Peanut Butter and Fingernail Polish....

After many days of packing and organizing for the trip I would of never thought we would of been stopped through the checkin/security process for PEANUT BUTTER & FINGERNAIL POLISH! Yep, many hours spent strategically packing each checked bag to ensure it wasn't over 50 lbs to avoid a fee. I was on my hands and knees trying to read the scale my sweet neighbor let me borrow (the scale was 58 years old she informed me, she got it as a wedding gift I think!) All of this to not even get our bags weighed on a scale at checkin. The lady just picked them up and said "If I can pick it up its good." Then we find out that in Amsterdam we get to leave our bags checked in at the airport so we don't have to worry with our 4 checked bags during our quick stay!!! Thanks to Mark we were able to get all 8 bags from my house to the airport and all checked in! We appreciate your help and cannot thank you enough.

So our bags are checked and we proceed on through security...... And of course Josh's bags get stopped. She started unpacking both his carry-ons and confiscates a jar of peanut butter (neither of us remember ever packing it in the backpack) and she questions him about the 30 + bottles of little girls fingernail polish!!! Hahaha, it was so funny to watch his face and listen to him explain why it was in his bag. Thankfully she let us keep the nail polish (its for the girls at the orphanage) but the peanut butter was taken :( Josh said that he purposely brought it to the airport for the security people to eat, she just looked at him (like he was crazy....) and was like "sir we don't get to keep the food we confiscate." Then Josh was said "Im glad you stopped me it makes me proud to be an American." Only Josh..... Well, we are only an hour or so into our traveling adventure and have had a few good laughs!!!

Birthday SURPRISE!!!!

We are leaving for Africa tomorrow! I will be celebrating my 29th birthday while I am there. Josh had surprised me over the weekend at my parents and gave me a purse that I really liked at Private Gallery and a sweet card. Then he surprised me AGAIN Tuesday with a Kindle. He gave me the kindle in advance so I could use it while traveling. I am super excited about using it on the airplane. I still need to download some more books! But to top it off, I came home tonight and was TOTALLY surprised to find Josh and some great friends hiding out in my dark house screaming surprise and singing Happy Birthday! To top it off Josh had my absolute favorite cake (TCBY yogurt cake!) with candles for me to make a wish and a balloon. Its been a great week of surprises, I am blessed beyond words!!! I am so happy to be celebrating this birthday in Africa! Above are a few pictures from tonight, Stacey was Josh's accomplice :) I was totally clueless and shocked not expecting to be greeted by people in the dark. I screamed and ran away from my front door until I realized what was going on. THANK YOU for making my birthday so special and celebrating with me in advance!!!

All our bags are packed, we are ready to go!!!

Ok, so we have officially finished packing (or at least I hope so!). Between Josh and I we have EIGHT bags, 8!!! Two carry-ons a piece and four checked bags. I must brag though, we have packed all our personal stuff for 10 days all in our carry-ons. Thats a personal best for me when it comes to packing. That means our checked bags(50lbs a bag=200 lbs total)

are full of stuff for the kids at the orphanage! Thank you to each individual person who has donated items and money. It would not be possible to bless these kids so much without you. I promise to take lots of pictures! Our bags are full of clothes, shoes, socks, toothbrushes/toothpaste, toys, coloring books, OTC medicines, vitamins, first aid stuff, etc. Oh and of course we are bringing some American goodies to our friends Carrie, Jay, and Allen!!! We leave in less than 48 hrs. Our travel out there consist of flying from Birmingham to Atlanta, then Atlanta to Amsterdam. We have a 22hr lay over there so we will get a quick one day tour of Amsterdam (plus sleep in a comfy bed and take a shower)! Then go from Amsterdam to Entebbe, Uganda!! I'm looking forward to this adventure and so happy to be sharing this trip with Josh!!!

"Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God." 1 John 3:18-19

Thank you!

Above is a picture of Josh and I with Dannah, Cole (middle), and Eli after eating lunch two weeks ago. I wanted to practice posting a picture on the blog and came across this one and wanted to write something about these sweet sweet kids and their parents (Mark and Penny). Josh has known Mark and Penny since he was a kid in Elba growing up. When he decided to move to Birmingham and take this job the Walker family took him in for a while until he got settled into the "big city". Through Josh I have been given the wonderful opportunity to get to know this family. Dannah always welcomes me with the biggest hugs. She has colored me pictures and is waiting for us to get back from Africa to go swimming with them! Cole is a lot like Josh, LOVES music and serenades us a lot! And Eli loves sports and has one of the sweetest smiles :)

Josh and I stopped by there house a few days ago to pick up some clothes that they have graciously donated for us to take to the children in Uganda. We left with four big trash bags full! There is one thing that touched my heart beyond words when we were at there house. When Penny was about to show the clothes they had she also told me that little Dannah had been helping her and hugging on the clothes. I assumed it meant she was going to miss some of "her stuff" that her mom was packing up. Nope, not at all. Penny said that Dannah was hugging them and praying for the kids that will be receiving these clothes. WOW, those sweet actions of love and prayer came from a 5 year old! In the bible it encourages us to take on a childlike faith. Children love easily, laugh often, and forgive readily. In the book of Matthew it talks about children being the greatest among the Kingdom of Heaven.

"About that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?” Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them. Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. “And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me." Matthew 18:1-5

This scripture makes me think about the children in the orphanage that I will be spending time with next week. There is something about the heart and spirit of a child. Regardless of their life circumstances behind there sweet smiles you see HOPE, hope that only comes from the Lord.

Still learning how to Blog....

Ok just to clarify, I submitted a post today but for some reason it showed up for Tuesday the 8th. I think it had been saved under a previous draft! Told you it was a work in progress :) We are leaving Friday June, 18th and coming home Monday June 28th! Not too much longer, pictures to come soon!

Here I go....

Ok, I have created this blog in hopes to keep people updated while we are in Africa and also record all the amazing experiences that lie ahead in Uganda! Check back soon :)

This time next week Im leaving for AFRICA!!!

Whew, it has been a CRAZY week! I am very thankful it is the weekend! I have started to pack over the last few days and I have most things at least separated and organized if not packed. Josh and I went shopping at Walmart on Sunday for necessity items for us such as bug spray, sunscreen, protein bars, scentless soap (not easy to find),etc but MOST importantly to get stuff for the 17 plus kids whom I have never met but have already captured my heart. I felt like a kid in a candy store as we circled laps around Walmart for 2 hours picking out things to take to the kids. One of Josh's favorite purchases (I think) is a small nerf basketball and rim to play with the boys. Me, I liked picking out "girlie" things for all the little girls. They all have the heads shaved for lice purposes so I wanted to get them headbands, fingernail polish, and of course pink!!! Then we added to our shopping in Auburn yesterday with a trip to the Dollar Store with my mom. I was in total AWE! This store rocked and EVERYTHING was a $1! Ive been to a dollar store before but this one was huge and had such a variety of stuff!! I will post pictures soon to show you all the stuff we are packing. We have also been very blessed to receive many donations to take with us. Thank you!!!

I feel eternally grateful that God has blessed me SO much. My biggest prayer is that I can show these children and every person that I encounter in Uganda the love of Christ. In the eyes of the Lord there is no race, age, social or financial differences.... there is just abundant grace, mercy, love, and HOPE!