The first two weeks...

Its already been two weeks! Sara leaves tomorrow and I leave for Kampala on the bus. So I thought I'd add some pictures and a glimpse of whats been going on so far.
This is Sara and I in Amsterdam. We spent the first six days in Jinja at a resort on the Nile and watched the kids. There were a lot of monkeys running around!!! I got to sit in on one of the sessions that was briefing everyone on Hope Alive (the program that I will be working with in Kampala for three weeks). We left Jinja and traveled to Kampala and then made it to Kabale in ten hours; bumpy roads, a few stops and a drive through an animal preserve where we saw some elephants, wort hogs, African cob (the picture) and a few others. Also on our trip down we crossed the equator and took pictures. We weren't sure if there would be enough fuel available to get home because the conflict in Nairobi, Kenya has caused a fuel shortage in Uganda. But we did find enough to make it back. My firend Shayla is in Nairobi (I get to stay with her in March on my way back to LA)- she is doing fine, but has seen the effects of the election conflict and has had to stay in her home for five days. Pray for the two sides to reach an agreement! Kabale is at 7,000 feet alt. and very beautiful. We have been able to go to the market and Renee gave Sara and I a list and we had to buy the produce ourselves! Very fun! We also took a boat ride to an island twenty minutes away and hiked around the island and had lunch. Yesturday we visited a family from the church for lunch and today was Sunday so we were able to attend their church. We were very warmly welcomed! The last picture is their church. Please pray for my head-back-neck as it has been quite bad this last week. I think the bumpy roads have affected it and not being at the chiropractor. Brian and I are taking the eight hour bus ride to Kampala tomorrow so please pray for safety and not such bad pains. Also pray for Sara as she travels the next few days back to LA! Thanks for all your prayers!

Happy New Year from Uganda!

We made it! The trip went great, even though we only got like 2 hours of sleep in two days! We flew overnight 9 1/2 hours to Amsterdam and then spent 8 hours in Amsterdam by taking a train into Amsterdam Central and walking around the city and got coffee at the Youth With a Mission book store/ cafe. Then another overnight flight of 8 hours to Nairobi, Kenya then a short one hour flight to Entebbe, Uganda where my friends picked us up (we got all our luggage!) and we drove to Kampala and spent the night at the MAF (mission aviation fellowship) guest house. I was so tired that night I could hardly keep my eyes open at dinner. Today we drove two hours to Jinja where we'll be staying till the 7th at this nice resort over looking the Nile river (there's little Geccos crawling around our room!). Sara and I will be watching/ entertaining- with the help of the pool! six kids, while their parents are in meetings. Its been really warm (high eighties) durring the day and a little cooler at night. We are 8 hours ahead of Chicago time. Thanks for praying! Happy New Year!

Away we go!!!!

Well, amazingly its time! We are all packed...quite the process as I am taking a bunch of stuff over for my friends!!!! TODAY IS THE DAY!!! Our flight leaves in five hours! CRAZY. We have two over night flights: tonight LAX to Amsterdam and then eight hours layover in Amsterdam tomorrow, then overnight and over New Years- to Nairobi, Kenya, then a short flight to Entebbe, Uganda where my friends will pick us up on January 1st, 2008!!!! Pray for our flights and safety and healthiness and our luggage to make it safely and entirely!!! So, the next blog will be from Uganda!! Bon Voyage to us!!! So excited!!!

Flying High!!!

For my b-day present from Sara, she got a guy from her church to take us flying for the morning!!! Anyone who knows me knows that I love airplanes.. especially the little ones! This one is similar to the one I took lessons in. We flew out of Long Beach airport and then up to Big Bear Mountain and landed for breakfast! Then took off and headed to the coast and flew past Oceanside and landed again in Long Beach. Sara had never been in a four seater plane and loved it, I told her its the best ever!!! Anyway... this will be my favorite b-day for a while! It was a beautiful day flying through the clouds!

Uganda Here We Come!!!

