Shattered Glass

We set out this morning, very excited about the prospect of finally going to Kampala for the weekend. We had been driving for about two hours, and were nearly at the Equator, which is approximately half-way through the journey.

There is a lot of construction going on on the roads, and as its the dry season (although it finally rained today, hallelujah!!!) it's insanely dusty at the moment. We were on one particularly dry and dusty stretch, and just as my dad was slowing down, a truck passed us, kicking up more dust and making it virtually impossible to see anything.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, there was a truck in front of us, stopped in the middle of the road. It appeared too quickly to stop, and before we knew it, we had slammed into the back of it.

Fortunately and miraculously, no one was seriously injured, although we are all pretty bruised and sore, and Ayana's nose might possibly be broken (or at least just very swollen). The car was smashed in though, and all the seats all sort of collapsed inside. Jeff Dyke drove out to pick us up, brought us back to Masaka, and then we set out AGAIN with a different vehicle. The car was taken away, and my dad has to go make a statement on the way back home.

We saw several other major accidents today (including one that happens literally minutes after ours, only this one involved a car flying through the air and landing upside down... thankfully no one was seriously hurt in this one either!!) and were so thankful that ours wasn't anything more than it was.

We made it here all in one piece (although we got lost and drove around for nearly two hours after arriving in Kampala before we finally found our hotel) and are very happy to be able to enjoy good food, hot showers, and wireless internet!

Thanks to everyone who was praying for us; please continue to pray for our protection, and healing for any minor injuries. We so appreciate it.. it could have been a whole lot worse, so thank-you for your support!!

Gotcha Day

August 23rd was our fourth 'Gotcha Day', which is the anniversary of the day we first picked up Ayana and Moses in Ethiopia, and they officially became a part of our family. I can't believe its been four years... not because it came quickly, but because I honestly can't remember what it was like before they came! They are such a part of our family, its hard to imagine what we'd do without them.

Beautiful Baby Face

Baby, Baby, Baby

On Wednesday we went along with the clinic outreach program to a baby immunization program. We didn't get to hold as many babies as we'd have liked, but we sure saw a ton of adorable babies and children!

A Ugandan Birthday

I turned 19 on the tenth, and I had an absolutely wonderful day. Some people had sent a few gifts and cards along from Canada with Erica, which was so lovely, and I got a few gifts from my family.

In the afternoon we went all the way out to Masaka (squashing 8 people into a 5 person vehicle) for some lunch, and in the evening we had an amazing dinner with the fam, Sean&Jamie Davis, two of the Dyke children, and their babysitter/a friend of ours, Hope.

It was a great day, and I was so grateful to everyone who helped to make it special J

Our First Week in Kibaale

On our first full day here in Kibaale, we had a special welcome. While taking off my shoes after coming inside in the afternoon, I looked down, only to see a small brown snake only inches from my foot. It’s head was slightly raised up against the wall, and it was hissing at me; even still, it took me several seconds to realize what I was actually seeing.

When I finally did, I then proceeded to be extremely helpful by freaking out and jumping up on top of the couch, which of course sent the rest of the room into a panic. Thankfully Megan was thinking more clearly than me, and went out through the back door to get some help.

Jeff Dyke came back with her, armed with a broom to save us, and managed to kill it quite quickly. Unfortunately the head.. disappeared. It was only found a few days later by Megan, who had the excellent luck of discovering it with her bare foot.

But apart from that, our first week back hasn’t been extremely eventful. We’ve been able to spend time with a lot of children, and even went on a couple of home visits, to Erica’s two sponsor childrens’ homes. It’s always an interesting experience, and riding standing up on the back of the truck is probably the most exciting part!

I have many pictures saved on my computer already, but won’t be able to post those until we go back up into Kampala on the 14^th to take Erica to the airport. But then there will be (hopefully!) an update with pictures for you to enjoy.

Spending time with a new friend, who calls himself Barack Obama :)

Nursery/Kindergarten morning assembly

Spending time in the community

This little sweetheart, Vanessa, fell asleep right in my arms

A friend's little brother, Kenny. He has the best laugh in the world!

Visiting one of Erica's sponsor children's homes...

In Kibaale

Internet is not very good here in Kibaale, so I won't be doing very regular posts (I may have to wait until trips to Kampala to post anything), but I just wanted to quickly say that we have arrived safely, picked up Erica, and are having an amazing time reconnecting with everybody here in Kibaale.

Seeing lots of sponsor children and friends, and loving it :)