Wonderful Horrible day

Wow- what a day. The hardest by far emotionally, but amazing. Started out going to the orphanage "Home of Hope"- precious time that was filled with tears. I thought of Mark and Chelsea the whole time as I looked at each baby and thought "are you the next Jacobs?" I tried to memorize every face and take it all in. As I touched each one I said the name of Jesus over and over each one and sang Jesus loves you to them. I just wanted them all to hear the name of Jesus and have them know that they are loved. It is the best orphanage in Rwanda but still just SO hard to see. Crib after crib just filled to the brim with crying babies. Some scared to death of you, some begging you to touch them, hold them or sing to them. Broke our hearts. Chandler bonded with a little boy that just loved her and the boys hugged each and every child they could. They also have a wing for adults with special needs (which is unheard of here) and it just broke our hearts. I'll have lots more to share about this at home but it was very impactful.  Then we went out to lunch at a real African restuarant. I'll have lots to share about the food here too! ha
   Then we went  to 2 genocide memorials. It was gut wrenching and so hard to see but so good to see.  Thousands upon thousands of skulls just sitting on shelves. Some clearly children.  One church memorial there was 5,000 bodies found there and the other there were 10,000. It really is so hard to take it in and process. It was one of those things that you were so glad you got to experience and at the same time you wish you could go back to when you didn't know.
 The end of the night was an unexpected treat. The Kimbows, Crowsons and Robinsons had taken care of our kids while we went to the memorials. Then the Kimbrows invited our family over for dinner. She made homemade pizza and it was A-MAZING! The kids had eaten before we got there and David Kimbrow said they ate like they hadn't eaten in a week!:) Then I sat down to eat and was eating the same way! So good! They are hilarious and just really neat people and we were so blessed to spend the evening with them. Since it is such a big group here it is kinda hard to really get to know each missionary so we were very thankful.
  **This didn't go through last night so here is a small update. We had a great time with the boys today and had lots of fun doing crafts. (Barbara- they LOVED the fruit scratch things, thank you!) One of the street boys asked Jeff if he could come home with us on Friday- broke my heart. I think it was Garen's idea for me to bring candy to hand out when we walk everywhere and it has been a HUGE sucess!! They can see us coming for miles and start running up to get another sucker! so sweet.  And tonight I got to talk to Chelsea!! It was amazing to talk to a friend that is right down the street from you in Rwanda!! I got to tell her about the orphanage and she is having a great time on her trip and getting so excited to go to Home of Hope too!! It has been so great for our family to be here. We are learning so much and spending so much time together. Such a blessing! We love you all and miss you! I don't feel like we've here "too long"  but we do miss our friends and family so much!

Sunday in Rwanda

Wonderful refreshing day today! Got to sleep till 7 and have some fellowship time. Then headed to church- amazing experience there! They know how to worship! At one point, people were lifting up their chairs and dancing to the music! We all joked that The Hills better be ready for some chair -lifting!!:)They had an interpreter for us which was so nice. All the street kids were there and my favorite (I know you're not supposed to have favorties!) sat next to me and just smiled or held my hand the whole time. His name is Iyves (like Iyves St. Laurent) but some call him Ivan. He is almost the exact size of Patton but he is 14.  So precious. It was a 2 hour service and all the American kids did great! (and the adults too!)  Then we headed to go out to eat- yea! It was a beautiful restaurant on a hill with awesome views. And it was the first meal that I got almost full!:) I had lasagna- who knew that would be good in Rwanda but it was! Now we are all at the Crowson's for praise and worship night. All the kids are playing in the yard and we are having a great refreshing time. Hope you all had a wonderful new years! Its weird to think of it being that season still when we come back because of the heat here. Love you all! Keep posting- Kelly can read them to me or I'll check when I get back here. Have a great night!
Brittany

More from Rwanda!

Got the chance at another quick update! We are still having a great time- a few bumps in the road but still loving it! (Jeff and Parker have a cough and I got car sick yesterday going to the market-ughhh I'm such a weakling!) anyway- the new year's party last night was awesome! The missionaries went downtown to pick up some more street kids to invite to the party. About 17 of them came.  When they got there they got to take a shower and get a new pair of clothes and while they showered we washed their old clothes (by hand- oh my word, these clothes were filthy! It was really sad) The 7 street boys that have already been rescued and live at the house helped wash the clothes too. It was neat to see them get to give back- they loved it. After the 17 left we threw another party for just the 7. We had decorations, music, and pizza. They had a ball and boy can they dance- Michael Jackson was being played loud!! I loved it!
 I am so thankful that Kelly and her kids are here. My kids have bonded fast with them! The boys have been collecting bottle caps on the road each time we walk from school to home and have collected quite a few. Yesterday when we got to the second session of the day, the 7 boys came running up to Patton and gave him handfuls of bottlecaps! It was so sweet- and they were so excited! All the kids love our kids and they just play together like they are best friends- even though they can't say one word to each other!

