Family Fun

So Kamusiime (who prefers to be called Nasuuna) came with a pretty amazing trick... She can carry kids around while singing and sometimes dancing.

If that wasn't enough for you...

The kids are getting along pretty darn well. Stay tuned in, I'm working on getting her to carry me:)

Thanksgiving

My parents came for Thanksgiving as did my sister Megan's family. I wish I had been better at taking pictures. Here Pop is with his girl's.

Auntie Megan came prepared and Kamusiime was LOVING it!
I'm pretty sure it was Kamusiime's first time near a red head... I did spot her at one point petting Megan like a dog:)
We certainly have a lot to be thankful for this year!

The Trip Home

We were told a week ago Monday that our visa would be read to pick up on Wednesday at noon from the US Embassy. We changed our plane tickets so we were able to fly out on Wed. night. When I went to the embassy at noon on Wed. the visa was not ready. But I was told not to cancel our flights that it would be ready. The embassy closed at 4:40... I sat and sweated it out in the waiting area. I did ended up getting the visa at 6:50pm and ended up going directly to the airport.

Kamusiime was a great traveler.

We may or may not have made a stop at the North Pole.

We barely made our last flight, we literally had to run to catch it...

The boys waited patiently for our arrival...

Pure Bliss...

We were completely surprised by all the family that came to welcome us home...

Kamusiime meeting Pop for the first time...

Kamusiime recognized people from her "Meet Your Family" book. ToGeThEr FoReVeR!One happy tired girl...
As a special surprise our friend Maureen and her son Abinet were flying in from New York for the weekend to spend some special time with Geremu and Cullen. This was planned when we learned that we would have to stay in Uganda past December 2nd for the court ruling. The boys had an awesome time with Abinet (as always). I thought that Kamusiime would want to take it easy and spend a little down time at home while the boys spent time with Abinet and Maureen. That really was not the case at all, she LOVED her first swimming and water slide experience...

We are so happy to be home!

Introducing... Kamusiime Nasuuna

So Happy Together

The family of 5 is together....ahhhhhhhh!Party on people.

And Just Like That...

THE EAGLE HAS LANDED!!!!!!

Welcome home forever sweet girl....welcome home!

Goodbye Uganda...

HELLO AMSTERDAM!

Fingers and toes crossed that Ann, Corky, and her Little girl are on there way to the good ole' Netherlands right now to catch one last flight to the USA! The suspense is killing me!!!!!

On a side note, your favorite guest bloggers most likely will be locked out of this account in another day or so. Until then, we are quickly scrambling for a few more embarrassing pics while we still have the "power!" Stay tuned! Might need a little help from some cousins!

Touched By An Angel...

As my sister Megan previously posted, our Grandma Curtis passed away peacefully on 11-11-11, at 10:07am CST. She was a wonderful woman who left a legacy behind. She had 7 children, all who are married. She also had 23 grandchildren who loved her very much, and 32 great-grandchildren and counting.

I learned that grandma was not doing so well on Monday night last week. After speaking to my husband Erik, we decided after he got home from work on Friday, I should fly up to visit with her. We booked my flight. On Tuesday, it sounded like the pneumonia and broken bones from the coughing was something that she wouldn't be able to recover from. I was glad I made the decision to fly up there.

On Wednesday, I was on my way to the YMCA, and got a text from my Dad that they were pulling out all the IV's and letting her body naturally go into the process of dying. There wasn't much more they could do for her. This left me with the hard decision of whether to wait till Friday night to see her then or to fly out Wed. After numerous texts to Aunts, Uncles, and cousins, I was feeling anxious about making a decision.

Finally, two cousins called after they left the hospital. One told me that she overheard someone saying "This is it" and she wanted to tell me. The other cousin called me and said, "You have to decide what you want to do. Do you want to fly up here for her funeral and pray for an hour with everyone...or do you want to fly up here and see her one last time while she is still coherent?" It was then, that I knew what I wanted to do. I called my husband at work, and he said he'd be home in two hours. I called Delta and switched my flight to 5pm.

