Guests

I finished my last post quite abruptly saying that our guests had arrived. It has been a week now and they are back in Kampala. They have definitely left their mark on this family.

Whenever we've hosted guests, we've been sure to "pray it up". Having someone in your home for any length of time can be easy or not-so-easy. You know? So we pray a lot before they arrive that we will be a blessing to them and that they would fit easily into our family. God has honored these prayers so many times before and this past week was no exception.

Kathleen is a pediatric nurse from Scotland who works with HIV/AIDS patients on the Sesse Islands of Lake Victoria. Her stories will turn your stomach, make you so grateful you're not there, and marvel at the way God uses ordinary people to accomplish His will. Heidi is a dental hygienist from Michigan who works with university students in Kampala. Her father is running for congress, please stop for a second and pray that God will put godly men and women in positions of authority in our government. She has a way with Ugandan university students that inspires me to give even more of myself to these students who are at such a critical junction in their lives. Heidi is on the left and Kathleen is on the right.

They both played with the kids as if they were related. Heidi even went so far as to play "Big cop, Little cop" with the them. They all put on motorcycle helmets and ran around the house for the evening - it was hilarious. Especially since the kids resemble bobble heads with the way their helmets fit.

Along with these guests, we received a new member to our family on Tuesday evening. Her name is Molly and she seems to be a bit younger than Mindy. She was almost named Heidi but when she had a significant accident on our bed the first night and then meowed in the bathroom the remaining part of the night, we thought it better to find her a new name.

I'm trying to remind myself that Mindy was exceptional in her superb use of the litter box and hopefully Molly will learn from her big sister. You can't tell from this picture but she is definitely the more spry of the two. She makes giant leaps around rooms and climbs up your clothes to reach your hands (I'll try to get a picture of that as it's quite funny if not a little painful as well). It's good for Mindy to have a friend. Now our family is complete. They have only seen the dogs through the screen door and it seems like it will be several months before it's safe to let them out of the house and know/pray the dogs won't eat them. We'll see.

And last, but not least, Dade finally lost that other front tooth. It was loose when we left Texas (a little over 3 weeks ago) and I thought he would have lost it a lot sooner. It dangled precariously for several days. He could even point it at people, which was kind of gross. Finally, Wednesday during school he sneezed and said, "my tooth!" Dara and I both just said, "Daaaade" (because he had tried to make us believe he had pulled it on several occasions already). But I looked over and there it was! It must have been a pretty strong sneeze. So here is my gap-toothed boy (it really is much cuter in person - so I will try to get a better picture before it grows in).

Nothing much

Nothing much is what is happening right now. It's a quite Sunday afternoon. The rain has come and gone for the day. Our garden and flowers were in desperate need, but our grass will need to be cut soon.

I spent most of this afternoon preparing for dinner. My hat goes off to those who can make round tortillas. I only made a dozen and my guess is that 2 were round. I start off so well, and by the third roll of the rolling pen - I have an oblong/rectangle/triangular shaped tortilla. The beautiful thing about making enchiladas (which is what is for dinner) is that the shape doesn't really matter vs. tacos - where the shape is definitely more noticed.

After I made the enchiladas, I set to making banana pudding. It's a shame the kids doen't like it because it's so yummy. Actually, it leaves more for me so I'm not really complaining.

Now, we're waiting for our guests to arrive anytime. There is a transformational development workshop in town this week and we have 2 ladies who will be staying with us. They are fellow missionaries with AIM and we enjoy both of them. Joel will be attending the workshop as well and I think he's looking forward to it. Transformational development is a hot topic these days here in Africa. In time we (missionaries in general) have learned that going to a needy country and providing a lot of "things", including money, isn't very helpful. Just look at our welfare system. It's better to find out what is working well in a community and building on that. We'll see what he learns - it should be good.

Well, our friends are here...gotta go!

Pictures

To make up for not having "first day of school" pictures, we took "second day of school" pictures this morning.

This is Dara pretending she loves math...

And here's Dade showing how he loves to practice handwriting.

The internet is working so fast I thought I'd add some animal pictures for your pleasure. Here are some of the bats residing in our tree

Here's a closer look...

One of the dogs (we think it was Kwita) caught one a few days ago. They are quite gross up close. We even found one in Dade's room this morning (shhhh...we didn't tell the kids because who could sleep knowing that a bat may be in their room?!). It was a baby and we think it got stuck on the roof, came through the tiles into the attic, and made it through the one hole we have into the house. Anyway, it was gross too.

Speaking of dogs...here are pictures to prove how big they've grown.

This is Kwita - the boss

Rhea...

And last, but definitely not least, Amani.

As a finale and just because she's cute...Mindy sleeping in our window sill.

Finally

We finally started school today. Dara was so excited that she had written all her spelling words on Saturday. That was more than I knew what to do with. All in all, it was a good school day. I think deep down even Dade enjoyed getting back into a routine. The sad part is that this is the first "first day of school" I haven't taken pictures. So sad...

