Wild Day...

We spent the day in Lugazi the hometown of the children and here is the run down...

We saw the biological family first. They (as we have said before) are such sweet people, all they truly want are the best for all their children...as do Kasey and I.

We then went to the probabtion officer's office. Kasey had already met her, but this one was for me to meet her. She is there to make sure the children are in a good environment and will be coming every two weeks to where we are staying to make sure all is well.

We then took a tour of the school, which was for me since Kasey has already been there. It is an incredible ministry they have there. There are around 1300 kids at this school, between 500-600 of which are boarded at the school. It is one of those places that you realize how good we have it in America!

We then talked about our Saturday plans...get ready for this one...Kasey and I have been invited to an Introduction. You may ask the same question I did last week when we were invited, "What is an Introduction?" Here is the run down...Mark (Pastor Barnard - who I have preached for and am doing the seminars for & the man that runs the school - it is his son) is getting married in September. Two of Pastor Barnard's sons (Paul and Isaac) are the social workers on our case and Isaac especially was a great support to Kasey before I came. So needless to say we have become close to their family. So the Introduction is the time when the groom's family presents the dowry to the bride's family. It is a long standing tradition for the families and we have been invited to be a part. It will be a great experience. It starts with breakfast then we travel to the Introduction and it proceeds with the giving of gifts from the families and then (as it was told to me) has much dancing. The kicker is that we will be wearing traditional Ugandan formal wear. Kasey will be dolled up in an outfit that she is going to have to be taught how to put on. I will be in a traditional Ugandan gown. The children will also be wearing traditional outfits. We will take pictures and post them as soon as we can! The kids and I also get to keep our outfits...Kasey's is too expensive so we are just renting it. It is going to be a fun experience!

As I said the day was wild, but the kids showed some great improvement. Kamrynn Rose threw less fits in the car (she does not like the car...carseats in America will be fun). I saw in Martin today a softening in his eyes that I had not noticed before. I know that he has been trying to figure us out and that there has been lots of upheavel in his life, so I didn't expect an immediate trust and security with us. Today was a step in that direction in my mind. The bonding has been great, but I think we are reaching the point where we are truly his mom and dad, and he trusts that we are going to be there for him!

Bedtime has been a struggle most nights, because little Miss Kamrynn doesn't want to miss anything and so doesn't want to go to sleep. She has the loudest cry I've ever heard, and in a very quiet society, it's hard to let her cry very long. Tonight, however, we are typing this from our balcony, and she is doing so well. She's cried out a couple of times, but better overall. it's good to see progress in the little things.

We love you all and are ready to share our experiences with you in person! We are looking forward to a relaxing day tomorrow and the arrival and instruction of our Introduction wear! Talk to you tomorrow!!!

Brad and Kasey