Christmas in the Village

We have been wanting to go to the village with our dear friends the Lamas (Emmanuel, Dorcus, Jezreel and Ariella) for a long time. As it turned out, Christmas was the best time to go because of Dorcus's time off of work. We have been looking forward for this trip for awhile now. We traveled about 320 km (about 220 miles) to the village of Kashenshero and then went a little bit further till we got to Dorcus's dad's house. Because of traffic and a few extra stops our journey there lasted about 9 hours. Obadiah did great as he had much entertainment in the car. We took our good friend Rhona and her son Hamlet with us and dropped them off at Rhona's mom's house along the way. Obie loves Hamlet and Jezreel and the boys kept each other laughing for a lot of the time.  Most of our travels were on good paved road but the last hour was on winding dirt roads that went over rolling hills. 

Soon after arriving at Dorcus's dad's house, we were told that a goat was going to be slaughtered and should go watch and learn about how it was done. Goat is a favorite Ugandan meat and is a Christmas tradition no matter what tribe you are from. 

We arrived on the 24th and stayed until the 27th and enjoyed the gorgeous scenery and cooler temperatures. Obadiah loved running around and exploring with Jez. 

On Christmas we headed to church for their service that ended up being around four hours long. Even though we were late we were ushered to the front of the church as special guests. Obie managed to get a nap in during the sermon, and we managed to understand a bit of what was going on even though the service was spoken in Runyankore (Luganda is the language spoken in Kampala). It is always great to hear the celebratory worship that takes place in a church in the village. We also got to witness offerings of thanksgivings that were brought to the church which included goats, chickens, eggs, maize, sugar cane, millet flour, pumpkins and various other things. At the end of the service these things were sold and the profit went back to the church offering. 

Kyle was asked to share a few words and shared 1 Cor 15:1-4 while Emanuel translated for him.

We managed to get a few pictures at church, below I am with Dorcus and her step-mom. We are actually wearing a style of dress that originates in Rwanda. Emannuel is half Rwandese and being that these tribes in the south west of Uganda share a few similarities with some tribes in Rwanda, several other women at church were wearing this style of dress as well. 

In previous visits to more rural parts of Uganda, Kyle and I have experienced the attention that comes from having different color skin form everyone around us. We expected this again on this trip bit were surprised to see the reaction to Obadiah. I think being a little white person in this area is very rare and so after church we had this group and a few not pictured, following us around and eating to touch Obie. 

After getting home from church we had to take several pictures with the family in from of the house, here we are with Dorcus's dad and his wife. 

I had to get one of Obie, Jezreel and Blessing (Jez's cousin) who spent most of the days running around and playing together.

The following day we got to visit with more friends that either came to the house or we visited in their homes. We had the opportunity to pray with many people that are followers of Yahweh and experience some of his Kingdom that is here on earth. We had such a wonderful time and were treated with so much love and hospitality by the Lamas and their family. It is a wonderful thing to be in the family of God and to share these sweet memories with loved ones. 

On the way home we made much better time as we made it in less than six hours. It is a very "touristy" thing to stop at the equator and take pictures. Even though Rhona, Dorcus and Emanuel have crossed the equator hundreds of times they have never stopped to take a picture here. It just so happened that Obie needed a diaper change so we decide to stop and take a picture.  This is such a special picture to me, I love these people so much! 

We had a great Christmas we hope you did too! 

Merry Christmas

This is our second Christmas in Uganda (last year we were in the States for the Holidays). Just like two years ago, it is a bit challenging to get in "the Christmas Spirit" when it is 85 degrees outside. We have been doing advent as a family and are enjoying it, Obadiah enjoys playing (and breaking) the nativity set that we have set up. Despite the weather, these things help to get us feeling like it is Christmas. One other thing that will add to our Christmas festivities is that we will be traveling to the village with our good friends, the Lamas (Emmanuel, Dorcus, Jezreel, and Ariella). The village that Dorcus' family is from is about a 5 hour drive west from Kampala. We are looking forward to the three days we will spend there and the new Christmas memories we will make. 

The Allen's were taking family pictures because Sophia was dedicated today. In order to get a picture for Christmas we had to take these pictures before church on Sunday, before Obadiah had the chance to get dirty. I couldn't resist getting these two cute boys in a picture together. Aren't they just darling? They are becoming such good friends and it is so fun to watch them play together. Sometimes they are in their own little world talking to each other and laughing. Of course they both still try to take toys from the other but they really do love each other. 

I will try to take some pictures of our trip so that you can get the idea of how we celebrate Christmas in the village in Uganda. 

No matter how or who you will be celebrating with, our desire is that this Christmas you know what great love was demonstrated when Yahweh sent his son to this earth to make a way for us to be in relationship with His people. 

