In the past weeks I have realized that I really don't know the correct address for this blog site. I have taken the liberty of adding some people to our list of receipents. Some that should have been on the list a long time ago - I appologize - and some who were given an incorrect site address - I also apologize. If I was wrong and you really don't want to receive a notice and automatic link each time we make an entry, no problem, just hit the "unsubscribe" link and your name will be deleted. We had an uneventful [View Full Entry]

---

---

As we drive away (from MI) Kirk is set on “the mission ahead”. The boys are a bit touchy and edgy. We are all saddened with “Good-bye”; In addition I am saddened by missing a visit with a few people; Saddened by not getting more visits with others. I am disappointed that, after all these years, I still haven’t gotten Kirk to Greenfield Village/Henry Ford Museum. A place I know he would love. It would be easy to stay in this saddened frame of mind but I have to “choose” to dwell on the positive aspects of our time in Michigan. [View Full Entry]

---

---

Culture Shock ? Good Bye North Dakota, the most wonderful in-laws, “hero” uncles, horses, and fields ready for harvest, just to name a few. Hello Michigan and … culture shock. (??) Yep, we experienced it, mostly in the kitchen. In ND Kirks’ mother was the brain behind every meal. Kirk, Kwabena and I merely filled in the gaps. Now it is time for us to grow up and take care of ourselves. Time to plan, purchase and prepare our own complete meals. I hear you giggling. I’m not exaggerating when I say, we were all a bit perplexed as how to [View Full Entry]

---

---

"Yelowstone", the Indians gave the name. As they would give directions they would say “pass the river by the yellow stone.” And a yellow stone it is. The mountain along the river is the most amazing yellow/orange color. I’m sorry my camera didn’t do it justice. The best part of our 5day trip was the drive from the town of Red Lodge into the northeast corner of Yellowstone. It’s a 30 mile drive we were told would take 2 1/2 hours. Ha! It took us a good 5hrs. In the car we had giggles and shrieks of fright (many from me) [View Full Entry]

---

---

Wow, what an awesome Gift from God we are living. We arrived on US soil June 30th. I and the two boys (Kwabena and Praise) fell asleep on the way home from the airport. When we arrived in Lisbon, ND we walked in the door Praise flopped on the couch, I flopped next to him and Kwabena and Kirk both sprawled out on the floor. Finally, after 24hours of travel, we had the chance to get a good two hours of motionless sleep. I woke up at 8:30pm and even to my surprise, the sun shone brightly. I woke Kwabena telling [View Full Entry]

---

---

Woo Hoo! It has been a several months since my last posting. The main reason being, I had no news, nothing to say. As I mentioned before, I’m not teaching this term due to our US trip. Time has basically been spent doing what we could and “waiting”. Everyday ended with the thought, “maybe tomorrow” the exception being Fridays. We have been waiting for Kwabena’s visa situation to sort itself out. Today was the end of the “sorting”. Against all odds Kwabena was granted a visa to travel with us to the US. It has been a very long and grueli [View Full Entry]

---

---

This week Kirk and I are in the capitol city of Accra. We received a phone call last week from the US Embassy asking us to come ASAP. Several weeks ago we applied for a visa for Praise to accompany us to the US this summer. At that time he was temporarily denied. For fear of “child trafficking” they wanted to do an investigation on Kirk and I as well as verify the authenticity of the paper work we submitted. Tuesday of this week, Praise was granted his visa! We have been struggling for months to process travel papers for Kwabena [View Full Entry]

---

---

It shouldn’t be so difficult to take “our family” on a trip. As I type Kirk and I are emotionally in “Neutral”. Praise had his American Visa interview at 7:30 this morning. To not bore you with all of the questions, details and reasons I will simply repeat what the officer said. “He is temporarily denied. This is a special case as you have no legal custody of him outside of Ghana. I will keep all of this paper work and we will call you with a final decision.” Exactly when they will call he did not say - one day [View Full Entry]

---

---

Ah we've been enjoying our time together. Kwabena loves baking and Praise loves his bike! This next week the students will be “spacing out”. We have a team of (2) teachers to help launch us into space! Last month, under some very comical circumstances, I met Jessica (Utah) and Matild (France) here in Dunkwa. Both are volunteers in Ghana for 3 months, love kids and the sciences. They spent a few days in Apebouso teaching and being taught (culture). Despite Apebousos very hungry cocoa bugs, the girls enjoyed the visit and have asked to come back this week. We have some [View Full Entry]

---

---

Some readers wonder; why of late, Kojo Konni is mentioned so much in the blog and why Kirk is rarely mentioned? In addition, several of you wonder what my daily/weekly schedule is like. Let me try to explain … I like to think of this blog site as a school blog not a personal life blog. Anything involved and/or connected to the school gets “space”. The sole reason I am in the village Apebouso is because of the school. As this particular village is very small (consisting of aprox 50 adults) life there is kind of like one big family. A [View Full Entry]

---

---