Happy Halloween

We had an enjoyable Halloween weekend here at Tenwek. This is not a custom followed by the Kenyans, but the missionary families made the most of it. We were happy to find out that pumpkins grow abundantly here. We have already been enjoying pumpkin pancakes and pumpkin pies, but we found use for the whole pumpkin with our annual pumpkin carvings.

This year we had to use our imaginations for costumes. Anna decided on Pipi Longstockings and never waivered.

Leo initially wanted to be a pirate, but was not happy wearing a bandana or an eye patch. So we made the decision for him and convinced him to shave his head! Leo was an MK-"missionary kid." There have been a wave of mohawks on the missionary boys lately, thus Leo joined the club. He looks very cute with his new do.

All the younger kids enjoyed an afternoon of activities and games. Here is the whole group. (From left to right - Leo, Hannah, Abi, Elise, Anna F., Anna P., and Micah in front. Maggie was napping during the photo shoot.)

Anna works on decorating her pumpkin cookies with the help of the older kids.

Pumpkin races in front of the school house.

Pin the nose on the pumpkin - or on the wall!

After games the kids had a scavenger hunt around the compound with clues leading them to their next home.

Even in Africa there was plenty of candy for all.

That evening, the older kids had their own scavenger hunt which ended up at our porch. The kids made s'mores, drank Kool-Aid, and listened to a spooky story by Dr. John Cropsey. The only thing missing was the crunch of fall leaves under our feet during the trick-or-treating.