They'll Be Home for Christmas!

Yesterday we purchased tickets for Churchill and Tracy! They will be coming in at 9:30 on Christmas Eve. I have talked to the principal at the elementary school and they are expecting Tracy next semester. I now have to talk to McCallum to see what to do about Churchill.

While we were filling out all the info for the plane tickets, I got to find out the kid's birthdays. We thought Churchill was 18 and Tracy was 8, but they are actually 17 and 7. Ugandans don't keep track of age or celebrate birthdays, so I taught Rehema how to count out their ages. I am relieved that they are younger than we thought...I was worried about Churchill being too old for high school and that Tracy would look too old for the grade she will probably fit best in. Also, Graceyn really wanted a 'little sister' to take care of...now that she knows Tracy is 2 years younger, she can feel like 'big sister' to her.

Now we have to get busy and figure out immunizations, health insurance, sleeping arrangements, Christmas presents, warm clothes, and who knows what else. If anyone has information on health insurance for children residing temporarily in the US on 12 month visas, please contact me!!!!

Needless to say, we are going into this with a lot of prayer and trust in God's provision. Please pray for all of us as we go through this transition. There will be lots of adjustments to be made on everyone's part, but Churchill and Tracy will be going through enormous cultural changes. Pray that their youthfulness will make it easier on them than it was on their mother. They have never seen many of the things they will encounter on their trip here, alone. They do not celebrate Christmas in the same materialistic way that we do in America. School will be completely different. And even though they speak English, they will have to get used to the very different accents. (When I have talked with Tracy on Skype, she asks her mother to tell me to please speak English!) Oddly enough, one of the things I worry most about is the temperature difference from their home. Rehema wears hats and coats in the summer and she has been here for a year and 1/2! They will be coming in the beginning of winter and will never have felt temperatures this cold before...even though we consider our winters to be mild.

I am looking forward to posting about their reunion with their mother...they have not seen her in 1 1/2 years! Can you imagine? It's going to be a party...I better alert the security at the airport :)