The End

654 posts on this corner of the internet.  Stories, pictures, highs, and lows of our life in Uganda have been recorded and shared.  Abundant adventures, lots of laughter, plenty of tears, and so many prayers were recorded on this page.  I would even wager that lives were saved, as we shared physical needs and you guys stepped up, dug deep and sent resources to help.

However, since we are no longer in Uganda and life has taken a radically different turn, this blog has reached its end. It is my great hope, that if anyone in the future ever happens by this internet space again, that they will see a great story of God's faithfulness to us over and over again.  Even in the past 8 months, while my earthly life has fallen apart, I still see God's faithfulness and goodness because he has been just that: faithful and good.  It's the thread that has weaved itself through this whole story.

But if you know me, you hopefully know that this is not the end of my blogging days.  Nope.  You will still find me hammering out my thoughts on life and sharing the adventures of my kiddos, on a new space (and a new platform!)

https://findingriversinthedesert.blogspot.com/

I hope to see you there!

(A little about the feet picture... we had a similar ending to my first blog and so we thought we'd try again...only teenage feet...and dirty feet at that!... aren't quite as cute as baby feet! Lol!!)

North Carolina for New Years

We decided to head to North Carolina for New Years to see our cousins and friends.  It's been a great trip so far!

Feeding the Seagulls

Playing silly games...

Little girl slumber party...

Fun Reunion

This past week, we've had a great reunion with some dear friends from our Oregon days.  Back in the days when I had 6 kids under 6 and they had numerous little ones too, our kids used to play together.  The kids decided to recreate some pictures from those days...

We've added a few more kids since then and what a great bunch they've turned out to be.  I'm so thankful for this week!

December Photo Project: Weekend

This weekend we went ice skating!  We had such a great time trying to stay on our feet! haha! 

I think I, and every single mom of a small person out there, kept saying "Don't pull me over!" haha!

I seriously love this crew of mine!

Good friends blessed us with Chili's gift cards, so after skating, we went for dinner.  So fun!

Global Reunion

At the end of July/beginning of August, the kids and I were given the opportunity to go to Oklahoma to attend Global Reunion-- a re-entry/third culture kid camp organized broadly by the Church of Christ.  We had an amazing time.  It was such a great encouragement to us spiritually and emotionally.  We were able to start grieving our losses, begin to pursue some healing, receive tools that we can use as we travel these murky waters, and find a community of people that are also trying to readjust to life in America and children who are now a beautiful swirly pattern of many cultures.

On our way, we decided to drive through Texas.  We spent the weekends in Texas and visited the Dallas OPC for Sunday worship.

The littles learned about the Bridge of Chaos, just like their older siblings did many years ago at MTI.  The Bridge of Chaos, starts with being "Settled" on one side, then moves to "unsettled" then "chaos" then "resettling" then "settled again."  And around the bridge of chaos, are the arms of God carrying us through.  It's been so helpful to be able to remind the kids when they are feeling the chaos, that the chaos won't last forever and that God is surrounding us as we travel across this bridge.

They also learned about Yay Ducks and Yuck Ducks!  Again, the older kids had learned this at MTI before we went to the field and the littles have grown up telling us what their yay ducks (things they like!) and yuck ducks (things they don't like!) were, but never really understood why.  The yay ducks and the yuck ducks always swim together and are never far apart.  Together they make a pair of ducks...or a paradox.  Teaching the kids to speak both is so helpful!

The teens had their own camp and I only saw them for a few brief moments during the week.  Global Reunion started as a camp for teenaged third culture kids.  Many teens come every year for camp.  There were over 80 this year!  Our kids had a blast and are already plotting how they can get back next year.  On the last day, we had a flag ceremony.  Timothy carried the Canada flag, Matthew carried the Netherlands' flag, Rebecca carried the Uganda flag and Katelyn carried the Kenyan flag.

We also got to visit with some very special people along the way.  First is my "half sister"...her adoptive parents were my foster parents.  It's been many years since we've seen each other.

We also got to hang out with my old Roomie from our Covenant College days.  We have just a "few" kids between us now.

I also recently started a Go Fund Me Page.  The Lord has opened doors for me to begin graduate school next week online.  I will be studying for a masters degree of mental health counseling with an emphasis in Christian counseling.  You can read all the details on the page.  Just click the gofundme icon below!

Thank you so much for your continued prayers!  Every day we feel God's sustaining grace and I know that he is hearing every one who continues to lift us up daily!  Thank you!

Blessings!

God has blessed us in so many ways this past month!

The biggest gift we were so thankful to receive is our van.  For our first few weeks in the US, all we had was a minivan.  So anywhere we all wanted to go required two trips.  haha...it was quite a juggling feat!  An anonymous donor gifted us a 12 passenger van, that has a nice cargo space in back.  Redeemer OPC in Atlanta did all the leg work to find it and purchase it.  My dad and I went and picked it up last week. Whoever you are, thank you so so much...many tears of joy were spilled when I heard about this gift.

Another great blessing was getting a new puppy.  We had so much loss when we flew back from Uganda, including all our animals...dogs, cat, rabbits, chickens, Guinea fowl, and ducks.  This sweet one, who we named Louisa May, has been a soothing balm to our hearts.  She's a St. Dane...half St Benard and half Great Dane.  She's still a puppy, but oh so sweet.  She comes running with me in the morning and is pretty spoiled the rest of the day.  

 We also were treated to a day at a waterpark.  We had a great time! 

Timothy is now in Oregon for the summer/fall working at an organic dairy farm.  Before he left, he managed to finish his 40 hours of driving time and get his full permit.

The Lord blessed us with a few weeks for the chaos of our move to settle down and then he blessed us with a week of Vacation Bible School at our new church.  This, of course, is a very new experience...my kids were the ones who kept running barefoot and complaining about the air conditioning being too cold. haha!  The kids had a blast though...the three littles as participants and the older ones as helpers.  On the last evening, they had a feast for the kids.  They dressed up like royalty and had a grand time.  The greatest blessing of the week was that it gave my kids a chance to make some new friends.