Ghana (part 2)

For the second half of our trip we met up with a bigger group that was there with the Forever Young Foundation (Bob Gay and Steve Young's charity). The singer Alex Boye was also there as part of the group. We spent the rest of our time with them doing humanitarian work and traveling around a little more. The group was pretty diverse and everyone was really nice.
WEDNESDAY:
-We drove to another village, Nkawkaw (pronounced: en-coco). Taylor served during his mission here and this is where African Equity (the charity that Paul and Taylor are on the board of) owns the school. They bought it 3 years ago and now were doing some additional work on it.  We helped mostly finish painting the school and it looks awesome. It's bright green and yellow and all the kids were there playing and being outside. The kids were all really energetic and super outgoing. Apparently there wasn't even school that day but they had all come anyways in their uniforms to be with us. They all wanted to talk to us and we even got them to help paint by the end! During dinner that evening all the lights went off. When the power grid for the area gets overused all the electricity in the whole town goes off and you never know when it will go back on-- maybe an hour maybe a day. The boys said this used to happen at least once a week during their mission. The hotel we were staying at had a generator they tried to turn on for us but we all left to go to a fireside that had been set up by the local members.
-It got HOT this day. I was so surprised to find that Africa was not as hot as i thought it would be, but only because we went during "the rainy season" so it was not as hot but still super humid.
-When we got to the church we found all the members there in the darkness, singing hymns using their flashlights. I admired their dedication. They found a few more lights to use and it got to be semi light in there for us to start. The fireside was nice,  and the main lights stayed off the whole time but I liked what one of the speakers said: he talked about when he was little growing up and the power went out all the kids would meet under a big tree and play games by the light of the moon so he said he was thankful for the power outage because it reminded him of good times playing. He said we should always be grateful for what comes to us in life and I thought this was such a poignant story: this man in Ghana that has far less in his regular life (let alone no light) than I have ever had is teaching me to be grateful for even less.
- One of the big lessons I that was re-iterated to me on this trip is something that I am constantly working on: learning to savor the moment and enjoy pieces of life and recognize the special moments no matter how mundane. We all get so caught up with things so it's easy to let things pass by on our search for the next moment but it's important to savor.




THURSDAY:
-We attended a  "celebration" hosted by the school to thank us for our work. They had some cultural presentations. They had songs and some dances with drummers. All the moves in their dancing are different symbols to mean something so they tell a story. One boy came out and did a dance and turns out the moves meant he was asking for money so sure enough a few people got out of their seats and gave him some!
-They had also asked Alex to do a song and he asked all of us volunteers to come up with him and it was one of my favorite moments of the trip. He sang R. Kelly's "world's greatest" (which I LOVE to begin with) and we all clapped and danced and started bringing the kids up and dancing with them. We were all so happy and having so much fun I loved it.
-We headed back to Accra to go to the Mission Reunion that the boys had set up but because of traffic we got to the mission reunion 2 hours late. The people there are seriously the most patient people ever.. They all just stayed and waited and sang hymns and then when everyone was settled we started. A few missionaries bore their testimony and told a few mission stories and then Sister Gay spoke and then Pres Gay. He told a few really touching stories from people he had visited with as a general authority and then he told a story from the mission: He and Sister Gay were traveling to a town called Bo in Sierra Leone and the road was horrible and they got in a car accident in which their car rolled 3 times. When he stopped rolling thankfully everyone was still alive but the window glass had shattered on Pres. Gay and he looked down to find his arm with a huge open cut and bleeding a ton. They made a tourniquet to try to tame the bleeding and then they had to wait for the next car to pass because they were completely in the middle of nowhere. A car came after about 10 minutes and gave them a ride to Bo. At the small hospital, they said they could not give him stitches because it was such an open wound but they could at least try to disinfect it. They took him into the "operating theater" (as they call it) and the doctor started disinfecting with shots. It was at this point that he noticed his missionary tag and said "Are you from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?" he said "Yes I am" "Well then can I tell you a story?" "Yes" He told him that awhile ago, an elderly couple from that church came to this hospital and donated all of these supplies to us. He said that he wouldn't have had the gauze or bandages or disinfectant to treat him with if not for them. President Gay said that story reminds him that everything he has in his life came through the service of someone else and the scar on his arm is his constant reminder to always serve and bless other people's lives.
-After the mission reunion we were able to meet up with Anderson Oule and his wife Justine. What a beautiful couple. They are from Ivory Coast and they were the couple that helped keep Paul alive on his mission during the war there. They would bring them food and helped them escape. Such sweet people. When they heard Paul was coming back they knew they had to come see him so they traveled 9 hours by bus just to come spend the afternoon with us. They were so sweet and special and Paul was so happy to see them. It was a neat reunion and one that we won't soon forget. Paul is forever grateful to them.
-Alex Boye did his concert that night and it was rockin! Alex did a great job of talking to the people and making jokes and obviously singing. Everyone loved it! He really is an amazing singer and so energetic all the time. He is a great person it was super fun to get to know him.

