Moved my blog

Greetings!

I have moved my blog to WordPress:

http://phillipshero.wordpress.com/


The main reason is that WP allows me to upload photos directly from my hard drive without logging on to the blogger.com site and going through all their menus.

Hope this results in more posts and more pictures.

I will delete this blog in 90 days.

Thanks!

Phillip

Israel turns 5

Israel recently celebrated his fifth birthday at our furlough house in Fort Worth. The festivities began the evening before the actual day with several friends, most of whom stayed the night for his first sleepover. His birth date, as he will tell you, is "October Last," which I like better than saying he was born on All Hallows Eve (Halloween). He made up the name, of course.

He has really been anticipating this birthday, and announced that he did actually feel older this year. (Last year, he said that he did not feel four for quite some time after his birthday.)

It was a tough choice between Cars, Transformers, and Thomas the Train, but Lightning McQueen won out. The cake is courtesy of Wal-Mart's bakery dept. In spite of the fact that I could have made a cake that looked just as good, I was glad to enjoy the convenience of America.

Here the friends are gathered around the table. Laura worked hard to decorate the house with streamers and balloons (not seen in the photo below). Israel's favorite present seemed to be the AA Duracells that came with his walkie-talkies. He cried out, "Yes! My very own batteries!"

Round round getaround

Just for fun!

Here are some places I've been.



create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.



create your own visited countries map
or vertaling Duits Nederlands

Malachi's 7th

Malachi had a great birthday party at our house today. Lots of kids came, including the Presbyterians from up in Karamoja. The house was packed. Team folks came by, as well.

This was his "robot" birthday. He wanted a robot cake (thus, Rodney Copperbottom). He has been into Transformers, Rescue Hero Robots, and robots in general. He got three Lego robots among his loot.

Here are the photos!

Shero Kids in Costumes

Here are the latest kid pix. Malachi wanted his head shaved. We weren't willing to go 100% bald, but I did use the #1 clipper setting and then shave a couple of superhero logos into his hair (Superman and Transformers).

Sunrise Acres

Here are a few photos from our team retreat/family vacation last month. We went to Sunrise Acres in the highlands of Kenya (about a five hour drive from here).

Kids at Home

Annalise has taken to following Laura into our room to get ready every morning after I take the boys to school. Her main interest is in any kind of make-up: nail polish, blush/base, eye pencils, etc. The other day, she got into Laura's lipstick when we left our door unlocked.


Malachi is really excited about learning to play the piano. He plays before supper, rushes to eat and play after, and rushes through his bath so he can play one more song before bed. He is excited about learning 1/4 and 1/2 notes since he is also doing fractions in math at school.

Thanksgiving in Uganda

The whole team gathered at the Shelburnes' about 1p and began spreading the tables with all kinds of wonderful food. The whole team, that is, except Laurie and Laura Beth. As I pulled into their driveway, their new puppy ran under my tire and got his back legs and tail scraped up pretty badly. They ended up spending the day at home with the dog and the vet (Shyla is all sewn up now and looks like she will make a full recovery with the exception of 4" of her tail).

Annalise at the pie table...followed by Dad at the pie table...MMMM!



Over at Ian and Danetta's, we had four kinds of pies as well as chicken, dressing, gravy, potatoes, etc. It was a feast! Ian blogged the day as well (click on the link to the left).

Our kids eating chicken and dressing (Jennifer Allen in the background)


Annalise prepared for the rain that lasted all afternoon by wearing swim goggles while eating her chocolate pie.



After a delicious lunch, we watched the Cowboys trounce the Panthers 35 to 14 on a DVD someone had sent over to Laura Beth. The kids wandered in and out, played cards or helped with Danetta's 1,000 piece puzzle. We ended the evening with a movie.

Emily Shelburne, Israel, and Annalise all crammed into a tunnel piece (Malachi is standing in the background).

At the Waterfall

We had a great time at Sisiyi Falls (45 minutes north of Mbale) on Monday.

Enjoying In-laws

We are enjoying having Laura's parents here. They came for just short of six weeks. Our kids have especially benefitted from having some grandparents on the scene. Here's a shot of Laura's dad (Guilford Rice) with our two youngest in the sandbox. Our two Great Danes are in the background (excellent guard dogs and absolutely wonderful with our kids).

Enjoying In-laws

Testing another blog client.

Israel's 4th

Here are some photos of Israel's 4th birthday party. The other children are in our team's preschool.

Israel said that he must still be "3" since he doesn't feel "4" yet.

Photo Test

This is a test to see if my new blog-posting app will let me send pictures.

If you can see the above picture, then you are looking at the smiling face of a bathing beauty named Annalise. We recently had a school break and went to Jinja for two nights with Laura's parents.

If this works, I will post more pics.

Back in Business

Dear readers of this blog, if there are any of you left,

My apologies for a long hiatus from blogdom. I believe, at last, I am ready to go ahead with a regular blog. I have downloaded software that lets me write posts from my computer whether I am online or not. Then, with a touch of a button, I can send my snazzy text out into the ether, where you can read it just as easily.

