30 weary travelers arrive in Cincinnati

Newsflash: 30 excited and weary travelers arrive in Cincinnati after a 12 hour drive from North Carolina! All the bags are packed, the house is cleaned, the cookies are baked, and the kids are ready. Through rain and snow we made our way yesterday to the place that has seemed so far off in the distance. This week the children have four Christmas performances with the symphony orchestra before heading home to Uganda on the 16th. Our time at Mirembe flew by in the blink of an eye, but I am so thankful we had the chance to be together as a family. The bus pulled out yesterday morning and we waved goodbye to Mirembe. I thought I would cry, but I didn't. There were a few tears on the bus though, as I thought about things. I wrote down some random moments on the bus to try and remember the small things...

Christopher earned his own CD player, so he sat in front of me with the world's biggest smile, pinching himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming. He said he dreamt about it all night. Uncle Steve made him his own personal mix CD, so he rocked out the whole ride to Lion King, Kirk Franklin, African Children's Choir, etc.

12pm-we entered Virginia and the children began to cheer as they saw snow covered hills for the first time!

2:15pm-random rest stop in West Virgina. After using the toilet and getting our Starbucks fix, everyone broke out into a huge snowball fight in the parking lot. It was the best snowball fight of my life :)

2:30-I pass out exams for the children to do while they ride. Meanwhile, I rock out to Christmas music and try to process...

3:45-I got bored and started passing notes to the kids. Nelson turned around and gave me the biggest smile ever. I started crying, thinking about how much I am going to miss little moments such as these. He wrote back asking if I am ready to go home or if I want to travel with them again. I cried again and told him I would like to live with them forever, but this season is over and it is time for us to go separate ways. He said he can't wait to be in Heaven with me.

6pm-Stop at buffet to stuff our faces :0

9pm-Arrive in Cincinnati and check into Comfort Suites...whew..home for 4 days.