Wednesday

(Written Wednesday night)
Today was a wonderful day! There was nothing to stress over and we decided that we wanted to put the hot weather to good use and pretend we were actually just here for a tropical vacation. It was a day full of rest, relaxation, and we have the sunburns to prove it; as we decided to try out another great Ghana hotel that has a day pass for their pool. This time we tried out Labadi Beach Hotel. I don’t know if it was a lot quieter than La Palm because it was a weekday and not a weekend, but it was wonderful. The hotel has a great pool that is very shallow at one end and progressively gets deeper-much like any natural body of water. The staff here was very attentive and laid back at the same time. They brought out chilled wash cloths to cool us off and if I even as much as glanced at the menu, they were on top of it! We got to eat some great transitional food for our trip back home: a cappuccino, fruit plate, chicken & veggie tortilla (it actually wasn’t my favorite), smoothies, and penne pasta! The restaurant even had rolls that they brought out before dinner! Up until today, I hadn’t had any dairy and maybe just one small piece of bread on the whole trip-I miss my carbs and dairy in the form of a latte!

The kids were really great today as we continue to bond as part of our family. There have been a couple of times when I have had a quick thing to take care of without them and I have left them with my mom and they have actually been sad while I was out. When I came home after a short trip to Eban and knocked on our door, I heard “Mommy, mommy, mommy!” It was a great sound to hear as they seem to really be getting that I am their mom. They have really bonded well with my mom too and they love going to Grandma, but at this point, it is good to see that they see a difference between mom and grandma. My mom has been such a life saver. There is no way it would have gone this smoothly here without her. She is a wonderful gift to me and the kids and I am so blessed that I got to share this time with her.

Fia and Kwame loved swimming again today. They are very much loving swimming, so it was fun to watch. Kwame seemed a little nervous about the waves when we walked out to the beach, but with the pool he was fine. The things they like and dislike with food really perplexes me. I ordered a fruit platter and they would not touch it! It was fresh pineapple, mango and cantaloupe!! Kwame liked the pasta, but Fia wouldn’t even touch it! They both loved the beef patty that came with the pasta and I was more than willing to share it! Fia loved the chicken in the tortilla that was really spicy, but she was picking out the green onions from the fried rice yesterday. It will be interesting to see what they think of airplane food!

So, tomorrow we will head to the embassy for an appointment time of 2:00 to pick up the visas, hopefully. I pray that they are all ready and accounted for. We have a few small things to do in the morning, but otherwise we are mostly packed, the other three are asleep right now and I am finishing up writing my novel for the evening. If all works out, you should hear from me on Friday night saying that we arrived back home! Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers-we REALLY appreciate it! Oh, and I keep forgetting, to my friends that I am on yahoo email with, I haven’t been able to pull it up since Tuesday morning (my time). So…if you have written and I haven’t responded, it is because I can’t get it to open. Pictures are also not opening as fast as I would hope, so I haven’t been able to post any new ones. I promise I can add some when I get home.

Last but not least, there are some amazing children in Eban House. I never would have thought I could have adopted an older child before I came here. I thought a 3 and 4 year old were old enough, but I was wrong! If we didn’t already fill up our van (and no I am not getting another car, Johnene), I would be so tempted to adopt them if I could. There are some children that are just purely beautiful on the inside and out and they are mostly part of sibling sets with some up to around 10 years old. Whoever adopts these children will feel so incredibly blessed!

Signing off (hopefully) from Ghana,
Kristin