Great trip to America and Back

Hello!  We're back from our trip to America!  I know I didn't tend to this space of internet very well while we were away, but here is a bit of a recap from the last 6 weeks.

I flew with six of the kids in mid-October.  Eric and the three middle ones came just before the wedding.  We were so thankful that all of our flights and traveling went so well...no hang-ups, no lost luggage, etc.

After we arrived, we attended a Ligonier conference on worship in Atlanta and then the kids flew to Grand Rapids by themselves to visit Eric's brother and Miss Paige, our former MA.  While they were there, someone graciously hired the older kids for a few days to work at their pumpkin farm.  The kids helped to package donuts and move pumpkins for a few days.

And the littles enjoyed time with their cousins and went to a kids museum. 

While they were gone, I stayed with my brother and his family while I saw lots of doctors at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia.  I am so thankful that these appointments went well.  The doctors all gave their stamp of approval to the labs and advice and medicines I had started here.  We were particularly concerned about whether or not the American rheumatologist would agree with the diagnosis of Rheumatoid Arthritis without wanting to re-do everything, but she looked over my labs that I brought with me from here and agreed with the diagnosis and the treatment that I had started.  That was a huge relief for me! I continue to see improvement with the meds: a lot of my daily pain is gone, although I do still flare very easily.

After that, I drove up to meet up with the kids and bring them back south.  We got to visit some great friends on the way.

Then we drove to Covenant College and I dropped Timothy and Katelyn off for the Covenant Preview weekend.  They had such a great time and now we have lots to pray and think about concerning their future.

After the preview weekend, we had a lovely day to drive back to my folks' house.  We took our time and enjoyed the mountains of North Georgia for a little bit. 

Finally, it was time for the rest of the family to join us and celebrate the marriage of Eric's sister.

After the wedding, we went to Williamsburg, VA for a week with Eric's family (minus the honeymooning couple).

We had a lot of time for relaxing, playing hockey, swimming, visiting with cousins, eating way too much good food, etc.  Eric and I even snuck out for a date to a Tavern in the old town of Williamsburg.  So much fun!

We forgot to get a picture of Grandpa and Grandma Tuininga and all their grandkids at the wedding, so we piled them around the couch at Williamsburg.

Then we drove back to Georgia for Thanksgiving.

On the last night in America, after all our packing was done, the kids were able to help decorate my parents' house for Christmas.  They really enjoyed that.

Then it was back to the Airport to head home.  It's always a logistical challenge to get all of us and our bags someplace.  This time we had 30 pieces of luggage!  Just a small lineup! haha!

We praise God for a wonderful trip from beginning to end.  The hellos and goodbyes (see you laters) are always hard, but God was very gracious to us. We were so thankful to be able to be with Eric's family during this special time and with my family for Thanksgiving.  Thank you to all for your prayers and support! 

Traveling to America!

Next week, 6 of the kids and I are leaving to go to America.  Three weeks later, Eric and the other kids will join us.  The big occasion for the trip is that Eric's little sister met this guy and decided she wants to spend the rest of her life with him.  We are so happy for them and are so thrilled that we can make the trip.

I say "little sister" because when Eric and I got married, she was little!  Our little flower girl.  But time has flown and she is now a beautiful bride to be and Talitha will have the chance to be a flower girl in her wedding.

Some of the kids and I are going a bit early because I am going to be seeing a bunch of doctors at Emory to try to get back on track with my health.  In addition to hypothyroidism, Adrenal insufficiency, and chronic kidney disease, I've also recently begun treatment for Rheumatoid Arthritis.  The medicine has been working and I'm not in nearly as much pain as I was a couple months ago, but I'd like to have a long-term plan worked out for continued improvement in all areas so that we can stay in Uganda for many years to come.  Please pray with us to that end.  Pray that the Doctors have great wisdom and are a real help to me!

Have you ever thought about sending us a care package but realized how expensive it is to ship internationally?  We will have a LOT of luggage space (33 pieces to be exact!!) when we come back to Uganda in 6 weeks and we are hoping to fill that luggage with items that either we can't get in Uganda or cost a lot more here than in the US.  If you would like to bless us, we have an Amazon.com wish list set up.  You can order off that list and let Amazon ship it to us by Thanksgiving.  Amazon gift cards would be great too.  If you would like us to send you a link to that list, please email us at ericdianna(at)hotmail(dot)com OR contact Eric or me on Facebook. 

We're back in Uganda!

Thank you for praying for us this past week!  It's hard to believe that a little more than a week ago we packed our bags, said our goodbyes and hopped on the plane.  It's been a good week, although we struggled more with jet lag this time around.  We are thankful to be here!  We have finally finished unpacking and are starting to sleep a little better.  The stress of packing, traveling and jet lag wasn't too kind to my AI, but I'm starting to feel normal again too.  Here are a few pictures from the last week.

We had 25 bags on the plane!

Saying good bye to my sisters...

These two...they look alike and have a similar drive in life (read: high energy with a sprinkling of mischief thrown in).  They traded clothes at the last minute...down to Williams splint... and Daniel jumped in the car with us.  Hmm... Thankful for siblings that are more observant than parents...

More cousin twins...

Our last lunch in America was Cracker Barrel...we got takeaway and went to a local park.  Only problem? We forgot to ask for plates!  Ha! Cardboard it was.

 We flew out of Philidelphia and had to be at the airport very early!

One last prayer before checking in...prayers for safety and many prayers of thanksgiving for how God used our furlough to bless us in so many ways.

On the plane:

Flying over the Nile:

So our first flight had been super delayed and by the time we were landing in Doha our next flight was boarding.  As soon as we were off the plane we began to run!  Our next gate was through another security check and across the airport!!  Eric ran ahead to ask them to hold the plane.  The rest of us ran as fast as Talitha would go.  We passed one man in a suit with a walkie talkie and he asked us which flight we were on.  I called out as we were running, "Entebbe!  There's 11 of us!" He radioed ahead.  Then another lady met us..."Are you the 11 for Entebbe?"  Yes!  And she directed us down the stairs to where Eric was, we all jumped on a bus and were driven out to the plane, still parked and waiting for the party of 11 to board.  Whew... So we barely made it.  Unfortunately, 19 of our bags didn't make it.  When we arrived in Entebbe we had to spend a couple hours in the airport...first Matthew and Jimmy didn't have the proper stamps on their yellow fever cards so the poor guys had to get vaccinated the moment they stepped off the plane.  Then we went through immigration and then the bulk of our time was spent filling out crazy amounts of paperwork to get our bags back.  But Qatar airlines did great.  The next day they met us at a shopping mall in Kampala where we were picking up a few things and brought all the bags to us.

We loaded everything up to travel back to Mbale in this bus.

Then the sweet reunions began!

The Magalas even made a huge Ugandan feast for us!

Moses!!  He's grown up so much!

Talitha is so happy to have her 'big brother' Ivan back.

The kids have done so well throughout our transition!  It's always difficult, but were so blessed and encouraged to see how God carries them.  Goodbyes are hard, but their hearts were full of peace.  They were peace-filled, joy-filled and tear-filled goodbyes...I'm thankful for that.  All of us are happy to be home.  Talitha is very happy to be home...especially since home included a brand new kitty!  Mind you, we have also had many power outages and 2 days without water...haha!  Back to normal life, right? ;-)