Kevin & Christy Tie the Knot!

Remember when Kevin & Christy got engaged? Well, we made it home from Uganda just on time for their wedding! It was a beautiful day. The ceremony was at Crescent Park and the reception at Beecher Place - a small hall overlooking Crescent Beach. Here's a glimpse of the day!

The ceremony - some people sat on chairs and some sat on blankets on the grass, making for a casual but also intimate atmosphere!

Abbey (my niece) took her job of flower girl very seriously!

She forgot to scatter the flower petals as she was walking, so she dumped them all out of the basket at once when she got to the front - and then threw the basket behind her and turned around with a huge smile, very pleased with herself!

And on a separate note, don't you love the guys' shorts?!

Woo!

My lovely cousin Julie and her 2-week-old daughter

First dance

Let the party begin!

Congratulations Kevin & Christy!

Back to London

After saying goodbye to Uganda, we spent the past 2 days in London! We decided that rather than run from one flight to the next at Heathrow Airport, we would break up the journey and spend a couple nights in the city. My goal: to find a dress to wear to my brother's wedding (tomorrow!) Mission accomplished! We did some shopping on Oxford Street, walked around Covent Garden, ate fish and chips, visited with some friends, went to Buckingham Palace, and just enjoyed the beautiful summery weather. Aside from the part where my legs could barely carry my pregnant body another step by the end of our visit, it was a great way to spend time just the two of us before coming home and inevitably being so busy for the rest of the summer.

I'd also like to mention for the sake of bragging that on both of our flights the airline bumped us up to business class! It was heavenly...fully reclining seats/beds, delicious food and snacks, and the use of the fancy business lounge at Heathrow (where we spotted movie stars! Well, we spotted Ricky Lake.) Thanks Octoby for causing the airline staff to have pity on me!

And now we're "home" - looking forward to catching up with friends and family and getting ready for the arrival of our baby. But also knowing we will miss Uganda like crazy!

MDD Day

That is, Music Dance & Drama day! The girls have been practicing all term for this day, and yesterday we were the "guests of honour" at their competition! The theme of the day was "Trust in the Lord," and the girls competed against each other in 4 groups of 6. (The groups were called Chozen Heavens, Divine Mercy, Ebenezer, and Shalom Crew. Love the Ugandan-ness!)

The competition included singing...

"Carry your candle"

...poetry...

...dancing...

...talk shows...

Tyra Banks

...and drama.

Pretty creative costumes considering most of them don't have many clothes other than their uniforms!

Goliath

The winning group, Ebenezer, won a fancy trophy - and boy were the girls excited!

Love these girls!

A Farewell from the Workers

Over the past few days we have received a lot of farewell gifts - so many that we will have to bring one more suitcase home than we thought! Many of these gifts have come from the workers, who are all sad to see Paul go - some of them have even come to the door in tears to say goodbye! Thursday was the official "farewell to Paul" day. Throughout the morning many of them came to our house with gifts, and of course all wanted to have their photo taken with Paul.

One worker even gave Paul a turkey - such a generous gift from someone who doesn't have much to give.

They then prepared a special lunch, which included the turkey...along with potatoes, rice, pork, beef, fruit, and soda.

Many of the workers also wrote cards and letters to Paul, saying how grateful they are to him for teaching them so much. I received a note too, that said, "At times we could annoy Mr. Paul, but you are there to cool him, thank you." Yup, that's my job!

Paul will miss working with these men that have become his friends over the past 2 years.

David & Doreen

Are you tired of reading about us saying goodbye yet? Because we're getting tired of saying it! Last night some of our very best friends in Uganda, David & Doreen, had us over to their house for a delicious dinner - mashed potatoes, pasta, matooke, pork, tilapia and vegetables. (*Note: Pregnant Megan did not complain about the carb-loaded dinner until someone, while walking behind her this morning, pointed out that Megan is getting fat. This person also pointed out that Megan will likely remain fat after giving birth unless she exercises really hard. I've heard this before in reference to my belly, but my BEHIND?! Yikes. Time for a diet.)

Back to the important part, David and Doreen have been such great friends to us over the past two years. We met them at our church and soon discovered they live right down the road from the Timothy Centre, which made it easy to visit each other's houses for dinner/tea/just to say hello. We always find that despite our cultural differences we do have a lot to talk about - our conversations often involve comparing Canada with Uganda, the good and the bad, and asking each other questions about anything and everything! We are going to miss their friendship so much - along with their three adorable children...Splendor, Theophilus and Davina.

One Last Visit to Kibaale

Today Lizabee, Paul and I made one last trip down to Kibaale. I had some work to finish in the sponsorship office, but mostly we wanted to give some gifts to our sponsor kids and say goodbye to the staff.

First, we visited Zam, the girl my parents sponsor. They recently bought her a new house and have been eager to see photos! So we took Zam from school, went and picked up her mom, and brought them to their new house which they hadn't seen yet. They were SO excited! There are a few things still waiting to be finished before their family can move in, such as a roof on the kitchen, but it's getting close. Now that they've seen it they can hardly wait to move in! The house they live in now is made of mud and the walls are crumbling apart. This will be such a nice change for them, they are so thankful!

When we got back to the school we pulled our two sponsor kids out of class to give them some gifts - a goat, a solar lantern, and a gift basket. One thing we have loved about living here is the chance we have to see our sponsor kids so often - we will miss passing them on the road in Kibaale and being able to say hello or visit their homes whenever we feel like it. They are such special kids...and pretty darn cute I have to say!

Nakalaalo Christine

Kasibante Vicent

Family photo - even Octoby's in the picture!

I will really miss the KCF staff that I've been working with over the past several months. We probably could have stayed all day saying goodbye and taking photos!

Moses (left) writes and translates all the letters from the students to their sponsors. Mugabi (right) is the KCF administrator.

Goodbye Kibaale! We love you SO MUCH!