Jinja and the Capital

Here are some pictures of our trip up north to pick up Lady. Emma and Simon playing on the beach of Lake Victoria, the largest lake in Africa!

Some Weaver birds in a tree at the resort in Jinja where we stayed on night. It is hard to tell from the picture, but these birds are making a nest by weaving grass together. They create a round structure that has a small place to sleep, as well as a door on the bottom. AMAZING!!

Checking out a nest that had fallen out of the tree. Too cool!

It is kinda dark but this is lake Victoria, and the "source of the Nile". The resort where we stayed was started by a MK and he gives discounts to missionaries. It was nice, but very affordable..... rumor has it that he is building a third resort here in our home town!! You to can have an awesome African experience, we would love to have you!!!

The Coop

Here is the new chicken coop. Honey had to look all over for good chickens to put in to the new coop. While he was waiting he had some boxes made for the chickens to lay their eggs in. The box was for 6 chickens. When he finally found a chicken seller and he told him how big the coop was, the man said that 6 wasn't enough. You need 10 he said. So Honey came home with ten. Some of you have asked.... and no we don't have a 24 hour noise maker (aka rooster)..... yet. I think we might get one so we can have chicks and give them away. And yes I like the suggestion that the chicken(s) with the best egg production wins.... but I'm not sure how to keep up with the count. No one is usually outside when the eggs are layed..... so who's to know which egg came from which chicken, not me.

The six boxes that were made... apparently some of them share nests, cause we find multiple eggs in some of the boxes.

Chowin' down on the yummy corn and mash that gives their eggs that wonderful golden color. Honey is supposed to pick up a few eggs at the market today, so we can show you the color difference.

Lady

For the past three years (since we moved to Waco and had to find new homes for our pets) we have promised the girls that once we moved to Uganda we would get a dog. We had only been in the country a few days when they started asking about when and what kind. Last week we heard about some German Shepard pups in Jinja. They were ten months old and had already been trained in some commands. The girls immediately started thinking of names.

Some on the list included : Lily, Crispen, Fingal, and Cedar. When we arrived in Jinja we quickly were able to narrow down the choices between Max and Lady. We chose Lady. And since Lady wasn't one of the names on our original list we added Cedar making her Lady Cedar in honor of "Queen Cedar of Mistmantle"
Here she is after a long night's work. Seeing that she is a guard dog more than a pet we will let her be lazy (for the most part) during the day.

Lady and Curly posing for a picture. She stays chained up most of the morning. Her routine is something like this: guard, get put in the kennel, eat breakfast, chill out on the chain, after lunch play with her "pack", chill on the front porch, eat dinner, guard. Easy life!

She is a really good dog, sweet and gentle with the kids, but could be threatening if she needed to be. Right now we keep her away from every one but family.... so she won't think that every one in the compound is a friend. We have to set boundaries so she will be aggressive with people she doesn't know. She can sit, lie down, heal and kinda stay, when she wants to.

Because she has spent her whole "life" on a chain, she is unlike most dogs that we have ever owned. You know how most dogs pester you for your attention..... she doesn't do that. We have to ask her to come to us. and when we are finished petting her, she doesn't nudge our hand for more attention... she goes back to her corner and sits back down! CRAZY! But I kinda like it!

We love having her..... Honey and Baby Girl enjoy singing to her: "You're our Lady and we're your clan". Thanks Kenny for that inspiration!

C-H-I-C-K-E-N ...

Ok my post is really about chickens.... but I will have to get back to that. While writing the title I was flooded with memories from camp! There was this crazy song that we sang that went something like this:

C - is the way to begin and
H - is the next letter in and
I - is the middle of the word and
C - you have already heard and
K - is a Kind of a friend
E - we are nearing the end.

C H I C K E N that's the way to spell chicken!

Does anyone (other than my BFF) remember that song, or have ever heard of it?? who would write such silliness?? it really makes no sense at all!!

So anyway.... back to the chickens.

In Africa people rarely feed their chickens much, and as a result the yolks are pale and watery. They can really be quite disgusting at times.... which can be a challenge, when you can't have milk due to allergies and there is not a huge supply of meat to be found. Eggs are one of my favorite sources of protein..... unless they are disgusting watery eggs.

