They're HERE and It's HERE!!!

So our internet seems to have stabilized...at least for now...and I wanted to post of all the happenings of this past week and a half before things get crazy again this week. (We are supposed to be moving into our houses this week -- Ahhhh!  More on that later!  :)  )

They're HERE!!! 

We have 2 new arrivals to our little home here.  On October 8, we welcomed the Gyolai crew to Ghana!  We were so excited to show them around and they jumped in with both feet learning all there is to learn about our new home.  It's been amazing spending more time with their family and its a good thing we all like each other as their additions made 15 people living under one roof!  :)   

We kicked off our first night celebrating Uncle Ryan's birthday!

The Gyolai girls came equipped with their new slack line.  The kids wasted no time in setting it up and getting their skills on!

Here is our new friend Bernice giving it a try.  She is the daughter of Auntie Marta who is one of the ladies who washes our clothes by hand.  We SO appreciate her!  :)

Our little Ghanaian friends in this picture are Bernice, Beatrice, Sandra and Baby Israel -- all children of the 2 ladies (Auntie Marta & Auntie Mavis) who wash our clothes.  We've enjoyed seeing the children when they've come with their mommas on washing days.

These 3 have been practicing for their many ballet recitals in the living room.  

It's HERE!!!

Our second new arrival to Ghana was our truck!  Ryan, Josi, and our new friend Kofi at the port worked for several straight days to clear this bad boy through customs.  We were so excited to have wheels of our own that we immediately loaded everyone up and went looking for houses.  We feel so blessed to finally have a vehicle in Ghana.

Yeah for wheels!!!  

What we've been up to...

We are well on our way into our second week here in Ghana.  We jumped in with both feet attacking our To Do lists.  Though things move much slower here, we are pleased with the forward progress we are making so far.  Here is an update on what we've been up to...by way of bullet points!

~ The day after we arrived, Don and Ryan attended a dressy event hosted by the Dutch Navy on one of their ships docked at the Tema Port.  They spent the evening rubbing shoulders with Dutch officials and representatives from Ghana.  Although I can't say this is Don's favorite kind of thing, his networking skills got a good workout that night.

Don & Ryan heading out to their event.  Don grabbed Ernestina's bike as a prop for their picture.  I could make several comments about this however I'll leave it to your imaginations.  (Incidentally, we found out this was a suit and tie occasion the day we left for Ghana.  Nothing like buying a suit on your way to the airport!)

 On the navy boat

~ Unpacking, unpacking, unpacking...  Packing and unpacking has sort of been my life for the last 18 months.  At times I kind of feel like I'm stuck in a bad version of Groundhog Day.  Needless to say, we are fairly settled in...at least for now.

~ Started school right away last Monday.  After 4 months off, we were all craving a little routine and structure.  I can't say that we've found our "groove" yet but we're working on it!

Ally was practicing writing all her review spelling words...with her eyes closed!

I may not have found my groove but this little teacher sure had her students in line.  :)

~ The first few days we were here, we had some new young friends stay with us while their parents (missionary family from up north) spent 3 long days at port trying to clear their container and vehicle.  It worked out well as our kids were occupied with playmates while we unpacked and their kids didn't have to sit in the port waiting room for 3 full days.  They had success and we were able to take notes as we will be going through the same process in a few weeks when our container arrives.

Watching Tale Spin episodes after a long day of playing.

~ We now have phones and internet access.  We've also been having amazing consistency in power -- only 15 minutes of power outages this week.  We are SO thankful for that.  On the other hand, our water supply has been quite low.  We have been hauling water in buckets for washing dishes and showering for almost a week now.  We are praying the main water lines open before the Gyolai family of 5 descends on our house tomorrow night.  Although, nothing says welcome to Ghana like a cold bucket shower!  :)

~ The kids creativity has been out in full force.   I love that about watching them play here.  Here they are leading Aunt Josi into a homemade "trap" to catch humans.

Finding plastic spiders that Grandma hid in their suitcases.

Batgirl has returned

~ Toby's been busy working on losing his first tooth.  He had success with a little help from Daddy.  He's been waiting patiently for this day to come as Chloe has lost several teeth already.  He was very matter of fact and business-like about the whole process (unlike his big sis who was overcome with "happy tears" when she lost her first tooth).  So proud of him!

