HAPPY FEBRUARY EVENTS

I can hardly believe a month has passed since I last posted.  Time always seems to get away from me.

We began February with our Missionary Super Bowl All-Nighter.  Three other missionary families joined us for a night of food (lots of it), games, fellowship, sleep, and the Super Bowl.  I'm certainly not in the category of those who stayed up ALL night, but we really enjoyed having everyone together.

Enough food to last us through the night!  

Two days later our dachshund gave birth to seven puppies, but two died at birth.  I still can't believe she had seven!  Five make plenty of noise and are a manageable number.  Their eyes are opening now, so our kids are thrilled to be able to hold them.

Anne is a very good mama and produces some adorable puppies.

As has become tradition, during the Super Bowl we celebrated Shae-Lynn's birthday since all of her friends were here.  Then on the real date, we had a family celebration.  Her birthday cake request was an Oreo cookie.  I thought, "No problem.  A simple two-layer circle."  THEN I looked closely at an Oreo cookie and discovered that there are a lot of intricate details!  Wow - it definitely required more work than I had first thought, but it was delicious being filled with marshmallow cream.

Shae-Lynn's Oreo cake is aflame!

February 10th was the opening of our newest ministry - Providence Vocational Institute - an outreach ministry we hope will bring people to Christ, as well as provide skills to help people support themselves.  Please pray with us as we don't have nearly the number of students we need to cover the costs.  However, we are moving forward in faith that God will provide.

We had the Institute name and emblem printed on fabric that I sewed into a flag.

One of the greatest blessings in life has been my husband, and I am proud to have been his Sweetheart for 21 years.  We have a coffee house / restaurant just up the road from us where we enjoyed a lunch date together for Valentine's Day.  That afternoon we had a party for our kids with other missionaries.  Often the only time we see other missionaries is for parties, even though we may live in the same town!

Red and pink food. Heart-shaped food.  But I forgot to make anything with chocolate!

Our family is doing well, and we are getting ready for a busy time of company for the next three months.  We are excited for Keith's parents and sister to be returning in March, however, it means the end of our car-sitting days.  For the past two years, we have been blessed to have two vehicles because we have been taking care of other missionaries' vehicles while they have been on furlough.  (At times we even had three!)  Hence, our ministries and lives have grown around the convenience of being able to use two different vans.  At the beginning of the year, Keith also sold his motorcycle.  So, Savannah has been diligent to remind everyone at each meal that we need to pray for another vehicle.

Shane just returned to the States from a missions trip to Trinidad and greatly enjoyed himself.  He said it was almost like being back in Uganda but in a much more modern setting.  The ocean ate his glasses in his first days there, so hopefully he will be getting a new pair this week.  We sure miss him but are excited to see his growth in the last couple of months.

While America has been experiencing extreme coldness, our children are enjoying swimming several times a week.  Our weather is pleasant year-round, but right now it is dry season, so our temperatures are hitting the 90s.  (No, we have never seen it reach the 100s here in Masaka.)  We are quite spoiled by the beautiful weather.

Thank you for praying for us.  Hope you have a great week and stay warm!