One of the core themes of my growing up and adulthood is that...

As cliche as it might be, I do try to choose a word for every...

Today has been a tough day with some sad news, so I find myself...

Last year after our thanksgiving meal, the girls and David and...

Looking through my phone, I saw a LOT Of crafty projects that...

I remember Alli and Anna getting the last volume of Harry...

Annabelle Shirk, our personal photographer, took this one....

2020 has been relentless. . .in the day to day, I find myself...

The hospital is in the middle of several renovations and hung a...

Unexpected. . . everything about this year seems to progress in...

We have been reading and thinking and talking and playing . ....

Father’s Day is hard for me. On one hand, it’s...

Tonight, we sat down to try to explain to the girls what is...

Hello. Annabelle here. I will be answering a few questions to...

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3: The Day After COVID I think often about...

If you missed, find Part 1 here. Phase 2: Response The...

It has only been 8 weeks since the world was upended. ...

So how do you move an entire children’s ward in 72 hours? Once...

This vacation has been very quiet. It hasn’t lost any of the...

Today is Arianna’s 40th birthday, and if you want to understand...

Somewhere in the weddings and trips from the fall, Madeline and...

Four years ago, Shruti and I sat at my kitchen table and tried...

Arianna and I have been wrestling with whether to take on the...

I landed last night at Jomo Kenyatta airport after 2 months in...

I woke up Christmas morning singing Frozen 2.  Into the...

Arianna and I visited my mother yesterday.  She continues to...

We are almost a month behind on this post. . .but 4 hours after...

Arianna and I travelled with Ken & Sarah and their to far...

I can vividly remember the first time I realized Susan and I...

The past weeks have been a whirlwind, to Ohio for our dear...

The second question I asked my team at our planning meeting was...

So last week, we had a pediatrics team meeting to brainstorm...

I push buttons as some push brooms.But, my job is not merely to...

Summer in Kenya isn’t the same as America. It started cold and...

I did a lot of photo-taking yesterday, a spectacular day with...

David wrote this poem on Sunday morning after a downpour...

Q. what’s your super hero name and what’s your...

Q. what’s your super hero name and what’s your...

The nurses and clinical officers joke that when I come in for...

Lots of articles will talk about how to love people that your...

June is traditionally cold and rainy in Kijabe – and this...

The split second edge between birth and breath moments seem...

In the midst of a too-busy day in a too-busy week. . . the rain...

My newest tiny obsession is LeapSecond an app that let’s...

Totally normal greeting, right? But today, when I heard it, I...

Today, I walked from patient to patient on the floor. First...

No jewel has shone like dew blue daybreak flowers. Diamonds...

As our oncology service at Kijabe has grown under my friend...

When David left for America last week in the most last minute...

This was a tough Mother’s Day by any measure. It’s...

It’s strange. . .what my girls will remember about me is...

This week, America has felt really far away. That may sound...

David’s mom was diagnosed with Alzheimers 3 years ago,...

One of the best parts of living in Kijabe is access to the...

I walked Annabelle to school this morning, then made the usual...

We have had a premature baby explosion in the last 2 weeks....

We have a child in ICU right now who hasn’t been able to...

(started on april 3rd . . .appropriate blog to have taken me a...

Downpour, darkness Tiny stars emerge Crawl from unseen holes...

Seven years ago, Mardi and Jennifer started collecting a lot of...

When you first move to a new place, it is easy to write. You...

Sometimes birthdays bring up memories – ones we...

First day of the Pediatric Emergency Medicine fellowship at...

I have been in a screen time battle with myself for the last...

a few of David’s poems and art from the last few weeks. ....

“Let my courage be like a rock, let the daily task of the...

I think about legacy Often Constantly? The thought plays ...

We had a quiet afternoon yesterday and the girls, David, and I...

Light to split darkness Life to spring forth on  the third...

Friday night was the annual Kijabe staff party, a time to dress...

The last three months have been a textbook lesson in feeling...

Every year at thanksgiving, I  find myself pondering the big...

Last week went by in a whirlwind. We realized with...

When we first moved to Kijabe, one of our NICU nurses was doing...

A Collection of Stories What shapes our lives? Sights, sounds,...

If you read all the posts, you’ll see I have been a...

Now that we have been in Kenya for 4! years, we have been...

Carnival this year was extremely fun.  Every year carnival is...

“Daktari, this is casualty. We have a new patient. We are...

  Coming back from 6 weeks in the US, my perspective on...

I have hesitated to write this post because it doesn’t...

  Every so often a unique opportunity to see a new and...

We just finished a whirlwind adventure in the US. . . David...

Things have been quiet here on the blog as we traverse the...

We arrived in Kenya 4 years ago with only 13 bags between the 4...

Certain moments stand as markers of our time here. Vincent’s...

We woke up before the sun to drive into the immigration house...

  We’ve been having some trouble with blog post...

This week I missed my train and took an 8 hour bus to Mombasa...

He is risen. . . It is the Easter chorus of my childhood....

  All of time is pointing to God’s work of...

My mom had a phrase that she use to repeat frequently in her...

I had a great talk with Arianna the other day the other day...

This week I made a whirlwind trip back to the US for my...

 Several times since I have come to Kenya, I have had good...

Most of the time, Kijabe is home. . . friends, our colleagues,...

In the midst of election uncertainty and the continued nursing...

Every year, I have fun planning and plotting with the girls...

When we first arrived in Kenya, I remember walking by the...

from Annabelle: I’ve been enjoying my first my few weeks...

  When we were back in the States and people asked us what...

Some of our best friends came to visit us for several weeks,...

A container arrived this week, loaded with pediatric,...

32 years ago, I was a flower girl in my Uncle John and Aunt...