~ Don has spent much of the last week learning to be an accountant...balance sheets, cash flow statements, and the like are now pouring through his fingertips like a pro.

~  Ryan and Josi spent several days this week at the port walking through the process to clear our truck through customs and making some new friends along the way.  

~  We've also been looking for housing for our team the last week.  We've looked at 10-15 houses primarily in 2 neighborhoods we had scoped out last spring.  We have several options we are considering but nothing that is quite the perfect fit.  We are discussing pros and cons and praying for wisdom as God guides us to the right homes for us.  

Pure sweetness!

~We've also become reacquainted with our neighborhood friends and have picked up our walks to the roadside for fruit, to our favorite bread lady's house, to Auntie Vivienne's for water, and to Auntie Linda's for candy.  We also found our friends Kokmel (14 yrs) and Priscilla (12 yrs).  It has been good to see all our Ghanaian friends and see that they are well.

Libby painting Priscilla's nails

Well, I have a few more things to share from our side of the ocean but they deserve their own post.

From the West Wing

Here are a couple pics we received this week from our team still stateside (who Don has lovingly named "The West Wing"!)  

~  Our second container was loaded up and shipped containing tools and business supplies, the Sparling family's household goods, and a truck!

 "The West Wing"  Way to go guys!

The Gyolai family (Jamie & Sarah on left + the 3 girls) is actually on their way as I write to join us here in Ghana.  They will be landing in Accra tomorrow night.  We are thrilled to have them joining us and look forward to the Sparling family joining us early December.  (We miss you guys!  Come soon!)

Ghana...It's Good to be Back!

Yesterday marked 1 week since our arrival in Ghana.  We have SO much to be thankful for.  

As our plane was preparing to land in Accra last Thursday night, I gazed out the airplane window at the spotted twinkling lights of the village fires, then the bright lights of the city that we would now call home.  I wondered what life would hold for us here.  Questions flooded my mind... Would it be strange stepping off the airplane again into this place that seemed so foreign to us last year?  Would the children be scared?  Would my heart wake back up from the crazy emotions of the summer?  Did I forget to pack anything that we need?!?

Then the moment came...  The airplane doors were opened...the staircase was lowered...E.V.E.R.Y single other person disembarked from the plane while we were still gathering headphones, coloring books, and softy blankets...then it was our turn.  I stepped out into the warm Ghanaian night and my eyes filled with tears before I could get down the stairs...the sights...the sounds...the smells...I KNEW them.  The air was thick with familiarity.  Its hard to explain but it was such a stark contrast to the moment we left the plane last November that I was overcome with emotion.  This was my Ghana...my new home.

Ghana and I...we are no longer complete strangers but are well on our way to being great friends.  It feels really good to be back and I am SO thankful for that.

Anticipation

As this posts, we should be boarding our flight for the first leg of our journey to our new home.  Approximately 28 hours later, we'll be landing in Accra ready to start our new life in Ghana.  Here are some things we're looking forward to...

Building a home again...

The unfamiliar becoming more and more familiar...

Looking like this at the end of the day...  (seriously, as a mom I LOVE this!  If you have to take a shower at the end of every day anyway, you might as well make it worth while!)

 Family sleepovers in the living room during power outages...

Reconnecting with friends...

Letting our imaginations run WILD...

...and giving this gal the biggest HUG!!!

See you in Ghana!!!

April Fools in September!

This was the scene at the airport yesterday as we unloaded our 14 checked bags (you can see half of them on the cart behind us), 7 roller suitcases, 7 backpacks and 5 kiddos with their "babies."  

This was the scene yesterday right after we made our final in-country good-bye calls, sent some final text *hugs*, and made our final stops on the way to the airport.

This was the scene yesterday right BEFORE we got to the counter and found out that our flight was delayed 4 hours, we would miss our connection in Frankfurt and we needed to spend another night in COLORADO!  I was waiting for someone to jump out and yell April Fools!!!  :)

But alas, it was true and we scored a bonus night with our cousins!  Thankfully they checked all of our checked bags into a holding area at the airport and we headed back to my parents house for a great evening of relaxation since all the packing and to-do lists were already completed.  It was truly a gift...

