Miranda’s 31’st Birthday Part 2

It was a wonderful birthday! And Arley was full of surprises. We have been married for almost 8 years now and he is far from romantic or spontaneous and I have come to understand this even if it doesn’t go along with my more adventurous spirit! But let me tell you, he sang to my soul with the help of Maggie and some of her African Hospitality Institute (AHI). It started out with a dinner without the kids at AHI that consisted of fresh salad,  Cajun (not your average MN spicy!!!) Chicken fettuccine, this absolutely phenomenal mango salsa (which I could eat a gallon without anything else) and melt in your mouth bread. Our friends Ali, Sylvia, and Umar sang happy birthday to me with mini brownie cakes and a suitcase size African drum which Arley found with Hakim last time they went to Kampala. Then we strolled over to the new conference center by the field that you can get great service for phone and Internet. We called and left goofy messages with my brother and my grandma, and tried calling my mom. After Arley talked to his mom for a while we walked over to the guest houses where we had a soft bed for the night! I found out that the sitter was staying all night and that Salima was coming early to fix breakfast for them. We woke up to having breakfast on the veranda watching the birds and the African children walking to school. It was so peaceful and refreshing. Little did we know that the boys were causing quite a commotion at the house and the neighbor had to come over after 2 in the morning to tell them to GO TO BED! (all while Eden slept peacefully in her crib). That poor girl Ellen. We paid her three or four times what would have been paid just to calm the seas, and in hopes that one day if we come back, we will be able to find another sitter.