teddy bear cakes and fabric conditioner

With less than a week before our flight, life is a jumble of lists and lasts…

this week amidst packing and goodbyes and stocking up and shopping for resources, we are desperately enjoying the little things of the UK before we plunge back into a completely different culture… Someone recently mentioned that when children (or any of us) go through transition, it is helpful to write a ‘list of lasts’ to prepare to leave, so this week I will deliberately enjoy and delight in…

hot and clean water for washing up

ovens which bake beautiful cakes

beautiful sisters to bake with

cute cafes to catch up with friends over a cuppa and discreetly feed Asher

blending in - and having children who blend in (especially now her strange Uganglish accent has gone)

well maintained playparks

wrapping up in coats and going for a walk and looking in on the cosy houses in the neighbourhood

fast, cheap and reliable internet

a church where children have pompoms and flags to help them feel included, and Sunday school teachers who are committed and trained and enthusiastic to share truth with little ones

getting dark and gloomy at 4pm

immunisations which are in date and not fake

the smell of fabric conditioner and the result of machine washed clothes

Someone said last week ‘oh, but presumably Asher and Amelie can be vaccinated against malaria and typhoid?’ hmm. unfortunately not…
and maybe it goes without saying that returning to East Africa with our precious little ones is not a decision we make lightly.

The focus at church yesterday was on adoption and orphans, and encouraging the church to consider their role in adoption and fostering. It was good (and timely) to remember the passion for some of the roles we hope to be involved in when we are back, and the need for people to encourage children that their future is (or can be) brighter than their past.

http://www.oranewzealand.org/where-we-work/uganda/

So much as I hate goodbyes and the thought of leaving loved ones, we push on with the thought of our home in Arua and hopefully our purpose there…

Snapshot of life in Arua...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OaTGE0wH9E

teddy bear picnic

pic 1

marathon viewers!

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bye lizzie

swimming

soft play

marathon runner!