I am finally here in Uganda with my family!!

So the week leading up to me leaving the U.S., was CRAZY! I had a list of things that I needed to accomplish before leaving, including shopping, getting my car smog checked for registration renewal, trying to prepare for my long term sub, and putting a last load of stuff into storage, all while trying to teach full time, coach, visit a few friends, and pack. Not to mention the cross-country meet I went to on Friday night and the family reunion I attended on Saturday right before getting dropped off at the airport Saturday evening to board the plane to Uganda. One of the best surprises was my mom and sister surprising me at the airport before I left (I didn't think I was going to get to see them before I left!) Although the last week felt like a whirlwind, I experienced so many blessings and so much support from friends and family, and I am finally here in Uganda with my family.

Leading up to this trip, Jamesdon and I have been so blessed to be part of such an amazing community, made up of family and friends that fully support us. It is crazy to think that with this trip comes so much uncertainty, yet we are so confident in God’s plan for Daniel’s life and we recognize that although there is uncertainty for us, God has it all figured out. Although we were not planning on this trip, God has spent the last 2 years allowing us to strengthen our marriage, our family, and become part of such an amazing community of people, in order to prepare us for this trip. He has also prepared many of you as our friends and family by letting you fall in love with Daniel the same way we did 4 years ago.

For those of you that do not know, I am a full-time Chemistry teacher at Beckman High School and the biggest blessing I personally received this week was from the staff and students at my school. On Friday, my last day at work before leaving, we had our Homecoming Assembly and in the middle of the assembly they put a picture up of me and my family and one of the ASB students gave a quick update on what was happening with my family. They asked me to come down so they could give me 3 big bags of stuff including snacks for the trip, toys for my little guys, and a target gift card. As I was walking down to the gym floor the cheers and support from the students was overwhelming, and yes I did cry a little! Throughout the day my students continued to show their support by bringing me cards, cupcakes, balloons, filling up my white-board with notes, all letting me know that I will be missed! On top of all of that, at the end of the day, I was given two cards from the staff and, knowing that my leave is entirely unpaid, they took up a collection for our family, to help support us while we are here and yes, I cried again! For those of you that are teachers, you know that teaching is a profession that does not allow for a significant amount of time spent with your co-workers and although this is true, I feel like I am absolutely supported by each and every person that I work with. It was absolutely overwhelming to know that I have so much support from my school as I embark on this adventure to finalize our adoption of Daniel.

With all of that said, I arrived here on Monday morning at 7:30 (Uganda time) which was 9:30pm Sunday night (California time) and hit the ground running! Well, not really running, I was completely exhausted, and feeling a little under the weather! Instead of going straight to our apartment, we decided to try to connect with some friends who are leaving for the U.S. on Tuesday, just to try to keep me going! We stopped off to get a bite to eat and then when we returned to the car it wouldn’t start…What a great welcome. Luckily we had friends who did not live far so I jumped on a matatu (taxi) with the boys (which they of course loved) and met up with our friends who happen to own a Japanese restaurant here and cooked us an amazing lunch and then let me crash on their couch for about 2 hours! So thankful that this is a place we know well and that we were able to get a hold of a mechanic who was very close by and was able to get the car running after a quick trip into the city and less than $25 worth of work. All that said, we never made it to our friends house we were intending to go to, but it was a great first day.

We are hoping to meet with the lawyer this week, but as of now, there are no updates about the court date. In the meantime, we are just enjoying being together as a family!