As I raced around trying to get my house in order and packed my bags, I prayed that I made the right decision. My flights went very smooth, and I landed in Milwaukee to snow falling from the sky and freezing temps! BIG change from the 78 degree weather I left in NC!

Two of my cousins that I'm very close with picked me up from the airport and took me to the hospital. I walked in the room, and made it to the hospital in time to say my "goodbye" and tell Grandma I loved her while she could still talk to me and understand me. It made the trip SO worth while, spending Wednesday night, all day Thursday, and sleeping next to her Thursday night. On Thursday night, when I was with Grandma, I told her that I believed in heaven, but needed some sort of a concrete evidence that "Heaven was for real." I explained to her that I was afraid to die, b/c of the unknown. I wanted her to give me just ONE sign before I died to let me know not to be scared of dying.

On Friday morning, I woke up and whispered in her ear that it was 11-11-11. A date she had been mumbling to people for the past week. I left the hospital to go shower, and was called on my way back to the hospital and was told to "RUN!"

Grandma told the nurse that "this was it." My Dad, and four of his brothers and sisters were around her bed with her. Myself and numerous cousins were in the room as well. My Aunt Maureen, my Grandma's oldest child was in South Korea waiting for her daughter to give birth to another great-grandchild any day. My uncle Corky, Grandma's baby was in Uganda with Ann Marie waiting to bring her daughter home. Frustrated at how long, and slow the process is. Yet, he stayed with Ann Marie through all of this. My Grandma told both her kids a few days earlier that they needed to stay put. They were bringing life into our family, as life was going out.

Thanks to Skype, Corky was able to be with Grandma on an iphone, and her eyes were focused on him as her time was nearing. Her breathing was getting more and more sparatic, and her color more and more grey. Corky, is the fire chief in the town they live in. Grandma use to always have the scanner going in her kitchen so she would never miss a beat of anything that was going on. As she was taking her final few breaths, the hospital started testing the fire alarm system. This made us all laugh, as it was the PERFECT way for her to go out. Some of us Grand-kids had put Christmas decorations up in the room, as it was her favorite holiday and always a very special time for our family. As grandma breathed in her last breath, Corky via Skype from Uganda said to her, "Your first order of business when you get up there is to get us a passport!" And just like that, her pulse stopped and so did her breathing.

All of a sudden, the garland that was hanging on the windows came crashing down and hit the Christmas tree box with a thud. All of us started laughing and I was certain it was her wings knocking it down as she flew up to be with our Grandfather.

We were all hugging, crying, texting, calling, and skyping people for a while. Twenty-seven minutes later, something that I will never forget happened. My Aunt Janet, Corky's wife, walked in the room, with tears running down her face and a huge smile. She walked over to my dad and I and said, "Terry, Katie...THEY GOT A PASSPORT!" Even after Grandma passed away, she was still taking care of her family. I looked up at my dad and said, "Heaven IS for real!" I got my sign.

Keep AnnMarie, her daughter, and Corky in your prayers. They are headed to the US Embassy on Wednesday morning for their Visa, and then hope to be on a plane back to the good ole' USA by 11:30pm Wednesday night.

I'm not one of those people who are going to preach to you about what you should or shouldn't believe in. One thing I do know for certain, is Ann Marie's daughter has a special guardian angel watching over her!

11-11-11

Our Grandma Curtis passed away yesterday. There are a lot of things that happened leading up to her passing that makes me believe more then ever that heaven is for real. Ann Marie can share one amazing story when she gets back. In the meantime, we are going through some old pictures and just want Ann Marie to know that we're thinking of you and Corky and wish you were here.

Grandma must have been so proud of you.

Love you Annie!!!!