In the US I could eat two eggs for breakfast and be good to go..... here make it 3 or 4 easy! We FLY through eggs on the day that every one wants some for breakfast.

I say all that to say that this week we got 10 hens! Somehow, Honey decided that chickens would be a great idea! That they would be a huge blessing and we could help some of our neighbors, by giving them eggs... or better yet baby chicks!

HOWEVER.... when we total up the $ spent on building the coop, getting the supplies, stocking up on food, and purchasing the hens themselves (we got 10).... we discovered that each chicken would have to lay AT LEAST 170 eggs before she had made up the initial investment. And after they all had laid their eggs.... they would have to draw straws and two would have to become dinner as well!

Hopefully they will each lay an egg a day (that would be 10 a day).... for over 24 weeks!

The girls and I are going to graph their egg production.... day 1: two eggs!

Once there is a significant difference in the color.... I will post some pictures so you can see why, it really doesn't matter the cost so long as we have golden yellow eggs to eat!!!

Cluck Cluck

Timely rain

In order for this post to really hit home I have to back up a few days (even weeks) and really make myself vulnerable



Our Home City is hot and dry right now..... dry to the point of rationing water. If you are not careful, you might run out. We have before and it is not fun!! Dry season usually lasts until March. In the midst of heat and dryness I keep remembering a question that was asked of me before we moved... "When it is hot and dusty and you miss home.... will you still know that you know this is were God called you?"



I know that I know.... but some times I wonder about the passion I have about it. I have been reading "Through the Gates of Splendor" by Elizabeth Elliot, and I am convicted by the passion of these men. The book is full of quotes from their diaries that will cause you to rethink your calling and commitment. This morning I was reflecting on my passion, and really felt like I came up short.



I was listening to "Barren Land" by Shane & Shane.... and felt my heart crying out for the presence of the Lord to rain down on me. I want to be full, over flowing, producing fruit.... .but until it starts raining there won't be much to see.



Fast forward a little.... Kent came home with all his market finds this afternoon. We were in need of a trash can, and a few plastic basins as well as another fan. We have needed these items for a while... but we haven't had the time to go and hunt them down until today. He also brought home, different fruits and veggies that needed to be washed and sterilized.



Beginning dinner preparations, I made a startling discovery. We were out of water. There was nothing left in our reserve tank. I wasn't sure what we were going to do. Last time we ran our of water, we were staying in a Guest House, and they were kind and brought us full jerry cans so we could at least wash dishes, bodies, and maybe flush once or twice.



While pondering the problem large, dark clouds began moving in. We were amazed, really in AWE of the timing. WE took the new trash can out side, along with the new basins and prepared them as rain catchers. Then we started looking around for anything else that might hold water.



My pots, bowls and Tupperware all made the final selection. At first we weren't sure if it would actually rain. The clouds looked like they might pass us by, but then the heavens opened up and water started pouring!!

As little pots and bowls would fill up, the girls would pour them into the jerry cans and basins. We had an awesome water collecting brigade going. It was raining so hard that it only took a few moments for each of the buckets to fill up. We needed more buckets, something else to hold water, but all my cabinets were empty. "Lord... give me creativity! What can we use??"

TRUNKS! Sitting in the corner of the dining room there were four empty trunks!! I couldn't believe it. I grabbed two and headed out side, threw them open, then headed back in for the other two. We are cooking, and filtering rainwater now. Before, we had nothing yet we never went without!! God is truly amazing!!

After all the excitement was over, and I was thanking Jesus for the inspiration, He reminded me of my plea for him to rain on me!! WOW!!! How humbling. It isn't really supposed to rain for another few weeks... God gave us a Miracle!

THANK YOU!!! NOW LET ME BE FRUITFUL!!

Our home is a nice large three bedroom home, located in the senior quarters, where the English first settled how ever many years ago. There is one giant bathroom.... and two closet type bathrooms... one holds the shower and the other has the potty. Both "closets" have a small sink as well. I'm glad that it doesn't get cold here... or else I would NOT agree to having a giant bathroom!!This is our porch. The floor is covered in a tile that is supposed to resemble rocks... it is kinda coo looking. We have traditional African porch furniture (on the right) and the third seat to the van (on the left) as seating options. We really enjoy the mornings... it is very cool and pretty at that time of day!

