I'm Leaving On A Jet Plane, I Don't Know When I'll Be Back Again

It is Sunday, July 26th and I leave for the airport in less than one hour. My flight to Nairobi, Kenya leaves in 3.5 hrs. And my life feels so out of whack! I can't even express or describe how I feel right now. I'm sad, depressed, excited, anxious, nervous, confused, tired, etc. And I can't even cry! I don't know how to put that all in one word, but I know God is good and He'll meet my needs.

I'd like to thank my sister (Joy) and brother-in-law (Fernando) for all of their hard work with packing ALL of my stuff and making sure it all fits accordingly. I'd like to thank my mom for preparing my favorite meals and shopping for last minute items for me. I'd like to thank my Dad for making me laugh. Thanks to my other siblings, Joel & Jessye, for calling me before I go. I love you all tons!

My address in Kenya (which is also the address of the school) will be:
Jennifer Prather
P.O. Box 1333-00502
Nairobi, Kenya

They do not have physical addresses for homes and locations. Everything is a P.O. Box. I will not have a P.O. Box for my house, so the above address is it. I would LOVE to receive letters/cards from anyone. They suggest that the best thing to do is send stuff in padded envelopes; it doesn't matter what size. The reason being that anything in a package they charge out the whazoo for me to receive it. You can send me pictures, CD's/DVD's (not in cases), letters, whatever in those padded envelopes and they make it just fine because they generally don't open those to check what's inside. If you want to send a package, I don't want to tell you no, but know that whatever is in it I will end up paying for. The price just depends on how it looks and what they want to charge me. So, if you do send a package, make the items look as old as possible (meaning unwrap them from their original packaging and remove price tags). With packages you also have to fill out one of those green forms (custom slips) at the post office to let them know the contents of the package. So, just put "family memories" or " used ...". I hope I'm making myself clear. That's why I just think letters/cards would be easier, if you want to send anything. But, you definitely don't have to. :)

If you feel compelled to financially support me, then go to http://www.nics.org/. Click on 'Donate'. You can either mail them a check, donate online, or fill out a form for automatic withdrawal. If you write a check, on the Memo line please put 'Project #003282'. If you do it online, please select 'Missionary Project' -> 'Nairobi'-> 'Jennifer Prather, 003282'.

Thank you all for your encouragement, prayer support, and financial support. If I did not get a chance to talk to you or see you before I left, I'm GREATLY sorry! Please do not take it personal. Please keep in touch. I will have internet, but it will be MUCH slower. So, please be patient with me. I will do my best to communicate with you all and keep y'all updated. I will also let you know when I arrive there.

Prayer Requests:
Transition
All my luggage would get there in one piece
Calm nerves
Safety
Health
For my heart

You may email me at jennifer_prather@yahoo.com or jenniferprather@westnairobischool.org.
Either one works just fine! :)
And my skype name is jenniferprather, but with the slow internet who knows if that will work. This is going to be a HUGE test of patience for me. :)

I'll miss y'all tons!
Many blessings to you all!

Well, the Lord sold my truck for me this week to a neighbor down the street. It was a great answer to prayer! My dad was with me when we bought it and with me when we sold it. The man we sold it to was super nice. Here I am saying goodbye to my truck. I had it for 9 years and it served me well. Toyota's are great cars! :)

The Lord has also sold most of my furniture! Now, I'll be having a garage sale this Saturday to try and get rid of the rest of my stuff. Hope there's a good turn out!

July 4th

Our family spent the 4th at my brother's new house on base at Ft. Hood.

First thing we did was run in a 5K race early that morning.

This is before...

This is after...

Can you pick out the differences?

We spent the afternoon at the pool.

Of course, Kenzie is eating.

Cousins hanging out.

The parachuter had smoke coming out from under him with the colors of the flag.

And then we got to see Dierks Bentley in concert. Except, I found out he's married and has kids. So, that made me kind of sad. ;)

Watching the best fireworks in all of Central Texas (no wonder, there's not much to compete with).

Cousins again... aren't they so cute?!

I really like sunsets.

PFO (Pre-Field Orientation)

So, I just spent 2 weeks in Southaven, MS (right across the border from Memphis) for our orientation. There were about 300 people at this event, 200 of them being new teachers at the various 20 NICS (Network of International Christian Schools) all over the world. I learned a ton, had a blast, and met my awesome Kenya team.





























One of my new roommates in Kenya, another Jennifer. She's SUPER cool! I can't wait to be roomies! :)

Some new friends also going to Kenya. Tom is going to teach H.S. social studies and Tera is going to teach 3rd grade.

Here's my awesome principal (Kathy) and her super cool husband (Vance). It's going to be a blast to work for her. Vance will be working on building projects.

The newly-weds, Shauna and Rich. She's teaching kindergarten and he's the athletic director.

This is the wife (Lesley) of one of our new teachers (Michael), who will be teaching ESL. She's going to be working with a ministry in the slums.

This is our team bowling together. That was really fun. Guys against girls; of course guys whooped up on us. But, it was still a lot of fun.

Here's part of our team dressed up as spiderman to help celebrate the birthday of a son of another team member. Can't you just see how much fun we are going to have?! I can't wait!

Father's Day

I got home from my trip from California just in time to celebrate Father's Day with my family. It was a blast! I love being with family! We also got to spend part of our day at Six Flags.

Eating a yummy funnel cake...
















Antique cars...


































On the Mine Train Ride...

Cousins playing together...

Kenzie's obsessed with the dogs...

Essie...

Kenzie just LOVES Grandpa. She thinks he's so funny!

Kenzie is quite the poser...

Cannon doing his Wolverine pose...

Fernando getting his Father's Day present...

Grandpa getting his presents...

I gave Dad a musical Superman card because he's my hero! :)

Ellie & Essie wearing my shirts...

California Vacation

Well, I'm so sorry that it has now taken me 4 weeks to update since my last post. That's bad, I know. To begin, as soon as I finished my previous job, I took a vacation to California to visit some friends of mine. So, I flew into San Francisco and got the privilege of seeing my most favorite musical “WICKED” for the 3rd time! I was so excited! I won the lottery/cheaper tickets and Kimette, her husband, and I got to sit on the 6th row from the front. It was amazing!
















Then, we went rock climbing...

Played with her kids and her sister's kids...

Played softball...

Then went to Truckee to be with Tawny and her husband and dog...