Waiting for a passport in Uganda is the $hits

So Corky had a minor case of identity theft... Or so he claims. We were at the embassy on Wednesday of this week. We figure if we hang out there long enough they will get sick of us and help to get us home eventually. Anyways, while we were there one of the guards came up to us and asked us what our names are. To which I responded without missing a beat, "I'm Corky Curtis". I look over waiting for Corky to respond and he is looking right at me with his mouth hanging open. I can't figure out what is wrong and the guard is looking at Corky waiting for him to speak up... Corky says to me, "You are not Corky Curtis because I am." I of course can't stop laughing that I introduced myself as Corky. Corky has now been claiming that he is a victim of identity theft.

Today was the day we walked down to the Italian Supermarket. The walk is about a mile and a half or so but I'm sure it felt like an eternity to Corky on the way home. When we arrived at the bottom of the hill we decided to eat at the world's slowest pizza place. Obviously it took a while and after asking for our bill four different times we finally received it so we could pay and leave.

On the way home we stopped at the Supermarket to pick up a few Cokes (did I mention that Cork is on the Coke diet?) before headed back up the hill. Corky was holding my daughters hand and I could tell something was a bit wrong by the way he was trying to drag/rush my daughter up the hill. After about 3/4-1 mile into the walk home he said to her, if you don't hurry up I'm going to poop my pants. Now just to set the record straight those were not his exact word. From the look she gave me I could tell she sort of sensed his urgency but had no idea what he had said to her. So I said to Cork I have toilet paper in my purse... Or why don't you just run ahead and try to make it back to the guest house? He said to me, "Are you going to be alright?". Before I could assured him that we would be fine he was off to the races. As I was bending down to put my daughter on my back I did yell to him,"I hope you poop your pants!" as he rushed off. He did pause for a second to turn around and give me the look of death before he rushed off again. There was no smile, or hint of a smile which I can only contribute to shear concentration on his part.

When we made it back to the guest house we learned that unfortunately Corky made it to the bathroom. I was really hoping that he would be sporting the same smell as our clothing we will be picking up tomorrow.

It's been fun... Now get me a passport,
AnnMarie

We are all fine.

Hi Everyone,

Ann Marie's sister Megan now has the power password. Talked to Ann Marie today on Skype for a little while. Sounds like things are good, and they are just playing the waiting game.

________________________________

So it's been a few days of irregular power... We are still here. Cork is no longer nursing just a camel bite, he recently hurt his wrist lifting up my daughter. He seems to be doing alright although he can't push off his hand. I told him he better do as little as possible with his hand to prevent swelling. I'm quite certain the nearest ice bag/machine is in Amsterdam.

The weather is still beautiful, as is my daughter. She is a world class napped and sleeper. I think she might be able to compete against Gere for The Fastest Sleeper Title. She falls asleep in less than 2 minutes, I think Gere might be around 3-4 minutes. I'll film the competition so you can see the results live when I get home.

We have been trying to stay busy during the day. Tomorrow we have a trip planned to the Italian Grocery Store. That is the location that Nick spotted Chips Ahoy Cookies. I was disappointed to find out later that there were only 4 in a pack and they are priced like Girl Scout Cookies. But since I'm willing to walk a mile and a half with my daughter in my back, I don't really care about price, show me the cookies.

Yesterday we went to a tailor shop so I could get some dresses/skirts made for my daughter and myself. The shop is roughly 7'x7' with two foot press sewing machines (no electricity) and newspaper pictures hanging on the wall. One side of the shop is completely open with no wall. I pointed to a few newspaper pictures on the wall of dresses/skirts that I liked and I told the lady I like bright colors. We were measured, and then I paid her for her services before leaving.

I can't wait to see how everything turns out. I just hope the fabric coordinates with this....

Next time send pictures.

The whole time we were at the shop I could smell a horrific smell. Turns out right around the corner from the shop (in the "court yard" of some other shops) is a mess of manure. I'm not sure what it is for, but it was damp/fresh and stinky. I was telling Corky today that I can not wait to see how everything I ordered turns out, as it really hardly cost me anything. We should be able to pick it up on Friday. Cork keeps reminding me that it's all going to smell like poop.

