Our Own Home!

We moved into our new, concrete, unfinished house April 13th! Our contractor screwed us over ROYALLY and stole a bunch of stuff but thankfully I had kept back about $3000, which was enough to finish up enough things to be able to move in. Also found some great people who could finish up the work to get it ready for us to move in so it all worked out well and we were able to move in and stay a week before heading back to the States. A week of continued finishing of odds and ends and SPENDING MONEY like there was no tomorrow, but it all worked out and we are HAPPY to be finally be in our OWN HOME!

The day we moved in. I had transplanted some flowers the week before hand.

The kitchen before

The kitchen after

The living room before

The living room after (obviously The Pack likes it!)

Master bedroom before

Master bedroom after

My room before (all my crap moved in)

My bedroom after

Eating their first dinner on the back porch

We are going to LOVE this back porch and I believe that we will spend a LOT of time out here!

Our master bathroom, before we moved all of our junk in!

The last week home was spent getting things finished - the plumbing, the septic tank cover, ordering tin sheets to finish the roof, getting the fence finished, and a plethora of other things, It was a CRAZY last week but good to have some time to get the Pack settled into their new home, explore the neighborhood a little, and get enough food for dogs and people for the next four + month. We left broke but everyone set!

We are SO thankful to finally have moved into our OWN home. It was a bit surreal to finally have all of our stuff moved in and settled. We LOVE the neighborhood. It is PERFECT for us! Dogs who don't attack people can even run off leash because there is no traffic, and the kids are able to go out and ride their bikes BY THEMSELVES!!! Gasp! No fear of them getting run over by a car or abducted by a Russian or UN worker.

I am already looking forward to getting back and finishing the house, bit by bit. It is still pretty "raw" but with a little time and of course MORE money, it will come along. The area is perfect for us and I'm SO thankful to God for getting us there!

Moving on!

We've had a crazy busy last four weeks and guess what? We FINALLY MOVED into our new house! We moved on April 15th and one week later left for the United States. Yep - a very busy and packed last few weeks!

This post shall be dedicated to our move - an experience which deserves it's own special blog post. It took a team of 8 men, 3 women and a big truck, to get all of our many belongings safely moved to our new home in Busembaga - about  15 to 20 minute drive out of EBB.

First off we had to empty out our fridge and freezer and clean it out. Madea helped with that.

Team Teso (Simon and Charles) took down the swing set

The guys were smart and hauled everything outside before loading it all onto the truck. That way they could eye ball it all and pack it carefully to make sure that it all fit in one load.

It took 8 guys to move one wardrobe.... I think they had eight different ideas on how to do it ;)

Prossy and Sarah were the brains of the operation. I would have lost my mind without these two!

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The kids and The Twins (Ranger and Madea) were tucked away out from underfoot and NOT very happy about it (as is evident by the look on Ella's face). We had a crying Frankie, a scowling Ella, a fidgety Ranger, and a nervous Madea who tried to bite someone carrying a dresser (?). Not conducive to moving that's for sure! The rest of the Pack was locked in the garage.

Lucy and Whiskers, while more than willing to help, were put in the storage room where they patiently awaited atop Ms Dave's crate.

And away it all goes! Because we lacked a red rag to tie to a swing set pole, they tied little Frankie's red chair to it :)

We left Prossy, the kids and The Pack at the house while the truck was unloaded. Unloading went about 10 times as fast as the loading did!

Goodbye old house. We sure enjoyed the safety you provided and the fun times we had in you! We had a great landlord who is also one of the neighbors in our new neighborhood.

It's always nice to leave a house better than when you moved into it. This was when we first moved in - note the lack of flowers!

Living and learning

Life is about learning to function in society. You learn this as a child, following your parents around, grocery shopping, going to the bank, watching them do laundry, etc. When you move to a new country as an adult, you have to learn all of these things over again without the advantage of following an adult around and being small and cute. You feel, and appear, like a real idiot and it really makes you appreciate what you learned “naturally” as a child!

I drag my kids around with me everywhere. I’m not into “unschooling” but there is a LOT to be learned about life out of the academic or school domain! It has been fun to watch my kids learn about how to function in life – shopping at the market, shopping at the grocery store (two very different shopping experiences), going to the bank, installing a door, spaying a cat, building a house, Ugandan style, completely out of concrete, etc. So many people leave their kids home with the nanny/house help or in school all day that kids really miss out on life!

I lost my atm card last week. This involved a trip to the bank, with kids in tow, to get the card cancelled and a new card. It was a Saturday morning and the bank was busy, but we were able to get in and out in only a little over an hour! The kids waited patiently having been briefed at a previous visit, by a friendly security guard, on proper bank etiquette. When we got home Ella immediately pulled out her toys and made… a bank! She had sat and watched long enough to know who was needed to work at a bank (security guard, bank teller, customer service person) and what jobs they did, so she had enough little animals and people to properly man her bank : ) I was amazed to see that she had actually learned something in the last hour + at the bank!

Ella carefully set up bank windows, a parking lot, you name it, for her little bank

The giraffe is at the bank window getting helped by the fire truck. The dinosaur and others are waiting patiently in line.

Out at the land, Frankie spontaneously chipped in and started hauling debris with the guys

Dumping things in... the neighbors plot (?). I don't ask...

Frankie likes working with other man people!

Working with the guys, hauling his little red wagon back to the house for another load. Still not sure why man people run with their wheelbarrows and wagons though (????).

