worth 14,000 words

In the van 5 mins after we picked Benny up. Food=Love

morning snack

neat shot of our veranda just b4 my boda boda ride

hooray for bibs!

favorite time of day

Benny= bottomless pit. he eats anything you put in his bowl and more

bib pocket is good for storage

Friday's morning snack 7:45am

looking at the family book while eating

sharing an animal cracker w/Daddy (this was totally unsolicited and he did it several times)

showing the playdough man that Momma made

playdough man (in blue)

fancy fingernails (copying Momma's)

happy babies

1st full day with the boys

Blog: day 2

we sang together before bed last night the boys and I.  Johnny missed his auntie at bedtime but only a very little and then the 2nd night (tonight) not at all.

the boys each have a cough, they kept me up w/their coughing last night. When I woke up they were each standing in their pack n plays grinning at me! What a nice way to start the day! We got up and ate some animal crackers which once I showed them that they were animal shapes became more of a fun treat. The wonderful spacious room the boys and I are staying in lined on one side with built-in closets and big wide drawers. So I have the boys things all in drawers. The highest being the snacks and the lowest being the toy box/drawer. They have free access to anything in the bottom drawer but must ask about things in the top one! And they are no shy about asking...constantly for “sweeties” which means snacks of any kind. 

We had a great morning playing hard in the yard chasing the balls “mococahs” (motorcars/toy cars) and also playing with stickers a bit. After lunch we went up to our room and did some drawing and coloring before “Jaja” aka Grampa and I agreed they looked very much in need of naps. So the boys picked up all the toys happily and took a nice bath before settling in for a nap from 2:30-4ish. Grampa was quite happy about that because he was slated to babysit starting at 3:30 when I had a boda-boda (taxi) lined up to take me to my appointment with my lawyer at 4pm. The appointment went well and we found out that my hearing is at 12noon on Tues aug 23^rd which is 5am for those on eastern time in the USA. It was an adventure riding on the back of a small motorbike through the city streets of Kampala but obviously I lived to tell the tale and I was a bit nervous before we left so I asked dad to pray for me and that helped a lot.  At the end of the appointment, I asked the lawyer if we had anything to worry about and he replied “I never get worried because if I worry then you will worry.” I called and gave him my number once I got home and loaded the minutes. On the way back from my lawyers appointment I bought a SIM card and phone minutes for my cell phone that I am borrowing from the people I am staying with. 

The boys were happily coloring with Grampa when I returned and had been up only an hour or less. We played a few more minutes before dinner and then happily cleaned all our toys into the box/drawer and this time momma remembered the lovely bibs that her dear friend Dorothy made for the boys and we put those on first and took lotsa pictures!! super cuteness. After super Johnny has started a tradition of getting his cars and bringing them in to play with the while the big people finish eating. [btw while I am typing this I can hear the chants of the Ramadan evening prayers. You can hear them everyday throughout the day] Johnny tends to like to snack and picks at his food at dinner while Benny eats off he is given and then a 2^nd helping of no matter what you give him and then cleans Johnny's plate of the leftovers. 

Then we had a special surprise of Herb (the man of this house) coming home with a new puppy!! he will eventually be the guard dog here. He is SO SMALL and cute. The boys really liked meeting him and as we were going inside from that excitement we lost power for the first time since we arrived. Herb had predicted that we would tonight since it had been about 3 full days w/o losing power and that is rare here. The generator is running now as I type this. So far I do not have access to the internet in my bedroom so while I waited for the boys to fall asleep which they have done, I am writing this for you all. So we finished off our day w/a 2^nd bath during which I got some great footage of the boys singing and playing and washing eachother. 

Johnny came up with a great joke (in his 2yr old mind it is hilarious so you have to picture that in his delivery of the phrase) I have a sing-songy way that I say the boys names to them “Ba-by John-ny, Ba-by Ben-ny” and they both usually join in the chant and say each other's names but tonight Johnny started saying ““Ba-by John-ny, Ba-by Ma-ma” and they both thought it was so funny that they could not stop themselves laughing and then they were doing all permutations of the names they could come up with all in the same chanting rhythm ““Ba-by John-ny, Ba-by Ben-ny, Ba-by John-ny, Ba-by Mam-ma, Ba-by Dad-dy, Ba-by Mam-ma, Dad-dy Mam-ma, Mam-ma Ben-ny” etc and giggling as they thought of each new one and then repeated it several times as I feigned being upset with being called a baby each time they said “Baby Mamma”

At once point earlier today I was saying holding Johnny and saying “Johnny Wange” and he would answer back “Mamma Wange” over and over. It was a pretty sweet moment and this is only day 2! They have both warmed up to Grampa very well also and have no trouble playing with him etc without me there. They were climbing on him and taking turns kissing his scruffy face tonight. They like to look at the “daddy book” that Uncle Andy and Aunt Peg made them with pictures of home and family in it. Tomorrow we have nothing planned so I may have time to up load videos etc. Dad is preaching this Sunday at a church where the pastor was in a car accident this past week and needs a fill-in. He will be speaking with a translator and he is quite excited about the opportunity.

welcome back to Uganda

 Day 1:

We arrived home around midnight so everything that has happened so far was really all today (Wed aug 17).

one interesting start to our time in Uganda was that we were 3^rd in line at the visa line in customes and sailed right throught but even after taking several minutes to gather our luggage, we evtered the lobby and saw no one to meet us. There were several people there to met other people but no one to meet us...Not what we had hoped but I trusted In God and the good man's word who had confirmed that he would be there via email the day before. We were there trying to formulate a plan with the tiny bit of brain power we had remaining between the 2 of us when a kind-looking white American man came rushing up to the receiving area holding a sign he was carrying as he walked past facing away from us I couldnt see if it had my name on it but dad chased him down and indeed it WAS our man!! Praise God. Not the most secure feeling to be in a foreign country w/o a plan for getting to where you are sleeping. I had not lost hope because I clearly remembered the terrible trip to the airport the night that we left uganda and how it took 3 hours to go 30km Herb said that was delayed by 5 motorcades that had stopped traffic all the way between Kampala and Entebbe. The president was one of them so there must have been and meeting or a party or something. 