We could use some crossed fingers, toes, good wishes, prayers, miracles, anything you can send our way right now. My Grandma, Corky's mother, is pretty sick. We are still waiting on paperwork here just not as patiently as we were before;) Please keep us and more importantly G'ma in your thoughts (expecially if you are sending any requests to the Big Guy up above.)

Corky in a speedo=sexy.

One picture is of Cork practicing/preping for his new part time job. The other is Cork wheeling and dealing at the Friday craft market. Those are all necklaces you are looking at and the bead makers who are selling them.

One Cork story before I head off to bed. So Friday night there were tents set up in the yard of our guest house. The tents were for a Saturday graduation party that we were shockingly not invited to... I talked it over with Cork and he agreed with me that our invites were probably just lost in the mail. So Saturday rolls around and it is a beautiful day, 80 degrees and sunny. I told Cork we should just probably crash the party. He agreed with me... He said, "I really hope the weather is still this warm when the party starts." I asked him why and he said, "So I can put my speedo on and head down by the tents to lay out in the sun." Clearly his idea of crashing the party was WAY different then mine. Can you imagine a white man in Uganda laying out in a speedo during a graduation party? That really would have been something to see.

Needless to say as soon as I heard the song "Celebrate Good Times" blasting through the speakers around 11pm I considered that my invite to the party...

A Letter to my Daughter...

To My Daughter,
We have only known each other two weeks and two day but I have loved you much longer. I don't think you were well prepared for my arrival but you are slowly and surely beginning to understand just who I am.

As I lay you down for your afternoon nap you look through your photo book that Auntie Katie made for you. You practice saying names and then try to match the name to a face. You are persistent and have the concentration of a child that knows these names and faces will have meaning soon. Right before you fall asleep you cover your head with the blanket that Auntie Megan made for you. I know when to remove the blanket when I hear the humming sound you make while you sleep.

The first glance I ever got of you in person was something I will never forget.
The confidence you walked right up to me with.... Your round, nearly bald head, and a smile so big across your face your eyes were squinted.... I am sure my heart stopped. I have never seen such beauty and strength. When I picked you up I could not believe how tightly you held on to me... It was as if you were afraid that you might lose me. But I'm not going anywhere.

In the two weeks that I have known you I am amazed at how far your English has come. You started repeating me after just a few days. You usually have no idea what you are saying but your efforts are applaudable. You have become somewhat of a parrot while trying out new words. When I asked the waiter for "a Coke please" you also asked for "a Coke please" even though you had a big glass of passion juice in your hand. We have been working a lot on numbers and letters. The fact that you add an ie or y to the end of all the letters of the alphabet and all of your numbers just adds to your charm.

You are so very quiet and shy when you have any attention directed at you. I don't think you said much of anything the first two days you were with us. But as you have become more comfortable you really have come alive. Your smile and laugh are contagious. You quickly became a favorite at the guest house. Every morning when we head down for breakfast you are picked up and loved on by so many members of the staff.

You are easily entertained, you can sit and do crafts or play with play-dough for hours. Every morning while I get ready you spend some time on the iPad. You work so diligently on a color by number/letter app. I have to listen closely for the music that is played when you have successfully completed a drawing. As I know you will be looking for a complement before you can start your next picture.

You love to talk, sing and ask questions in your native language before waiting patiently for an answer. When you realize I have no idea what you just said you start using gestures with sounds. My favorites are the way you use your hand as a shovel towards your mouth to let me know your hungry and the way you hold your nose when you need to go "sulu" (to the bathroom). When I use my translation guide book to ask you a question you usually giggle before correcting my pronunciation. I always know when I finally have it right by the smile, nod and "aye" you reward me with.

We still have a lot to learn about each other... And a long ways to go... But it is my honor and privilege to be your mother.

Love,
Mom

PS
Your brothers are such amazing little boys. They have been dreaming and waiting for you for a long time. I can't wait to have the whole family together! I hope so very much it won't be long...

You Snooze...

You LOSE!