FRIDAY:
-We drove to Cape Coast in the group vans. Cape Coast is 100% a fishing village. The smell of fish permeates the air and there are nets and boats and fish everywhere. Their fish nets are amazing: each one is intricately hand sewn and they are huge. All the people dry their nets out over the roof of their house and there are boats everywhere with bright colored flags, it truly is SO beautiful seeing the sights and colors
-First we went on a Canopy walkover the rainforest which was really cool. The bridges were made of rickety wood and suspended high in the air so it was pretty exciting to say the least. And then of course Paul and Taylor had to spice things up by making the group do things like going across backwards with our eyes closed, etc. The scenery was beautiful though, when I wasn't performing with my eyes closed.
-We then drove to the Cape Town slave castle. There are three main slave castles and they are where basically all of the slaves that came from Africa were brought and kept before being shipped to America or parts of Europe. It is a huge white-washed building and actually very beautiful in architecture. It is so sad that a building this pretty could have housed and facilitated such a horrible thing. We took a group tour through and saw the men's and women's dungeons and the tunnels they would take them out through ending with the "door of no return". We also saw where the governor of the castle lived, and then went into the cell and saw the marks made on the floor by chains and it was pitch dark and so stifling hot. They would starve people in there until they died. It was a solemn experience to see slavery from this perspective. It was interesting to think of a slave's journey before even getting on a boat... the whites were finding blacks to work with them to capture slaves. The blacks were turning on their own people and tribes were fighting with one another and trading humans for gold and alcohol and other goods. They would hand their own people over to the whites and then the whites would drive the new slaves all the way to the coast and keep them in the castle. It's horrible to think that their life really ended at the point of capture: captive and betrayed by their own people, forced to walk for miles to the castle, then once they were there put into a small room with up to 200 other people and then forced on a boat and then made a slave in their destination. A horrible and humiliating chain of events.
-After the castles we went to lunch at a restaurant and resort area. The restaurant is out on a dock along a river. At one end the shore come up to the patio and there are alligators than come and sit on the shore! So for a small fee they will take you out and you can go and touch the alligators! They even let us feed them! Only in Africa could you get away with a huge liability like that. I wasn't scared to touch it but i did get scared when i was feeding it and it was coming towards me with mouth open.
 

 

 

 

 

 

SATURDAY:
-We stayed at the "Coconut Grove Resort" and it was really pretty: right on the ocean with tons of palm trees and spread out little buildings with the rooms. We woke up Saturday morning knowing it was our last day in Ghana. Our trip was actually the perfect length: we both felt like we got to do everything we wanted and we were ready to come home. 
-We attended the funeral for William Billy Johnson. He was the pioneer and first member/missionary of the church here on Ghana. Funerals are a very big deal in Ghana and there are a lot of interesting customs and practices that are involved. Missy and I wore our African outfits that Ado's friend made for us. She took our measurements on Sunday and had them made 3 days later! They fit almost perfectly and are so pretty!
-We stayed for only part of the funeral as it was going very long and the sound system unfortunately wasn't working well and we had to get all the way back to Accra for our flight. It took forever to drive back because of traffic and in all the stress of packing and getting ready I had really quickly emptied the backpack that Paul had been using over there to give to Wama and we realized when we got to the airport, now an hour + later that I had accidentally left his phone in the backpack! We had no way of getting a hold of Wama either because we had given back the Ghanaian phone we had been using so Paul had to borrow a phone from a random security guard and called Wama and told him to get off the bus he was on and find the quickest way back to the airport. We waited anxiously for about 40 minutes for him to arrive before we could go through customs and security. We tried calling him along the way and it was super windy and noisy so we couldn't hear him and when he showed up at the airport we found out why: he had found a guy riding a motor bike and offered to pay him if he would take him as fast as he could to the airport! It was hilarious when he pulled up with this random guy with the two of them on the bike!

