Cloooose the doooors!!!

Today it was Ruth yelling these words throughout the house. Sometime back it was Dara yelling this repeatedly as she ran through the yard, "Ruth, close the doors!" These words are said with such fervor my heart begins to race, and I jump up to shut any door(s) closest to me. If you were resting while reading a book (which is what I was doing when Ruth shouted today), you might think the house was being invaded by some army.

However, this has happened enough times for all of us to be able to translate it into our minds. Here is what it really means, "Molly is bringing an animal into the house - probably alive!" She almost always runs down the hall into Dara's room with her newest captive. Today it was just a lizard, which is a bit beneath her as she usually has a bird or mouse.

I'm really no help at all to Ruth as my natural instinct is to hide behind whatever door I closed last. She just laughs and "encourages" Molly to get back outside. Have I said lately how much I love Ruth?! Ruth doesn't judge me at all as she protects me from the critters I fear. In my defense, I don't fear lizards!

Queen Elizabeth

A couple of weeks ago we went for a day-holiday with 4 other families near Queen Elizabeth National Park. There's a resort nearby with a nice swimming pool and decent food.

The two hours of driving led us around small mountains, through several tea plantations,and even past the "Pentagon". I've never been there before! It was so much fun to watch the dads relax and play some sort of brutal-water-basket ball. For a time, this relegated the younger kids to the "kiddy" pool that looked equally fun.Dara was delighted to still get to swim in the rain. When it was finally time to leave, we followed the Hollenbecks along the road near the actual Park. We didn't even have to go into the park to enjoy the wildlife (unlike the cartoons, these animals didn't seem to care about the 'boundaries' of the reserve). These monkeys were just sitting on the side of the road.There were different types of antelope and a few wart hogs, but the pictures didn't come out worthy of sharing.

As we went further down the road, we discovered this sign . It's definitely a first for us. We've seen "duck crossing" signs and "deer crossing" ones, but never a warning for"elephant charging".

It gave us a hope that we might get to see some elephants and sure enough... As we got closer to them, this momma didn't appreciate our attention and flared her ears at us.
This one was on the other side of the road and didn't seem to mind posing for a few pictures.
It was a wonderful day of enjoying God's creation and the good friends He's given us here!

The Gruffalo

The Gruffalo is a story by Julia Donaldson. Dara's last English chapter was about writing a play. We modified it a bit into directing a play. So for the past several weeks Dara and her friends have worked really hard to memorize the lines and prepare for the performance.

Yesterday parents and friends gathered to watch the final production. Someone made the comment that back at home we don't take the time to do backyard-plays (he called it an African-play). I think he's right, and it's one of the many things I can enjoy about life here!

Here is the cast: from left to right: Gaines Tucker as the fox, Dara as the narrator, Zachary Hollenbeck as the snake, Campbell Hutton as the mouse, Joel as the Gruffalo, and Dade as the owl. Initially Dade had wings made from card board, but at the last minute decided to ditch them since they weren't comfortable. He's perched in his "tree" which is a ladder covered with a sheet.Dara was the narrator and pretended to be a traveler sharing a story. Thank you Ms. Donaldson for writing such a fantastic story!

Happy Independence Day

After having a gloomy Sunday, we thankfully embraced the spirit of the holiday and ended up having a lovely 4th of July.

Dara was convinced we needed to have a flag cake and proceeded to pick out the recipe and get to work. All I did to help her was do the actual baking (we had a tight baking schedule because Ruth was needing to make bagels too) and make the icing. Joel helped a bit with the icing, especially the stars. But Dara did the vast majority of the work and I am content saying that she made the cake and it was yummy. At 3 o'clock we headed over to the Huttons for a day of celebration with over 30 of our dear friends. We played horseshoes.
I must teach my kids to stick out their tongues when they're concentrating because they both did it!We also had a watermelon seed spitting contest. Zillah, one of the 3 British friends sharing the day (the apparently celebrate our Independence day for different reasons), had never spit watermelon seeds and took some pride in not being very good at it - she said it isn't very proper to spit (and I agree except in this situation) :)

Most of the seed spitting pictures are understandably not flattering so I've thoughtfully declined to post them, but they're so funny that I'll share them individually upon request!

The high light of the day was water balloon launching game. You play with a water balloon, 3 people to use the balloon launcher, and people running around trying to catch the balloon on the way down. The team with the most water collected at the end is the winner. Because the water mostly splashes out of the bucket (as seen in the next picture), it's a bit difficult to really tell who wins.

This is Dade after he caught a balloon with his face. I was a bit worried about how he would respond when everyone laughed. Plus, it doesn't feel very good as these balloons came down with enough force to break two of the plastic bowls! But, I couldn't have been more proud. I highly recommend this game and think I'd like to make it a new tradition. It was soooo much fun.

We didn't have fire works, but we did have 4 sparkly candles, lots of food, and good friends. At the end of the day, Dara and I agreed that if we have to be away from home for this holiday - we were exactly where we would want to be!

Homesick

For the past couple of days I have been more homesick than normal. Our life here is pretty wonderful, without a lot of the worries I had when we lived in the U.S. There's no peer pressure to look a certain way or wear the right clothes. Imagining life with a pre-teen in the States, I probably don't appreciate this enough. We are blessed with lots of family time in a culture that is relationship-oriented not time-oriented. It's a blessing for sure!

but...I'm watching 1 single teammate and 1 family of teammates pack up and leave to return to their homes on Tuesday. Our unit leader will be leaving with his family at the end of September. July 4th is tomorrow. And I'm missing home.

I'd like to see our two nephews who have been born while we've been away. I'd like to go fishing with my dad, shopping with my mom and sisters, garden with my in-laws, chat with my friends, and just be. But, this is not my lot in life for this time. I have no doubt we are exactly where God want us, and that is a huge blessing. Some days I just struggle with being content and this is one of those days. Why am I telling everyone this? So you'll remember to pray for us/me in this area. Thanks!

Ruth's Bagels

Many of you may know that Ruth has started a bagel making business. It is growing slowly but surely. She is having to be deliberate to grow at a manageable rate.

She has used her money to buy all her supplies and most of her utensils. The only big thing she uses of ours is the oven. She's saving up to buy a charcoal oven which will be cheaper than gas and larger. This is the cooling rack she had made (as well as pans and a large pot lid for boiling the bagels). It is a joy to watch her work hard to make the most wonderful bagels in Uganda. At a recent 5k race she was able to display them. She even had shirts made!


Ruth is a gem we are privileged to have as part of our family. It is a blessing to watch her grow.