The sadness continued when I was realised this evening that I haven't posted since last Tuesday - what is happening to me?! :) We've been without day time power for the past 3 days (Fri-Sun) and that is my excuse. So, let me just catch you up on a couple of things.

1) Ruth and I made bagels on Friday. They were ugly but tasty. It was a longer process than it should have been, but it was fun. There was not enough sun inside to help the bagels rise so we had to put them outside. The trick was finding a place where the dogs and/or ants would not get them. I finally put them on top of a piece of tin that comes off of David and Kate's house. It worked great. We had a great recipe from a missionary in Tanzania - complete with pictures. Even so, it wasn't easy. It's difficult to make holes in dough without leaving finger indentions all over! So, like I said, they were not attractive, but practice makes perfect.

This picture was taken between the boiling stage and the baking. The end product looked somehow better, but I didn't get a picture.

Our desire would be for Ruth to be able to sell them to other Mazungus and start a business where she cooks to order. The only problem we have now is our oven. Ruth and I knew from the beginning that it doesn't get as hot as it should. The up side is that we never burn a thing. The down side is that it takes almost double the recomended time to cook anything. So, I brought back an oven thermometer and discovered that my max temperature is...are you ready? after 1 1/2 hours of preheating we reached...260 degrees!!!! No wonder it takes forever. :) When we get money saved up we'll probably by another one. We spend enough in extra propane to make it worth while to get a new one. If anyone has ideas on how to make the flame higher, I'd love to hear.

p.s. I had a few pictures to upload but have grown so weary in waiting for them to load - that I've given up - maybe next time - good night!

Home at last!

After 2 nights in Kampala (of waking up for 2-3 hours during the night trying to adjust to the time change), Sunday came and we were finally on our way backto Mbarara. We like to travel on Sundays because the traffic is much lighter.

It wasn't until we pulled into our compound did I feel as if I was home. We were met by Ruth, David, Kate, Andrew, Silivia (Ruth's sister), Seb (the British young man who has been staying in our house), Zillah (a teammate - also British), Lara (a Texan nurse serving here for 1 year), a second Ruth (from Northern Ireland here until the end of December), and Zillah's pastor and his wife. It was such a great reception.

Our dogs are huge - probably full grown (at least that's what I'm telling myself). David says they have turned into nice guard dogs. I'll try to take some pictures of them soon. We walked in to a hallway of treasures - our luggage.

Joel and Seb had the majority of things out of the action packers by dark. Ruth loves the pans, utensils, and cleaning supplies we brought back. You should have seen her face when she saw the pizza cutter. When I explained how it worked she just had this funny smile on her face. I couldn't tell if she thinks we crazy or not for not wanting to just use a knife like we have been.

I do have something interesting to share - the bats are back - and in very large numbers! They hang together in bunches and weigh enough to break several large branches. I've decided to be thankful they eat mosquitoes and not people (since I have no means with which to make them leave anyway).

We thought we had found 2 kittens right away. Unfortunately, the mother never returned and they died. We told our pastor this afternoon we were looking and he called back within a couple of hours to say he found one at the church. We picked her up and brought her home. We have named her Mindy and she has already used her litter box (really it's a plastic plate sine she's not big enough to crawl into the basin we used for Mikey). She is quite young and it seems as if she has had a short, rough life. Her tail seems to have been chewed on a bit and her left sided whiskers are curled as if they were singed.

You can tell by Dara's face, she is already loved dearly.

This picture is more to show you Dara's dirty feet more than Mindy. It's all good!

We are here!

Praise the Lord! We arrived, tired but content, this morning. We all slept, as well as you can on an airplane. And all 20 pieces of checked baggage made it with us and through customs without a hitch - thank you for your prayers! We are all about to eat lunch and rest for a couple of hours here in Kampala.

This is a picture of a good majority of our luggage heading to our home in Mbarara. We will go back on Sunday.

And to all a goodnight…

I'm writing this a day before I'll be able to post it. Right now it is 6:23pm in London (12:23 pm in Arlington). Dara is stretched out over two chairs and her body is twitching as she falls asleep. Today she has slept in an airplane seat, a seat on the subway/tube that runs through London, and now the airport seat before she does it again on another airline. Dade just returned from brushing his teeth with Joel. He's skipping around the rows of seats with the silly McDonald's toy he got today. He slept on the airplane and the subway too.

Let me go back a bit and give testimony to how God helped us get checked in. Since Monday ladies who work in the travel department of AIM have been trying to pre-pay for our extra baggage. The computer system of British Airway has been having difficulties. So emails were sent to prepare the people at DFW for the 20 large pieces of luggage coming their way. Well, about 11am on Wednesday, the computer system was working and Joel was able to pre-pay for the luggage (which saved us $160). Our children's pastor, Charles, and dear friend, Bryan, helped load up all of the luggage into a church van and deposit them at DFW. It went so smoothly! There was no one in line when we arrived. The duty manager working had seen the email and was expecting us. When the last piece of checked luggage headed down the conveyor belt, there were about 12 people in line to check in. I know they were probably not grateful we arrived first but I sure was. We were hoping our luggage would all be under the 51 pound maximum, but I really wasn't 100% sure. They were! It was great.

