Me by an adorable little creek

Wow! This picture really captured how pretty the leaves and water were in real life

Another pretty river shot. It was so Georgia. Just beautiful!!!!!!!

We drove up Johns Mountain and the view was great from the top (picture dosen't do it justice). VERY windy roads though be careful if you go up that way.

Travis and I in the nice cool weather which we are especially escited about since we missed out on fall and winter last year

New friends from Expedition Church. Sarah, Hannah, and I. Thank you Lord for fellowship!!!!!

Travis braving the rapids as he crosses a narrow tree bridge. Oh, so brave !!!! He really is my hero :)

As we hiked down to the river we thought we had totally found a dead person still wrapped up in his sleeping bag, frozen from the cool weather. He was just a little too far from the warmth of the fire. It really did scare us, but turns out it was just an old blanket and egg shell cushion.

Fall!!!!!!!

Birthday cake for Travis made by our dear friend Abby Alter (which encouraged me to blog again, so this is for you Abby even though I don't have pictures of the apartment yet :)

Emily, Abby, and I

Gorgeous fall leaves, bark, pine cones, berries and flowers I gathered on an amazing walk in the Berry Wildlife refuge

Another picture from the wildlife refuge. It was so peaceful and quite.

Celebrate good times

Here are a few pictures from the weekend in Indy. Travis and Kevin playing some pool, all the cousins from the Binkley side (all girls) lined up, singing for grandma, Canaan Zion and Kelsey playing outside, hanging out with Sharp cousins, couddly Zion, Em and Kevin, Travis and Kelsey and Grandmas birthday cake.
Happy birthday Grandma!!!!!

Corvette Museum

On the Way up to Indianapolis to celebrate my Grandma's 80th birthday last weekend Kevin, Emilee, Travis and I decided to stop at the Corvette Museum in Bowling Green Kentucky. As we looked around we had a blast checking out the Corvettes from throughout the years.

Em and Kevin with a 50's model

Kevin, Kelsey and Travis with a crazy modern experimental one

MEANWHILE...

Our vehicle was experiencing some excitement of its own. We were called out of the museum to find that the trucks window had been busted and EM's purse was gone. The next two hours consisted of waiting for police, checking security videos, and canceling credit cards. It felt so strange that here we were back in the US, where we feel so secure, in the middle of the Corvette museum parking lot during broad daylight and our car gets broken into. We were however very grateful because there were several other things in the truck that would have been terrible to lose.

The best part was driving the next four hours to Indianapolis with the wind in our faces trying to outrun the major thunderstorm.

Answers

Carrie Thompson wrote this on a comment and I thought I would give a shot to answering it : )

So, tell us about your biggest surprises since you have been home. Things you forgot were different or what you enjoyed being "back" for the most, or what you miss the most about Uganda!

Clean water: In Uganda we would clean our dishes with the water, but then they would have to be completely dry before we could use them again because the water had strange bacteria and such in it. We would also do the same with veggies and fruits and would count anything that had touched the water to be contaminated until dry. Brushing teeth involved a bottle of clean water for rinsing of the mouth. When we first got home I simply applied the same rules to the water in the sink and would think that whatever I had rinsed was no longer usable. Since then I have moved into a phase where I know that it is OK to rinse my knife off in the water and then reuse it. However, each time I do that I think, "now why did you just rinse that it is contaminated now." Hence I am still in a slight state of confusion in the area of clean or contaminated water at this point but I feel like I am moving forward. The brushing of teeth has moved light years ahead of the dish rinsing, and I think it is because I couldn't wait to simply use the faucet water rather than having a water bottle.

Right side: It would seem that after a month one would adjust to the road rules here but every once in a while I have to remind Travis that we drive on the right side here, and he has to remind me that actually people turn off their bright lights here as a courtesy to the oncoming traffic.

FOOD: Wow! Surprisingly as a whole I have found that I had actually built up a belief that food is a lot yummier than it really is. After dreaming about Special K cereal, Eddy's cookie dough ice cream, and Chick-fil-a I have to say that sadly I dreamed them a little over the top. Yes, I am actually saying this. Ok, I must admit that I didn't over dream Chick-fil-a. I was trying to use that as an awe factor but it really is as good as I remembered and dreamed that it would be in my mouth. However, as a whole food is food and it is to keep you alive.