This is a view of the girls room. We decided to put them all in the Master so that we could use the other room for school. They each have their own double poster bed, complete with mosquito netting! Plenty of room for them to double up when we have company (HINT HINT) They have spent the last three weeks sharing twin beds, so to have a double all to themselves.... WOW!

This is a shot from the corner of the living room into the dining room.... we got an extremely small dining table with the idea that we will have a custom one built in a few months. We have 2- two seater couches that go with the chair that you see in the picture. They look funny in such a large area.... but we will fill in with more stuff (plant and thinks) sooner or later.

This is part of the school room... I had a hard time getting to zoom far enough our on my camera to really get a good shot of all the different rooms...... Each girl gets their own desk. I know we are probably spoiling them now.... but they were super cheep, and I was really tired "quit shaking the table" and "get you stuff of my side" and other such sibling phrases... so really it is Mommy that is getting spoiled here :)

Another shot of the school room... Love the giant book shelf it holds EVERYTHING and the spaces are large enough that all my tall books can be shelved the right way, and not on their sides anymore!! Woo Hoo!

This it the 10' tall fence that surrounds our "compound". No we are not living like David what's his name.... that is what they all homes that have a fence with barbed wire around them. There is a metal security gate, and a little "shack" for a guard too, if we want to hire one to be our watchman.

This is the view outside our gate... that is the drive way. I'm curious to see what it looks like during rainy season. We have been told that this is the absolute hottest time of the year, and if you can survive January and February you are gold!Last but not least.... here is the Van! It is obviously several feet taller than most vans, especially around here, so you can imagine the stares that we get climbing out. Not to mention our four, lovely blond haired daughters... they are something too!

Honey's favorite feature is the sleeping/storage compartment up on top! It is a great place to but extra luggage when picking up friends from the airport (HINT HINT). It can hold nine comfortably, but more could squish if need be. It hauled all FIVE of our beds (solid wood beds) back from the capital. We are going to go camping in it soon. There is and awesome place near here where you can go camping... that would be so cool!!

It's here!

It's the post with all the pictures... their not much to see, but they are the pictures that go with some of my earlier posts.

The U-haul full of all our stuff.... some of that went back to Lubbock.

Waiting for the next plane.... we are leaving the COUNTRY!Crashing after we arrived in the Capital!The guest house where we stayed the first few days! Very nice... and they have an AWESOME internet connection that we haven't been able to get ANYwhere else!Washing the laundry!Getting help with the laundry.Lettin' it ALL hang out! :)The LOOOOONG BuMpY road to get to our home city! Those speed bumps were put there on purpose, to help keep the roads from getting torn up. They can go for MILES at a time.... fortunately they remove them after the road has cured well. Our second trip up north, went so much faster because they had already removed a lot of the bumps!The FOG guest house where we stayed our first week kin our new city!

Battle wounds from the night the mosquitoes ate at the all you can eat blood buffet!

I have taken more.... but my battery on the camera died before I could get everything downloaded..... soon I will have pictures of the van, of our home city and our friends. You may have to wait a while before you get to see pictures of the capital... I want/need to take a picture of the traffic so that you have a better idea why the Van Guy was so excited thatHoney was driving himself.

It's late..... almost 1am.... and we start school in the morning! Can't wait for that!

Favor

Favor.... My husband seems to have it where ever he goes.... many of you can testify to that!

So when we arrived in here, we met a sweet young lady (22) who is here for 8 months working in our home city.... she was on both flights that we had, and we didn't really meet her until we landed and Honey helped her get her luggage out to the car. We have since met her coworker as well and are quickly establishing a great relationship with both young women!! Thank you Jesus for giving me friends!! That is a huge answer to prayer.

These ladies, Ms. Ashley and Ms Chrissy are here with us in the capital, and we are really enjoying their company, and so are the girls! It is great... when we go out and are walking on the streets, there is an adult for each child! AWESOME!

