Happy Birthday, Evelyn!

We celebrated Eva's bday a little early this year. Her bday is May 21^st...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 -

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!

Tan Lines

Shod. Bare.







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

Cables Up!

Praise the Lord! The cables have been finally set! All clamps have been tightened and the deck is beginning to creep along the cables! Behold!

At this point we'd like to thank God, who rightly deserves all of the credit for this bridge, who answers prayers, who has kept everyone safe, in whose grace we live and for whom we exist. It is He who created us, who plans our steps and carries us through. Thank you, God, for this small success and for the fulfillment and satisfaction that comes with it.

Well we're pushing forward but have decided to bring the bridge work to a close this Saturday. Our laborers' contract ends on Saturday, and we leave for Kenya with the Faders the following Thursday, so that will give us a few days in Yabus to relax as a family, maybe make a few adventure trips in the area around Yabus, and work on a few small chores and odd jobs around the missionary compound.

Thank you all so much for your prayers!

Happy Birthday, Jonathan!

Today was Jonathan's 4th birthday! Here are some pictures from our fun day!

I woke up excited to make him scrambled eggs with some eggs the boys found in the chicken coop here...unfortunately, eight out of the nine little eggs had eyeballs inside, so we had oatmeal! Jonathan said, "I like oatmeal in the United States of America, AND I like oatmeal in Sudan!"

And while we're on the food theme...here's what we had for lunch! Canned hot dogs from Nairobi, canned green beans and mac'n'cheese! We invited our friends over for a lunch celebration...

After naps, we filled up a bunch of water balloons!

Three scrawny roosters died for our dinner celebration. Mmmm, Meat!

Here we get a bit out of order (Does anyone else have this problem of moving pictures around in blogger? It drives me crazy!)... After our water balloon fight and before dinner we were surprised by a huge hail storm! It was amazing! Jonathan had fun running out and collecting the ice balls when the worst of it was over. Apparently Phil had to hide under a tree with a shovel over his head at the bridge site!

Bath in a bucket. The blue bucket is always fought over for bath time. Birthday boy got it today!

Here we're back to dinner celebration! I made a chocolate cake in our brick/charcoal oven (it turned out great!), and per Jonathan's request I topped it with chocolate pudding and whipped cream - what a treat!

Presents! A new matchbox car and a card game!

This morning I asked Jonathan how he felt now that's he's four. He told me that he wouldn't be four until after he had his cake and presents. When we came back home to get ready for bed after his party he suddenly realized he was finally four and thought he should try and see how fast he could run now that he was older. He ran as fast as he could back and forth in our small house and was super excited to find that he was indeed much faster than before! He fell asleep a very happy boy with his new car and games around him. Happy Birthday, sweet boy!

Some Pics From Yabus

Here are a few more snapshots of our life here in Yabus.
This is our screened-in porch where I read to Em during rest time in the heat of the day. A breeze often comes through here at night, making it a wonderful spot for visiting at the end of the day too, sharing a cup of tea.
Here is a pic of Bethany, Emily, and all six kids riding the quad bike back home after a visit to the bridge site. As you can imagine, the kids love adventures like these and I love to see them when they visit me at work. It is unusual in this culture for fathers to play with their kids, so I always seem to get funny looks and gasps when I throw Eva up in the air or when Jonathan runs to give me a hug.

And here is our sweet daughter Evelyn. She has been very adorable lately and sings to herself all the time. She also does a cute little jig when she eats something she likes (like watermelon).
This is a pic of an afternoon outing that the ladies took with the kids. They spread out a mat in the shade of a big beautiful tree nearby and let the kids play together. Emily and Bethany are loving this new time of togetherness, this time with their kids. Together they are planning a small vacation for our two families at the Kenyan coast when we leave Yabus in May. (!)
And finally, a couple of shots of the bridge. This one is of our team casting the first deadman anchor. The guy in the foreground, Butros, is a real firecracker of a guy. He has become one of my right-hand men, showing great skill in brick-laying. I'll write more about him later.
This pic was taken during the casting of the second deadman anchor, and if you look closely you can see the other tower on the far side of the river.