THE WHAT: I miss THE WHAT!!!! This might seem a little weird to some and that is because it is weird, but none the less it is what I miss. I guess I should explain a little. Travis and I were first introduced to this phrase through a book called "What is the What" which if you read it does nothing to explain to you what THE WHAT actually is so moving on. To explain THE WHAT in writing I think i will have to tell a story or maybe just a few examples. It can go like this, I ask a Ugandan , "excuse me Sebo(Sir) do you know where the Pearl grocery store is" he replies, "uh (bewildered look on his face), you go up to THE WHAT(also pronounced THE WHAT WHAT at times) and take a left then when you see THE WHATEVER you go that way (signalling with a waving hand), it is in those ends". Or one of my favorite examples from my friends Stacie and Rosie. The pastor of the church/school/orphanage the girls work with telling a story involving THE WHAT. Here it is... "The dump truck could not get up THE WHAT, the hill because of THE WHAT, the mud which was there because of THE WHAT, the rain." Now with those examples maybe I can take a shot at explaining THE WHAT. It seems to be a phrase that can be used in case the word you want to say or maybe you should say leaves you brain, or as a filler word like a um, or like, and in some cases it is for the speaker to display his knowledge as he answers multiple questions that he himself asked. Anyway this silly example of THE WHAT is just to say that I miss the craziness of Uganda, the boda's loaded with 50 live chickens, the trucks balancing 40 mattresses, the fish tied to the grill of the car or the millions of other CRAZY and BAZAAR things that you see in Uganda. Ugandans are really fun loving and friendly people who make me laugh and bring me joy as they enjoy life in all its craziness.

Time to take off

It was time to take off the training wheels today. Uncle Travis took Canaan out with his cool low riding bike for a few spins around the neighborhood. The main lessons today were the essentials like steering, pedaling, breaking and best of all how to fall ( of course that was Canaan's favorite). Thanks Uncle Travis!!!!!

Miraculous Birthday

On Saturday Travis and I went to a surprise birthday celebration for one of his good buddies Sam Romero. About 5 years ago Sam was diagnosed with Leukemia and was not expected to live more than a few months. God had different plans and ever since God affirmed those plans Sam has been using his testimony to share with people about the love and power of an awesome God who performs miracles. He is passionate and eager to reach sick and dying people with God's love whether they are battling physical health or spiritual.


Travis and I ended up matching, which was not planed, and once we got to the party we all had to laugh as we noticed that all three of the young couples were matching. Picture time :)

Here is a picture of Sam and Travis

Of course the soccer ball comes out whenever you get any Spanish speaking males together. Its inevitable.

Sam blowing out the candles as he celebrates 25 years. Happy Birthday !!!!!!

Texas

Last weekend we went to Texas to pic up my little sister Mary from the dance program that she has been a part of for the last 9 months. The girls in her program have been training and touring in the US using dance as a form of worship and evangelism. The pictures of the Canaan and Zion, my nephews, just cracked me up because they had their little tv's in their hands as they watched a movie in the car during the 12 hour drive there. We stopped in Louisianan to visit with my moms Aunt and Uncle. Then were able to see our cousins Colin, Alisha and their little baby Grant as well as Colin's sister Meredith and Mare's friend from forever Rebeka Garner all of which came to watch Mary's end of the year performance. We then packed up Mare's stuff and headed back to Georgia. There is nothing like 24 hours of driving in a 72 hour trip :)

Since we've been home

These are a few pictures from our vacation with Travis's family to Saint George Island. We played in the sand, making castles, burying family members, swam and kayaked in the ocean, sometimes right next to dolphins, went crabbing, played tennis, biked, visited a light house, played card games, colored, cooked and just altogether enjoyed being with FAMILY.



In these pictures are Wesley and Terri (Travis's parents), Hidie, Daniel, Isa and Carson (Travis's sister, husband and kids), Tim (Travis's younger brother) and Travis and I. FUN TIMES!!!!!!

