A few pictures and a story.

Good morning!

I want to start off by saying a huge thanks to all of you! We greatly appreciate all of your love, prayers, encouragement and support, and we know we wouldn’t be here without you! Thankyou for your involvement in the lives of these girls-you’ve made an enormous impact on them though they’ve never met you :)

As you may know, these wonderful eight girls have all started school on Monday! As they get ready for bed each night they say things like, “Auntie, tomorrow I am going to school!” We love their enthusiasm :) They will be observed in their classrooms for a week or two and be moved to different grades depending on their performance. They are wearing their special “Friday uniforms” for the first time today! (Pictures below)

Landon and I have had the opportunity to get away to Accra for a small (and much needed) break.  This means, we’ve been able to enjoy things like hot showers, hamburgers, dairy products, wifi and some great conversation with other American missionaries! It’s been wonderful and we feel so refreshed!

Back to the girls. We have quite a few pictures and a really sweet story we'd like to share. First, the story.  We’ve started a bedtime routine that involves reading a bible story right before bed. A few nights ago, Dina wanted to choose the story. She flipped through the bible, saw a picture of Jesus hanging on the cross, and said, “this one.” So we began reading the story of the crucifixion, which Davi Mercy was kind enough to translate.  As I finished the story, I realized the girls were being unusually quiet. I looked up and saw the saddest faces you can imagine. Lucky was in tears.  They couldn’t understand why Jesus had to die when he did nothing wrong.

 It was far past their bedtime, but I couldn’t send them to bed in tears. So we followed up the story of Jesus’ crucifixion with his resurrection. The sadness in the room was wiped away and replaced with joy! The girls were laughing and smiling from ear to ear when they heard that Jesus was alive again! So sweet. We love these girls so much and are so blessed to be a part of their lives.

Now for the pictures!!!!

twirling in their new dresses :)

Friday uniforms

Rosemary, Godsway and Sarah hard at work.

they love playing with Uncle Landon :)

Sarah's turn!

Reading under the mango tree with Auntie

Dina

Sarah

Gloria

Mama Helen bought sparklers! They had a blast.

Landon's favorite mode of transportation:
motorbike.

Our  fabulous cooks that you've heard so
 much about; Mama Helen and Davi Mercy

Lucky and Godsway tucking their beanie
babies in for an afternoon nap :)

Thanks for reading!

We love and miss you all.

Kate, Landon, and the girls :)

First Day of School! :)

They were SO excited!

Gloria with her lunch money

Brand new uniforms

The girls have been looking forward to this day for many weeks! They squealed with delight as they tried on their new uniforms this morning! They have each been placed in different classes according to their past schooling experience.Three of them are in kindergarten, four are in class one, and Sarah Senior is in class two with Bernard's niece, Rosemary. We're so excited to hear how it goes! :)

Christmas in Akatsi

Landon and I have had a very good but very different Christmas this year. It was difficult to be so far from our families, but we were glad to be here to share a wonderful Christmas with the girls. Here are a few pictures of the day:

I brought beanie babies from home to give each of them-
They LOVED them!

They carried their "babies" everywhere.

They slept with them.

They ate with them.

They named them all Baby Jesus. :)
They're adorable.

A special thanks to the Stengel family for helping to
provide these lovely Christmas dresses!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all of us!

It's beginning to look a lot like CHRISTMAS!

Well, Christmas in Ghana that is. It is in the 90's today and the sun is hot hot hot!  In the mornings and evenings we've been enjoying the Harmattan winds from the Sahara Desert which bring a bit of relief from the heat. The temperature has been as low as 75-a very welcome change! The Ghanaians, however, are all bundling up and saying that they are "suffering" from the cold weather! We told them that they would not like an American winter... Despite the difference in climate, we've tried to keep a few of our Christmas traditions in Ghana. So far we've watched "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" (the cartoon version), made some Molasses crinkle cookies and chocolate cakes (yum!!!), attempted to teach the girls a few Christmas songs, and decorated a tiny tree. The girls are very enthusiastic and have literally screamed with joy at every event! Each time we turn the tree lights on they run around the room yelling "Christmas! Christmas!" It's a little hard on the eardrums, but it's fun to see them so excited :)

Here are a few pictures of the festivities:

This is Landon's personal favorite-can you sense the
excitement? :)

homemade Christmas ornaments

Showing off the finished products!