Today we got to go on a safari. It was SO incredible! We saw tons of amazing animals- just feet from us. We had a picnic lunch right by a lake in a valley of mountains where we watched hippos and crocodiles. It was breathtaking!

We are so thankful for all you who helped us get here and are praying for us. This is a life changing trip! Please continue the prayers! we can feel them!

I'll try to update again soon! Love you all!
Brittany

Hello from Rwanda!!! (finally!)

We are here and LOVING Rwanda! It is so incredibly beautiful and wonderful and we have had a near-perfect time! I have to be quick because we are at the Crowson's house using their internet but here is a quick recap!  The trip here was LONG but so much easier than I anticipated! The kids were wonderful and it really was just not as hard as I had in my mind- we were thankful! Germany was COVERED in snow and just beautiful (from the airport!) then on to Ethiopia (where OH MY WORD I just wanted to run out of the airport and hug my niece/nephew, Dinkenesh and little man!!!- you were thought of and prayed for so much while I was there!!!) we had to deplane and get on another and after a couple hours delay we were finally off to Rwanda! We arrived at 4:45 am and got up at 6:30 for the day! We were exhausted but having a ball! That day and the days to follow have been very similar. We go to a school to meet with the children from the school and the 7 street kids that the missionaries have rescued and brought into a home. They are the most precious kids ever- they have captured our hearts! We first meet at a private school because the public school does not have a field. We do soccer, football, volleyball, and kickball and they are so talented at every sport- it's pretty funny to teach them something they've never heard of and a few min later they have it mastered! Chandler was really dealing with a bad case of jet lag that first day and ended up pretty sick that day but she was SUCH a trooper! I was so proud of her because she really felt horrible but she did everything with a smile on her face. I knew I would have all of you praying for her if I could just get a hold of you but without internet I just did what I hoped would work- I prayed for God to give you a sense to pray for our health once again! And it worked!! We have all been wonderful since then health wise! Ok- I got sidetracked...we do sports from 8-12 at that field then break for lunch. Then meet back at 2:00 at the public school where we have bible lessons, leadership training, and usually a craft. They love anything and everything we do- it is so sweet. So we do that from 2-5:00. Then we go back to the catholic guest house for dinner and bed. Tomorrow we will do that again but then throw a big new years party for the street kids (it is a BIG holiday here) We have brought decorations and gifts for them so we are so excited to see that!! Chandler Patton and Parker have been so amazing. They just run right up to the kids and start playing every morning. They have made friends fast!:) All the kids love them and ask for me to take their picture with each one of them all day!  I am almost out of time but they said I could come back anytime and update so maybe I'll have a chance tomorrow!  One last thing before I go--- I have praised the Lord for so many things He has blessed us with during this week, HUGE things like getting us here healthy and safe with ALL our bags, to the small things but HUGE to me... I have had at LEAST 2 bottled cokes each day!!! Seriously yall know how incredible that is to me! Thank you Lord!! Ok- I am going to try to put a couple of pics-- Kelly Vaughn is staying with the Crowson's so she can  update facebook daily so ask her to be your friend or just look on my wall for updates!! Thank you all for all your prayers- keep them coming!! We love you all!

Brittany

Chrismas Card Memory Lane

 We leave in 6 days!!! Wow!! SOO much to do before then:)) I am so thankful that I am a night owl- packing for 13 days for 5 people really gets a little confusing:) But it is all coming along and I think I'll be mostly done by tomorrow night!! So since I am not done packing AND I am not done shopping for Christmas presents, I think I'll take a little trip down Christmas card lane! That sounds like a brilliant use of time right now! I saw the cutest post here the other day and it inspired me to do the same! My grandmother, Nana, gave me a Christmas memories book when I first got married and I have put our Christmas card in it each year. So it was pretty easy to scan them in and take a look at how much our lives have changed since the first card in 1997!! For your viewing pleasure..........

I know, I know...so many things we could comment on. Jeff's hair looks so....I don't know, large?? And the denim- ah the denim. Oh and can't forget the "Let's get a puppy since we are going to wait 4 or 5 years* to have kids" puppy (*see next picture). Sweet Cowboy, you were fun for a little while. We were living in Abilene- Jeff working HR at the hospital and me finishing up my senior year of college!




 

And here we are 12 months later with a 3 month old!!! So much fun! That was such a special Christmas with a newborn! Yes, I know my hair is so short, and yes I have a 3/4 length velour shirt on, and yes we chose this picture even though Chandler's eyes came out red. Don't ask me why! But 1998 was a sweet year!

 

1999- pretty much the exact same pose as the previous year!:) This was out at my parents' lake house. Such fun memories there- I miss it! Chandler was at such a cute age for Christmas!!