We had an UNEXPECTED guest blogger today..."THE CORK!" Since it's 3:21 am in Uganda, and Ann didn't send me an updated post, Corky did! Doesn't look like they are having fun together at all...does it? I think all the stress of the adoption has finally gone to her head!

I'm hoping for an update tomorrow...or else I may have to ask for another entry from our guest blogger.

Friday- November 4th, 2011 -RAIN STORM

Who doesn't want to hear a few more Cork stories?

So when I awoke I could hear a lawn mower running. When I walked outside I noticed one of the workers mowing the lawn in back. I didn't think much of it... Cork didn't sleep much last night at all so after breakfast he was going to try and catch some more sleep. Three hours later Cork came out to talk to me and he was swearing because the grass was still being mowed and he couldn't sleep because of it. There isn't even much grass here, it would take me 30 min. tops to mow it but the man mowing was not going fast and he kept going back and forth despite the fact that the lawn mower got it the first time. This was the first time since I've been here that the grass was mowed but I'm pretty sure the next time it needs to be done Cork will be taking matters into his own hands. It is also the first time I've seen a lawn mower here, I've mostly just witnessed people cutting grass with a machete.

So this afternoon was the afternoon Cork has been practicing and waiting for since his arrival. The weekly craft market was happening and Cork couldn't wait to bargain with the locals. He was awesome at wheeling and dealing, then once he purchased the goods he would give them a tip for dropping their price to "Cork standards". I think he tipped them because I told him that the country is in poverty because of people like him trying to talk them down to nothing:)

Our craft market trip was cut really short because of a downpour. Which also ended up being the highlight for me... Cork borrowed an umbrella from someone to walk my daughter and I to the car through the mud. Then he went back to return the umbrella before making a mad dash to the car. When he came into the car he was soaking wet. His glasses were completely fogged up as were all the windows on the vehicle. Since Cork has so much experience with fogged up windows he decided to show our driver how to take care of the problem... He reaches over and starts playing with the heat. He cranks it up to hot and high and immediately brown dirt shoots out off all the vents so the inside of the fogged up car became a big cloud of dirt. I wish I had a picture of the car from my view in the back seat. Cork and the driver both started coughing and my daughter and I couldn't stop laughing. I don't know how the driver (who was driving when Cork pulled his stunt with the heat) could even see. Needless to say the heat was turned off once the dust cloud cleared and Cork could find the knobs again.

One last story, on our way home from the craft market I asked my driver (Gilbert) to stop at the grocery store with an ATM machine. It was still raining when we got there. Gilbert was worried about me getting wet so he pulled as close as he could to the store. After doing everything I needed to do I made a mad dash through the puddles to the car. I could see and hear a ruckus going on inside the vehicle. When I tried opening the door I realized I was locked out of the car in the rain. Gilbert was practically tackling Cork in the car trying to get the door open for me while Cork was trying to keep it locked so I was drenched. When the door was opened, Gilbert kept apologizing (for Cork's prank) while Cork and my daughter laughed.

I'd appreciate any prayers, good thoughts or wishes you can send my way. I really need to get two pieces of necessary paperwork early next week.

Still missing my boys and enjoying my girl,
AnnMarie

PS I noticed some grammar errors in my last few posts... I can't correct them because I can't post on blogspot from here for some reason. I am also usually writing these posts and e-mailing them out right before bed when I'm tired. My iPad doesn't seem to always write exactly what I'm thinking... Or maybe it's just my fingers:)

Thursday-November 3, 2011

I sent my sister a few pictures to post with this, in one of them you will notice two camels. The closer of the two is the camel that bitCork today. Camel's are not native to Uganda (or at least I don't think they are) but low and behold there was a camel chillin' on the beach at the "zoo". Cork decided to snap a few pictures then he was walked over by us, the camel reached out with it's neck, turned it's head a bit (in slow motion) and grabbed Cork's leg in it's mouth. Seriously one of the funniest things I have ever seen. Cork tried to jump away and gave a little shout but his pant leg was trapped in the camels mouth... Once the camel let go of him I noticed it only had bottom teeth that stuck straight out and looked to need a good cleaning. Cork's skin was never punctured but his pants had a mouth mark and it scared him pretty good. My daughter thought it was as funny as I did.