Saturday morning was our big shopping day where we went to several stores and bought all the stuff that we need, but wouldn't fit in our trunks. Mops, brooms, dishes, pillows, fans, emergency lights, hand soap.... you get the idea. Before we left on our excursion, Honey prayed and asked God for favor, he asked for opportunities to share and be a blessing.

You will never believe what happened next.........





GOD answered!




Didn't see that one coming did ya! First stop was coffee beans. Not top in my priority list, but Honey wanted/needed it so we began the hunt. The first store that we were looking for, was non existent, so we had to go with option B. Honey and Ms. Chrissy went in to get the beans... the rest of us waited in the car. We waited and waited and waited.... and had reached "that point" when they returned with the an answer to prayer.

While in the store they asked a VERY pregnant woman if they could pray for her, and when others saw what was going on they started to get in line. Even the employees, left customers waiting, so that they could receive prayer! In the end it was worth the wait! God allowed us to be a blessing!

Later, Honey had his first fender bender. Now usually in Uganda, when you get into a minor accident like the one we had..... most Ugandans are going to get all that they can out of you... especially if you are white. However the gentleman that we "ran into" is a professor at the university, and was very kind. VERY kind. He wasn't angry and was totally understanding. They exchanged numbers and information... when Honey called him later, the professor told him that the estimate he got on having the car repaired was $90. That is it... $90. Thank you LORD for allowing us to back into a gracious honest man!!

While we have been here getting established, we have been attending the Wototo church. They have the main church here in the Capital, but they also have several church plants as well, one of them being in our home city. They have a very similar vision for what we want to do, and why we moved here in the first place. During all of our training we have been encouraged to work with others that are doing what we want to do.... no reason to re-invent the wheel, so to speak.

The service last week, while we were in our home city, was dead on as far as what we want to see happen in Gulu..... the pastor even gave numbers.... if 20 of us reach just 1 person this year, and next year 40 just reach one person.... They see it, they are right on the edge and it is so exciting!

I say all this to say that while we were out buying all our household goods.... Honey saw the head pastor of the Wototo church! We wasn't going to say anything, but he prayed real quick and felt like he should... and the pastor was very encouraging, suggested that we visit with the pastor in our home city and said that they want to partner with anyone that is expanding the Kingdom! YEA!!! Sometimes this almost seems too easy..... PLEASE PRAY that it stays easy!

I am sure there are other stories... like Honey getting "pulled over" for running a red light on Friday. The police literally blow a whistle and point a finger and you have to pull over. No cars, no lights, nothing but their finger! Anyway.... Honey unknowingly ran a red light, and the officer was very gracious and let him off with out a ticket....

That was Friday, today (Sunday) he got pulled over, at the same intersection, by the same officer. Saturday, Honey begged the man not to give him a ticket.... He asked him for mercy, and he didn't understand, but when we asked for grace.... he knew what Honey needed. Today, he wasn't feeling so gracious..... Honey was ready to pay the ticket... but was really confused as to why that intersection is the ONLY one where the law is enforced, so he asked the officer, who's name we later discovered is James. Officer James couldn't really give and explanation. Kent asked and asked for him to explain why the motorcycle he had been following was allowed to run the red light, but he couldn't, or why Officer James let several other cars run the light before he pulled over the truck (while he was talking to Honey).

Finally, he let us go... maybe it was because he couldn't explain and felt guilty, maybe it was because Honey was willing to pay the ticket and not bribe him out of it.... who knows, but God gave us an out, again!

God has been so good.... giving us friends, helping us meet key people, protecting us from people with evil intentions.... and all the while teaching us how to depend on Him for all of our needs, big and little, from local banks to coffee beans... he has open doors for us!

Peace

We have been in the capital for the past two nights. A lot has happened since we arrived.

We got our van... it came to our home city to pick us up and then the next morning my Honeydrove us to the Capital. Our friend (Van Guy) was amazed that Kent wanted to drive right off the bat... "You are jummping in with both feet and you are going to make it!" We are trying to tackle as much of this as we can on our own... simply so that we can learn. That was how we learned how to get around Waco... we had friends that got us lost on purpose so that we would HAVE to start figuring it out!