I hope to update the blog frequently, a weasel-word (as Larry Long would say) that remains happily undefined but expresses my desires to keep in touch.

Nuff said for now!

Family Picture

Here's our latest family photo, taken at Sunrise Acres in Eldama Ravine, Kenya during a recent team retreat.

There's not much family news right now except to say that Annalise recently had 35 mango worms imbedded in her skin. It was gross and heart-breaking to pop them all out. If you are wondering what a mango worm is, check this description from a doc in Uganda:
www.thesurgeryuganda.org/newsletter/03-03%20Bites.htm (scroll down to the mango worms section).

Feeling Power-less

Since the first of the year, we have been without electricity every other day. Yes, that’s 24 hours on and then 24 hours off. Of course, even when it’s supposed to be on, it is often off. There is usually a fault on the line sometime after they turn the power on, so we get less than 24 hours of power at a time. On the other hand, they often turn the power back on for a few hours in the middle of the night when it is “supposed” to be off. We have even been treated to extended periods of about 40 volts (out of 240). All the bulbs are super dim, and it feels like we’re living by candlelight. This is all very exciting to predict. We regularly prognosticate on whether the power will be off or on at any given time.

The implications of being power-less include planning when and how to run the washer and dryer, operate the computer for email, and keep the all the meat in the deep freeze from spoiling. So far, we have responded with a variety of methods:

1) Our generator will put out 220 volts at the cost of considerable background noise and about $2/hour in petrol
2) an inverter in our hall closet charges batteries for running lights and the fridge when the power is out
3) a bank of old, depleted batteries in the garage runs a fan in our room during power out nights
4) rechargeable fluorescent lights illuminate suppers and baths during outages
5) an LED headlamp and two of those nifty shake-em-up flashlights (the ones on TV) help me navigate the house in the dark
6) a small inverter connected to the truck battery works
7) candles
8) and last, but not least, the backlit screen of my mobile phone helps out

Here’s a shot of me blending a yogurt smoothie using the truck battery.

I have also used the truck battery for: grinding coffee beans, running an inkjet printer, and cutting my hair with the electric clippers (I drug a full-length mirror outside on the porch—quite entertaining).

Retreat with Rural Ministry

Last week I spent three days at Sisiyi Falls Gardens with 8 men and 3 women from our Rural Ministry team. Sisiyi Falls is an absolutely gorgeous spot on the side of Mt. Elgon. The water cascades over 100 feet off a cliff and forms a swift, rocky river at the bottom. You can walk up to the pool where the water hits and even stand under the falls (at least you can now, in the dry season). In the rainy season, the spray 100 feet away from the falls is enough to soak you to your skin in 30 seconds.

The ministry team really loved the location. Even though some of them are from this area, they had never seen the falls or been in such a beautiful setting. God really blesssed us with good sessions, prayer time, reports, and areas to target in 2006. Here are some photos of the group and the falls.

The last photo is of us praying for Chrysostom and Janet. They are two of our rural counselors who are single. They announced their engagement to one another at the retreat. Both of them are mature people (in their 30s and 40s). Fun!

Christmas in Uganda

Here are a few photos from Christmas at our house. Saturday evening, we enjoyed Christmas Eve dinner with Mom and Dad before opening kids' gifts and stockings. Sunday morning was family Christmas before going to a special worship service at MCC. Sunday afternoon, over 40 teammates and community members gathered in our home and backyard for a cookout (an Mbale Christmas tradition) and gift exchange.

Up on the Mountain

Yesterday we ascended to 8,500 above sea level on the northern slopes of Mt. Elgon. Our destination was Kaproron Church of Christ. It is the only evangelical congregation in the whole town, which is the sub-county headquarters.

With me were two Kenyans (Edward and Richard--far right and left in photo) from a counsin tribe to the Sebei people who live on the mountain. They enjoyed speaking to each other in their slightly different dialects. I was pleased to hear Edward and Richard sing several hymns from a songbook in their own language. The churches in Uganda are generally younger and don't yet have much of a reperatoire in their local languages.

Camp was Awesome!

This is the trailer we stayed in at camp. Mark Long (missionary in Kampala) built it in his driveway from the wheels up. It has four bunks, a sink, and a shower. I carried two large tents (sleep 50+) in the trailer along with all our supplies.

We have already had campers volunteer to go back during the year and spend a week or more working on the campgrounds without pay--they are so excited to have something like this in Uganda.

Camp was awesome! I was part of the prayer team, among several assignments. And I was totally blown away by the confessional spirit of the youth. They held nothing back. God was definitely doing business with these young people.

More coming tomorrow.

Survey: Should I post my journal letters here? Or would it be better to keep emailing them directly? Or both?

Camp Saaka

After a 10-hour drive cross country yesterday and a good night's sleep at the Cash home, I am about to head out to Camp Saaka. This morning will be full of setting up tents, last minute construction, and general preparation for the 200 campers and counselors who will be arriving this evening.

I don't know if I will be able to get back in to town to update this blog with pictures and news, since it is an hour drive over a very rough road from camp back to Fort Portal. But I'll try.

Thanks for reading and praying!