Oh how good it feels!  There is nothing like nine hugs!  (That lover of mine met me at the airport and so I’d already gotten his!)  I smiled to myself as I made my way through my sweet pile, hugging each one, thinking of the joy of so many hugs.  It’s not something I take lightly.  So many hugs.  So many.  What a privilege to have nine treasures waiting at the door.  Nine gifts of immeasurable worth!  Valued and loved so very, very, very much.  Birdie kept saying, “Ohhhhhh!” like she was the happiest little pumpkin ever – mommy’s home!

Liberty said when Ruby heard that Daddy had gone to the airport to get mommy she wheeled herself over to the front door and tried to open it.  This miracle girl of ours is a movin’-groovin’ machine.

While I was gone lots of exciting things were happening here at home – one of which was that we have grass growing! Yes, you read that right. Living in Phoenix grass is kind of a rarity and for you grass-is-everywhere people, well you have no idea how us desert-dwellers miss it!

Just before I left for Uganda Daddy and the boys planted grass and so this morning, with time zone challenges, this mama was awake about 4:00 am.  I was laying praying for people and situations and suddenly I remembered that the sun would be up soon and I could see our grassy yard!  That was it!  There was no going back to sleep then!

As I climbed out of bed, Dw through the darkness whispered, “Are you getting up?”  I told him that I couldn’t wait for the sun to come up so I could see the grass! He laughed.  Well you know how that goes, wait for something and it seems to take enormously longer!   But once it did, check it out!   These desert-dwellers have a grassy yard!!

Small green stuff friends, small green stuff, but how happy this family is!!  And how good it feels to be home.

More about Uganda in the days ahead, but for now, enjoying this big ol’ pile and hearing the stories of all that happened on both sides of the world while we were apart is this mama’s priority!