The guest house we staying in is palatial and the owners and staff are delightful. The food and accommodations are wonderful. I'm writing this as I sit in the dark with 2 precious boys resting peacefully in their pack n plays next to my bed. This morning we both slept in. I was up last at about 9:15 (glorious!) and dad had a bit of time to read etc b4 we went over for breakfast which was fruit porridge and french toast all of which were very fresh and good and delicious. The van needed to be in the shop today in the AM so I had time to sort through all of my suitcases of treats and goodies and supplies and such. It felt like Christmas and everyone who received felt that way as well. Harriet the cook here -who is passionate about her art and cooks with flair- loved all of her gifts for her children and herself. I had also brought several things for the guardians' children, (Johnny and Benny's cousins) and was able to hand deliver those later in the day which was lovely as well. After breakfast and sorting and packing bags to go to Mukono – which of course included plenty of snacks-- we were Off. Incidentally, in the Brimer family we firmly believe that we'll always be ok as long as we have each other and plenty of snacks. The boys did seem to heartily embrace that family credo this after noon in the van while they happily downed several snacks that I had packed. On the way to Mukono (keep in mind that I had texted ahead and received response that acknowledged that everyone knew I was coming.) I called from Herb's phone to tell Elizabeth we'd be there in about an hour. She was at work but answered and said she'd call the women the get the boys ready to be picked up.

Elizabeth calls not long after and said Jamilla is at the hospital w/her baby, and that Harriet can't be reached by phone, maybe you should come back tomorrow...deep breath. No we are still coming we will try to make it work today I replied.

Pink water tear gas detour: then we came upon a police riot control tank shooting pink water at rioters and the sound of artillery which was actually tear gas not live rounds. We did a U-turn in short order along with and the other cars and people in the area and took a different road to get to Mukono and the boys. Herb said in his 14yrs of living here that is the closest he has even come to rioters and police force etc. [all I can think is that these boys must be pretty important to someone other then just us]

So we continue anyway and we stop and stop and pick up what we had stored at the missionary's home we had stayed at before bunnies blankies sippy cups soccer ball etc. They were delightful and we let them know that it looked a but tricky to get the boys today after all and so dad lead the 5 of us in prayer as we boldly asked for an easy fix to all the seeming obstacles and to bring the boys home quickly and without complications today.

Shortly thereafter we have both boys and are on our way home. Smooth as silk (for Africa)

great and wonderful

the boys are asleep in their beds & life is pretty great
I did get my running hug from one of my little munchkins but it wasn't the one I expected.  It was from Johnny (Hayden)  We picked him up 1st at his house and then we picked up little Benny who was playing shy at first but we got it all on film...
What a great day filled with it's own excitement and miracles. (more on that later but please keep up the prayers!) This much I know: God is here with us. 

after their 1st bath and b4 bed

jetlagged in Shipol

So here we sit in Shipol airport in Amsterdam.  We have a total of 5 hrs of layover here.  We both did not manage to sleep on the 1st flight...unfortunately.  (We were hindered by a dear child playing some sort of handheld game with the sounds turned up loud enough for us to hear.) We were racing to get from our arrival gate to our departure gate in Detroit. Our flight left over 1hr late from Maine so we basically sprinted from one end of the Detroit airport to the other and just made the final boarding call only to find they had changed our seats and put us in the front row of the economy section which is the one w/o a row in front of it so we had lots of legroom...yay! Molly had a pretty hard time saying goodbye to her daddy and called him from the van before our first plane even left the ground.    I lost my cellphone and thought it was gone for good only to find it in a random compartment in my other carry on bag... phew!  I got a text from Elizabeth saying that Beni is excited that I am coming soon, she didn't mention Johnny.  Can't wait to hear "Momma!" from his sweet lips! Thanks for the prayers and keep it up!!

The wait is over

Countdown clock is to zero.

Getting ready to climb aboard that school bus with wings and head on out.

The boys have 2 more sleeps til Mamma comes back to scoop them up. Stay tuned for Wednesday's post.

Time to thaw out my heart and let it feel the joy that is heading my way.


Pray. very. often. for us. please. The End

after all there's only 1 more sleep 'til...

If you're not a fan of the Muppets' Christmas Carol, [1st of all, why not?] you won't get the title of this post, but I bet some of you will be singing the title as I have been all day yesterday and today.

Look to your right and check out the countdown... is anyone else getting chills?
btw: I know that lots of you look at the blog and don't let us know.  we are thankful to each of you who care enough to spend a few minutes of your day thinking and praying for us.  it is humbling and encouraging to have you there.  one thing that I WOULD LOVE would be to have more of you post comments and let me know you are there with me in spirit on the trip. you don't have to be the most eloquent person or have something profound to say.  "we are here and we care" is about as profound as I'll need when I am so far from home. =o) getting a comment on the blog here brings a level of tangibility to you all and to the support you represent.

A BIG THANK YOU TO HANNAH PROCH AND HER TEAM OF HELPERS WHO HOSTED A SUCCESSFUL FUNDRAISER EVENT FRIDAY.  WE ARE HUMBLED AND OVERWHELMED BY ALL OF YOUR GENEROSITY.