December Photo Project: Day 15

We finished up our Nutcracker weekend.  It was so busy and so fun for the girls.  Some of these pictures are courtesy of Katelyn.

Twinsies...

Beesha's silly faces.

December Photo Project: Days 11 & 12

I was crazy busy all day yesterday, so this truckload of pictures from the dress rehearsal of the Nutcracker will have to suffice for two days.  We are looking forward to enjoying the performance of the Nutcracker tonight! 

December Photo Project: Day 5

"For he gives to his beloved sleep." Psalm 127:2

What? It's the end of the day and I haven't taken a picture yet?  Good thing there is a sweet little spirit so preciously tucked under her covers.  When I see her soft slumber, I see the last remnants of childhood wrapped up behind her cute little nose and precious dreaming mind still so filled with wonder.  One can't help but praise the Lord and thank him over and over again for his good gift.

A Long Week

Whew...what a time we've had lately.  Malaria season has kicked in...with the rains returning the mosquitos are also returning.  William and Benaiah had malaria first, then Katelyn came down with typhoid, then Talitha came down with malaria and some sort of bacterial thing going on, then Benaiah got malaria again, and Rebecca followed that with a tummy bug.  In the middle of all that, I ended up with a blocked kidney (but seemingly not from a stone) that left me in excruciating pain (way worse than childbirth) on Sunday and I spent the day in the hospital getting an Ultrasound and ultimately a CT scan.  On Monday, Talitha spiraled down further and we ended up in the clinic with her for IV antibiotics, antimalarials, and fluid.  Now Eric is playing catch up with the rest of us by coming down with malaria too.  In these seasons, we sure take comfort in God's mercy and compassion and also the prayers of very many saints.  I was listening to Paul Tripp's recent talk at the Gospel Coalition Conference on suffering.  His final point was that suffering happens in community as brothers and sisters in Christ pray for and support one another.  We really felt that last weekend as we walked through some difficult moments, but knew people around the world were praying for us.  

Towards the end of the week, the smiles finally came back out.  Praise God!

And the kids got a turtle as a gift. 

Today, I was able to run in a 5K for CURE hospital.  We have been very thankful for CURE hospital.  They specialize in pediatric brain surgeries...hydrocephalus, spina bifida, and brain tumors.  But they also have helped us out on more than one occasion with stitches, asthma attacks and this past weekend with my CT Scan.  (The radiographer even came back in after-hours from over an hour away to do the scan).  I was so thankful to be able to run today and support a great cause while I was at it.  And running in races here is just an overall great experience...late start times, dance party warm-ups, and dodging bodas and traffic... so much fun! I couldn't convince my family to join me this year, but it was a fun time to catch up with friends.

December Photo Project: Day 24

Today the youth of our church gathered to do Christmas Eve Christmas Caroling in our neighborhood.  Before they left, they gathered under our mango tree to do one last practice.

They had a cute little audience...

As the youth were leaving, I also snapped a few pictures of the littles just hanging out...

Then while we were eating dinner, we saw one of our Eastern Grey Plantain Eaters surprisingly eating plantains... which is actually an unusual sight...maybe because the people tend to get to the plantains first.  ;-)

December Photo Project: Day 20

My kids are telling me that December Photo Project is supposed to be more Christmasy and I'm not doing enough Christmasy pictures. So I told them to start doing Christmasy things and maybe my pictures would be a bit more Christmasy.  (Whew...never had to deal with such critics in my blog's early years...lol!)

So here I present my two youngest ones Christmasy School Assignments.  Thank you IEW for forcing me to do something that meets the expectation of my home-grown blog critics...

From Benaiah...I think it's safe to say he's a pretty big fan of Christmas food...

From Talitha...she evidently read somewhere about the Holly plant being a Christmas thing.  It wasn't until after she had completed her assignment that she asked, "What are hollys anyway mom?"

December Photo Project: Day 15

I fell off the tracks a little with posting every day.  I'll blame technology and exhaustion for that!

On Saturday our elder of our church was married.  Elder Andrew grew up in our church and came back to be a huge blessing to our church after he was done school.  It was wonderful to witness their vows and the beginning of his and Annette's life together.  Talitha was a flower girl and Katelyn and Denise were bridesmaids.  It was a beautiful day!  And partial photo credit goes to Eric for these pictures.  Today's photo project was a joint effort. :-)

Pretty much a professional flower girl...

The reception was held on our compound.  Our yard was decorated to the max with tents and lights.  So much fun!

Here is where Talitha's professional flower girl skills come to an end.  She won't dance her way in like everyone else.  haha!

Cake tradition.  Here in Uganda, the wife kneels to feed her new husband cake and drink.

The bridesmaids all had a change of clothes for the reception.

Benaiah and little Andrew enjoying the bling...