Easter 2009

Our Easter 2009:

Bright & early, the kids opening up their baskets

Then to the country club for brunch...









Off to Ryan's for an egg hunt and crafts...






Then there was a small fire in Ryan's house. A Tyler candle got too hot (and was low) and exploded. Glass and wax, everywhere and the wax turned into fire instantly. Water made it worse. So while Ryan got the fire extinguisher, Jon and Robb carried the entry way table outside (while on fire) into the court yard.


This is a collage Leah made... she wanted a serious picture of us too, I had other plans...ha ha ha

Soccer-Vegas Weekend

Evan, Aiden and Paris in Las Vegas...



Beatles "LOVE" at the Mirage:
A photo I snuck during the show (no cameras allowed) of the kids under this big blanket that covered the audience!






A stop to M&M World....










Evan's team doing water therapy (a view from our hotel room down to the poolm his coach is in the red shirt)...


Soccer tournament games...



Driving home from Vegas:

2 Girls Go To The Mall And.....

Kristi and I did some shopping at the mall and saw no lines for the Easter Bunny...so we got our photos taken :)

"2009"

The Kitchen @ Tru-Vine

An update on the kitchen that my wonderful grandparents 100% sponsored to build at Tru-Vine. The Kitchen is done and I have 2 photos of it almost at completion and 1 photo of it's first time serving food to the orphans. As of February 19th the kitchen is feeding the 420++ orphans 2 times a day. I will get more photos to post online and of course see it in person and get a lot of photos this June/July. Getting photos from the people that are caretakers in Uganda seems to be hard since internet is hard to come by and is not a constant (or stable) thing like it is in the USA. At least I know the kitchen is built and doing it's job for these once neglected children.... Praise the Lord!!!!

PS- Tru-Vine is Tom Eggum, and Hope 4 Kids main site, where Kristi and I spent a lot of our time last November. It is a facility with a day school, boarding school, medical clinic, church, missionary house, widows housing projects and a widows' store. All part of Tom Eggum's vision for the orphans and widows of Torroro Uganda. The kids who board here are sponsored by people in the USA and are orphans.

Taken Feb 9th, 2009


Taken Feb 19th, 2009 (this is Grace, she has 3 kids and her husband died. She is a widow. I send her son Godfrey to highscool boarding school in Jinja). She is making the rice/bean meal that came free from "Feed My Starving Children". Hope for Kids received an 18 month supply of food from this US nonprofit.


The kitchen..... still thinking of a name for it :) I will get a sign made and hang it in a little ceremony come this summer!!! Maybe some embroidered aprons too. Something to make these widows feel special. They have a thankless job taking care of these parentless children. I do admire them! They don't ever get a break and sleep on a dirt floor of a shack or hut at the end of the day, with no running water. These women, no matter what, have the strongest faith in God and never doubt his love for them. They are true Christians and they humble me. Praise God!!! Or as Tru-Vine's Pastor Wilbur would say "GOD IS GOOD"!!!!

Happy Birthday Schmookey

My lambie pie's 38th birthday was on March 24th.....we celebrated by watching Evan's scrimmage soccer game and chocolate cake.

This is Robb at an age where he looked so much like Aiden...Happy Birthday!

Smile Africa Clinic

"God doesn't require us to succeed; he only requires that you try," ~ Mother Teresa

The Smile Africa Clinic, or Bethel Clinic, as it is called was 1/2 complete when my Hope 4 Kids November group was there. The clinic was not being used to it's ability and it was actually pretty sad to see this shell of a building in such bad shape. The facility needed $15k to finish it's construction. Kristi and I got home November 18th and by Christmas I had fundraised $9k to go towards the construction costs. So the clinic is in the midst of finishing. Windows have been placed in each empty bay, electric wiring has been installed and the outside haved been getting stucco on them. This summer I get to see everything in person and taken photos.

Before photo:





A work in progress..... so far the "after" photos. Tom Eggum is there right now on a mission trip, that is him with Pastor Ruth who runs Smile Africa. The Clinic was started last October 2008, so the plaque reads 2008 for when the project started, not ended. Even as a dirty shell of a building, the clinic did see patients:





Can't wait to take the completed real "after photos" this June/July... thank you Julie, Ryan & Rose Mary for the generous donations that lead to the $9k for Hope 4 Kids and this clinic that will save lives!!! These are a few of the kids who are at Smile Africa daily and will use the clinic on a regular basis. You 3 have touched their lives and made a difference half way around the world!!! Thank you for caring and making a DIFFERENCE to those forgotten....





"Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat, " ~ Mother Teresa