Steps of Faith Uganda

Here are a few pictures from the Steps of Faith Uganda Praise concert that my girls and I put on for friends and family back in April. The dances, music and skirts were based on Ugandan traditional dances. The girls did an amazing job and were a blessing to watch! After the dances we all had a BBQ together and just hung out enjoying the pool and beautiful grounds of the DeWitts. We were all so grateful for the DeWitts opening up their gorgeous home for us to hold classes the last few weeks and to the perform the praise concert. I'm going to miss all my girls so much!!!!!

Remember to click on the pic if you want to see it bigger :)

Farewell Furry Friends

Monday we gave both of our pups away. I didn't think that it was going to be hard but I was really sad. After all the months of constantly yelling at macho for jumping on EVERYONE who walks in the gate, for barking and play fighting with the other dogs at 3:30 IN THE MORNING, and for all the other little crazy things puppies do. I realized that I really loved that guy. He had also improved SO much over the months, he was finally acting civil. This little cocked head look is the one that really got me when it was time for him to go to his new home. He was all ready to go with Ivan, a young Ugandan friend, when he suddenly cocked his head and gave us the most concerned look, almost as if he was going to cry. He then decided that he didn't in fact want to leave the yard, as he had attempted many times before, he was sure he wanted to stay in. He will have a good home though with a nice young man who thinks he is GREAT. Osito, went to a young missionary couple here in Entebbe that we recently met. they have a little boy who is 15 months so they thought he would be CRAZY about him. Although we only had 8 weeks to bond with Osito he really won our hearts. he started out looking like, you know a little pig but once his personality started shining through it was impossible not to fall in LOVE. So FAREWELL FURRY FRIENDS.

Easter Skirts

I know that it has been over a week and a half since Easter but I still wanted to post these. I am quite proud of the wrap around Easter skirts that we had made.

Here's Stacie, Me and Rosie with our Kikoy wrap around skirts. The Binkley girls have a tradition of matching at Easter and I realized that this would be my first Easter without my sisters (weird because I have spent Christmases and Thanksgivings away, missed about everyone's birthdays at least once but I have never missed an Easter). Just like at Christmas with the Sugar cookie decorating tradition. God provided me with sisters. We picked out our fabric, cut out the skirts and had some matching skirts. Hip hip hurray!!!

The Office

Time is winding down and I realized that I never posted anything about the AIM Air office that we have been working in these last 4 months. Here are some pictures of the office, the Entebbe Airport, the plane and such. In the office I take care of the finances, bills, and processing the flight paperwork. Travis does estimates and scheduling for flights and of course all the extensive paperwork for his flights. I think that we have both learned a thing or two from our office work experience. We will see how the Lord uses it in the future.

Puppy love

Our little guy is growing up so fast. Here he is with his favorite chew toy. Ouch!!!

Look at that little fluffy profile.

Daddy feeding little Osito. Although we occasionally still call him piggy because he is so fat, we call him Osito more often because he has developed more into a little Bear.

STALKER

Yesterday as Travis and I casually took the trash to the dumpster I saw him. I'm sure he saw me too, the seemingly harmless Mzungu. It was a normal day in Uganda, rain in the morning and bright blistering sun in the afternoon. All looked the same down to random children walking down the street until I saw it... "EAT MORE CHICKEN" it said. Eat what? There is only one place, one blessed place on this planet that uses that slogan. YES, CHICK-FIL-A. I whipped out my camera and tried to sneak a photo but he was gone. Vanished behind the dumpster.

"After them", I say to Travis. I can't help myself this time, I normally try not to be a tourist but this I could not pass. This was the one and only Chick-fil-a t-shirt I have ever seen sported in Uganda, and we see a LOT of random t-shirts around here.

BUSTED. Just as we approached the victims to try to sneak in a photo they turned and my plan is revealed. There was only one thing to do now. It was tough, it meant surrendering my pride and turning myself in for who I really am. An American who thinks Uganda is hilarious, in other words a tourist with a camera. I rolled down my window and returned their quizzical brows with a smile and say "can I take your picture?" It was totally worth bringing myself down to that level. Not only did I get a picture of the t-shirt but look how cute that little guy is.

Got to put the picture with big bro in to because he was such a good sport about the CRAZY Mzungu.