Agnes says dad "is her BEST friend"...so sweet
Amazima worship day...reppin' the 147
Annabelle and one of the babies at Renee's orphanage...

I tried to blog last night, but my computer died and it didn’t save, so this will account for our experience so far.

Yesterday, we woke up early and traveled to Jinja, where Katie picked us up and took us to the AMazima worship day. We played, rolled around, got VERY dirty, and Mal and I helped serve lunch. (Preparing 300 bowls of beans/rice/chicken will wear ya out!) It was a great day, and we got to reunite with Katie and her girls…but the jet-lag definitely took its toll. By the end of the day, we were all dirty, bean-covered, and ready to hit the hay!

Today has been packed, so I’ll just give y’all a play by play of our day…

This morning, we woke up and walked to Katie’s, then all 25 of us piled in the van and headed to church. Church went well, it was different from our church in the US obviously, but was definitely a good experience and something I’ll remember.

After church, we headed back to Katie’s, and spent some time with her girls.

Since we have been here, one LITTLE one has specifically stolen my heart.

This is Lochoro. She is 4 years old, cannot talk or walk, weighs a little less than 15 pounds, and is extremely sick. Although she is not one of Katie’s girls, (she lives with her uncle, who leaves her at home alone while he goes to work during the day), she is living with Katie while she tries to get better. When I first saw her, my first reaction was “there is NO way this little bitty is 4 years old”...in my mind, a 4 year old is Caleb’s size (for those of you who know Caleb, he is a BIG dude), and he actually only three. The concept of not being fed for 3 years and starving to this extent of malnutrition is a little bit difficult for my brain to grasp. Especially a child this sweet! I’ve loved bonding and spending time with little Lochoro over the past two days.

Funny story from tonight…she was sitting in my lap eating a “sweetie” (a sucker). I looked up to see Katie’s jaw drop, and hear her say “DO. NOT. MOVE.” ….Because of the IV’s and meds Lochoro’s on, she pooped EVERYWHERE (including in my lap, and if you’ve ever had a child on that kind of medication, you’ll know that their poop is NASTY). So, Katie, dad, Mal and I cleaned up, and I bathed her and got a new diaper for her while Katie made dinner. One of the girls was playing with one of the cameras and just happened to take this picture right after she pooped and Katie moved her from my lap to the floor…hahaha.

One of the highlights of my day today was seeing Abigail Haynes! Baby girl is BEAUTIFUL, pictures do not do her justice. I loved getting to kiss all over her cheeks, love on her, and feed her. What made me happiest was that I was able to look into her big brown eyes and tell her that she has a mommy and a daddy coming to get her soon. And she has a sister who loves her, and happens to be my best friend. I showed her pictures on my phone, and she just grinned and grinned. Here are some pics…

Probably the funniest part of today was seeing the boys get their hair done. Katie’s girls had an absolute BALL braiding and twisting yarn into their hair. And they surprisingly kept it in all night…

I’ll try to post again tomorrow night, we are headed to Jinja in the morning to shop a little bit, visiting Amani and another orphanage, then all 25+ of us are celebrating my birthday with cake at a pool near here. I can’t wait! More to come later….

Grace

PS-I put all of our pictures on facebook, just an FYI for those of you who I'm friends with!