We boarded our flight a little while later and flew away from Ghana. I have absolutely no regrets about going on the trip and I am so thankful for the opportunity that we had to go. I'm so thankful that Paul and I were able to spend so much time together and make so many memories and that know I more fully understand this important part of his life. I definitely have a new perspective on some things and a deeper appreciation and gratitude for lots of things. The people of Ghana really taught me a lot. I loved our trip so much. I loved all the things we got to do and the people we met. It was priceless.

meanwhile in texas

Our kids had just as much fun as we did. We were so lucky that the Dicksons were able to watch them for us. We got to call them about every other day and talk to Caitlin on the phone and see how everything was going and every time we called it sounded like they were having so much fun. They went swimming (Caitlin even started going off the diving board!), went to the sprinkler park, and got tons of cousin time with the Meads. Among other things I'm sure. We got the cutest pictures from them of their adventures.

I did better being away from the kids than i thought i would. Not to say that it wasn't difficult but i really thought i might be a wreck everyday in Africa and I was ok. I had a couple times when i really missed them and had to look at their pictures and cry a little. A huge part of why I did ok though was because i knew they were having so much fun and being so well taken care of. Although Nolan for sure got bigger without me and Caitlin was saying new words and just acted like she owned the place.

I wish Paul and I could have spent more time in Texas, we got about 20 hours on the way back. When we got on our plane from JFK to Austin I started getting giddy with excitement to see our kids. It was awesome to be reunited that night. The next day we finally got to see Christine and Chris' new house which is SO nice and finally got to meet our newest niece: Corinne. She is such a doll! Literally, she looks like a doll. She is so cute and sweet and I didn't get enough time with her at all.

Ghana (part 1)

I have 11 single spaced journal pages written on my computer about our trip. And I'm sure there are things I forgot. I am planning on making a full separate book with my pictures and experiences so here is the best condensed version I can give of everything.
The first part of our trip was mostly spent with Taylor and Missy visiting people and places from the boys' mission.
SATURDAY:
-We arrived in Ghana around noon and made it through customs and security just fine. We were met at the airport and brought to President and Sister Gays apartment where we stayed almost the whole time. After we got freshened up, we left for the town of Ho, a town where Taylor served during his mission for a long time. We had our friend Wama with us, who was companions with both Paul and Taylor. Paul drove us to Ho and it was a wild ride.
-Driving is such an adventure there... the streets don't have lines or enforced speed limits. The street will be paved one second and then turn into a dirt road the next. The MAJOR potholes that can only be described as looking like moguls in the road, and heaven forbid you have to go to the bathroom. Also everyone honks all the time. We also got stopped all the time at "police barricades" going in and out of cities and that made for a few tense moments. But in general we found that speaking their language, making jokes and sharing some American candies will get you out of most things. One officer we did promise to send some American wives. Some of my funniest memories will be driving around on the crazy roads of Ghana.
-Wama had made arrangements in Ho and told everyone we were coming so when we got there we drove to the church and found about 45 people singing hymns and waiting for us. They had us sit at the front behind the pulpit and then we had a little "fireside" where 5 of Taylor's converts told their conversion story and bore their testimony, all the missionaries sang "called to serve" then the 4 of us were asked to bear our testimonies. Not a bad way to start our trip!
-Absolutely everyone is so sweet and accepting and excited to meet us. Everyone wanted to shake our hands and the kids all wanted to talk to us. Everywhere we went people would say hi to us and little kids would either be scared of us or be curious and they would call out "hey obruni!" (obruni = white person in their language) and want to come talk to us and touch us. Missy and I had kids hanging of us at almost every stop. They are all so friendly and just want to be close to you and see what you're like. It's really fun.
-After the fireside we went to the open rooftop of our hotel and Wama's wife (Ado) had set up a tables and chairs and served us a home made dinner. She even made special things for missy and I in case we didn't like the traditional food but everything was really good: fried rice, chicken, and banku. I actually really enjoyed the food on our trip. We had to be picky to only eat from good clean places and be careful about what we ate but I thought I would be going hungry a lot and I didn't at all. I wouldn't say i at the most balanced meals but i always could find things i wanted to eat. My only complaint was that the food was very starchy: lots of rice, potatoes, grains, bread. But the fruit was SO delicious.
-That night we went back to the Wama family's house for a few minutes and chatted. They live in avery modest two bedroom cement building (one bedroom was the family room and the other was the family bedroom) with an outdoor kitchen and small storage area. On top of their TV right in the center of the room were two frames, one with a picture of the Turnbull family and one with a picture of our family. The boys had brought the frames as a gift when they visited 3 years ago and they still at our pictures us front and center in their house. It was so sweet, and as we visited more families throughout our trip a found that they were not the only ones who had our pictures displayed. It touched me so much that these people I had never even met until now had my picture and considered me their friend in America and were so excited to meet me. Ado taught Missy and I how to tie the kids on their back like everyone does and we played with their two adorable boys.

