Handfuls of Blessings

We want to wish each of you a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!  We were very blessed to be with our college boys, Keith's parents, and back again at Andrew & Jacky's in Ohio.   What special memories were made!

Gifts come in many different forms.  Some are wrapped.  Some are monetary.  Some are acts of service.  We were blessed to have a professional photographer gift us with family portraits.  We are not a photogenic family, but Jenna did such an awesome job in making the photos turn out so nicely. Although we have been back in the States since August, this was our first opportunity to visit my dad.  We surprised him with a week-early birthday party and really enjoyed spending some time with him. Once again we were thrilled to be included on a school's field trip; this time to the zoo.  We had such a great time together and enjoyed seeing animals not native to Uganda. Thanksgiving found us at Keith's brother's house for not only celebrating Thanksgiving together, but also to attend their missions conference the week after.  The cousins were a little apprehensive about seeing each other, having been apart for 6 years, but it ...

October brings our last birthday in our family for the year.  I think this is the first time Savannah has ever had foil balloons, so she was elated when we presented her with two. Furlough is my break from making birthday cakes, so Savannah's "cake" was a pile of fudge marshmallow cookies - something my children have never had. On our last visit to Keith's parent's house, we took advantage of their fire pit and enjoyed roasting hotdogs and marshmallows.  We have so much enjoyed our time with them. October is a busy month for missions conferences, and we thoroughly enjoyed the many meetings we were at.  After finishing in California, we drove back to Austin, Texas to be a part of our home church's conference.  So many of our home missionaries were there, and it was a very exciting time getting fed from God's Word. Being back in Austin, we were able to see Shane and Stanley and have some good times with them.  One late evening all ...

It is a privilege to serve our Lord as a missionary.  It is a tough life; I will not lie.  However, God daily loads us with blessings.  One of the blessings we experience is furlough.  There is not too much to do while in Uganda to take a vacation for.  We do go camping once or twice a year, but there is not much else to do.  While on furlough, we enjoy as much as possible between churches.  My children have certainly seen more of America than I ever did at their age, and I am grateful for the great time we can have in between the long rides. We headed toward California after leaving Austin, Texas.  Our first night, we found a discount for a motel online and reserved a room.  When we pulled up to the address, we thought, "Oh, no, we made a mistake!"  The outside of the motel wasn't very impressive.  However, the inside looked as if they were really trying to fix it up.  And the big bonus?  There was an inside heated p...