.

While we would love to travel Europe for a month and see my amazing cousin Brooke and her family, the costs are prohibitive.

Um, two months in Wisconsin bunking up with friends and relatives, just doesn't seem like a lot of fun to us and not many of you voted for that either!

Maybe you have guessed it by now, or maybe you have clicked the wrong link and have no idea what I am talking about...either way, drum roll please....

We have decided that we will be coming back to the United States of America at the end of May.  Our flight leaves Kenya on May 27th and we are due to arrive in Chicago sometime after our connections in Amsterdam and St. Paul MN.  After arriving in the U.S. we will embark on a great American road trip!

We have already created a few drafts of our planned trip and will share that publicly soon, but first, we would like to highlight some of what we would like to accomplish on this journey.

• Visit our family and friends that we have missed while living abroad
• Visit areas that we have helped with disaster assistance over the years
• See scenic and historic sites across the country
• Continue our family time together
• Continue working on development projects as they present themselves
• Continue homeschooling our children

Natalie homeschooling today in pajamas

Natalie completing the life size multiplication table

We really value your feedback and absolutely loved reading your responses from the last survey and really want to hear from you now.

• If you were going on a road trip where would you go? and why?
• Are you a family member or friend that lives somewhere other than Wisconsin, and would like us to stop by?  If so, please let us know soon so we can add you to the plan.

We will release the latest draft tomorrow and our tentative itinerary and we are hoping you will help us develop our plan!

Thanks for the love and support