We made it to the capital with no major accidents (or minor ones for that matter). However once we arrived at Van Guys house, we had a slight hiccup. Van Guy's yard is really cool.... after a long car ride it was great for the kids to get out, jump on the trampoline, and swing on this AMAZINGLY cool swing. After every one got hot and sweaty, we were sitting around while the workers looked at one of the windows on our van. Van Guy has two dogs, both big and powerful and meant to scare intruders, we will start looking for that exact kind of dog once we get settled.

Rusty was very lovable... he would lean up against you, push under my legs, nudge your hand for more loving, and simply enjoy your attention. Baby Girl, knowing that we was lovable, reached down to give him a hug around the neck. This startled him and he whipped his head around and bit her. GOD was SO good in that fact that Rusty could have taken part of her face off, again he is a very powerful dog and his tooth could have scraped her eye instead of just under it. The whole incident shook us all up more than anything. You can hardly see it now, it is more of a bruise than anything else. I would have taken a picture for the blog.... she even asked if I was going to, but I left my camera at home.

We stayed the night at the ARA... and American hotel, complete with fajitas!! We will be eating there on a regular basis when we are in the capital. The beds were AMAZINGLY soft after sleeping on a broken bed with a foam mattress. We had a great night.

The next day we started our furniture shopping! We had looked and priced several places, trying to learn what is cheaper in the capital and what is cheaper in our home city. We had already talked to a few guys about our school room stuff. It is a crazy site seeing a mass (6-8) of men swarming you trying to get you to buy from them. There are several furniture outfits along one road... all the furniture looks extremely similar, but as you get closer you can see subtle differences: better varnish and finishing, nuts and bolts instead of nails... So we picked out 4 desks and four chairs and two book shelves, a large one for school books and a small one for the living room and we shoved the whole lot into our van!

The furniture guys didn't think that they would fit.... but they did! ALL of it! We bought a big van with an extended top and extended rear end and took the last two rows of seats out while we were in our home city.... we have room for DAYS! (we have room to pick up large teams and families..... start planning!) We also ordered our dressers and our beds that same day, we will pick them up on Tuesday!

Things are slowly coming together.... We stayed in a different guest house last night the MAF guest house. The girls and I have had a peaceful day here while Honey is out collecting appliances. We have enjoyed a cool breeze and cloudy weather, I think there is some sort of "mountain" range that keeps the cool weather that is in the capital from reaching our home city. It has been very nice, the girls have been playing outside in the compound, making things out of the plants and imagining that they are princesses!! WHAT FUN!! I have read more books during these last few weeks.... I am starting to loose track! I will be ready for what ever lies ahead once we are in our house!

THANK YOU JESUS for rest and relaxation! You see to our every need!!

Humor?

I have reached a point were I am trying to find humor in the negative... sometimes it is more cynical than I might want to be, but funny none the less.



For instance... there is a nice gentleman who has been trying to help us find a home. He must also be a ferry busy gentleman, as well, because he will say, "I'll be there at 2:30" then at 3:30 call and say he will be there in 15 min. thirty minutes later he will finally arrive, but only have a few minuets to give us, so we haven't really had anytime to see much. Kent has heard him tell others that he will be there in 15 min as well, like it is a standard response, something similar to "in a minuet" in the states. So now we laughingly (most of the time) add several hours to what ever time he says and have begun looking for other resources to help us learn the town.



Another example might be dinner... we knew that there would be a lot of rice in Uganda, we assumed that there would be a lot of beans too. We LIKE beans and rice and were looking forward to eating it. We were NOT prepared for noodles. We have rice and noodles with EVERY meal that they cook for us. Usually they will serve some kind of protein as well, chicken (with bones) beef and pork (with bones) goat (with bones) OR eggs. Most every thing is delicious, if you can get past all the bones. They will also serve a veggie too, usually some type of cooked green or cabbage. Once we even had Motoki - which is a type of banana that they cook.

So at dinner we laughingly as one another.... "Noodles and rice, or rice and noodles?"