The 9 hour flight to London was uneventful. We arrived tired but ready for our 13 hour layover. I think we did an amazing job of seeing London in a short time. The tube took about 1 hour to get to down town, and Dade wasn't sure he liked it when we were underground. He worried about what would happen if the train broke down – a legitimate concern and I could only assure him that I was sure they had a plan for that.

We walked all over London (I would highly recommend riding one of the tour buses). We first had to find a store to buy a few pieces of warmer clothes. Dade was in shorts and was quite chilly. Dara and I had thin sweaters that didn't keep out the chill. So, after shopping we headed off in search of something tourists should want to see. We started off in the general direction and eventually came upon a crowd of people surrounding some guards on horses. Next thing we knew there were more horses with guards coming and people were taking pictures like crazy. Apparently, we were just in time to witness the changing of the guards. One lady told me, and I'm sure I looked about as clueless as could be, that the guards coming had just left their post at Buckingham Palace and were passing off the duty to the next shift. The guards all looked so young – like barely 20 years old and the horses were all black and very tall. It was interesting.

Fom there, we walked to Big Ben and the House of Parliament, and the London Eye. We saved our money and didn't ride the London Eye (which is a huge Ferris wheel). Joel thought he'd fall asleep, Dara didn't want to be that high, Dade thought it looked a bit scary but still wanted to do it, and I was just too stingy. So, we ate at McDonalds and walked to Westminster Abbey – which I thought was very beautiful.

We continued our trek all the way to Buckingham Palace and saw a few more guards. There was police there too and I have to wonder if the guards could actually protect the queen if needed or if they are just there for the tourists. There are few things like that around London. Dara noticed the red telephone booths and said, "it's just like the movies". Apparently the British are proud of them because you can buy postcards, magnets, and pictures of them all around town. The other thing Dade thought was a bit silly (and I had to agree) was the hats worn by the policemen. They're the big funny looking hats from the old movies. I can't believe they are practical. I couldn't bring myself to take a picture of one; it just seemed a bit too rude. You'll have to take my word for it. After the palace we caught the tube back to the airport (it was the return trip that put the kids to sleep and almost put Joel and me to sleep as well).

All of this we did in 5 hours and we were even more exhausted when we finally passed through security for the final time. No wonder Dara's asleep. Hopefully Joel and I will be able to sleep on the way to Uganda. Sooner or later we should get tired enough to make up for sleeping in a chair – I'm so glad the kids can do it. If we had it to do all over again, we would have rented a room for the day at a hotel near the airport and showered and rested. Oh well, we live and learn – at least we should. So I know it's not Christmas yet, but I'd like to say "and to all a goodnight!" We've arrived safely and I'm off to bed. (at least I wished I were – in reality it's only 6:55pm in London and our plane doesn't depart until 9:15pm – but we're getting closer!)

What do you do?

We are packed and ready to go, at least the first 18 pieces! We are taking back 12 action packers, 4 duffle bags, 2 boxes of books, and 2 suitcases (not pictured). With all of that, our carry-ons consist of 4 backpacks, 1 guitar, and 2 carry-on pieces. This is crazy! Please pray it all arrives with us Friday morning.
So, how do you spend the last 24 hours in America? You fill your day with things you can only be done here.

The morning started out with a trip to the mall (it's lovely to shop for a sweater and have more than one choice in one size); Weldon and Joel visited while the kids played on some bounce houses while Charlotte and I shopped. From there we went to play lazer tag (which we all highly recommend); then to the Movie Tavern and watched a 3D movie while lunch was served; then off to Cold Stone Creamery for the best ice cream in the world. Finally we went back to the house to fold a load of laundry that came from a real dryer and stayed there until we were able to tell Dara's friend, Addy, "goodbye".

You'd think that'd be enough culture and eating but NO! We stopped by to tell my grandparents goodbye. They are both 86 years old and you just never know what will happen over the next two years. To quote James Taylor: it is important "to shower the people you love with love - show them the way that you feel". So that's what today was about.

From Grandpa's house we went to a park that Dade has been talking about since we landed and the kids played - barefoot of course. It was a lot of fun on a beautiful day.

Dara didn't want her picture taken at this time but smiled after Dade ran back to play - you'll just have to imagine...

After all that running around we went to El Chico because we all enjoy their food. I miss Mexican food when we're gone. It was so good and I think I might pop. What a great day full of stuff we can only do here. And the best part was that we were able to see people we can only see here...that's how we spent our last day...and we are happy.

We leave tomorrow afternoon and would appreciate your prayers. I will post again sometime Friday - to say we arrived safely (thanks to your prayers). See you before too long!

p.s. Dade lost his first top tooth this morning!