Graham's 3rd Birthday Party

Yes, Graham has been 3 for 7 months now, and yes, I am just now looking at and enjoying the pics from his party. My mother in law took a ton of pictures that day. Our computer was somewhere over the Atlantic ocean in our container so I couldn't upload them at the time, and in the craziness that followed I forgot. He party was only a few days before we left to go to SPLICE missionary training in Colorado. After that we were traveling all over visiting family and friends before we moved to Uganda. 

Planning a party in the midst of this chaos was daunting, but I went the store-bought route and didn't make a thing myself. The banner and cupcake toppers I bought on Etsy and the cupcakes were from Albertsons (oh how I miss Albertsons!). Just like his 2nd birthday we had it at our church. It's a really great deal because for a small fee you also get to have this woman named Brandie who tells you when to do what, where to put this or that, and cleans everything up afterward. 

Graham and his friends had so much fun playing on the playscape this year! And Graham definitely knew what was up when it came to blowing out the candle, eating the cupcake, and opening the presents. What a big boy! I'm so glad that we took a break in the chaos of the moment to celebrate his birthday with all of our family and friends. Looking at the pictures was hard, because I miss all of these people so much, but also fun.

Happy Birthday Graham!

Food

There are many things about the foods we eat that are different than in the United States.

• Milk. Our milk is delivered to our house by bicycle twice a week from a Dutch dairy farmer. The milk is raw, so it has to be boiled to pasteurize it. It tastes a lot different than US milk (Chad and I call it "the gross milk") so we don't drink milk anymore. We make Graham chocolate milk everyday to get him to drink it. Luckily, Molly has never had any other milk so she doesn't know the difference.

• Water. We don't like diarrhea, so we filter our water. The silver container is our water filter, and we store filtered water in the blue cooler so that we always have plenty.

• Meat. I praise the Lord that we can usually get boneless, skinless chicken breast in Mbale! We can also get ground beef and various cuts of beef. Goat is available, but we pass on that. So is pork, but it's really not safe to eat, so we don't. Some meats I miss: bacon, hot dogs, and lunchmeat. 
• Soda. Soda is very very popular here. We can get coke, sprite, fanta, pepsi, and mountain dew. There are many other flavors I had never heard of before like stoney and mirinda. Soda comes in a crate full of glass bottles. The bottles are washed and reused, so when we finish a crate, we have our guard take it (full of empty bottles) to town and for $4 pick up a new crate full of whatever flavors we want. 

• Fruits and Vegetables. All fruits and veggies are smaller and generally better tasting here. That's because they generally come from the garden in someone's backyard and are not chemically treated at all. What I miss most is the variety. The fruits we can get are pineapple, jackfruit (nasty!), mango, banana, watermelon, sometimes apples (expensive), and rarely strawberries. Veggies: tomatoes, potatoes (called "Irish" here), onions, garlic, cabbage, carrots, cucumber, green beans, and rarely broccoli. 

• Snacks. American snacks are the thing we miss the most. There are very few varieties here and they are "local" and therefore not that great. Some things we miss: raisins, craisins, nuts, crackers, chips, and cookies. But on the other hand all the cookies we eat are homemade, and therefore much tastier. 
• Dairy. You can get good yogurt here, but I generally miss the variety of good dairy products we were used to! Sour cream, cream cheese, and *good* ice cream are nonexistent. Not to mention cheese, which you cannot get in Mbale (except for locally made mozzarella which we don't care for). You can buy it at a premium price in Kampala, and I do every chance I get! We appreciate cheese much more now.

I hope you enjoyed a peek into our eating habits in Uganda...the good and the bad!

Thankful

Our Thanksgiving this year looked very different. We are usually surrounded by family, eating familiar foods, talking for hours, and playing games. This year we were surrounded by about 30 friends from 6 countries enjoying a potluck of delicious foods. I had such a wonderful time. And then we got home I got to Skype with my parents, brother, and ALL FOUR of my grandparents. I was struck again by the paradox of living overseas. Yes, I am happy here and I love it, but at the same time my heart is breaking with sadness.

