It's been a while...

I'm sorry I've not been updating my blog for the last few weeks. I had some laptop trouble and I'm still struggling but I will try to keep the posts coming. I missed out on the Lovelace Files' Challenge and I feel terrible but I will finish the challenge and update you as soon as I'm done.

Well it's Christmas Eve and I'm excited. It's Mwagala's first Christmas and she turns 9 months tomorrow too. Boy, has she grown! And for now let me leave you with some photos.

Merry Christmas everyone!

All I wanted for Christmas....

Was a new phone. And now it's here!!!!! I'm so excited! It started out as a joke. I kept telling my hubby that I'd like an iphone because my phone was falling apart (literally) but I really didn't think I would get one. Then he told me that if I really wanted it that's what I'd get. I could not believe it!!!! I was super excited!!!!

So the search began. I wanted the iphone4 and we looked around for one within our budget but we couldn't get one that was unlocked on our budget. Then we thought maybe we should get the iphone3GS. But when I asked around I found out that an HTC would be much better than the 3GS. My brother's girlfriend had the HTC Desire so I took a look at it and fell in love. And the price was right up our alley. We had a friend order it for us and I began the 'long' wait.

It arrived on the 31st and I got it yesterday!! It's as lovely as I knew it would be. Here she is - the HTC desire....

Yes, I'm that crazy about gadgets!!!! The next few days will be spent discovering my phone. My hubby is worried that I will not might not speak to him for a while because I'll be attending to my new phone. We'll see :-)

Thank you for the gift honey :-)

Christmas day

Christmas day was cold!!!!!!!!!!!!! It rained the entire morning but we got to snuggle up and read the bible together. We read the story of the birth of Christ.
There truly is something magical about that story. I always feel like I'm reading a fairytale when I read about the angels that announced Christ's birth and how the wise men followed the star and brought him gifts. You know the part when Herod tells the wise men to come back and show him where Jesus is so that he can kill him? That part always amazes me. How dare a man think he could kill the son of God before he had completed what he had come to do? He had some nerve!!!!!! But you know what God could not stop him from doing evil because He can't mess with free will- we decide who we want to follow.I'll keep that in mind.

In the afternoon we went to see some of the rapids with a few friends who were staying at the same place and we played a game of pictionary. I had never played it before and I had so much fun!!!! We decided we're definitely going to buy the game - along with Scrabble and Monopoly of course :)

Walking in the rain

River Nile

Oh yes he did :-)

Macho men!

I know you all want to know about my Christmas gift right? Well, my darling hubby got me a new phone!!!!! The HTC Desire!!!!!! My phone was tired - so tired!!!!!! We ordered for the HTC online and it's not arrived yet but it's getting here this week. Isn't he sweet? I love gadgets (he doesn't get it) so I'm happy to be getting a new toy to play with :-)

My old phone - I've had it for close to three years and it was beginning to fall apart

The back cover could not hold anymore - it's a wonder I didn't lose it

My new baby!!!!!!! So exciting!

 I hope you all had a lovely Christmas :)

Christmas Eve recap

On Christmas eve, my hubby and I drove up to a nice and quiet river lodge in Jinja, Uganda called The Haven River Lodge. Jinja is 80 km from our home and also happens to be where the source of the River Nile is. My parents had been there earlier in the year and said it was a lovely getaway so we decided to spend Christmas there.It took us an hour and a half to get there - I slept almost the whole way (I'm not very good at doing road trips :-(). Once we got there we fell in love with the scenery! The Haven is right on the banks of the River Nile and you can see about three rapids. It was a calming sight!

This was the view of the Nile from the restaurant - lovely isn't it?

In our room, the bed faced a large window that over looked the Nile!!!!!!!

The view of the Nile from our bedroom window!!!! My husband would sit on the bed and simply stare at the water - it was that awesome!

More shots of the room... the rooms were really basic but still comfortable. The ambiance was relaxing.

The bed

The bathroom

The Haven is rather strict on privacy so there is a walkway behind the rooms so that you don't walk past another rooms window and invade their privacy.

