Our Life In Photos: June 2009

Monday, June 29, 2009

Hope 4 Kids, June 30-July 13

I am heading out in the AM for Uganda for my 2nd mission trip with H4KI. Here is a link that will have daily photos from the H4K team:

http://209.200.93.146/Gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=17930

And here is my itinerary for the next 2 weeks:

TUESDAY JUNE 30TH Everyone check your departure times from your city. Be at the airport at least two hours early. Be sure to have your passports and airline tickets or your E-Ticket itinerary! We are on our way!

WEDNESDAY JULY 1ST Arriving in Entebbe airport in Uganda. We will spend the night in the a hotel near the airport.

THURSDAY JULY 2ND Breakfast in hotel before moving on. Those heading directly to Tororo the home of our major projects will take the extra bags on up to our Tororo hotel. (My suggestion is that you pack a small bag in your luggage to put two days of clothes in for our two nights in Fort Portal . That way we don’t take up room on our buses for our bigger luggage.) Those going to Fort Portal will leave by bus at the same time. Fort Portal is a beautiful place about 5 hours west of Kampala. It is near the Renzawori Mountains where the evenings are cool. This is where we are partnering with Outreach To Africa and Sunrise House. We will visit some of our fifty orphans at the Sunrise house. We will also spend some time in visiting the OTA primary school where we have many sponsored kids. You will love our beautiful hotel Mountains of the Moon! Sleep well!

FRIDAY JULY 3RD Breakfast in hotel. We will be leaving early for our safari at the Queen Elizabeth National Game Park. It is about 80 Kilometers away. We hope to see herds of elephants, hippos, crocodiles, and if we are really lucky we may see lions! We will be back at Mountains Over the Moon hotel again tonight!

SATURDAY JULY 4TH Today will be a long drive to Tororo so we will be up early to make the trip to Eastern Uganda. The excitement will build as we near our home for the next days! We will arrive at the Rock Classic Hotel in Tororo. This is a long day of travel and you may want to dip in the pool, take advantage of the sauna or steam room and for a few bucks ask for a massage!
For those who want to see the main site of True Vine Team Ministries. You will see our hospital, school, orphan headquarters and many kids!

SUNDAY JULY 5TH
Breakfast in hotel @ 7AM. Our family time will begin at 8AM each morning. This is a time to reflect on what we are experiencing and also to learn of what to expect that day.
Some will go to Lumino church for a great reunion with your friends and others will visit various churches to which they are connected. Hang on! This is an experience! Be ready to experience joyful worship like you have never experienced before.

MONDAY JULY 6TH
Each day we will have breakfast @ 7am followed by family time @ 8am. Today we will give each person a choice of whether to go to a village while others will visit Smile Africa and meet the women in the sewing ministry and then on to the Karamojong site to feed lunch to 420 kids. Also a women’s outreach with smile Africa. This is something everyone needs to experience sometime this week. Every day there is an opportunity to be involved in painting or fix up at one of the ministry sites.

TUESDAY JULY 7TH
Today we will have a well dedication in the beautiful village of Sibanga. We will also have a women’s outreach in the village. Others will be in Lumino or Namiango doing outreaches.

WEDNESDAY JULY 8TH
Mark will lead some of the group to Mumatumba for an outreach to the women of that village. Others will visit the True Vine School and the main site of True Vine. Then onto the village of Juba to see the new school we built. Get ready to see the cutest kids!

THURSDAY JULY 9TH
After Breakfast and family time Elizabeth will lead a team to see orphans and if you sponsor an orphan you will have a chance to spend time with them in the next two days. Some of the team will be back in the villages participating in women’s outreaches or painting projects.

FRIDAY JULY 10TH
This will be another day to see the sponsorship ministry and visit orphans. Also, village visits will continue.

SATURDAY JULY 11TH
How about climbing a mountain? Those who are interested will meet our hosts at 7AM at hotel lobby for a climb up the rock. Elizabeth will do a final orphan outreach.

SUNDAY JULY 12TH
Breakfast in Hotel. Family time. This is our last Sunday in Africa. There is an option to visit the True Vine Church and see the orphan choir sing along with experiencing a real African worship service on our way out of town. We will make a stop at the Nile River for some shopping and an option to take a short boat ride on the Nile. On our way to the airport we will stop for chicken or beef on a stick! Then we will make our way to the Entebbe airport where we take our evening flight out to Amsterdam.

MONDAY JULY 13TH Arriving in Amsterdam. Connecting to our various flights. Arriving USA on same day!

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Leah's 30th Birthday Dinner

Leah's 30th Birthday Dinner was a murder mystery themed party with a who-done-it show during dinner at my dad's home. A bunch of the guests played parts and Ryan was the murderer. We loved "Muder Ink" production company's reunion themed party (they are in Az if you ever need a murder mystery evening).

Babbo's catered and there was even a candy buffet bar for take away favors!! It was an adult only event, and my 3 kids were in a different room for most of the night. Towards the end they wanted to see all the action and peeked over a couch to watch the show. The show was taking place over dinner in 1 room, the dining room. So squeezing 40 people in there was a task!!!