My daughter is not a fan of animals... When we were out eating last night there was a wild cat that kept coming by our table, she was so afraid of the cat. She would try to hide behind Cork or me and scream "pussy, pussy, pussy...". Clearly her English is improving:). Her screaming "pussy" never once got us any looks, apparently that is totally acceptable here.

There are areas here that have monkeys running around them like we have squirrels running around Wisconsin. My daughter is very frightened of the monkeys, she won't let Cork put her down when she spots one. I'm sure I didn't help her fear today by squatting down to take a picture of a monkey a few feet from me only to be attacked by at least 10 monkeys trying to get into my purse. I jumped up dropping my camera running away from them screaming. Those little monkeys sure know how to gang up on a person.

The last picture I sent Katie is of a man hitching a ride down the road, wearing rollerblades. I have seen this at least 3 times since I've been here. These vehicles are traveling fast (I'd say a good 45 mph) and they are closely followed by other vehicles. The roads here are in pretty bad shape, large potholes everywhere... I just can't imagine this would be a good idea anywhere regardless of the conditions. That's all for tonight from Uganda. I miss my boys and home, AnnMarie

OH WHEN THE SAINTS....

Well, it's November 1st...All Saints Day if you are a Catholic. Looks like they were celebrating it with a BANG in Uganda today! Enjoy...

I can hear the drums a beating, people singing, and dancing. It's like an all out party not too far away. I can't go and check it out tonight as my daughter is sound asleep next to me. I did go check things out on Sunday Night and had a great time. I'm not going to lie, I wasn't afraid to bust a move and shake what my Mama gave me. I was feeling' the rhythm... And so was my daughter... And my husband- LOL. Corky is going to be feelin' it next Sunday, he just doesn't know it yet.

Today was an awesome day. We did a bit of shopping in the morning. My Uncle was testing out his negotiating price skills. He is hoping to have it mastered by the Friday craft market where we are going to spend all of our money. After shopping we went to seeLake Victoria. The lake was big and it was very intriguing to watch the fishermen come to shore with their boats to drop off fish at the local market. Some of the boats had oars that were over 20 feet long... The lake is obviously deep and the hubbub around the "pier" was fun to be a part of.

Afterwards we headed back to our "house" for a relaxing afternoon. Cork and my daughter both took naps while I downloaded pictures. We went out to eat around 5ish, which is quite early in Uganda. The place we ate at had a trampoline! It's too bad my daughter didn't like it as much as I did. We put her on it the tried showing her how it worked, she was terrified. It didn't take much to talk me into getting up and demonstrating how it is done... Which probably terrified her more. Needless to say we will be "practicing" or just standing on the trampoline frequently.

While we were waiting for our food I explained to my Uncle that I had a shower curtain on the shower in my bathroom but it disappeared about 3 days ago. I took a big swig of my drink as he was telling me that I should let him know before I report the shower curtain as missing so he can hide his curtain. This threw me into a fit of laughter, only I had a mouth full of Coke so I could not hold it together. I got up from the table debating if I should spit my drink into the bushes nearby, into the rain gutter or just let it fly out of my nose... Cork and my daughter were both laughing so hard it was nearly impossible for me to concentrate on swallowing. I was able to leave the area with my hands over my face holding the liquid in and pull it together but not before I had everyone's attention in the place.

Shortly after my Coke incident I decided to step into a near by shop to check out the price of something Corky wants to buy. Our food had not yet been delivered to our table so my daughter and Cork were going to stay at the table. When I stood up from my chair I thought it was weird that I never felt the chair slide back... I heard a huge bang behind me and realized I tipped my metal chair over when I stood up. My daughter screams then starts laughing so hard she can't hold it together which sends me and Cork into another fit of laughter. People at the other tables were also laughing because I'm sure my daughters scream scared them just as much as my crashing chair did... I'm blaming Cork for all of this;)

Well off to find my headlamp to frighten the cockroaches off my path to the bathroom. I wonder if my shower curtain will return? Good times, good times...

