Well, when you say it like that...

Our Ugandan kids all learn English in their country, but they learn British English, or "the queen's" English. So every now and then, they say things in a more proper way than we would. Catherine gave us a prime example at the park today when she came up and told us,

"I have just stepped in the poop of dog!"

Thanksgiving...a week late!

We spent Thanksgiving down in Alabama where we were all under the same roof for 5 days! My parents graciously hosted us and all the kids, and Josh's (our soundguy) parents came down from Bristol to be with us too. After discussing why we celebrate Thanksgiving and some of its traditions, the kids got really excited. A couple of the boys even helped put our 25 pound turkey in the oven. We had such a good time that we're going back for Christmas!

One of the highlights of our break was a trip to the beautiful farm of Tommy and Dawn Fish. The kids all got to ride horses, which brings me to a funny story. One of the men walking the horses was a hispanic man named Roberto. He didn't speak a lot of English, so Dawn thought it would be great to have Blanca, one of our Spanish-speaking Guatemalan girls, to go over and say hi. This was their conversation:

Dawn (pointing in Roberto's general direction as he was walking a horse): "Blanca, you should go talk to Roberto. He speaks Spanish!"

Blanca (puzzled): "The horse?"

It was hilarious! That would have been exciting...and miraculous!

The horses were fun, but it didn't stop there. They also raise deer, so they had lots of little fawns that like to be hand-fed acorns and peanut M&M's...and yes, I'm pretty sure the kids stole some of those! The kids were great with the fawns even though they had to be very quiet. I think they set a record that day. Even our little hyperactive ones stayed quiet long enough to feed the deer. I'm thinking of getting one for the bus! We ended the night with a bon fire and s'mores...thanks for an awesome day Fish family!!

Anyways, the pictures say it all. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving week, and we have so much to be thankful for!

They say the cutest things...

Matia, our youngest little Ugandan boy, always wants me to sit with him on the bus. So the other day, I sat down with him for a while. It was a long drive, so I usually circulate and try to sit with several kids throughout the trip. This was the conversation that took place:

Girls in the back of the bus: "Auntie Tiffany, come sit back here with us now."

Me: "Ok, I'll be back in just a minute..."

Matia: "You don't like me!"

Me: "Of course I do, I love you."

Matia: "But you don't going to sit with me anymore."

Me: "That's because I love all the children and want to spend time with all of them."

Then Matia looks up at me with the cutest little face and says, "Auntie, just love Matia!"

1 carrot: $.25, 1 bag of oreos: $3.49, the look on their faces: priceless!!

We finally got to see snow! The kids went home with their host families last Sunday night in Erie, Pennsylvania. It was chilly, but nobody was expecting the white stuff. To our surprise, we woke up the next morning and saw the ground was covered. It was the first time that the kids had seen snow in their lives. It was so cute to watch them play in it. The church took all the kids on an outing for the day, so Drew and I decided to build a snowman. Being the over-achievers that we are, we couldn't settle for just a normal sized snow man, so we built a giant one. We made a mad dash to the store to purchase eyes, a nose and mouth before the kids returned from their outing. We went for the traditional carrot for the nose, but finally decided oreos would be the best bargain since they could be the eyes, mouth and buttons. Auntie Ashley's scarf was the final touch.

The kids loved it. As soon as we got pictures, they attacked it and ate every remnant of cookie on the poor guy. This is what he looked like several hours later...notice they didn't eat the carrot.

What is it about Sunday afternoons?

First off, the kids got new Sunday outfits that will be more appropriate for cooler weather, and they are pretty stinkin' cute! The boys had seen Uncle Steven sport his pink shirt, so they were pretty excited to wear theirs. I was excited because they coordinate so well with the girls' outfits. Don't you love the boots?




And now for the fun part...this is pretty much what you would see on any given Sunday in our bus on the way from our morning church to the evening church.







They're so cute when they're sleeping!

hay pickin' at the pumpkin patch

It was a pretty morning on Friday, so we all loaded up and headed for "Circle S Farms" in Grove City, OH. After all, what better way for the kids to experience the fall season than a trip to a pumpkin patch and a hayride? To allow more time at the farm, we decided to grab lunch and do a picnic there. We made a McDonald's run (side-note: we only do McD's on "special" occasions) and headed out for fun. On our way, it started sprinkling. No problem...we were committed, and there was no turning back. We opted to do the hayride first in case it started raining harder. It was lots of fun driving through pumpkin-filled fields, and the kids were even satisfied staying on the tractor just looking at the pumpkins. We were thankful for that since we didn't want them to get filthy. Where would we put 13 pumpkins anyways?

Well, we made it through the hayride...a little damp from the drizzle, but still clean and happy. The plan was to go through the corn maze next, but the kids spotted the hay barn where the tractor dropped us off. It was filled with stacks of hay they could climb and jump on, and the ground was covered with loose hay that came up to their knees. There were also big slides inside, so how could we refuse? Since it was under a roof, the hay was dry...the kids however, were not. They ran, jumped, slid, and rolled in the hay. We had a blast! After about 30 minutes of pure hay inhalation, we lined the kids up and assessed the damage...remember that whole idea of not getting filthy? Not a chance...there was hay everywhere! We brushed off what we could and headed for the the next thing. By this time, the rain was coming down a little harder, so all the hay that was left on us (which was a lot) was now stuck for sure!

Needless to say, we didn't do the corn maze. Instead, we headed for the food tent and enjoyed homemade doughnuts and apple juice. We spent the rest of our time there, picking hay off of everyone. So, we didn't pick even one pumpkin on our trip to the pumpkin patch, but have you ever tried to pick hay out of little Ugandan fros? That was hours of fun!
Click to here to see more pix!

Busy, busy, busy!!

We have had a great month so far, and it is really flying by! My goal to update weekly...well, it's been over 2 weeks and a lot has happened. We got our new chaperone, "Auntie Jennifer." Boy are we glad she's here! She came to us all the way from Scottsdale, AZ. Needless to say, we will be taking her shopping for some warmer clothes very soon!

In the last few weeks, we have been in Virginia, West Virginia, South Carolina, Indiana, and Illinois. I am writing from Michigan, and we are headed to Ohio in the morning. God has been working through us and in us. Some of the highlights have been the E-Women's Conference in Rockford, IL, and singing live on "The Harvest Show." We celebrated Auntie Ashley's birthday too. 

We also had our first "staff outing," and spent last Monday in Chicago. It was lots of fun getting to know each other better, and it is so nice to finally have our full staff...and we actually had time to take some pictures of our group!

First Fraps!

The kids sang at their first college today, Anderson University in South Carolina. The students loved the kids and responded well to the program. Of course they introduced them to the best place on campus...the coffee shop! Everyone had their own "javalanche." It was a great experience for everyone! We also celebrated Ericka's 10th birthday today...fun, fun!

meet the east team...

So things have been pretty crazy since the kids arrived. It's hard to believe they've been here for almost 2 months now. We're starting to get in our routine and the kids are getting used to life on the road. We have 13 children from ages 7-11. Here they are:

Here we go again...

It's hard to believe we're back in Virginia getting ready to meet our 4th group of kids! They will be coming from Uganda, Guatemala and Nepal this year, and we can't wait to meet our new family! There will be a lot more to write about once the kids get here, but since we're new to the blogging world we figured we'd better get set up beforehand. You can be praying for safety...some of the kids are on their way now. Steven and I will be driving up to Washington D.C. on Saturday to pick up the Guatemalan and Nepali kids. Once everyone is here, we will hit the ground running so we're trying to get rested up. On that note...goodnight!