Isaiah's 2nd birthday (Really his first) & Dedication

Testing the cake
This is really good! Who thought of this? Great idea!

I'm addicted! Birthdays are great!



May 21, 2008
Saturday- Tuesday

Well, I haven’t written what has really gone on in the last several days so will try to document it here.
We went Thursday to change our plane tickets and the earliest they could get us out to leave is Tuesday the 27th.
At this time of the year it gets harder to rebook because flights are all full. KLM said we really couldn’t change them again. So we said ok, We are here til the 27th.
We had hoped for a court hearing today but didn’t get one and our attorney said that he was filing on Friday we would have one on Monday.
Scott and Brenda who have been helping us on this adoption left on Monday to return to the States for 3 months, but between John, Scott’s assistant, and me, I think we can figure the rest of the steps out.
So, come Friday, we did pretty much all I explained in the previous post.
Saturday, I was determined to bake Isaiah a birthday cake and had gotten the ingredients from Esther. There was a mixer in the house kitchen we are staying at and so it was a snap to whip a cake up from scratch. I made a big one and a little one for Isaiah to dig into. Now it really gets exciting! The cakes mixed up fine but I couldn’t for the life of me figure out how to get the oven lit. Even duane came in there to try to figure it out. The stovetop worked so I knew the gas tank was full but the oven wasn’t lighting. I finally called, Brenda to get Darlene’s phone # because she had lived in that house before but Dennis her husband was there so he told me just flip it on and it will light in a minute or two.
So I did. A few minutes later the pilot lit and the oven started heating. Or so I thought. After about an hour the oven was still less than 150F! So I turned the oven off and tried to decide what to do. I got to thinking, they bake things on open fires, I wonder if I could bake a cake ON TOP of the stove???
So I found a big pot and put a little water in the bottom and set the little cake batter bowl inside of another and put a lid on it. But after a few minutes I realized I would have a very moist, steamed cake that I wouldn’t be able to decorate if I did that. And I didn’t have a pot big enough to hold the big cake.
So I decided to take it up to the guest house to bake. ( I was so trying to avoid that hike up those stairs.) That was my only option.
We called Richard our driver to go get Isaiah from Mama Beatrice’s house and Duane went with him and got him. After they returned, I had Richard stay a few minutes so he could DRIVE us up the hill to the guest house!! (Melissa, you’re a genius! Or just plain lazy!)
That worked out well as we had the laptops, the baby, the cake stuff, and the baby bag to carry.
I then had Richard to leave the van and told him I would cll him when we needed to go back home!
Well, my cake got baked and I borrowed the decorating tubes and etc. that I brought to Esther and had Isaiah’s cake decorated in no time. It was great watching him figure it out and decide he really liked this cake thing!
I posted a video on the iweb page, but it keeps saying it can’t publish it because of my internet connection.

Isaiah spent the night on Saturday and I rigged up a little foam mattress beside the bed with a mosquito net over it and he slept pretty well. He woke up about 2:30 hungry and did not go back to sleep until 4am! He was happy singing and laughing and wanted to play. He finally went back to sleep and slept until about 9am. He is a fitful sleeper and cries out a lot. It really soothed him when I reached out my hand and patted him and he would go back to sleep.
Sunday, we awoke to dark clouds and then it started raining. We had planned on going to the second service which is in Luganda because Isaiah was getting dedicated. Well, we decided we were not going to try to go down the hill in the rain with a baby. The red mud gets pretty slippery and we Mzungus are not good at handling rushing water and mud. I was disappointed that we were going to miss this but we changed clothes and decided to have our own service. At about 11am we heard a van and there was Richard, sent by Mama Beatrice from church asking us if we were coming for the program. I explained that we didn’t handle the rain and hills very well and he thought that was funny. We changed back into our church clothes quickly and in a few minutes were headed to church. We arrived and Mama Beatrice ushered us in to sit on the front row in a packed church. Talk about grand entrance and being late! Pastor Ron was preaching with an interpreter and so we got to hear the sermon in English. Isaiah did pretty well during service but got pretty ansy and wanted to crawl. In our rush I did not bring but one toy and no snacks! What kind of mother am I?
He got all dirty with red dust from the floor but he was happy.
Then one of the ushers went into the pastor’s office and brought out a mat and spread it out on the floor and we put the baby on it. Isaiah seemed to know he couldn’t go off the mat and was happy to play there.
Six people received Christ as their Savior that morning and that was awesome. Afterwards, Isaiah was dedicated and it was great! Richard took our camera and took some great photos.
We arrived back home about 1pm and I fixed lunch for us and then it was naptime for us all.
At 5:30 we headed up to the guest house(I walked this time) for fellowship with all the missionaries and to say goodbye to Scott and Brenda.
Isaiah spent the night again as we had to leave for town on Monday morning, hoping for a court hearing.
It didn’t happen. Of course we were disappointed but God encouraged us with his Word. We took Isaiah back to Mama Beatrice’s house telling her if we got a call for court, we would get him again.
We also didn’t get great news from Charles about A&A’s case either. All we can do at this point is to put it all in God’s hands. He has moved mountains for us in the past where these kids are concerned and I know he will do it again. We are trusting in Him. So here we are on Wed. night and still we see no progress but we are still believing it can happen.
We have been able to talk to the kids through email and yahoo IM and that has been good but we all are missing each other terribly. Though they don’t come out and say it directly, they want a normal routine and stability as much as we do. It has been four months since we have had that in our lives. So, I will admit, though I am trusting God completely in this, I am tired and weary and just want to go home and be with all my kids. The emotional roller coaster is not fun and it is hard. (to be continued)