AnnMarie German

Halloween 2011

I got scolded for not posting this yesterday. I can't figure out how it slipped my mind, considering I didnt' really have anything else going on. Never mind the fact that it was Halloween and my baby boy's Birthday celebration. Sorry for the delay and the double post tonight! I have a feeling now that Cork is in Uganda, the stories will be good!

Nick is leaving Uganda tonight... In fact, I already said my good bye to him. He left for the airport about two hours ago. It was hard to see him go as I would have like for him to stay with me. There is also a part of me that is relieved now that he will soon be home with the boys. They have really been troopers since we left and I appreciate all the help we have had from family and friends. It's time for them to have a parent back so there is some normalcy in their day to day affairs. My Uncle Corky flew in last nigh to spend some time in my daughters birth country and help me wait out some of my stay. I'm sure I would have totally lost it tonight with Nick leaving had my Uncle not come to join me. It's nice to be sharing this experience with someone else. My Uncle Corky is one of my Dad's three brothers (he also has three sisters) and I can honestly say my Grandma and Grandpa did something really right when they raised their kids. All of my Dad's brothers and sisters (and their spouses) would bend over backwards for one another. I hope my own kids turn out like my father and his siblings. My daughter has already takin' quite a liking to my Uncle. She says "Uncle Corky" more then she says any other name. She laughs at his jokes, tries to mimic his tricks, and seems really very smitten with him. I'm certain they will have a special bond when our time in Uganda comes to an end. We had a few things that we had to take care of today. We started by taking our daughter to the doctor this afternoon. The apt. went well and was actually relatively fast. After the appointment we (Nick, Cork, my girl and I) headed over to our girl's former "home" for a good-bye ceremony. We supplied the cakes, sodas and straws for all the kids and staff. The kids sang some songs for us, showed my Uncle around and our daughter got a chance to say her good-byes. She was clearly over tired (as she hadn't had her afternoon nap) and a bit overwhelmed. But I do think it was good for her to see her friends and caregivers again. The cakes we supplied for the party looked AWESOME. The head guy at our guest house had them made for us. I didn't see them until we were at the orphanage because they were boxed up so nicely. When someone pulled one out of the packaging I made the comment to my Uncle that I could totally polish one of the cakes off myself. I can't post a picture because it had my daughters name on it... Sort of (that's an whole different story). It was like awesome, American, weddingish, decorated cake style. After the singing they asked us (Nick and I) to cut the cake with our daughter. They gave us a big sharp knife. Nick sort of took control with our daughter and I kind of faked the cut, by just putting a hand on but not offering much help. As I was watching/taking part in the action I was wondering what Nick was doing because the cake sort of started to wiggle when he put the knife to it. All of a sudden it dawned on my that Nick was actually trying to cut the cake but it was just so hard that the knife wasn't going into the cake. Well that put me into a fit of laughter... When I was able to pull it together I ended up having to saw my way through the rest of the cake. The cake and frosting were so dried out the frosting just peeled/fell right off the cake. (It also was not a chocolate cake like I thought it was, I'm not sure what it was as I never tried it.) It didn't stop the kids from enjoying the cake. At one point there were about 6 kids under the table that the cake was on eating the broken frosting off of the ground... I'm so glad we brought plenty of cake so they can eat it for more than one day. When we left the home we got a chance to stop for some Ugandan coffee. Nick's bags seemed to be well under the 50 lb weight limit so I wanted to get him up to weight by adding some coffee:). I'm hoping to head back to the area where the coffee was, not only did the coffee smell delightful but all the shops around it looked pretty cool. Perhaps a little more Uganda retail therapy is needed... By the time we got back tonight it was time for us to find something to eat and time for Nick to head out. I'm hoping Nick has safe travels back to the kids. And I'm hoping for some sort of miracle to get us all home before December... AnnMarie German