Dennis, Mbale, lunch

Erin, Holly, Sarah, and I

Sarah, Denis, Holly, and I

Holly FINALLY bought a map!

Thanks for the fun Mbale!

Sarah with Ella and Chloe and their lovely ribbons!

Because I am SO BEHIND on my blogs and keeping you all updated on the events that are going on here and  how things are I am having to combine them into many small blogs! Sorry, and thank you for continuing to follow what is happening on this side of the world, in this very small town!

Starting from the TOP! 2nd time I am SO thankful we have a house! When we were in Kampala in February we went to church at Watoto and I had met Erin after the service very briefly. She is from Colorado and was in Uganda for 3 months serving at a children's home in Jinja from January to March! We chatted about why each of us was in Africa and how it was going. I invited her out to Tororo if she ever wanted to see another ministry and area of Uganda. She took me up on the offer and came on over for a few days! We had a great time getting to know her and having her with us at Smile! The kids especially loved seeing someone new!

Being here in Africa has definitely expanded my network, to say the least! I love how God works in connecting us together! I love hearing everyone's story of who they are, what they are doing, etc. it is so fun to share! So far I've met people from the UK, Australia, Ireland, Netherlands, Germany, Canada, South Africa, and more! I am definitely constantly learning more and more about the rest of the world!

Next Photo! Our good friend Denis has been such a blessing here in Tororo! He helps us with a lot of questions we have about where to get things in town and about cultural differences as well. He has worked with people from the Western world quite a bit so he understands us a bit. We had him over for breakfast one morning because he has again headed to Ethiopia! He is reaching out to people there and spreading the Gospel there, pray for him in this journey!

Next photo! Holly has been so amazing in helping our little Sam from Smile get an x-ray! It is quite the process! First she took him to a hospital in town, they didn't have the equipment or the radiology department wasn't open that day. So the following day she had to go to Mbale with Sam, Nurse Grace and Albert with the Smile van. It's about an 1.5 hour drive, on one of the worst roads in probably the whole world! haha....its extremely bumpy! My parents can even attest to it now! Anyways they couldn't receive the x-ray that day so she had to go back again the next day. I offered to ride with this time because I hadn't been to Mbale yet and have heard so much about it, actually I've heard mostly how bad the road is! haha. But we headed in a taxi for the day, got the x-ray in about an hours time, which was WAY less than I was expecting to wait! We had lunch in town and did some shopping for the necessities. Which ended up to be movies, and Coke light (Africa's equivalent to Diet Coke, very hard to find), so we count that day as a success! While we were waiting in the taxi to head home, and by waiting I mean this....when you go to a taxi park, or find a taxi in Uganda and want to go somewhere you have to wait for the van to be full, and I mean overly full before you get to start going. Some days I am still learning to wait. You can do most of your shopping while waiting in a taxi as well, Bibles, bread, sunglasses, necklaces, hair accessories, watches, locks, books, under garments, and more! Holly has been talking about having a map for so long and a gentlemen came to the window with some so I convinced her to buy one! We had a successful and enjoyable day in Mbale!

Last Photo! We went over for lunch to our friend Salima and Sam! Salima is a nurse at Smile! Sarah had brought with some ribbons for the girls and I managed to snap a picture before Chloe (the small one) took it out! It is so fun to be welcomed and enjoy a meal with our friends here! Ugandans are some of the most hospitable people!