Preparation for the Big "Star Wars" Finale

"Star Wars" was and always has been a big deal to me and my siblings.

"Star Wars" was and always has been  a big deal to Doug and his siblings.

Since 1977.

So of course, we have passed this love on to our children.

December 21, 2019, was the big day for the premier of "Rise of Skywalker" here, but on the 18th, Keira got a bad fever and was down for the count.

Honestly, I was already fearing I might have to stay at home with her and miss the movie this time around. 

But she rested a lot

And she joined us for some of our pre-movie marathon over a few days where we watched the other eight to prepare for the finale.  

She still had a headache the night of the premier, but she was ready to join us with her Leia buns. 

Another last before lockdown...

The last time we went to the movies, and I must say, that was a good one to end on.

Thanksgiving and an Experiment

One evening, right before Thanksgiving, our team went to play laser tag.  Keira was sick, and I stayed home with her; however, on Caleb's birthday in January, we ALL played, and it was a lot of fun!

November 27, 2019

Thanksgiving morning, some Americans (and Dutch) played a game of football. Keira still wasn't feeling 100%, so I stayed home, but Doug and Caleb joined in the festivities.

They were put on opposite teams, and had a fun time covering each other.

Caleb's team won.

Later that day, we decided to have Thanksgiving at a restaurant again.  The chef from the restaurant we celebrated in last year moved to a new restaurant.  Last year, my teammate had helped the chef with the menu, and it was just for us, so with it being publicized for the whole city, we weren't sure what the set-up was going to be.

There was a buffet and plenty of food, but he changed some recipes and used some different spices this year, and it just didn't taste as good to me.

But it was still nice to all eat together, and Keira's fever was down, so she joined the festivities.

November 29, 2019

Right before Thanksgiving, I took a chance on getting my hair colored. 

I had never done that before.

I thought about getting some blonde highlights to make the switch to grey a little bit smoother; however, I was very nervous about getting my hair colored in a country where a majority of the salon's deal only with dark brown or black hair.

I finally found I guy I trusted and held my breath.

And it was quite a process!

Keira was not excited about me getting my hair colored.  

She wasn't sure she was going to like it.

It turns out, he did just what I wanted!

This was five months ago, so when I get to America you'll get to see my roots and grey, but it was fun while it lasted :) 

November 23, 2019

December Activities

Our December activities mostly included sickness.  Karis got sick on the 6th, Kylie on the 10th, Doug on the 11th, Keira on the 12th, I got sick on the 14th, and Caleb on the 15th.  Thankfully, Caleb and Doug bounced back quickly.

Kylie and Keira were the worst.  Kylie was down for 2 weeks and got really behind in school.  Keira was sick for 9 days, but then I let her to go to school on December 22nd, her last day for that week.

Unfortunately, Keira attends a school that does not recognize Christmas, so she would have had to return to school on Christmas Eve for the start of the next week.  However, unlike any mom I thought I would ever be, I did not allow her to return to school until January 2nd.

Thankfully, the school took a New Year's holiday from Dec 27 - Jan 1, so she didn't miss too much.

Here they are...recovered on Christmas morning.

We crawled out of bed, half-sick, close to Christmas, just in time to make cookies and hot chocolate mix for the neighbors and some of our other friends around town.

Kylie is much better than I am at writing in this script, but it still took us both a long time to write directions for how to make hot chocolate on one side of the card...

And Isaiah 9:6 on the back.

(I know it seems like a typo, but "6" for us is actually the symbol "7" for them.  Their "7" = "V")

Kylie and Karis decorated lots of zip lock bags for me.  Here are a few of them.

After we delivered treats to our neighbors and told them we were celebrating the birth of Jesus, our landlord wondered what he should do in return.

He's not familiar with Christmas, so he called our language helper to ask him what he should do for us.  Our language helper didn't know either, but the next thing we knew, our landlord had bought this cake for us and delivered it to our family on Christmas afternoon.

It was a very sweet gesture.

We rarely remember to take family photos, but we actually got one in front of our friends' tree, so I'm sending it your way for proof that we're all still alive and kickin'.

Better late than never.

Giardia (or something) strikes again

For those of you who only read the blog, I wanted to let you know that Caleb and Karis were correctly diagnosed as having Giardia. We went to the local pharmacy, and it only took two trips to get the right medication. Two bottles cost around $2.50 total!!

Anyway, within hours of taking the first dose, they were better. Praise the Lord!

A nurse in Kenya, upon hearing of our plight, has gotten a medical kit of sorts, together for us of things we might need here in Arua, and she is sending it by way of other people. Again, Praise God!

Two days after Caleb and Karis finished their medicine, Kylie woke in the middle of the night with a fever.

She was on the couch all day Friday, but with only a small fever. If the fever spiked, I was supposed to check for malaria, but it never did.

Saturday, she started vomiting a little, and by Sunday, she couldn't keep anything down.

Sunday night, we decided to start the treatment for Giardia, just in case, because it is so contagious (and travels in water). She threw up a few hours after taking it, but maybe some remained in her.