 

 

SUNDAY: 
-The hotel we stayed at in Ho was probably about 1/2 a star by any US standard, however it was the best the town had to offer. They asked us if we wanted hot water for our shower and when we said yes they brought us a bucket full of water they had boiled and a cup. I felt so much love for my husband as I saw him grab his hot water bucket and bring it in the shower. He was so happy that hot water was even an option! He dipped his cup in and had his shower. He did so without ever even saying anything, much less complaining, and it struck me that this situation that I thought was funny and an adventure for a night, he did this for two years. And loved it.
-We went to church in Ho  and it was packed and hot.
-After church we left for another city: Kofiridua. Both Taylor and Paul served here during their missions. On our way we stopped at a tiny roadside fishing village next to the Volta river. We got our cameras and put a bunch of candy in our pockets and walked in to find people. Word spread that there were "obruni" around and a few men showed us around their village as all the kids came out and started following us around and holding onto our arms. We gave them our candy ("toffees") and they started a frenzy to get more. ALL of the kids in Ghana love American candy because they don't have anything like it. They also love to take pictures with you and look at the screen after to see their picture. A lot of the kids (especially in the smaller villages) don't speak English as well because they just speak their tribal languages so we would had the same conversation over and over with all the kids: "how are you?" "fine" "what is your name?" "(English name)" "how old are you?" and they are happy to answer or just listen to us talk with our "funny" accents. Then the two men that were showing us around took us out into the river in a home-made wooden canoe. It was so sketchy! Water kept coming in the sides and the four of us laughed and somehow trusted this canoe and rowing. They rowed us around an island and showed us their tilapia nets. The river and scenery were really beautiful.
-When we got into Kof Town another group had gathered at the church to see us, some of their old converts and members. After the church we went to a little shop and bought a bunch of groceries to bring to a few families. The bags were so heavy with groceries.. heavy even for the guys to pick up so we got two teenage girls to carry the bags on their heads! The women here can carry literally anything on their heads it's amazing. Most of them carry around huge metal bowls with food in it on their heads and they just stand in the middle of the road or to the side and when they see you stop they will sometimes start running over and surround the car or if you motion to them they will come. People here just walk on the sides of the roads and cross like its no big deal and they have no fear but considering how people drive here that is truly amazing.
-We visited a sweet family that Taylor and Wama had baptized.  Their home was very very small so we all met outside their home and they had put out chairs and a bench for us and Paul said he could tell that they had swept the dirt around their front porch to prepare for us to come. They were so sweet even though they didn't speak English (just twi which is the main tribal language) so Missy and I just listened. Most people there can speak English so Missy and I weren't in this situation too often, except for the boys LOVE speaking twi to the people and when anyone hears that this white guy can speak their language they get SO happy and have to come see for themselves. They also have a really different accent when they speak English and they had really funny sayings. Missy and I found ourselves using their sayings and wanting to talk in their accent along with the boys.
-Later we went to the Amoah-boadis house (Paul's old mission companion's parents) and she made us foo foo. That night we drove back to Accra. Once we got back we went by the temple site and walked around the temple grounds. Unfortunately they were doing some work on the stained glass windows, etc. so the temple is closed for the month, and the windows are black out but it is still a really beautiful building and site. After that we went and saw the mission home the AP's apt where the boys lived. We were able to sit and talk with Pres. and Sister Judd (the current mission presidents of the Ghana Accra mission) and had a really nice visit with them.

