Our Boy Moves Out

OWEN....

At six years of age, Owen decided he wanted to sleep downstairs by himself...a full two stories below the rest of the family.  At the time, we weren't sure if he would be as confident when it came to night-time....but alas, Owen has spent the last 5 years downstairs by himself.

So it didn't come as much of a surprise when Owen announced, after the team departed, that he wanted to sleep in one of the tents in the medical clinic (another building only about 30 feet from the Guesthouse).  Once again, we weren't sure how he would do....but we agreed and Owen moved into a tent with Lauren for the past two nights (there was a divider....don't worry!).  Last night, we put Owen to bed at 9:30pm all alone in the medical clinic as the other three adults were still up at the Guesthouse.  At 10:15pm he came up to the Guesthouse and we thought, "Hmmm....too scary for him all allone".....but no...he was just coming up for mom's watch so he can know what time it is during the night....and then back down he goes!

Two good things about not having a vivid imagination (like Owen):  You can watch scary movies at a young age and not be too affected by them...and you can go sleep by yourself in Uganda without weirding out!

Something tells me he'll be leaving home at an early age!

BECKHAM...

Has learned to shoot his arrows!  I made a target for the boys to practice and the other day Beckham got 15 points with four arrows standing about 20 feet away (which equals 2 inner rings right next to the bulls-eye and an outer-ring).  Beck continues to think that Brent is going to take them hunting for Monkeys (which I've never seen around here) and he doesn't want to miss his chance to bring one down! 

Beck continues to squeeze every drop from every day and usually ends up in bed exhausted because they have begged to go visit one of the Children's Homes for a while prior to bedtime which equals late bedtimes for our kids...but the genuine friendships they are making with the Ugandan kids makes it all worth while.

PAISLEY

Paisley is our house keeper.  As I write she is sweeping the guesthouse and has just finished washing the counters.  She regularly cleans the small stove we have and is often found arranging our shoes so they are lined up neatly.

We've just started Pais on some anitbiotics as her persistent cough has gone into her chest.  All of us have colds to varying degrees....so we're pumping lots of vitamins into us....but Paisley is certainly the hardest hit.  Doesn't slow her down much though....just gives her a slightly shorter 'fuse' which has taken a bit more 'managing' on Tracey's part (I'm a bit impatient!).  

When she's not cleaning, Paisley is singing worship songs that the Ugandan kids sing....usually teaching them to her imaginary classroom that she sets up in front of the guesthouse.  Once the Ugandan kids get home....she's off!

All of our children really enjoyed having the team here (Tracey and I did too).  With the team's departure, we are now moving into our vacation time which will initially be a bit more of a 'quiet' week with just Nigel and Brent here with us.  

We're looking forward to Nigel's family joining him this coming Monday...

Until then, I am meeting with the Pastors today and Friday to do some Pastoral teaching, and we're meeting with a Environmental group on Friday to get their assessment on the quality of our agricultural projects on the 10 acres.  We've also got two meetings scheduled with the Ugandan man who overseas the project and I'll need to prepare a sermon for Sunday....so, come to think of it, it's not that quiet of a week after all!

Thanks for your continued interest and, for you praying types....for your prayers.  We appreciate your support!

Peace.