On our way....

     2015 has been a whirlwind of a year and our schedule was over-the-top busy right up until we left for the airport.  I (Anissa) was giving all three of the rest of the family haircuts starting at midnight and was vacuuming the last of the hair off the bathroom floor when the church van pulled into our driveway at 2:00am to leave for the airport!!  It was very reflective of how hectic our lives have been. From the day we got our plane tickets in December, until the day we left in June, I kept telling everyone I wouldn't be able to relax until I got on the plane. But even then, there was no rest for the weary....while the rest of the family was watching movies, I was working on the laptop, revising and finishing up our VBS skits & devotional! I had a deep sense of peace, though, and was so excited to FINALLY be on our way, after 6 mths of build-up to this moment!
       I also felt great joy in knowing that today was our 20th wedding anniversary, and even though sleeping in airports and eating airplane food is not exactly the typical way to celebrate, this trip is reflective of our marriage...striving to walk in obedience to God's calling and not living the typical American lifestyle.  We are sooo grateful for the abundant blessings God has poured out in these 2 decades.  Going to Africa is such a tremendous blessing. There's no other place I'd rather be going on my anniversary!

After pulling an all-nighter right out of the gate, then flying 13 hrs (in which Jonas managed to watch 7 movies and did NOT sleep at all)...we were extremely exhausted during our layover in Ethiopia:

 Thank goodness we managed to find some double seats w/o a bar in the middle!

Our flight got delayed by about 4 hrs so Ethiopian Airlines gave us a complementary lunch. We couldn't wake Jonas to eat. In fact he doesn't remember a thing about the layover, having slept through the entire thing (to make up for the 13 hrs where he DIDN'T sleep...this happened the last trip to Africa too!) It was so frustrating getting held up less than a 2 hr flight from our destination, but at least we were in Africa!

When we finally made it to the Entebbe Airport in Uganda, we had the greatest surprise waiting for us...they let one of our sponsored sons skip school and make the 2.5 hr journey to come pick us up!  My heart lept for joy at the sight of his beaming face!  Those of you who know me can imagine the ear-piercing squeals that ensued!!

 Praising God for a safe journey and that all our luggage (primarily donations) made it!!!  Thank you to each of you who helped us financially get here and for those of you who prayed for our travels here. We appreciate all your prayers moving forward!  Truly we are blessed by all your support!

[Ahhhhh...fresh pinapple for the next 9 weeks! My absolute favorite!}

It truly feels like we are back home! We can't wait to see what God has in store for us the next 9 weeks!  Our hearts are full of eager anticipation.....