Still another humorous out look.... I have 4 girls, that is 8 arms and 8 legs and 4 beautiful faces. I bet that if I counted there would be 30 - 35 mosquito bites on all of them combined. Not bad... until you realize that 20+ of those are on Curly's right arm/hand. I jokingly say that her arm was an all you can eat blood buffet for the mosquitoes. Poor thing, she really doesn't react very well to them either. They don't come up as little, itchy, red bumps, they are huge and swollen so bad that they are yellow almost. I'm afraid we are going to use all of our hydrocortizone and After Bite on her arm in the first week we are here!



So that is going to be on grandmas "to send" list.... anything that will repel mosquitoes. I think we will be willing to try ANYTHING!! I have seen bracelets, patches and a whole gamut of other products, and we are willing to try them ALL. I think what makes the bites so mysterious... is that Curly and Sweet Pea were sharing a bed, and a mosquito net: one was barely touched, the other was nearly eaten alive! I've taken pictures.... just to prove to you that I am NOT exaggerating.... but it may still be a while before I get them posted.... some of the stuff I need is packed in ONE if the FOURTEEN trunks stacked in our living room!

OH well.... this frustrating phase of the adjusting will hopefully soon be over.... and we can go where ever we want, when ever we want, we can cook what ever we want, how ever we want, I can use what ever towel I want to wash, or dry or bathe. God has been faithful to give us the grace needed for each day, every day!

Culture Shock...

I not sure what that is really. Seeing that I have never been in another culture before. The closest thing that I can relate to is people that don't know J.sus, and how they live their lives..... that always shocks me.

We spent our first day in our new home city yesterday. It was a long, bumpy drive to get here. I'm not sure how to describe it... other than just that...... LOOOOOOOONG and BuMpY. We left the Capital at 6:30 am hoping to miss traffic. it worked for the most part. We did come across a bus wreck (apparently they happen often), there was one fatality. Kinda strange. Over all it took us 5 hours to get here, maybe it will be better when we are driving ourselves and there is more conversation, and less sitting and staring. Oh and more leg room.... it was a tight squeeze with all of our luggage and stuff.

When you stop in the small towns, on the way north, people run up to you waving their wares.... a woman with peanuts, the man with the cold water, the young boy with meat on a stick, not to mention the bananas and fruit. It is really hard to say no. Good thing that Kent is stronger than I am.

One of the problems that we are facing is money exchange. Here they only accept Hundreds that are 2003 our newer. In our haste, even though we knew better, we didn't check the cash that we were taking, and we ended up with lots of "dead" money. We will make the time to check next time.

Here in our Home City it is hot and very dusty... which may mean that it will be warm and muddy come rainy season. There is no grocery store... we asked to see the supermarket and were taken to a convenience store that had electronics, peanut butter, TONS of cookies and a few canned goods. Oh and lots of dollar store plastic. I will have to revert back to my batch cooking days (which was only one month) and try to plan WAY ahead for other items, and get them when we are in the capital.

There are little stores everywhere. They are only about the size of a large walk in closet, but they are packed out with stuff. Lots and lots of dollar store stuff. Plastic lawn chairs, plastic baskets, plastic tubs, plastic cups and plates, plastic buckets, PLASTIC PLASTIC PLASTIC.

I have only seen one store that has actual woven baskets. Another oddity is that each store will have several shirts or bags or what ever they are selling but NONE of them will look alike. EVERY shirt hanging, or every skirt they have is different. That is one way to help people be individuals. I am curious to know were they get their goods from. Are they Dollar Store stuff that wouldn't sell, or maybe they are all from good will.... who knows.!

People stare at us every where we go, I think they are afraid of us. English is hard to understand here. The was that was here for so long hindered people's education. Kent definitely wants us to have language training, at least for a little while.

I want to put up pictures.... but I haven't taken very many. Once I have a better feel of the culture, (and it has quit shocking me) I will try to take some. Plus I need to install my picture program on my PC so that I can edit them and make them smaller.

We are doing well here in the guest house... They fix us meals, and do the laundry.... a girl could get use to that kind of living, even in a dry and weary land. :) Some of the dishes they serve have been interesting and the girls have a hard time eating them, but so far we haven't had to eat anything that would beat the guinea pigs (?) what we had in Peru.

Write more later......