MONDAY:
-We met up with another old mission companion, Francis Sosu and he drove with us the 3 hours to the city of Oda (a town where Paul served) and the roads this time were worse than ever. We got to the chapel and it was so nice.. a nice big building with beautifully kept grounds. There was a group of about 30 people there and we started with a prayer and then they had Paul speak he bore a testimony and then closed the meeting and then we all spent a lot of time talking and mingling outside the chapel. A lady named mama Joyce came to see Paul and brought her youngest son "nana" who is 5 months and he was adorable. Paul made a joke about bringing him back to America for school and she was fully prepared to send him back with us. She told us to come back in two years and we could take him back to the US with us. And she was completely serious.
-We left the church and drove to momma Joyce's house to visit but when we arrived there was some drama with a drunk guy making threats. It got a little scary but it was honestly the only time that I felt nervous or scared or unsafe there. Turns out this area of Ghana (the eastern region) is a little more rough and they don't see white people as much. The drunk guy really wouldn't have hurt us or been a problem but it didn't feel comfortable. In general the people are very good natured and always want to smile and laugh and talk to you.

 

TUESDAY:
-We had gotten up and started making a plan for the day when Paul got a call from Elder Igue, an old companion. He had just flown in from Nigeria to see him! We all went to the "art center" which was a big open market and shopped there for a few hours. We got some really fun things (fabric, baskets, wood carvings, art) and the boys loved to bargain for everything so we got some good deals. Igue was friendly and SUPER talkative but he completely idolized Paul and told fun stories about their times together on the mission. Then we all went downtown to eat at KFC it was pretty good. Not really the KFC we know in America, but not bad. We got to have some nice talks at night with President and Sister Gay. They were so kind and generous to let us stay with them and I know the boys loved having some one on one time with President.

on the way

Ok I am determined to blog about our trip, but condense a little so i don't share way too many pictures and details. But with a trip as long and jam-packed as it was, it has taken me this long to even get through uploading all my pictures in all of my spare moments. So, I'll break things down a little.

First of all, the getting there. This trip was fun because we tried to make the most of all of our layovers and travel time. We left the evening of THURSDAY, July 12th after Paul got home from work and flew to Austin. I was reminded how nice it was to have another adult to travel with as I usually fly with Caitlin alone and especially nice this time around as it was our first time traveling with two kids.. and two lap children at that! It was quite the parade getting through the airport but things went well and we were on our flight in no time. The plane was a small commuter plane, just 2 seats on each side, and so the 4 of us were crammed onto one side. It was very cozy, especially with Caitlin bouncing up and down and across and any direction she could to make the most of the space we had but luckily it was a direct flight so we survived. The kids did great. Caitlin was busy as usual but no meltdowns or yelling or hitting or screaming so it was a success. And Nolan did awesome on hi first flight! No crying and mostly snuggled with Daddy and slept the whole time. We arrived into Austin late that night and Caitlin was so excited to be at Grandma and Grandpa's she had a hard time calming down to go to bed! I stayed up late with Lorraine trying to impart every last detail of instruction that i could think of before leaving my kids. I wasn't worried at all, I knew they would do a great job taking care of them but i just didn't want it to be too hard for them and I was sad to leave my kiddos.

 

We woke up early FRIDAY morning to get back to the airport for our flight from Austin to JFK. It was amazing to just sit on the airplane and read and relax. We got to New York in the afternoon and our flight to Ghana wasn't until that night so we decided to go explore Coney Island for a few hours! It was the perfect place to go because there wasn't too much traffic in that direction and neither of us had ever been there. It was also good because we didn't need a ton of time there. We checked out a little open market, and walked the boardwalk. We ate the famous Nathan's hot dogs (sponsors of the all-you-can-eat hot dog contest on the 4th of July) and we rode in the ferris wheel (supposedly the World's Largest Wheel). It was Paul's first time in a ferris wheel!We also got ice cream cones and I got cinnamon french toast flavor. Umm, wow. After a little while we got a taxi back to the airport.