We lost Ella once. Luckily we could hear her voice, merrily chattering away to someone, and I found her out here, playing with her Tonka in a field full of cows. A girl should never be without her Tonka.

Ella's watched people mixing cement enough times that she knows just what to do. Here she is pretending to mix cement, in her Tonka truck. Luckily she just used sand and water!

Add a little water

And mix it up!

Dirt + Water+ Tonka = A Happy L :)

Cleaning off the back porch

Scrubbing!



A Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! After the last month of TONS of stress and responsibility I was in for a much needed Easter message - the continuous power of Christ's Resurrection in our lives. It wasn't just a one time deal - His power is just as powerful and active today as it was when God raised his own Son from the dead. Just the message I needed at this time of life! I need to start LIVING in it!

The kids participated in the Easter service this year, with the rest of the Sunday School kids. We opted out on attending both the 8 o'clock and the 10:30 service, so spent the morning cleaning the house (!) and the kids got to receive their Easter candy and toys from Granny. Polly pockets for Ella and cool Spiderman truck for Frankie.

The Sunday School teachers getting the kids lined up to head on down to church. That's the Sunday School building behind them.

Organized chaos! Oh my, this just struck me as so funny. I remember my mother and few other dear women I know, doing this when I was a child. It's like herding cats! My favorite was when one respectable teacher told the children, "If you leave the stage, I will cane you!" Ha ha!

Some of the kids were just TOO CUTE. Little boys in full blown little man suits and tiny little girls in Gomez! Hilarious! Frankie's the little dude sandwiched in front of the gomez clad little girl.

The choir members go marching down to the church... Note Frankie's hand in his pocket (?)!

Sadly, I failed to get any pictures of them actually performing. I got stuck behind a row of large, proud fathers :( Ella was IN to it and Frankie... not so much ;) He was standing with my friends little boy, who sucked his fingers the whole time. Lets just say the two went well together. Hilarious!

After church we went out to eat at the buffet spot that we went to at Christmas. Our new tradition! We ONLY go here on holidays and as you can see, each kid had their own Mountain Dew.

Frankie could eat all the meat that he wanted :)

After lunch we came home and the kids played with their new toys while I made dog food and took a nap. There's nothing like a Sunday afternoon nap with a belly full of food that you didn't have to cook and clean up after!

Then we went to our Alaskan friends house, for our annual Easter egg hunt! Menda went through the Resurrection Eggs with the kids while people like me were outside hiding the eggs. I like hiding eggs!

Ella and Frankie loved it! I was glad that Menda could do this because our Resurrection Eggs were packed away last week.

Off they go

Little egg hunter - in his sisters jeans! The boys were supposed to wear black jeans and white shirts to church today and when I went to put Frankie's jeans on him... they were too short! So I pulled out Ella's black jeans and they fit! Say what? This boy is four and a half and wearing a size six jean?? Oh my word!

Checking out their loot - and their friends loot too ;) Little Ella just can NOT mind her own business, ever!

Our Alaskan friends are the one's who took our cat, Rodeo, that Ella saved off the main road, for us. He is doing well and they love him! I'm so glad. It is always so rewarding when you can match the right animal with the right family.

The last month

This last month has been a busy one! Following are just a few pictures to show what we've been up to!

Pack Walks have added a biking element to them! Frankie is now sturdy and stable on his bike and the two enjoy biking in front of the Pack during Pack Walks now.

Leaving us in the dust, as usual!

The Pack! Please note a HEALTHY RANGER! His liver is healed and he's eating well now, putting on weight again, and has all of his steam back.

They all look different but somehow the same. Oh how I love these dogs!

Bike Rider One

Bike Rider Two

Billy likes to sleep in the oddest, tiniest places

Surrounded by children's toys, like every good family dog should be. But good family dogs shouldn't EAT the children's toys.  

Like mother like son. Frankie is following in his mother's footsteps washing dishes in his Stringtown apron. Oh the memories this apron brings back, of working in a small bar and grill in Bridger, MT for 9 years!

Lucy, the day before her surgery

We have the GREATEST vet - he actually lets the kids "help".

Here's one of his little helpers - white gloves and all. Oh my, she was quite the kick!

Not sure why this is tipped, but Frankie helped too, by holding a foot. He was not as in to it as Ella was, and yawned the entire time.

Whiskers! Yep, I'd probably look like that too if I was being spayed ;)

Our Danger Ranger. Yep, he's gotten into the bad habit of sleeping on the furniture. Sanyu and Bridger are the only dogs allowed on the furniture but because he was so sick and slept all the time, I made an exception. Now that he's better he still likes to cash in on the perk!

I made a trip to Bundibugyo in western Uganda, this last week. By plane! It has taken me 7 years in this country to ever have the opportunity to fly in a small plane over Uganda. It was so much fun!

Lucky for me my best pal, Prossy, went too. This picture cracks me up. We started out working together seven years ago. The difference between then and now is hilarious!

Our MAF plane

I was there to visit this translation project, in Bundibugyo Town.

The Bamba translators. I love these guys because they are all built like me! Short and thick. I'm not the minority when I'm around them!

Bundibugyo is on the foothills of the Rwenzori mountains and cocoa is one of their main cash crops. I never knew cocoa grew on trees and I was completely taken by them! They're beautiful!

Cocoa pods

The airplane drew quite the crowd!

The airstrip

Back to Kampala!