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!!!!!

Weekend recap

I'm well aware that the weekend is long gone but I've been having trouble with my internet and I just had to do a recap of the weekend! I had a lot of fun :-)

My hubby's co-worker got married on Saturday and it was a fantastic wedding! Made us want to get married all over again! The decor was stunning - a winter wonderland theme in Uganda!!!!! hahahahaha! Funny right? Well the bride and groom have both lived abroad for a while so I guess that sort of explains it. The bride looked stunning, the groom looked smitten, the cake was delicious, the speeches were lovely and the reception hall was breathtaking! Here are some photos...

The fabulous reception area

The entourage table - gorgeous!!!!!!

Details...

Entry way

Don't you just love how she makes that gown work? She looked so elegant!

The cake - chocolate and vanilla yum!!!

The first dance

I just had to take a photo in this dress :-)

My TDH farmer :-) Love ya honey!!

The next day we went to church and then I made fabulous chicken for lunch but forgot to take photos :-( So I will give you the recipe the next time I make it and take photos - deal?
After lunch we went to see my nephews and niece- I had missed them like crazy!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My little baby is all grown up and I was amazed at how much he has changed!!! Here are some photos of my babies...

Baby Jojo is so big now

This is Jojo looking at photos of himself on the computer heehee - the kids these days!

Nathan trying to befriend a little boy who had come to visit

L-R Emilio, Nathan and Jemimah - don't they look adorable?

Tomorrow, my brothers and parents are coming over to spend the day with us and I'm excited to have them here with us before my hubby and I run away to our lovely resort. Yay!!!!!!!!! Not yet sure what I'm going to cook though :-(

December - the unproductive month...

I don't know if anyone else feels the same way but it is sooooooooooo hard for me to concentrate on work in December. I feel like I should be winding up the year by relaxing at home and not having to deal with irritating clients. (I believe that to be a client you have to have some level of incompetence - which of course is the reason you'd come to me to cater for that small bit of incompetence. I know that many times I'm the client but I want to believe that I'm not a bad client who makes my incompetence that obvious :))
Anyway, I just can't seem to concentrate! I'm trying - believe me I am but I'm too excited!! I'd much rather be: 

Shopping!!! And yesterday I did just that. I stepped out at lunch time and went to buy a new bag and shoes - it helped A LOT!!!!!

Cooking :) I recently discovered the Food Network Channel and I'm hooked! So many great recipes and no time to try them out :-( Do I really need to be at work? The kitchen is so much more exciting!

Playing with my adorable little nephew! I miss him so much!!!!!!

But most importantly I'd love to be relaxing with my hubby. I LOVE his company (that's the way it's supposed to be right? :))

My point is I think December is an unproductive month and we need to get the whole month off :-D Who's with me?  But seeing as that will never happen I'm going to keep trying to stay focused on my work, and I'll try to be nice to the client who drives me up the wall (Lord, help me!)
Now I'm really looking forward to next week when we break off for Christmas. Thank God for a boss who feels the same way about December! He's not riding us as hard as he usually does :-)

7 blissful months!!!

Today is our 7 month anniversary!!!!!!! Time flies doesn't it? Feels like just the other day I was walking down the aisle to meet my husband to be.... such a magical moment :-) I thank God for leading us on this incredible journey. There is so much to be thankful for and so that's what I'm going to do.

I'm thankful for my amazing husband. He truly is the head of the home- I have no problem submitting to him because I know that he always listens to the Lord and is lead by him. I'm thankful that our friendship has continued to deepen and we're learning so many things about each other.

I'm thankful that marriage is fun!!!!!!!! I used to hear lots of people say that marriage is more of a duty but I'm having such a good time I feel like I was missing out!!!

I'm thankful for my in-laws - they've been so good to me. I have no in-law horror stories!!!!

I'm thankful for the Lord's provision. A wedding can really distort your savings and leave you kinda broke but the Lord provided for our wedding through our friends and family and has continued to provide for us these last 7 months - I don't take that for granted.

I'm thankful for my family that has been supportive (I don't think my husband has any in-law horror stories - lol!!)

I'm thankful that God is teaching me how to love my husband more each day, how to honour Him in my marriage and how to trust Him and keep Him at the centre of our lives. I don't know what I would do as a wife if I did not have that guidance.

And finally, in a world that is full of broken marriages, I'm thankful that each time I think of my husband I smile, that I just can't wait to see him at the end of the day and that we share an ever deepening love for each other.