The walkway

The path to our room

Once we got settled in we went to get some lunch. The food was so delicious!!!!!!

Once lunch was over we took a little nap and then went for a walk and took some photos just for fun :-)

After we had our supper we got a little show from the village children who were trying to raise some money for some of their friends to be able to go to school the next term. There was this one little girl who really got our attention. She must have been about three or four but she danced with all her might. She hardly ever sang along but she was a pretty good dancer. she would lose her concentration sometimes but once she remembered what she was supposed to be doing she would take a look at what the other girls were doing and join in again. So cute!

She's the little girl in red shorts

Doing her thing!!!! So cute!

Christmas eve was relaxing, refreshing and entertaining. It was nice to get away from the city and enjoy some time alone as a couple :-)

The eve of Christmas eve recap...

Hi everyone! I feel bad that I was not able to wish you all a merry Christmas but it's the thought that counts right? The internet was really crappy since we were way out of town but I hope you all had a lovely Christmas with your families and you're looking forward to the new year.

On the 23rd we had a full house. My family came over to visit so that they could spend some time with us before we went away for Christmas. My brothers were with us the whole day and my parents joined us in the afternoon. My sister-in-law surprised us too and came to visit with her two kids. Yes, we had a very full house!!!! But it was fun. Take a look at some photos...

Benjy, smile for the camera :)

Food!!! I made chapati (I will post that recipe once I have the correct measurements), rice, minced beef stew and some strange concoction of pasta, minced beef and mozarella cheese - yummy!

Matthew and my sister-in-law

My nephew munching away

My niece

I made brownies for some afternoon tea. I found the recipe here and since I'm not much of a baker I was really hoping it was easy and it was!!!!!!! They turned out great!

My brother, Paul helped me out a little

The brownies ready to go in the oven

Mummy!!!!!!

Daddy!!!! And Matthew

The brownies baking...

All done...

Yum!!!

Two of my favourite guys!!!!!

Brownies and vanilla ice cream

Singing...

'Come on Matthew - SMILE!'

L-R - Hubby, me, Paul, Matthew, Nendel (a friend of the family), Mummy and Benjy

Another photo with Daddy :)

 Christmas weekend recap coming soon!!!!!

Christmas plans...

Christmas is here!!!!!!!!! Yay!!!!!! For the last 8 or so years I really haven’t been feeling very ‘Christmassy’ but this year I’m so excited!!!!! (I believe it has something to do with being newly married to my tall, dark and handsome farmer.) Anywho, I’m super excited. I’ve been sick at home for most of the week and I managed to put up our very first Christmas tree!!!!!!

I chose to use red and gold because I find it very hard to mix too many colours on a Christmas tree. I’ve never decorated a tree all by myself because my brother is the design genius in the family and he would do most of it while we just helped out. (Paul, I hope you’re proud) My husband loved how the tree turned out and I was super proud of myself  (there’s something about the light in your man’s eyes that just makes you feel like you just walked on the moon – anyone agree?)

Another reason why I’m so excited about Christmas is because hubby and I are going away to a quiet resort for two days over Christmas :-) We really need to get out of the city and have some alone time.  I’m also glad that I don’t have to worry about what we’re going to eat for Christmas. Don’t get me wrong, I love to cook but I’d really like to relax this time. For the last 8 years my paternal aunts, uncles and cousins would spend Christmas at my parents’ house. Just so you get the picture – I have 6 paternal uncles and 3 paternal aunts and they all come complete with spouses and not less than two children (maximum 4). It would be quite crazy at home trying to get things ready so this year will be a much needed breather for me – I’ll have a quiet, stress free Christmas :-) 

My sweet hubby is also getting me a wonderful gift for Christmas that I shall blog about when I receive :-) It’s something I’ve wanted and needed for a loooooooooooonnnnnnngggggggg time!!!!!! Love you sweetie!!!  (And no, I did not snoop around to find out what he was getting me – he gave himself away! teeheehee!)

I’m also going to try my hand at baking this year to complete the Christmas feeling so wish me luck!!!!!!!

I hope your Christmas plans are coming along well too.