I know it's blurry-these girls are constantly in motion!

My sister is AWESOME!
She sent this paper nativity set in a sealed envelope in
my suitcase :) Thanks Meg!

Merry Christmas from Ghana!

We love and miss you all :)

The days have flown by since Teddy and Ellie left! They are now safely in Kansas adapting to a huge change in climate and in culture. Meanwhile, Landon and I have been busy working with Social Welfare, traveling to Ho several times to extend our visas, completing projects around the house, and most importantly, spending time with the girls!

The girls are doing very well! They look much healthier and happier than when they first arrived in Akatsi, and they’ve improved in many ways. Davi Mercy has been teaching them how to cook, which is a very important skill for a Ghanaian women to possess. Most girls here prepare meals for their families several times a week before they reach the age of 10! The girls did not know much at first, but they are quickly learning.

Landon and I are in charge of having two English classes for the girls every day. I’ve never seen anyone so excited to learn! They are constantly asking to read bible stories and practice writing letters. Many of them have had very little or no schooling, so we’ve been starting with the basics. They are now able to identify some letters, objects, and speak in (semi) complete English sentences! The other day (big) Sarah said to Landon, “Uncle, you need to water the moringa trees!” We are very pleased at their progress, but they have a lot of catching up to do. Since the schools in Ghana use English, the girls need to learn as much as they can before they begin. Almost all of the girls are bi-lingual. They speak two languages, Ewe and Twi. Now, they are quickly on their way to becoming tri-lingual! We hope to put them into school starting this January, but are waiting to see if the headmaster will accept them.

That's all from here! Enjoy the wonderful snow and cold weather for us :)

Kate and Landon

they love each other :) 

English lesson with Landon!

New church dresses for Richlove, Regina and Sarah.

Just spinning :)

I painted their nails-they LOVED it!

Sarah Vi being adorable.

They made "soldier hats" out of some
cardboard they found lying around.
These girls are so creative!

And then they marched!

Thanks so much for your prayers and support! We love and miss you all! :)

A heart full of gratitude

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows”

-James 1: 17

Each Thanksgiving, my family gathers together to eat fabulous food, laugh until our sides hurt, and most importantly, give thanks to God, from whom all blessings come. This Thanksgiving, I cannot be home with my family. I cannot indulge in the WONDERFUL food my aunts, grandmother and cousins prepare. I cannot enjoy the ridiculous jokes my grandfather tells. Even so, this Thanksgiving, I have a heart FULL of gratitude.

Living in Akatsi, Ghana for the past 3 months has taught me that we truly have SO many things that we take for granted. I have learned to be thankful for running water, electricity, a refrigerator, quality medical care and so so much more. In America we are so fortunate to have our basic needs met on a regular basis. That’s far more than most of the world can say.

Our girls came from a place where life is much harder. They lived in mud huts, slept on the floor, worked long hours, ate and slept little. Now they have three meals a day, running water, new clothes and a “family” that loves them very much. I have never seen anyone so thrilled to have such simple things! The first time these girls saw a sink they giggled endlessly and could have played in the water for hours had we let them! Mama Celestine announced that she purchased new flip-flops for the girls and they shrieked with delight and ran to the courtyard to see their new treasures! They slept on the concrete floor beside their bamboo bunk beds for the first few weeks because it was what they were used to doing.

We are so blessed. I cannot express the extent of my gratitude for everything I’ve been given! I have the privilege of living here at the Yellow House with my wonderful husband and eight beautiful girls! I get to wake up each morning to see eight beautiful smiling faces and spend all day listening to their broken English, bickering (no, they are not perfect), their laughter and energetic singing. There's nowhere else I'd rather be.

Happy Thanksgiving from Ghana!

 (This turned into "happy birthday" five seconds later) 

Love and miss you all!

Eat some turkey for us :)

Kate and Landon

All Eight-Safe and Sound!

Meet our three newest girls! 

From Left to Right, Sarah (8), Regina (7), and Richlove (9)!

The girls minus Gloria

The Great Eight:
Sarah, Dina, Godsway, Richlove, Sarah, Lucky, Regina, and Gloria!

Helping Mama Helen prepare lunch

We're so happy to have all eight girls-safe and sound. Thankyou so much for your prayers and support-this wouldn't have been possible without all of you! More pictures to come :)