young love

Meet Grayson and Jaclyn 

                                          They are high school sweet hearts going to her senior prom.

 They are so cute together and are willing to do any pose and silly idea I have for pictures. Plus don't you just love the matching animal prints?! So cute!

                                    

                            These too just seem so comfortable and so in love with each other.All thier family and friends were around to take pictures and share in a moment I am sure Jaclyn will never forget. becasue............ 

                                                       Grayson had a surprise for Jaclyn..........

baby in a sink

Mornings are one of my favorite times of the day! shocking because I'm not really a morning person. But once all the craziness calms down, Brian and Julia have left for work and school, It's just me and my baby girl for about an hour. Then more craziness comes when the babies arrive for the day. 

Usually we sit on the couch eating pancakes and watch the morning news together. Belle gets a little sticky from the syrup so I sometimes stick her in the sink for a quick wash up.

I sat her in there and realized shes almost too big!! So I reached for my camera and snapped a few pictures.  I don't want to forget these little morning moments.

 

Although I love the above picture I knew it was a typical straight on shot so I want to change my angles. That's a huge Photography tip. Always change your angles! nothing else in the next few pictures were changed, it's still a baby in a sink with bubbles but each picture is it's own story all because I moved myself around.

 So my challenge for you is the next time you go to snap a picture, you should Move!!! find a different angle and snap away.

Cake ball disaster...well sort of

For our Thanksgiving dinner with Richard we were asked to bring something. Given my past cooking disasters 1 and  2,  I wanted something simple. I choose this cake ball ice cream cone recipe. The best part The Julia could do it all with little help from me. so if it didn't turn out good I would just blame her.... Just Kidding! 

First we made a box cake and then crumbled it all up in a bowl. 

 

 Then added a tub of Icing:

 

The icing acted like a glue and we rolled the cake into little balls.

Once we had the Balls perfect we stuck them in the freezer to get a little firm.

We placed one cake ball into an ice cream cone and added more icing and topped it with sprinkles.

 

I think they turned out adorable! probably a little too much sugar for most people! But there were a few kiddos at the thanksgiving dinner that couldn't get enough of them.

 

Julia did a great job! But then I had to mess it all up.... (of course) 

You see I didn't have any kind of container to carry them in standing up. so I laid them down on their sides in hopes they would be OK......... not so much.........

America -vs- Uganda

I was so worried Richard would feel like we were spoiled and ungrateful for all the luxuries we have. But he didn't show any kind of resentment toward us. he just asked questions and loved learning about how we do things in our country. 

It was so exciting to watch Richard get so excited over everyday things we have in America. 

American Houses:"They are so well planned"

                                                                    Ugandan house:

Ugandan Streets:

most are not paved and have the biggest ditches and holes scattered everywhere!

 American Streets "I would crash or get pulled over because I am used to driving too fast!"

Uganda bota bota:

                             American motorcycle with a Mohawk dog in the back seat:
                (we told him that's not normal here but some people do dress their pets up.)

 

Ugandan Dishwasher:

                                                              American Dishwasher:

                                        "you American's think of everything!" Richard said.

 

Ugandan lawn mower:

 

                                               He couldn't wait to cut the grass himself!

 

"More food?!?  Now I understand why my friends come back from the USA with big bellies!"

                                                                         Uganda menu:
                                                                          breakfast:tea
                                                                   lunch:beans and rice
                                                            dinner: meat, beans and rice

Church in Uganda is full of dancing and loud singing!

 Our church he said had very beautiful songs. But even though we went to church on Saturday night he didn't feel comfortable missing church on Sunday and had to wake up bright and early to catch the first Mass.

At the Krohn's Conservatory we saw plants from Africa. 

 He didn't understand why we take plants from other countries and give them a special place. in fact one of the plants we saw he told me they cut that one down because it hurts the surrounding crops. in other words we put a weed in our museum!

Someone asked me if I thought once Richard got here he wouldnt want to go back to Uganda. I know  he loves his friends and his time here but Richard is dedicated to his job and his life back in Uganda.Why would he stay here when he is doing such amazing work for God in a place that truly needs him just because we have a dish washer or nice cars and houses? That's not Richard and That the number one reason I love him so much!

Mazunga

In Uganda We stood out! it was very obvious that we were different from everyone else, we were not from Africa. But we were not treated as strangers we were treated as if we were celebrities! 

Every place we went people would smile and wave. I will never forget the squeals coming from the children as they chased our cars shouting "Mazunga! Mazunga!"

Mazunga is the native language, Lugandan, for White person. Now given our American history with race we weren't sure if this was an offensive term or not so we turned to our guide Richard. 

"No they just mean you have white skin. it would be like seeing a lion and shouting lion! they see a white person so they shout white person."

I would try to wave at everyone of the kids running after us and when they felt like I made eye contact they would laugh and jump and scream louder! I felt so welcomed!

 I admit I was nervous about Richard coming to America. I knew he would not get the same reaction from others like we did in Uganda. I worried he would get a bad taste of  attitudes from strangers. No one but us would be so excited to see him. While we were in the Butterfly show Richard confirmed my fears. "No one has says hi to me. They all stay quite and don't smile when I smile."

I said I was sorry in America you don't really talk to people you don't know.

He then said something that made me so proud!

"Your husband treated me like he already knew me, like we were friends. I like him!"

 

Yep that's my husband! He never meets a stranger. He is always so friendly and outgoing to everyone. Makes friends with gas station clerks, telemarketers, waiters, random strangers at the park. Sometimes it drives me crazy because we could be running late and yet Brian is still carrying on conversations with people we will never see again. But Then there is are times that I love this about him. I was happy that at least one stranger made Richard feel welcome but I was even more grateful it was my husband.