Merry Christmas from the Foxes

21 Weeks

Last week we had our 20 week ultra sound of little Ella and were so glad to see her and know that she is growing healthy and strong. Ella refused to show us her face and kept turning away from the picture even after I changed my position. All we managed to get were pictures of her legs and torso. This week she is supposedly around ten inches long, and I have enjoyed feeling her kick and move a lot more in the last two weeks. 

The ultra sound tech pointed out her toes to us and mentioned that they seemed "quite long." If you have ever seen Kyle's feet you know his toes are very long. 

Here is the best picture we could get of her face. 

We celebrated Thanksgiving this week with the Allens but I failed to take any pictures. It rained on and off that day, which was really nice. We also spent time outside throwing an American football around. We enjoyed some traditional Thanksgiving food (minus turkey) and ate delicious homemade pumpkin and chocolate pies. We have much to be thankful for this year!

Baptism Sunday

A few Sundays ago we had a Baptism service at church. We have about two of these services a year, and this week Kyle was doing the dunking and helped baptize 15 people. In the past, a baptism class  was required before you got baptized at UCF. It was a three Sundays and explained the theology of Baptism. This time around, the pastors (Kyle, Trey, Ben and Patrick) developed a six week "Basic Beliefs" class that everyone who was getting Baptized had to attend. The class covered topics like "How to Read your Bible," "Spiritual Disciplines," and "Spiritual Gifts." This basic beliefs class will become a regular "training ground" at UCF for those wanting to go deeper in their faith. It was great to celebrate the commitments that these believers made.  

I have always loved Baptism services, I normally get choked up and shed a few happy tears. Even though right now I am easily crying over little things, due to these pregnancy hormones, I did not cry this Sunday. I think the main reason for that was having an 18 month old who was on the verge of tears himself because he was watching his daddy in the water and he wasn't able to join him. Obie and I were standing in the back watching and all he could do was whine for "da-da, wa-wa" (daddy, water) while rubbing his belly (the sign for please). I walked up closer to take some pictures and that calmed him down quite a bit. I told Obadiah that if he became a Christian he could go in the little pool with daddy, one day :) 

18 Months

On Saturday this big guy turned 18 months old. After church on Sunday I decided to do a little photo shoot so that I could help myself remember how wonderful this little boy is at this age. 

Most days I feel like he is way to smart for his own good. Some days, words that I didn't think he understood just come out of his mouth with the proper usage. About a month a go Kyle and I tried to count how many words he could say and we stopped counting around 50. It seems like everyday he has learned something new.  There are also plenty if times when he can find himself in a situation that he just can't figure out how to get out of and has to fuss and whine about it. 

This is the face he gives when you tell him to smile or "say cheese."

One of his favorite activities is bug hunting. There are plenty of bugs around here to squish. Somehow he knows that ants are ok to kill with your finger but spiders you have to step on. Obie is a great study when it comes to the work that Kyle does around the house. His favorite "toy" is Kyle's power drill. 

These curls... um I love them. The ringlets are just getting longer and longer in the back but I can not imagine cutting them. 

Obie has always liked to play games but now he becomes the initiator of many. He can be very goofy. In the last two months his sleep has greatly improved and has been sleeping 11 hours straight without interruption. Recently he has cut his two upper eye teeth and is currently working on his lower eye teeth. We continue to see his desire for relational connection and love of people as long as there is no threat that mom or dad could leave him. He is really good at saying "no" and can display a good tantrum when he doesn't get his way. Time outs do have their effect on this boy who doesn't like to be left alone.

Most days I am just amazed by Obadiah and am so glad that I get to be his momma. On the hard days and on the great days Kyle and I are so thankful for him. 

Women of Grace

On Saturday we had the opportunity to be at church in the morning for a gathering of all the married people at our church. We are definitely a minority group in the church but it is great to come together and encourage each other in our marriages. It is also a good time to remember that we are setting examples for the majority of the rest of the church who are in university or working and watching us and how we work in our marriages. We enjoyed our time but had to leave a bit early to prepare for the "Women of Grace" that would be coming over to our house in the afternoon. 

The "Women of Grace" is the name for the fellowship (a monthly bible study) of women who are working and attending UCF. I try to attend their meetings as often as I can and many of the women in this group have become some of my closes friends over the last few years. We has so much fun together. I shared with them some passages of Scripture and I think everyone left very full stomachs after eating lunch and cake. 

I got my camera out a bit late after some had started to leave but I wanted to share some of these beautiful faces with you. 

I couldn't have done all the prep and entertaining if it weren't for Erin. She shared in the cooking, planning and cleaning up, in January she will be hosting the group at her house, we look forward to another time of good fellowship. 

What's in the name?

Baby number two already has a name! 

Thats because we know HER gender!

That's right, we are having a GIRL!

