July 1 – Sunday

The other day Grace and I walked over to see Kristine. Grace was pointing to the kids and saying baby. Kristine asked Grace if she was a baby and Grace said, “no, big girl.” I couldn't believe it. She understood what was said and she responded with a new sentence. Now she tells everyone she is a big girl.

Lydia loves her quiet play time. She plays so well by herself and seems to really need that time. She will play by herself quietly for about 2 hours most afternoons while Grace naps. It really is cute to watch her set up all her little toys. I hope I never forget these things about my children.

We have been without water for almost 10 days now. Talk about added stress. Josh talked to his parents today and their church started praying. I talked to my parents and they started praying. By evening Josh realized we already had answers to those prayers. We got some water and rain. Prayer works and we are thankful for all the people who cover us with it!

Friday Josh and I finally got our anniversary get away. We were suppose to go in May but didn't because Tim and Angie were waiting to get Moses and didn't feel comfortable with watching our kids if they had to pick Moses up too. We weren't sure we were going to end up going this week either because of sick kids. Grace had a fever with no other symptoms and Lydia throw-up the day before we went then seemed fine. John and Barb watched our girls and assured us things would be fine. I prayed all week about it. It is hard to leave your kids in the States with grandparents let alone in a foreign country with visitors. I really wanted to be able to completely enjoy this time away with Josh.

God answered all of my prayers. The girls did great and Josh and I had a great time. We left Friday morning for Sipi Falls. It took two hours to get there so we had a wonderful time talking and taking in the beautiful scenery. We stopped in Mbale and got some snacks then climbed the mountain to Sipi Falls. Mountains are so amazing and you never get use to them, they are always breath taking. Sipi Falls is about a mile high in or near Mt. Elgon. The falls themselves fall 100meters. We saw about a dozen other water falls on the way there. We stayed at Lacam, a lodge on the cliff above the falls. Talk about a fun, romantic place to stay! We decided Lacam and Whitestone are our favorite places to stay for a romantic get away. Lacm is a rustic romance though. Everything is beautiful with grass, flowers, the sound of the falls, and an amazing view. Our banda (room) was made out of bamboo and had a thatch roof. It had two beds, sitting area, porch, and bathroom. We could sit in our room, on our porch and enjoy the view. You could even enjoy the view from our shower which had a big screen window – they assured me no one would see me. The bathroom had a toilet but is really was a lantern, a sink, and a shower where the water just flowed out to the ground. Surprisingly the bathroom was really nice too. They heated water for the shower in barrels outside with fires under them. At night they lit lanterns for our room and along the path outside. It gave a very romantic glow and I love it. It was very cool to cold in the mountains. We slept with two blankets on!

One of the beautiful things about being away with no kids is having no schedule. We simply enjoyed whatever, whenever. It rains every day in the mountains so we took a drive while it rained further up the mountain. We had lunch then took a hike to the second falls in the area. Then we hiked to some local cave where people use to live. It is fun to see new places and it was all so beautiful. We sat for awhile on our porch in the evening just soaking up the view. I was in awe of it all. At night we had a wonderful four course meal by lantern. I sat there eating in a bamboo building, with no electricity, in the mountains of Uganda and though Disney World tries to make these kinds of places and here I am sitting in the real thing. I felt so blessed!

The next day we slept in, had a nice breakfast, and I sat and sipped tea on our porch just because I could. Then we took a two hour hike down to the bottom of Sipi Falls. It was quite hard going down (slippery and steep) and Josh asked if I was sure I wanted to go. I had seen the falls from above where we stayed and I really wanted to see it from the bottom so we kept going. It was a tiring but beautiful hike. They grow a lot of coffee in the mountains and bananas. The Falls were amazing! We got really wet from the spray it let off and we couldn't even get that close. I was glad we did the hike and saw it. We have a lot of good pictures (like 100 from our time away). By the time we make it back from our hike I was exhausted and it started to down pour. We make it just in time but others we saw were just starting their hike – it must have been so slippery for them.

Then we headed home. We will never forget our anniversary get away in Sipi Falls and we can't wait to go back again. I am so thankful for my husband, the fun we had, a great place to stay, and the beautiful place God created!

It is already July 1 so I better send this one off and start another one. I love you all and look forward to seeing you in about five months!