Mystery beans...

It has taken me a while to gather the pics needed for this post. We have some plants in our yard that produce something that we enjoy very much. Can you guess what it is? Here are some pics to help you:

Here are Silas and Benjamin picking this crop with some help from our dog, Justice.

Our neighbor, Jennifer, washing the fruit and removing the beans

Benjamin drying the beans

A close up shot

After I've roasted the beans...can you guess what they are? If you guessed coffee, you're right! They make a pretty good cup of joe too! Kind of fun to drink coffee grown in your own yard.

Wrap up of this week

I have been meaning to write another post for several days now. Somehow, life seems to get in the way of me writing about our life! Ha! Here are some of the highlights from the last week or so:

We drove to the top of the mountain by our house, Mt. Wanale. We were even able to pick out our property from up there! We hope to hike it soon.

Between Webers, Tuiningas, and some additional friends we made for quite a crowd!

The kids enjoyed a part of the ride down on the top of the Tuininga's vehicle

We had some friends over to play with some homemade play dough (thanks, Miss Jenna). Later, we learned that our Ugandan friends were rather concerned that we were "wasting wheat" like that. Ugandan children started school this week. Most children here go to boarding school, so we will be seeing a lot less of them now.

On Saturday, Mark, Josiah, and some Tuiningas went to visit some of the folks from one of the village churches we will be working with. Here's the inside of the church: 

Here's the outside:

To thank dear Miss Jenna, who has been such a blessing to us as we settle in, we went on a guided hike to Sipi Falls. Jenna will be flying out next Friday. We will certainly miss her!

Halfway through the hike it started to pour. We found ourselves literally sliding down the mountain. When we got back to the lodge, we were cold, wet, and muddy, but we had a blast.

Yesterday we started school! Please pray as we transition into our new routine.

Village church

This past Sunday we had the privilege of worshiping in the village church of Mazi Masa. It is such an encouragement and comfort to spend time with these dear believers...so different from us, but yet the same. Our plan is to try to visit all the churches in this presbytery within our first year in Uganda. Worship in a village church includes a unique set of distractions, especially if you are three years old! It was hard for Silas to sit still with roosters, chickens, and lizards to chase, along with all the dirt that was begging to be played with :-). Here are some pictures we snapped afterwards:

This is Milton and Harriet, along with most of their children. Milton works for the mission as a driver and handyman. He lives in this village. Super sweet family.

The pastor, elders, and deacons along with Mark and Pastor Paul Archibald, who is visiting from the Reformed Church of New Zealand and teaching at Knox Theological College.

The church gave us sodas and cookies after the service. Silas managed to attract a crowd of curious onlookers. You can see the van we are currently using to get around in this pic.

On Monday, we took a field trip up to the top of Mount Wanale. I'll try to get pics of that posted soon. 

Our Container Has Arrived!

Yippee! Our container arrived on Saturday. We have been busily unpacking ever since, so it has taken me a couple days to get some pics of the event published here. Better late than never...

Our stuff had actually been taken out of the container already for tax purposes and was sitting in a warehouse so it was brought over separately. Here comes the first load.

There was some concern that the container might not fit through our gate, and it was tight, but it made it!

The truck driver had quite an audience

The container is lowered into its new home. Mark is keeping it to use as a workshop. See Silas in the bottom of the pic? He was in construction vehicle heaven :-).

We were so thankful to have lots of guys to help unload.

Now we are working on getting things put away. It is bittersweet to open boxes and see our old familiar things in our new home. Brings back a lot of great memories, and makes me ache a little bit in the pit of my stomach. Reminds me that there is another, better home ahead!