2000 Angel baby!! I loved this coat on her! She looks precious! I can still see her at this age so clearly!!

2001- Introducing Patton!! Oh my sweetness! I could just eat them up!! We took no less than 1,000,000 pictures of them together trying to find just ONE. But it was not meant to be. So plan B was to take separate shots and that was much less stressful! This was in our front yard of the wonderful little house we lived in for a couple of years. It was built in 1929 and had such charm! It also had one bathroom and 2 rooms so we grew out of it pretty quickly but have such fun memories there!

2002- This picture was taken in front of an On the Boarder restaurant! We were just waiting for our table after church one day and snapped a couple of pics! So precious!

2003- this was taken on the front porch of our new house that Jeff built us! So sweet and bright!! LOVE Chandler's bow!

2004- And here is Parker!! Don't ya just want to snuggle up to him!! And Chandler and Patton were the best big sister and brother!:)

2005- Oh look! I made the picture! Jeff's parents had us all come over to their house for a big family pic so we seized the opportunity to take a family pic while we were all coordinating!!:) I like it SO much better when the card is just of our kids! I LOVE Parker's sweet chubby legs!

2006- Pajama card! I though these turned out so cute. We took one of all 6 cousins in matching pjs too that my mom sent out as her card that year!

 2007- Why are these sideways??? I can't figure out all this blog stuff! Anyway- this is my favorite card of all! My sister got married this year in Puerto Rico so we took some family pics on the beach! I love the one of the kids looking up at me and Jeff- we have that pic up in our house. Such a wonderful time!! Probably my favorite vacation ever!

2008- Cannot find our card?? Did I not send one out that year? Seriously it's only been 2 years and I thought I had done a card every year?? But it's not in the book so I guess it didn't happen. If I find it I'll add it later...

2009- again with the sideways, someone please help me! After the 2007 card I had some pretty big card-shoes to fill. So how did I step up to the challenge? I went Walmart style and did individual pictures that I already had. I don't know what happened, just ran out of time I guess.

2010!! This year's card!! My kids look way too old! But I love this picture! So sweet!

Ok- well that's the Christmas card memory lane! Hope you enjoyed the LONG post! Now I'm off to pack and wrap!! Have a great night!

oh the drama!!!!!

Who knew that something the size of probably half a millimeter could stir up SO much drama! BUT the dreaded travel vaccines did just that! My kids don't normally ENJOY getting shots but we've never had complete meltdowns....until this day.

Here we were just laughing and having a good 'ol time (probably because they got to miss an hour of school!) Just watching mom and dad fill out the paper work

Sitting in mom's lap just waiting our turn...
Maybe it was because I said we were only getting ONE and we actually got TWO that really did them in. But you would have thought I promised a million dollars and gave them a pile of dirt instead! Jeff and I went first to show them how easy and painless it would be----BAD IDEA!! I think letting them see the needles going into our arms was not that comforting! Anyway, as each one took their turn the protests were getting more dramatic! And of course I took pictures of  hugged and comforted them the whole time!:)

Anyway, it's over and that means we are one step closer to boarding that plane!! We leave in TWO weeks from today!!! FOURTEEN days!!!! Starting the packing process tomorrow and I can't wait!!! Have a blessed week!!

18 days till Africa!!!

We are getting SO excited!! We leave for Rwanda in 18 days! I can't believe it's already here! We have a TON to do in the mean-time but we'll get it all done somehow! We were incredibly busy again this weekend- I seriously don't think we could've fit one more thing into the 3 days! The weekend ended with a little get together with some of our team members going to Africa with us:

Lorrie had us over for a gormet meal and fellowship- we didn't make it for the meal but Jeff sampled some (of course!) and said it was delicious!! So many great people! Can't wait to get to know each one of them better (and the ones who were not there too!!) And you can see by our crazy ensembles a little glimpse into our BUSY weekend! Saturday night was the big STATE game!!

My cheerleaders cheered their hearts out and our boys played so well BUT in the end....we lost 49-41. It really was a great game and I am so proud of all the athletes out there! We got home from that game at 2:20AM and then Chandler and I got up at 5:45 AM to get her ready for another cheer competition! AND they did GREAT again!! FIRST PLACE!!!

So exciting!!! But no rest for the weary! From there we went straight to church for the dress rehearsal for the boys Christmas Musical. It was from 2:00 on with the performance at 6:30 that night.

They did an amazing job! They were the STARS of the show (along with 197 other cuties!) Seriously- the show was precious and a great reminder to everyone about what Christmas is all about!
   Speaking of Christmas...looking for another way to get an Ipad for your loved one?? We had such a fun time doing our Ipad raffle that Heather is doing one too! SOOO.... go on over to her blog to enter to win her Ipad and you'll be helping them bring their precious "little man" home!! They have been such a blessing to our family this year and it is has been so wonderful gaining deeper friendships with them!
 Sorry for another LONG post but I got to catch up when I can!! Have a wonderful week!