Making the most of TIME....

We had the fabulous privilege this weekend of  receiving hugs from friends from England!!

 Some of our friends from St. John's Church in Burscough were passing through Kampala on their way home from 10 days of volunteer work with "International Needs- Uganda".
(For more information on the life-changing work of this organisation, see this website:  https://www.internationalneeds.us/who-we-are/)

Time was short, but we were excited that our friends could swing by into the car-park of a local shopping centre near to our house!
Their mini-buses turned into the entrance and ground to a halt in the middle of the crowded car-park. The mini-bus doors slid open and our friends emerged!

It was a joyful reunion!! There was just about enough time for quick hugs, a photo with a couple of  friends and a speedy catch-up! Then it was time for them to climb back aboard their transport, make haste out of the car-park and return to the main road to Entebbe airport, ready for their flight to the UK.

And on the subject of time, Joel's class recently celebrated 100 Days of School this academic year! To mark this timely occasion, all the pupils were asked to dress up as a centenarian!! Joel was disguised as a one-hundred-year-old man and made his doddery way to his class-room...

To encourage his son, Andrew tried on the facial-hair and fake-glasses- perhaps giving me a glimpse of who I have to look forward to as my husband in another 60 or so years??!?

Not to be outdone by all the dressing-up that seemed to be happening in our family, I found myself donning these charming glasses just a few days after Joel's 100th day-of-school experience:

I had been asked to lead the Primary School Assembly at the children's school and the topic was "Open the Eyes of Our Hearts". These outrageously over-sized glasses came along at just the opportune moment to serve as a striking visual aid!

Finally, it has been a season of birthdays this month! We have marked the passing of another year for Andrew, my brother, my Dad and our brother-in-law, as well as friends.  I love birthdays, as we celebrate the gift of time: the years passed and time to look forward to what God has in store
for the year ahead.
This weekend, we celebrated the birthday of a good friend in Kampala. As guests to the birthday celebration, ladies were invited to wear wigs and gentlemen to wear moustaches. I duly found a wig in a Kampala city shopping centre and even some stick-on whiskers for Andrew! And here is our portrait to give you a bit of a laugh...!!!

10, 12 and 40-something

We've had lots of reasons to celebrate over the past few months.

In December, Ben turned 10, entering the double digit stage, never to be aged as a single digit again!

In January, our daughter turned 12- just one year away from making Andrew and I parents of a teenager!

This month, Andrew celebrated 40-something (a prize to those who can guess what the "something" is ;-))

Next month, Joel will also celebrate his birthday, making these 4 months a true succession of celebrations! (and if you want a challenge, try saying those last 4 words quickly!!)

Just to keep you up to date, here are a few photos from our recent birthdays, as we thank God for His gift of each person and for each year that He has blessed us with...

Ben's ambition at 10 was to jump off a 7 metre diving board at a hotel pool in Entebbe. He managed the 5 metre board brilliantly.... but we'll have to go back next year to try for the 7 metre board :-)

 
He brought 3 class-mates along to enjoy the day at the pool and they all had lots of fun....

... as did we all in our family! Joel repeatedly launched himself with ease off the 1-metre board

Esther nonchalantly jumped from the 1-metre, 5-metre AND 7-metre board! She's a courageous one, is our Esther!

And I think this splash was Andrew after a dynamic dive off the 7-metre board! Being a pilot, he had NO excuse not to fly off each diving board!

And to top the day off,  friends who had won an AMAZING cake from one of Kampala's top hotels (at a school Christmas event) generously donated their cake to Ben! What a fabulous birthday cake!!

Just over one month later, Esther enjoyed her birthday cake, along with a gaggle of girls, as we celebrated at our home: 

Not just cake, but singing and dancing and crazy games made up part of Esther's birthday morning:

In the evening, to mark Esther's birthday with just a few special friends, we took Esther to a restaurant in town and celebrated her 12 years with some special birthday glasses:

Andrew celebrated his birthday last weekend, but in a low-key manner and there are no photos to share! However, another special birthday happened recently: the birth of a beautiful baby girl, a gift to my good friend Grace from South Sudan!

Grace and her MAF pilot husband Dut welcomed their second daughter and I was privileged enough to get to the Kampala hospital to visit Baby whilst she was barely 12 hours old. So special! What a cause for celebration :-)