Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Happy Birthday, Evelyn!

We celebrated Eva's bday a little early this year. Her bday is May 21st...which just happened to be our first day in Uganda. So, the day before we left Nairobi, we had a little party with our friends there. She was thrilled to finally be the one to blow out the candles, and for days after could be heard singing, “Happy Birthday to you, ME! Happy Birthday to you, ME!”

On her real bday we had fun opening a package that was waiting here for us from Jon and Kate, chasing bunnies in the garden of the guest house we're staying at, and eating a yummy fish and chips dinner.

Some favorite shots of Eva over the past few months:

Her Birthday Celebration in Nairobi with Faders and Agnes Families (her favorite present was this pink Elmo backpack she spotted on the market when we were out walking one day).

Evelyn's actual birthday and our first day in Uganda...

Birthday bling - compliments of Auntie Kate.

Happy Birtday, Sweetheart! We love you!



Catching Up

We have fallen behind in our blog! A lot has happened since last we wrote...including: finishing up our time in Sudan, a trip to the coast of Kenya, Eva's birthday, and our arrival in Uganda!

We had some fun and special days at the Sun 'n' Sand hotel with the Faders. After working so hard side-by-side in Sudan, it was fun to share some R&R together as well.

Here are some pictures from our time in Mombasa -







Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Jonathan's Prayer

Almost every night Phil reads to the kids from the “Jesus Storybook Bible”. The kids love it! Now that we're reading through it for the second time, Evelyn has shown how strong her memory is by pointing at pictures and telling us the story. The other day she found the page depicting Jesus' arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane and said, angrily, “guy cut his ear off!”

On Friday night the story was about Namaan, a man who had leporosy and was healed by God through Elisha. The story went on to tell of the promise that God would later send his son, Jesus, to heal every broken heart. Jonathan asked if everyone's heart was broken and we explained that they are. “Even Evelyn's?” “Yes,” Emily said, “but if you ask Jesus to come and live in your heart, he can fix it. Would you like to ask him?” Jonathan enthusiastically agreed and prayed this prayer: “Jesus, I know that you died on the cross. Please come live in my heart.” We cheered and prayed for him, and Evelyn, caught up in the excitement, leaned over and kissed him!

The next morning at breakfast we asked if he remembered that he asked Jesus to live in his heart, and with a huge smile and light in his eyes he said, “Yes! He is living inside of me, and he's fixing my heart!”

Rejoice with us and pray for our son as he faces the many hardships and temptations this world will bring.

Dear Jesus, please continue to draw Jonathan close to you. Let your Holy Spirit dwell in his heart and stir up within him the joy of companionship with you, of citizenship in Heaven, of the abundant life you have called him to. And enable us as parents to stoke that fire, build a foundation for faith, and model the Christian life in a God-honoring, humble, compelling way.

Thank you God for this glimpse of childhood faith and wonder!

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Tan Lines

Shod. Bare.







This hot new foot fashion deserves a good name. Any ideas?