Every 15 Pictures

A blogger, Luci Miller, posted random pictures from her phone, starting with the most current, then posting every 15th picture. . .and challenged others to do the same. It becomes a journal in pictures, if you take enough pictures of your life. Mine became a rough overview of 2016 because I keep my phone pictures whittled down. 

Yesterday we drove by a big, ol' oven (the igloo looking thing under the pavilion on the left) and piles of pottery urns that had been baked. I dearly wanted to stop to get some good pictures, but we were racing nightfall for we didn't completely trust the empty (?) stretch of road ahead of us at night. (Think robbers, a rare but possible interruption to night time travel.) So I took a picture out the window as we went by and we promised ourselves to stop the next time. 

It was Tuesday of this week. Someone wanted to know how to pray for me, and Tuesday is my day to pray for another missionary sister. When I read these verses in the morning, I sent a text of them to both ladies, requesting one to pray them over me and promising to do the same for my friend. 

We started scheduling supervised play with the neighborhood children. They love it. 

The Orange Deluge 

We had two dates since we moved to Ghana a year ago. This is a selfie of us on our way to a Lebanese restaurant in July. 

Of course, Picture #15 would not land on the wild elephants we saw at a National Park. It landed on cattle crossing the road, a common occurrence. But I suppose this is better in the long run, as it is more of a true picture of our life.

In early July we had family come for a visit from the States. And they came loaded with gifts and surprises! Here we are unpacking a tote. 

Um. John said he'd watch the fort so I could get some sleep. I gave my nap an honest try but my mind was much too full to settle down. So, in the quiet time allotted to me, I worked on a writing project instead. And then my conscience niggled a little since John thought I was getting a good nap, so I sent him a selfie text as a confession. Nope. Definitely not sleeping. 

Sophia dearly wanted to make a little cardboard car like I had made for Tyler. She doesn't play with cars much, so I was a little surprised at her interest. But once we got into the project, I realized that she wasn't interested in the car at all. She wanted to paint.

The guy at this little roadside stand cut a new mirror for our broken one after we were sideswiped by a truck. The "Driving Mirror Expert," as advertised on the sign, did an excellent job. 

Tyler and his best friend, Emanuel, love playing in the rain.

Hippo leads an interesting life.

Tyler and his oatmeal-box-truck that inspired Sophia to want one, too.

Remember what I said about Hippo? Well, he did Kindergarten last year, too.

Sophia plays with her Froggy like other little girls play with dolls. Froggy's face turned brown from all the loving it gets, so Sophia gave it an early morning bath. 

April 12. The day our baby went to be with Jesus.

My good friend and helper Salome was an invaluable asset to our Palm Nut Harvest. I had no clue how to process them, but Salome just laughed. She was probably born with a palm nut in her hand.

We had a helicopter-themed birthday party for Tyler in March. These are the labels I sketched to make the drinks fit the theme. 

Those early rains in March were unbeatable. After roughly four months with no precipitation at all, rain was definitely worth celebrating. They cooled the air, they marked the beginning of a cooler season, they greened up the dead grass and curled orange tree leaves. . .Yay for the Rain!

In January and through a program called "Heroes of Change," a Ghanaian friend of ours was honored for his service to his village and surrounding area. He has a clinic in northern Ghana where he has saved hundreds of children's lives who were severely malnourished when they came to him. He also opened a school and has really given his life and resources to help his community. The picture below isn't the best, obviously, but it is of a choir singing "A Charge to Keep I have."