Today (Monday), she hasn't eaten much, but when she has, she has thrown it up. I put her to bed, and up came her tiny dinner. So, she is now in-between Doug and I until I can get her sheets cleaned and hung out in the sun tomorrow to dry.

Please pray that we will discover what she has, that it will go away, or that the medicine we are giving her will treat it.

Sorry for all the "sick" stories. Better ones are coming.


When I download my most recent pictures, I will show you a picture of Caleb with half a hair cut. Doug started using the electric clippers Saturday night on Caleb. He got the back and sides done, and he had just taken a swipe down the middle (reverse mohawk), when the electricity went out around 5pm. It was a fun evening eating dinner while looking at Caleb's hairdo.

Doug fixed it the next morning before church, but it would have been appropriate to leave it. Caleb went on his first motorcycle taxi, and he got to ride in the front. (A reverse mo-hawk would have been cool, right? :)

Doug took Caleb and Karis to church because I was home with Kylie. All three of them got on one "piki piki" (motorcycle taxi). Caleb was in front of the driver, and Karis sat between Doug and the driver.

I wish I had a picture of that.

I also wish I had a picture of the time Kylie and I took a piki to town to get the giardia medicine. Women ride side saddle on the back of the motorcycle, and Kylie was just on my lap holding on to me, while I had one hand on the back of the bike, and one hand gripping my market bag.

It's a wonder there aren't more accidents (or deaths).

Stool Sample, #1 (January 31, 2010)

Unpleasant topic. I know. But this is my life right now.

My prayer partners know what you may not.

Karis is sick now, too.

And I told my prayer warriors that Caleb was getting better, but today, he went backwards. More vomitting. More diarrhea.

I was told I needed to collect a stool sample to take to the clinic so “they” could identify what was wrong.

Our children were told to tell us when they had to “go,” so we could “catch” the sample.

They kept forgetting.

In desperation, at the end of the day, I spooned some off of Caleb because we had missed all of our chances.

I called a friend to tell her I would need a ride to the clinic.

So sorry. The sample has to be fresh, and they are not open today.

Clean. Scrub. Disinfect my spoon, and wait for tomorrow.

Please pray for both of them. They are getting more and more dehydrated.

**Because of the sickness around here and the fact that things like diarrhea in the bed occur often (and washing machine is not always available), my newsletter will be a little postponed this month, but I'm working on it.

Sick with no Power

Karis crawled into our bed Thursday night...again.

She hasn't slept a full night since we got to Arua.

There are MANY noises outside (birds, dogs, children crying, people talking), and when the electricity goes off, there is no fan to block out the sounds.

She and Doug stay up a lot at night together because she comes and wakes him, and then he can't go back to sleep.

Caleb came in, but there was no room for him in the bed, so I got up to lay with him in his twin.

"Mom, my tummy hurts."

He sat up and started to gag.

I ran to the kitchen to get a bowl.

No power. No lights. No bowl.

I ran back for the lantern, but the bed was already starting to be covered with his birthday dinner.

I got the lantern, returned to the bed, but it was over...for now. 2am.

I got him to Doug (who was awake), and got Doug to start a bath.

I lifted the mosquito net, stripped his sheets and blanket, and went to the shower to rinse them off. I got a basin to soak the blanket in with washing powder to wash the next day, and then I went and checked on the boy.

He got clean, and was sad that his new birthday Star Wars pajamas could not be worn anymore that night.

He and I crawled into Karis' bed with a bowl and wet wash cloth. He was so hot, and the air was so still. Only 3 and one half hours until electricity and fans.

No sleep for him.

I got my computer and put in a Justice League Superman cartoon movie for him. Laid the computer on my chest, and I fell asleep. He finished the whole thing and wanted more, but I told him it was time to rest.

No chance. More heaving. Rinse the bowl out. This time I remembered the lantern. Start again. 4am.

He rested. I rested. The electricity came on at 6am. Praise God.

At 7am, more came. Poor boy.

(The night watchman was curious to hear why he saw a lantern light moving back and forth through the house last night.)

We moved to my bed to watch another movie, and then it started coming out the other end.

After three pairs of pants and underwear soiled, and three baths in a short amount of time, I put him in a pull-up. He was devastated.

Did I mention that it is improper here for the nationals to wash your undergarments.

So I knew I'd better get his underwear soaking because I was going to have a big, fun job ahead of me. Without a machine, though, Alice, my house help, is doing a lot of the wash now that I have a clothes line.

Anyway, he messed up two pull-ups before he figured out how to make it to the potty in time.

Poor boy. He doesn't have a whole lot left.

He is drinking a lot of water, and spent ALL day on the couch.

He felt well enough after lunch (mine, not his - he's not eating) to sit and play his new birthday Wii game. It was short-lived because he passed out again for the 8th or 9th time.

It is so hot. He is so hot. But he is not complaining.

I gave Karis some Melatonin last night and she slept through the night. So did her daddy!

Caleb slept beside me, hot, but through the whole night.

Praise God that he ate a little this morning, and even though we have no power at night, we always have HIS power.

I prayed over Caleb while he was sick, and whenever he would throw up, he would ask me to pray again.

I'm glad Caleb knows where our POWER comes from.

Thank You, Jesus, that he is better today (Friday, January 29th).