Welcome to our family blog!

Our sweet girl is walking, look at her go!

We arrived back home safely and it was an incredible trip. The first week of the trip, we spent time in Kampala meeting with various ministries and experiencing life in urban Uganda. The second half of the trip, we traveled to northern Uganda, just south of Gulu to a city called Karuma, and spent the rest of our time there at Restoration Gateway (RG). We were so blessed and encouraged by our time at RG and we really got a good picture of all that God is doing through that incredible ministry. Here is a list of the ongoing ministries that are taking place there.

As a team, we also got to spend a day at Murchison Falls National Park and experience a boat ride down the Nile, a hike to the top of one of the world’s most powerful waterfalls (Murchison Falls), and a safari drive where we saw a full range of wildlife, including giraffes, elephants, and lions,.. to name a few.

Overall we were very encouraged by our time in Uganda, and all the ministries we met with are doing amazing work throughout Uganda. It was very confirming for us as a family and we are still planning on moving there in 2012. Over the next few months, we will continue to pray and process with our church, discuss next steps from our findings during our trip, and confirm the ministry we will be serving with. We will keep you posted and until then, enjoy some pictures from our trip below (3 different albums with 450 pics total)

It’s hard to believe but our baby girl recently celebrated her first birthday! On the morning of her birthday, in line with our family tradition, we had the downstairs filled with balloons, and we greeted Evey with a family happy birthday ballad. It was cute seeing her crawl through the balloons and Ethan was enjoying them as much as she was (if not more), as he really likes ballooons.

We had a little celebration for her as a family on the day of her birthday, June 8th. Bridget made Evey a Hello Kitty cake and we opened up some of her presents. Evey definitely enjoyed her first chocolate cake experience. At the end of the birthday week, we had some family and friends over and had a little party for her. (Pictures below)

Evelyn is growing up quick! She can now stand up briefly on her own and she is starting to take some steps. She has mastered pulling herself up and is very mobile. She is vocal and definitely lets you know when she wants something. She’s putting together some small words and phrases in her cute Evey voice, “Peek a boo”, “Thank You”, “Please”,.. Much to our surprise, she crawled up a set of stairs on the lower level of our house. She heard Mommy and Ethan upstairs and wanted to be part of the action

In March, we shared that we would be taking a scouting trip to Uganda with a team from our church this summer. Earlier this week we embarked on this adventure. After 18 hours of flying, we arrived safely in Kampala on Tuesday and have had an incredible week so far.

Wednesday, we spent the day seeing some sites in Kampala and recovering from our jet leg. Thursday, we spent the day with Africa Renewal Ministries (ARM) visiting their various ministries in and around Kampala. We were so encouraged by our time with all the people and leaders we met with, and it was exciting to hear about all God is doing through their ministry. A highlight of the day was traveling across Lake Victoria on a motor boat together to get to one of their project sites and the final leg of the trip included a boda-boda ride, which quite the adventure to say the least,   Friday, we met with a regional leader from African Inland Mission (AIM) and learned about all the great work they are doing in Uganda and the surrounding region. We ended the day getting to pray and worship at Gaba Community Church which was a special treat to end our week here in Kampala. Our hosts, guides and accommodations have been amazing and we want to thank everyone at Bridge Africa International for your incredible servant hearts and for taking such good care of us.

We head up to northern Uganda tomorrow morning (Saturday) and we will be spending the remainder of our time here with a ministry about an hour south of Gulu. Pray for our travels and time there next week and updates to come as internet access permits.

Burying people in animals is one of Ethan’s favorite activities. He buried Mommy last night  and he decided he wanted to be buried today, Can you find Ethan?

(December 2009) Ethan dancing and running back and forth between a front loading washer and dryer during a visit at Bridget’s brother’s house this past Christmas.

Hear Bridget and I singing “Amen” with Ethan before bed time last night.

We recently had a family photo shoot and now have some updated pictures to share. Thank you Amanda Elpers for your great work and amazing images! Be sure to check out her site if you are looking for a photographer.