It seems early to find out the gender of our baby, and compared to normal practices in the states it is early. Our ultrasound technician is the same one we had with Obie and expressed with 100% confidence that we are having a girl (similar to the confidence she had when I was 14 weeks along with Obadiah). She went on to explain what she was able to see and why she had such confidence, most of it went over my head because I was trying to take in that we are having a girl. 

We are so excited to see how this little girl is growing healthy and strong, we praise Yahweh for the gift of this tiny little human. We have decided to name her:

Ella Jo Fox

The reason for Ella is twofold. Ella is Kyle's paternal grandmother's name. She was a woman who sought after the heart of Yahweh and most people knew her as a woman who had strong devotion to God's word. We love the family heritage that we have on both sides of our families and look forward to passing down this heritage to Ella. Additionally, Ella comes from German roots the meaning "other or set apart" and so this is our prayer for our daughter: that she would be set apart for the work of the Lord and always be grounded in his word. 

Jo for us is short for Joanna, which means "Yahweh is gracious." This needs no explanation but it is a wonderful reminder of the character Yahweh and something we want Ella to grow to understand. 

 We hope that you would join us in prayer for our daughter as she continues to grow in the next few months and in the years to come. I am thankful that morning sickness really has subsided and I am feeling pretty normal most days. You can be praying that we will be able to finalize in the next month or so the Dr. or midwife that will help me deliver. The midwife that delivered Obadiah may be out of the country by the time Ella make her appearance. 

Water Fun

Last weekend we had the opportunity to join some of our fellow AIM missionaries on a retreat about an hour outside of Kampala. We look forward to this time to hear how the Lord is working around Kampala, and in the lives of our friends. It was nice to get away and one of the highlights of our time was going swimming. I failed to bring out my camera nearly the entire weekend. On Sunday afternoon I quickly had a friend take some photos of us right before we were loading up to head back home. Obadiah loves the pool and did not want to get out all three days we went swimming. He loves splashing, putting his face in the water and jumping off the side with daddy. Obie was entertaining us all with his excitement over the water. 

We got home Sunday evening and I was regretting not taking more pictures I had to take some of the cutie in the bath. Obie's hair is getting so long but the curls keep it out of his face. I am not looking forward to the day where I have to cut it. 

I am fighting a battle against morning sickness and most of the time I feel like I am loosing it. I am thankful that Kyle and even Obie are so understanding and gracious to me. This week I am 11 weeks and am hoping there is an end to this sickness soon. Thank you all for your excitement and prayers for this new little one. 

Fox Family of Four

Welp, I am pregnant! We are so excited to announce that we are going to have another baby! Baby Fox #2 will come sometime early April, a few weeks before Obadiah turns two. Obie likes to look at the pictures of baby and give him or her kisses, without being prompted, it is adorable. We are so excited to see Obie love this little baby and see our family grow to four!

Obie is not sure if he is ready for his world to change... He is going to have to get better at sharing and being gentle and not wanting mommy and daddy's full attention all the time. We are glad he has some time for this to settle in. 

I can't help but think of you who may be reading this who are waiting for the Lord to allow you to have a child or something else that you have been waiting for. I can't help but think of you and pray for you that the Lord would grant you the desires that you have and that in the waiting time He reveals more of who He is and reminds you that He is near you. 

Puddle Jumping

This last week the rainy season has returned with a vengeance. Most days we will get an afternoon rain that will cool things down for a bit but we have had a few days where it was a real downpour and I had get out a sweater! 

A few days ago we headed outside to play for a bit after the rain stopped. Knowing full well that there were puddles in our driveway, we knew Obie would be tempted to jump and run through them. What I did not anticipate was that innocent puddle jumping would turn into this cute mess:

Of course we were not alone in getting messy, Obie was joined with his favorite partner in crime, Zion. 

I was a bit late in getting out the camera so I wasn't able to capture to progression that took place. First the boys were just running and jumping in the puddles, which led to slipping and falling and eventually splashing until the parents decided enough was finally enough! 

Sunday Afternoon

A few weeks ago we had the Lamas over for lunch after church. If you have been following our blog I am sure you have seen/read about Emanuel, Dorcus and their kids before.  I had to bust out the camera to capture the cuteness of the kids. 

Obadiah really enjoys wearing our shoes around the house. Because shoes are always left at the door, this is a regular activity for him. 

Ariella is so stinking adorable, although she is quite afraid of Uncle Kyle. She was born in January and already shows so much personality. 

We tried to get all three kids to sit nicely together but I think this is the best one we got before Obie decided to run away. Jezreel and Ariella were very well behaved and enjoyed the picture taking.

Sorry I failed to get a picture of Dorcus and me, but these two men are both great dads and great friends. We are so blessed to have friends like the Lamas in our lives, over the last two and a half years they have become family. We spent the afternoon laughing, eating and talking about our lives and ministry at UCF.  We love them.

Bonus: We recently took a trip to the zoo with the Allens. I forgot my camera but Erin captured some cute pictures, check out their blog to see them.