the grandparents visit

About two weeks before we left Kenya, my parents came to town.  I always love having them visit, meet my friends and be a part of my world for a little while. This trip was a little different than just a social visit.  They were visiting schools in various areas of Nairobi to get a better sense of how schools are run in Kenya, and also to see if there might be others, in addition to Gentle Bells, that they will support.  Between their running around to the schools, and our getting ready to leave, we didn't actually see them too much.  I did get a few pictures, though...

so much love

On the Saturday that they were there, we had a Gentle Bells board meeting to discuss the way forward for the school.  That was also the day that our fridge, stove, couches, etc were being picked up by the girls who bought them. We were also going to be celebrating Esther's -- the headmistress of Gentle Bells -- birthday.  Her birthday is on the 29th of February, so I wanted to make a big deal about it.  I got up early that morning to work on a decadent chocolate layer cake (off the Hershey's can in case you want to give it a go).  And it was a total flop and fail.  It got stuck coming out of the pan and was in pieces all over the place.  I was a mess, Dexter banished me from the kitchen and assured me that once we put the frosting on it we could fix it.

We could not.  

The frosting made it look worse.

I was not willing to serve this cake - even though it tasted fine - to someone who only celebrates her birthday (technically) once every four years.  By this time we'd learned that the girls coming to collect their things were (surprise!) running late because the truck they'd hired had problems. So I decided to make another cake.  This time in a 9x13 pan because I was fairly certain that it would work.  But then I ran out of cocoa powder so I threw the cake in the oven and ran down to the duka quickly to get more so I could make the frosting.  I decided I would just make the frosting at the house where the meeting was, and all would be well.

Except, I was basically doing the recipe from memory and didn't add enough cocoa powder, so instead of a rich, dark chocolate color, it was more of a pale, milk chocolate color. Still, it tasted fine, and everyone gobbled it up (with homemade mint M&M ice cream, I might add).

 the birthday girl

 the offending cake - I had a much different image in my mind . . .

 The Gentle Bells board

It all turned out okay...the cake was made and enjoyed, the oven and other items taken away, and a successful and productive meeting took place.

And I collapsed, exhausted, at the end of the day.