Several states later...

[Check out the photos from the past week below this post]

It's funny how I updated about a week ago, yet so much happens in a span of 7 days. In the past week or so, we've been in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and today we arrived in Jackson, Mississippi.

*A humorous recent event occured during our last stop in Texas:
It was a peaceful night in our host family...I sent 9-year-old Gift to the bathroom to take his evening shower. Little did I know what he was about to do. Shortly thereafter, I was about to tuck Gift and Lincoln in bed when my jaw dropped open as soon as I looked closely at Gift's head. "oh my gosh, Gift! Why are you missing a big chunk of your hair in the front!?? What did you DO!?!" He stood there, looking stunned (he knew he was guilty though.) I ran downstairs to the shower, flung open the door, and found a razor laying there....Gift had apparently decided he needed a haircut, so he attempted to do it himself. It looked absolutely ridiculous, and I suppressed my laughter as I scolded him. (He also had a chunk of hair missing from the back.) After tucking the boys into bed, I called Taylor, and we both laughed and agreed we never thought Gift would be the one to pull that stunt. The next day, Jay shaved Gift's head...and the other Ugandan boys wanted shaved heads too. They all look quite handsome with their new haircuts.

*A generous church invested in the lives of our kids by giving them each an awesome Bible, so we passed those out last weekend. I've been really encouraged (and convicted) to watch how eager the children are to learn more about the Bible and to read stories. Last week I read a Bible story to my boys at bedtime. One night was Daniel in the Lions' Den, the next night was David and Goliath, etc. Their English keeps improving, yet I still have to stop and paraphrase while I read. These are the times I treasure...I hope they can return to Uganda/Nepal with a deeper knowledge of God's love and the Bible in general.

*Exciting news! Our little Isaac joined God's kingdom last Sunday when Taylor lead him in a prayer of salvation. He asked if he could know God and accept Jesus into His heart. What an awesome thing!

*It amazes me how clever some of our kids are....the other night, I was with Gift and Lincoln at a host family's house, and I exclaimed "Oh my word!" about something. Without missing a beat, Gift looked at me and said, "Which word?" Our outburst of laughter only encouraged him to say, "Antie, which word?" every single time I say "oh my word." He's our quietest boy, but he is hilarious when he gets going!

*We spent the last few days in beautiful Arkansas. The fall-colored trees in the mountains of AR were breathtaking. My mom is hilarious and mailed me a package which contained some Halloween candy as well as a baby pumpkin. She's the best :)

Now we're singing at an E-Women conference in Jackson, Mississippi this weekend.