 

 
Ok now fast forward one week to our trip back from Africa:
We had another layover at JFK. This time we got in around 5 AM and had about 11 hours to kill. So we got to meet up with Mike and Jenna (they had been working in New Jersey for the summer). We met them and got to see their house and the little town they had been living in. We got bagels at a local place and got cleaned up and rested a little. We drove together to downtown NYC. We got lunch at the Shake Shack which was very delicious and then we walked around Time's Square a little and looked in some shops. It was fun to hang out with Mike and Jenna, we had missed them this summer! I had never been to New Jersey so it was fun to see a tiny bit of that state and it's always fun to be downtown!  I love the feeling of New York.


 

neither here nor there

july instagram pics:

joys of motherhood: July

-Caitlin is obsessed with taking off her shirt. Especially when she sees someone else with less clothes on than her, she wants to get "nakey!" Whether it's another baby or Paul doing yardwork, she's a joiner. The other day we were watching a weight loss TV show and the girl as getting weighed in wearing her sports bra and shorts and Caitlin saw it and immediately started trying to take her shirt off.

-Caitlin loves to dance. If you tell her to dance she has a little bag of tricks that she will do that will always include: bouncing up and down, shaking her bum, trying to jump (i say trying because her feet don't actually leave the floor but she thinks she's jumping) and doing front rolls.

-So here's my first and only breastfeeding story that i will share: I needed to feed Nolan while we were at the stadium of fire and the stands were a little public for me so i went in the closest bathroom. There was no where to sit and it was BURNING hot in there so i wasn't about to lock myself into a stall so there were some boxes stacked up off to one side so i sat on the boxes and started feeding him. I swear that was the longest he has ever taken to eat and that bathroom must have been the busiest one in the whole stadium. It didn't really bother me, made for some good people watching. So i had my phone sitting next to me and it kept dropping and my phone cover would come off every time. So i was trying to bend over and get my phone while nursing. This happened 3 times. Each time i just got my phone and left the cover there to get later. Twice some ladies came by and asked if it was mine and then picked it up for me. But my personal favorite was when a little girl about 7 years old stood there and stared at my whole situation for honestly 5 minutes and then asked "umm is that your phone cover?" and i said "yah it is" and she said "oh ok." and walked away. Thank you for checking.

-Caitlin can spot sprinklers ("wa wa!") and bikes ("bye") from miles away. She sees them and points them out before i even notice they are there. Bikes include any type of wheeled vehicle from a 4 wheeler to a motorcycle and she always likes to point out when they are wearing "hats" (helmets). Safety first.

-Caitlin is either awake or asleep. There is no inbetween... no resting or chilling or falling asleep in the car. It's one or the other. And her awake is high energy. Luckily she is a good sleeper at night. 

-We don't get solicitors coming to our door too often but it definitely happens. I'm the worst at turning people down, i just don't like the confrontation. BUT if the first thing they ask when I answer the door is if I am the home owner (with a very doubtful/questioning expression), or if my mom is around, it makes it pretty easy to turn them down. In my mind you just can't recover from that. I know I should probably take it as a compliment but i'm sick of it and it happens pretty much every time.

-And now for some pictures of life:

 #1: playing outside.. all she needs is a water bottle and a tea cup and she is entertained and all he needs is a place to chill #2: a little tummy time #3: tiny (but actually kind of big!) baby feet #4: this is how i was greeted the other morning #5: best buddies (most of the time) #6: loves jewelry but i don't know why she insists on wearing her bracelets here? #7: ever the helper. #8: she found an ear of corn in the fridge and shucked it and started eating it raw all within about 5 minutes.

-While Paul and I were on our trip I got to read a book! I read: "Bloom" by Kelle Hampton. It is a memoir about her life and her experience having a child born with Down Syndrome. It was SO good. I cried a lot but in a good way. She is so candid and open and honest and i really appreciated that in her writing. So anyway I'd recommend it!