I am thankful for many things this year, but here are a few:

• I am thankful for Betty. I truly don't know how I ever managed a household without her. She makes it possible for me to entertain so often. And on top of that she is one of the most thoughtful people I have ever known.
• I am thankful that there is a large ex-pat community in Mbale. We spend the most time with our mission team, but we have all sorts of other friends here. Its very diverse but there's a great chemistry and I think we all just enjoy fellowshipping together. 
• I am thankful for all the good foods we can get here such as mangos, bananas, pineapple, and imported favorites like heinz ketchup and pringles. There are still a lot of things I miss but I know there are lots of people who wish they had as many choices as we do.
• I am thankful for our home. It's spacious and comfortable, and I'm thankful that all the work on it is finished. God has given it to us for a purpose and we often have it filled with happy faces and voices. 
• I am thankful for technology. How amazing is it that I can Skype into my old playgroup's halloween party? Or text pictures of the kids to my parents and in-laws every day? Keeping in touch has gotten a lot easier.
• I am thankful that God has given us the opportunity to do something exciting for his kingdom.
• I am thankful to have two happy, healthy, thriving kiddos, who also just happen to be the world's cutest and sweetest. :) And for a husband who loves the Lord and strives to be a good father. It's all about dad right now for Graham!
• I am thankful for all the gifts we've received in the past 5 months from the states. We've gotten lots of packages and gifts from visitors. I don't think I can describe to you how exciting and meaningful it is!
• I am thankful for our dogs and our guards. We lay our heads down every night in perfect peace knowing someone we trust is looking out for us. 
• I am thankful for mercy. Nothing can compare to the power of Jesus' great name!

Molly's One Year Photo Shoot

My wonderful friend and teammate Jill took some pictures for us for Molly's birthday. I wanted to take some portraits and knew that running over to JC Penny's wouldn't be feasible this year! She wasn't super smiley but I love how they turned out! I hope you do too. Here are my favorites:

Molly Twelve Months!

We are so so proud of this girl! What a blessing she has been this past year. She has been a great addition to our family, we've loved having a baby girl. We're sad to see babyhood go, but we're excited to see her doing and learning new things. Here's what she's been up to this month:

We took Molly to the doctor in Kampala to get vaccines.

Molly is wearing 18-24 month clothes and size 5 diapers.

She is taking two naps and sleeping 12 hours at night.

She is nursing 4-5 times a day. I've found it really difficult to drop her feedings, so she's still nursing a lot. I'm hoping that incorporating cow's milk with will help with that. She eats 3 solid meals a day (mostly whatever we're eating) and 1 or 2 snacks.

Molly can stand on her own! She usually squats down after several seconds.

She has learned to wave bye bye.

She has started giving sloppy baby kisses. We love it!

She is saying mama and dada consistently.

She really doesn't want to be held by anyone but mama. She doesn't mind going to dad but she pretty cries if anyone else takes her! I guess we've entered the separation anxiety stage.

She is into EVERYTHING. I've forgotten what a big mess a mobile and curious baby can make.

She is not a big fan of bath time.

She laughs hysterically when Graham plays peek-a-boo with her.

She loves to play with her toy "smartphone" and holds it up to her ear.

When she holds a comb she rubs it on her head.

She loves to play outside with her brother.

She pretty much likes to do anything with her brother.

The past year has just flown by. We are looking forward to how Molly will change and grow in her second year. We just love her to pieces!

Thoughts While Walking

Now that I have a nice new double stroller, the kids and I have been enjoying long walks through our neighborhood a few times a week. Here are some of my observations:

• When you go walking with two mzungu children in a double stroller, you WILL be a public spectacle. I have almost caused some rubber-neckers to crash.
• People here travel primarily by "boda boda." A boda is a motorcycle that is used as a taxi. They are absolutely everywhere and they don't follow any traffic laws. They are also very dangerous. For example, it's not unusual to see a woman sitting sidesaddle on the back of a boda holding a baby without a seat belt or helmet. 
• Men use machetes to cut the grass and shrubs. So it's not unusual to see a man, or a child, walking down the street with a huge machete. I have certainly not gotten used to that. 
• The flowers here are so abundant and unusual I often have to stop to enjoy them. Same with the birds. The birds also make very different sounds here. There is one that sounds exactly like a monkey.
• Sunscreen is a must when you are this close to the equator.
• Cars will often avoid potholes more than they avoid pedestrians. 
• Avoiding potholes is an art. 
• When walking, get ready to repeatedly hear, "Mzungu! Mzungu! How are you!"
• When it rains everyday, things grow more than you can imagine. It would take nature no more than a few weeks to take back over any property here. 
• The sight of the clouds rising over Mt. Wanale in the mornings is breath-taking. 

I am loving our walks. The chance to observe Uganda in the quiet of the morning is precious.