Its only 25 days till we leave for Uganda!!! We went and got all our shots today, a little sore, but good to go! And we bought our plane tickets...so its definitely official- we leave December 30th and fly from LA to Amsterdam than from Amsterdam to Kenya as it becomes 2008 (we can keep celebrating in each time zone!), then on to Entebbe, Uganda!!!! My friends live in Kabale at the very southern end of the country, right over the boarder is Rwanda. I was able to talk with my friend Renee in Uganda on the phone for like an hour and get a bunch of details figured out. So exciting! One new part of the plan is that after Sara leaves on the fifteenth of January, I will be spending about three weeks traveling to different cities in Northern and central Uganda with a lady who runs Children of Hope (similar to a world vision kind of thing but with a lot more discipleship focus too). One of the cities I will be in is Gulu, and some others. I'll then spend one of the weeks with them in Kampala helping them get ready for the kids to go back to school. Another new cool thing I worked out is that when I leave in March, I got my layover in Nairobi, Kenya to be for three days so I can visit with Shayla (good friend and former super Sunshine volunteer) she is in Kenya for nine months and will still be there!!!! I'm so excited to see her and what she's been up to in person! Another city we will be in for a few days at the very beginning of our trip is Jinja (the source of the Nile) -Sara and I are going to be the child care/ entertainment for six missionary kids while my friends and the other parents are in meetings at this resort they go to once a year. I think those are the main details that have been arranged so far and I'm sure there will be lots more surprises and adventures to come! I can't believe its so soon! Crazy!

Some Pictures!!

I got a Disney Season pass with my birthday money!! Sara had one and only lives fifteen minutes from Disneyland! We go like every monday! I got a special button for my birthday. I turned thirty and decided to do something kid like!


This is Sara and I on our way back from a few days up in the mountains at Big Bear. Her friend's family has a cabin and we joined them for a relaxing weekend after Thanksgiving and celebrated my B-day in the mountains & in the cold!



This is when my parents came out for a week at the end of October after they returned from their 8th annual missions trip to Mexico.


These are two of our neighbor kids and a very tiny cute turtle! The kids are in our art classes at the after school program and spend a lot of time coloring and chasing Jello at our house!

A sorta normal day in the LA life of Ann!

Well, I was thinking that I would give everyone a mini glimpse of my new day to day. A week day typically starts with Sara and I going for a walk around the neighborhood, returning to me making us coffee and watching the Rachael Ray TV cooking & etc. show and Sara going to work. Then I spend time with God reading the Bible and praying. I will then either go to the chiropractor or do some cleaning, errands, reading, playing with Sara's cat Jello using the laser light my mom brought that makes Jello run frantically all over the living room (much fun for both of us!) etc. Sara usually comes home to me making lunch (sometimes using new ideas from the previously watched Rachael Ray show, which she is liking very much! I'm like a stay at home sister.) After lunch I go to work with Sara and volunteer with whatever they need: mailings, planning the art classes, entering stuff, making copies, hanging pictures, etc. or research for Uganda. Then I either help lead the after school kids art classes or color/hang out with the neighbor kids. I also usually make dinner for Sara and I and maybe a few others that show up. The other day I decided to paint and stencil Sara's picnic table and benches and fix up her backyard. Then the evenings usually consist of babysitting or choir practice or reading somewhere or whatever else God may bring. Weekends tend to vary. Last Sunday we decided to start a new lunch event: people always go out after church together, but we decided to take turns cooking at different people's houses and started with us. I made stir-fry and pineapple/mango cake and Sara said to plan for around fifteen....but twenty five ended up coming, so I prayed for the food to multiply like the loaves and fish and we ended up with just enough for everyone! Well, this is kinda the basics so you can get an idea! I am working on buying our plane tickets to Entebbe and getting our shots figured out. Only alittle over a month till I leave for Uganda!!! On my way back in March I get to stop over in Nairobi, Kenya to visit my friend and long time volunteer at Sunshine, Shayla, who is there for nine months...so excited!! Well, that's all for now!