The Journey

After frantically packing and sorting all of our earthly possessions, we finally narrowed down what we "needed" to take to Uganda. This process took 6 months and started when we first moved from our duplex in Waco. We were finally able to leave Waco on Tuesday afternoon, and head to Dallas. In our U-haul we had a total of 14 trunks, three check-in suitcases, 4 carry-on suitcases, 6 backpacks and one camera bag. That is it! Nothing more. No crate is coming with extra goodies, no containers, nothing. I had wanted to do a cute blog about how all I needed was 14 trunks.... that's all I need. And these - these 4 suitcases. 14 trunks and 4 suitcases that is all I need..... And this..... (it is from the "Jerk") However everything went so fast that barely manager to snap a picture of the U-haul once it was loaded!!

OK I am still suffering from Jet lag and I feel as though I am rambling....

Anyway, we made it to Dallas and enjoyed a night at the GREAT WOLF LODGE thanks to Gram and Pop. Tue night Honey and the kids played in the water while I spent a few precious hours with my best friend. Wed morning, I played with the kids while Honey spent some time with his best friends. It worked out perfectly!!

Wed Afternoon, we headed to the airport. Checked in ALL 18 pieces of luggage (NONE were over weight!) and then proceeded to head through security. Anyone who has traveled lately knows that there are LOTS of things that must be done in order to pass through security, one of which is to take our all lap tops and liquids. In the rush to get 4 suitcases, 6 backpacks, a camera bag, 6 pairs of shoes, ump-teen jackets and neck pillows and 4 little girls, not to mention my laptop, I forgot that we had and additional laptop in one of the suitcases......... that didn't go over well. However, they helped me get it out and re-ran my bag through the x-ray machine. They were nice and didn't even complain about the fact that I didn't take my liquids out of the bags!! GOD'S GRACE and ANSWER TO PRAYERS!!

We climbed on board the airplane and headed to London. Emma threw up, only not on me. She managed to make it into the barf-bag, so traveling was still pleasant. Later, Hannah lost her lunch as well. Emma had and excuse... I gave her medicine that made her gag.... Hannah, well I'm not sure... Neither am I sure why on the next flight Sarah threw up as well.... I guess when you are exhausted and plane sick that is the result.

We almost missed our connecting flight in London. We went to terminal B and had a snack, brushed our teeth and hair, and freshened up. After a while our flight still wasn't listed so we went to ask. It is was at that point that we were informed that we were in the wrong terminal. The BA people graciously allowed a host to take us down to the -4 level (that is four floors below ground) were we raced through the longest hallway ever. Then we went back up to the 2nd floor, through the airport, back down another elevator to ground level. They were making their "last call" for Forester when we arrived.

All of the over head bins were full, so our bags got to ride "1st class". I always thought that they had those little curtains up so that the regular people couldn't see what fun "perks" that 1st class received. Now I think it is to keep the number of empty seats a secret. NO ONE was in first class! and they don't allow you to move up either.

We finally arrived in Uganda around 10:30 pm Uganda time. We waited in a long line to pay for our visas. We picked up ALL (yes all ) of our luggage! No lost bags this time.... PTL. Then we loaded up in a van. SOME HOW...... we managed to get ALL, every last piece of our luggage in the van, and there was still room for us. Not much room, but we didn't have to ride on top!

The guest house we are staying in right now is nice. It has been cool, in the evenings. It rained the first night/morning we were here. I have no idea what time it actually rained, since we didn't get up until 12:00 PM. But it was awesome. The windows were open, and you could hear the storm in the distance, and as it moved closer the sounds were amazing! All I could think was.... "let it rain, let it rain, open the flood gates of heaven, let it rain!"

We walked to a little grocery store (once we were up and attem). Then went home and played games.

Today we went all over town, acquiring things like a cell phone, sim cards, adapters, and checking out some of the stores. They have a store here that might be compared to an OLD WAL_MART. No produce, but they had everything else under the sun. (Oh and just so you will feel sorry for me..... we were about three blocks from home when Emma threw up on me, this time it really was all over me.)

Well we have been up since 3 or 4 AM.... honey and the Kids finished a game and had cereal at that time..... and now I am feeling very sleepy!!!

LOVE YOU !!