Happy New Year everyone! We hope that you all had a fabulous
Christmas and are looking forward to all of the things that 2016 will hold for
you and your families!
This week the kids head back to school and I head back to work, and Jay started back on Monday. The weather here has been particularly hot and so after spending Tuesday on the porch watching Nathaniel and Bethany jump and splash in our blow up pool; it feels more like the end of summer vacation than the end of Christmas Break! I (Becky) even managed to get a little sun on my shoulders while filling up the pool...bucketful after bucketful...it’s a good-sized pool ;)
In some ways, though, it is the end of our summer break: we have a count-down chain to returning to Canada up in the dining room, and we only have one more weekend in our house before we head on over to a temporary house for our last month here. Our house is in disarray, as we try to sort our belongings: to take to Canada, to take to the temporary house and later give away, to give away now, to throw away, and items that we have sold to another family. And, as you can imagine, sorting things with two preschoolers who are happily rediscovering sorted items is challenging. One of the great things, though, is that we are able to talk to them and involve them in some of the decision making, and explaining to them why we don't need to keep all that we have and watch them get excited about sharing our things with other people.
One of our challenges, of course, with all of the packing, is that we still need to be engaged here until February when we go. It can be so easy to think about all of the things that we need to organize for our return, and miss the opportunities to serve and see God at work while we are still here. There are still new families who need community and support and Jay still has lots of work to do on his projects. His biggest task, though, will be helping the newest member of the EMI team integrate into work. In God's great provision, this week we have a new family arriving and the husband will be taking over Jay's role in the Construction Management Team. He will have about 4 weeks or so with Jay to learn the ropes and so hopefully, by the time we leave, he'll be ready to go.
Hmmm...other news....other news...*wink wink*
In the midst of all this transition, we are excited to share with you all that we are expecting our third baby! We are due July 21st and so far all is well. I felt pretty rough the last month, but this last week I have felt more like myself again, much to everyone in this family's relief! Nathaniel and Bethany love talking about LP3 (Little Person 3), and Bethany loves to give it kisses. They are so excited to have a little brother or sister and I know that they love LP3 already:)
The biggest thing that you can do for us now is pray:
- for focus during our move and as we finish our jobs
- for the kids and us as we transition back to North America, particularly with culture shock (the other day Bethany asked me who Grandma and Grandpa's guard was...ha!)
- for our LONG flights back, and also for safety as we fly out just before Uganda holds its Presidential election
- for the health of our baby and myself as we travel
- for us to finish well, to debrief about our time here, and to leave knowing that we did what God sent us here to do
Thank you all so much for your support: the work that God is doing here would not be possible without all of you!
Much love,
Jay, Becky, Nathaniel, Bethany and LP3
If you want to contribute to our support account, please go to http://emiworld.org/donate.php. There are options for donating from the US or Canada. You can donate by CC or check. Any questions, please email.
This week the kids head back to school and I head back to work, and Jay started back on Monday. The weather here has been particularly hot and so after spending Tuesday on the porch watching Nathaniel and Bethany jump and splash in our blow up pool; it feels more like the end of summer vacation than the end of Christmas Break! I (Becky) even managed to get a little sun on my shoulders while filling up the pool...bucketful after bucketful...it’s a good-sized pool ;)
In some ways, though, it is the end of our summer break: we have a count-down chain to returning to Canada up in the dining room, and we only have one more weekend in our house before we head on over to a temporary house for our last month here. Our house is in disarray, as we try to sort our belongings: to take to Canada, to take to the temporary house and later give away, to give away now, to throw away, and items that we have sold to another family. And, as you can imagine, sorting things with two preschoolers who are happily rediscovering sorted items is challenging. One of the great things, though, is that we are able to talk to them and involve them in some of the decision making, and explaining to them why we don't need to keep all that we have and watch them get excited about sharing our things with other people.
One of our challenges, of course, with all of the packing, is that we still need to be engaged here until February when we go. It can be so easy to think about all of the things that we need to organize for our return, and miss the opportunities to serve and see God at work while we are still here. There are still new families who need community and support and Jay still has lots of work to do on his projects. His biggest task, though, will be helping the newest member of the EMI team integrate into work. In God's great provision, this week we have a new family arriving and the husband will be taking over Jay's role in the Construction Management Team. He will have about 4 weeks or so with Jay to learn the ropes and so hopefully, by the time we leave, he'll be ready to go.
Hmmm...other news....other news...*wink wink*
In the midst of all this transition, we are excited to share with you all that we are expecting our third baby! We are due July 21st and so far all is well. I felt pretty rough the last month, but this last week I have felt more like myself again, much to everyone in this family's relief! Nathaniel and Bethany love talking about LP3 (Little Person 3), and Bethany loves to give it kisses. They are so excited to have a little brother or sister and I know that they love LP3 already:)
The biggest thing that you can do for us now is pray:
- for focus during our move and as we finish our jobs
- for the kids and us as we transition back to North America, particularly with culture shock (the other day Bethany asked me who Grandma and Grandpa's guard was...ha!)
- for our LONG flights back, and also for safety as we fly out just before Uganda holds its Presidential election
- for the health of our baby and myself as we travel
- for us to finish well, to debrief about our time here, and to leave knowing that we did what God sent us here to do
Thank you all so much for your support: the work that God is doing here would not be possible without all of you!
Much love,
Jay, Becky, Nathaniel, Bethany and LP3
If you want to contribute to our support account, please go to http://emiworld.org/donate.php. There are options for donating from the US or Canada. You can donate by CC or check. Any questions, please email.
Some pictures from the last few months
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| Becky & the kids with some friends |
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| We went to our car mechanic's wedding. This is a shot of the bride & groom at the reception. |
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| This is our Thanksgiving dinner with our AWESOME intern Sean. |
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| Becky took one of her classes on a field trip to the Kampala Sewage Treatment Plant. EWWW! |
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| Merry Christmas! |
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| Our friend Erin took some pictures of our family for Christmas. Christmas in Africa! |
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| Kid picture |
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| We had the EMI staff Christmas party at our house. This is the kids at the photo booth. |
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| Photo Booth |
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| This is from the kids school Christmas program. |
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| Christmas break swimming fun in the back yard. |