Chinese Take-Out with Cousins

A cousin trip to Coldstone completed the evening

Marveling at all the ice cream cake pictures

We'll be leaving early this afternoon for Take 2 of our departure to Ghana...

Back on the Band Wagon in our Final Days...

So somehow I fell off the blogging band wagon the second our feet hit the US in April.  This was not intentional but our summer here was so full of busyness, fun, and excitement all mixed together with a lot of CRAZY!  :)  I'm so thankful for our friends and family who entered into that world with us.  I'm excited to do some summer recap posts and reflect on all the memories we made but first, some thoughts as we prepare to head back to Ghana...

It's Sunday morning, the bright morning sun is reflecting off the Colorado mountains, the house full of sleeping cousins will explode any minute with the activities of little bodies, we are about to begin our last full day in the States.  Tomorrow evening (Sept 23) we will be boarding a plane to our new home.  Years of planning and preparation, shopping and packing, excitement and grief have gone into this moment.  We've boarded this plane to Ghana before, but this time its different...this time our tickets have no return portion...this time everything we own is on a boat on its way over to meet us...this time goodbyes won't just be "see you in a couple months"...this time its REALLY happening.  Its crazy the mixture of emotions one has in these moments, how excitement and grief can take residence in the same space in one's heart both being felt equally at the same time...how one second I can feel the excitement of all God is doing and the next the tears are flooding as I watch my little nephew and realize I may never see him as a 4 year old or I hug my grandma for what may be the last time.  So much of this journey feels like exactly what we are supposed to be doing and so much feels like the most unnatural thing ever.  At training, the kids were taught this emotional conglomeration is called a paradox, or "a pair-of-ducks".  To help them remember that this paradox of feelings is ok, they were each given a pair of stuffed yellow ducks.  One duck was their "Yeah" duck that they decorated with smiles and lace and bows.  The other duck was their "Yuck" duck that they decorated with wounds and bandages and peg legs.  As our hearts grieve and we head into our final goodbyes, a friend reminded me yesterday, "Jesus is worthy."  Today I cling to that...He is SO worthy.

        This picture represents to me all of God's grace in our lives.  God started us on this journey years ago and our first question to Him was "But Lord, we can't do this alone.  WHO will go with us?"  These amazing people are HIS answer.  We are beyond THANKFUL for them and in awe of how God has answered our years of praying for a team.  We LOVE you Vytrak Family and we'll see you "on the other side!"

Trash Solutions

This is post is about trash.  Yes, in Ghana, trash warrants a whole post all to its self.  You see, there are no fancy trucks that come by with mechanical arms to dump the contents of our neat blue trash dumpster on wheels into its back to be hauled off to someplace where I don't have to think about it again.  (I miss those trucks)  And on top of that, we discovered (which is also something I hadn't given much thought to) that we generate trash like an average American family of seven generates trash -- in VOLUME!  Shortly after we arrived here, we realized trash was going to be a serious problem.  The morning we woke up on our second week and found that Ernestina had hired Joe (now 1 of  our Wego drivers!) to dig a HUGE hole in the front yard to bury our trash, I knew we were going to have to come up with  different plan.

Phase #1:

We implemented a "goat bowl".  At every meal, we had a big bowl where anything and everything that goats would eat was put into that bowl.  Fruit rinds, plate scrapings, all food that was swept up off the floor, EVERYTHING went into the goat bowl.  Then the last thing we did after all the dishes were washed and table was wiped was send one of the kids out the front gate to "feed" the goats (& chickens!).  That spot became a favorite hangout for the neighborhood animals.  :)  

Phase #2:

We separated burnable trash from non-burnable trash.  The non-burnable was packed up to be transported by taxi (or Vytrak vehicle!) out of the neighborhood and the burnable we burned.  Now normally, we are very careful to have the kids in the house by dusk to avoid being bit by malaria infected mosquitos.  But one night, we decided to spray them all down with bug spray and have a bonfire with our trash!  And of course, we had to introduce Ernestina to s'mores.  We found these sweet little graham cracker like crackers from England, some European chocolate, and a marshmallow product that hit the spot!  :)

What's a good bonfire night without glow sticks!