Thanksgiving Weekend 2009

It was a special blessing for me to be with my family at Thanksgiving this year. Tyler came home from California and got to spend lots of time with us. Peyton loved playing with his "Uncie Tyler". We all went to Melissa and Todd's for Thanksgiving dinner. It was fun to be with lots of family and children. On Saturday, we took an outing to Schnepf Farms for the train ride, carousel ride and fun in the play area. I got some great fall pictures!


Climbng through the barrel of the wooden train. What a cutie!

Peyton loved ringing the bell.

Grandma didn't duck down far enough!! It's hard to duck very low while holding up a two year old.

Lot's of smiles as the train pulled out.

This was the best of the pictures of all of us. It's hard to get kids and adults smiling and looking in the same direction at the same time! It was a fun day for all of us.

Thirty One Years

Thirty one years ago yesterday, at 7pm in the evening, in Hillcrest Covenant Church, Bruce and I were married. We had been on our first date exactly 5 months earlier and after 6 weeks of dating decided to get engaged (yes EVERYONE thought we were nuts)! It's funny to see how young we were.

And now, 31 years, 2 children, 1 grandchild, 4 houses, 4 dogs, 2 cats, 1 bunny and untold gerbils later, we are still standing. We both believed in the covenant we made that day, and through God's grace still love and appeciate each other. I'm so blessed and thankful for my husband.

Who would have thought that 31 years later those two cuckoo kids from Kansas would still be having adventures together? It just keeps getting better!

That's MY Boy

26 years ago today, my 8#14oz baby boy, Tyler, was born. He's a great son, a good man and I'm proud to be his mother. Happy Birthday, Tyler!! I didn't have any recent pics of Tyler alone, so I chose two of my favorites. This first one is T and the friends he's had since grade school. They're still close after all these years. Left to right is Charlie, Derek, Ryan and Tyler.

I love this picture of Tyler and I. Maybe that's because it was taken in Lawrence....

Love you, Tyler, Happy Birthday!!!!!

I Love Elephants

After we finished our time in Ghana, Bruce and I went on a photo safari to Zimbabwe. My favorite animal has always been the elephant. We were so blessed to see large numbers of elephants on a daily basis. They would quietly show up (yep, elephants are very quiet when the walk!) in the evening. They come in large families. Keep reading, there's a reason I'm bringing this up now........

My favorite was to see the little elephants with their mothers...

And last night, for Halloween, I saw my very little elephant ever with his mother!

While we were in Zimbabwe, Bruce and I were carried on an afternoon safari by Lindy....

And last night we had a chance to go on a "candy safari" with our favorite elephant, Peyton, from house to house for "Trick or Treat".

Is it any wonder I Love Elephants!

Pickin' Out Punkins

Sara and I took Peyton to the local little pumpkin patch today. We have gone to the same patch for three years now, I think we have a tradition. First Peyton had to try his hand at see just how heavy a pumpkin truly is.....


Peyton had to have a picture with his "Mama" and new pumpkin.

I love that he has started to say "Cheese" and get a big smile! Did I tell you I love this boy?!?

Happy Halloween!!!

A Jayhawk Bag

Just finished this bag today and I love it!! I made it for a friend and I like it enough I think I'll make one for myself. I bought the licensed fabric on-line, and had some red dot left over. It would be perfect to take to a KU Game.

I used the Penny Sturgis "Pocket Parade Tote" and made a few changes. The friend I made this for "bleeds Crimson and Blue" so I'm hoping she'll love it!!

We meet with the Chief

On Sunday, we were escorted to a private meeting with the local tribal chief, Chief Nana. Each of us in our team were introduced, we were formally welcomed, and then told there would be a "duba", a large party for the entire town in our honor, that afternoon. At 2pm we were escorted to a large courtyard where all the local people were seated. As all the local dignitaries arrived they all greeted us with a handshake, then took their places. Over the next few hours, many speeches were made by local dignitaries, a representative of the country of Ghana was there from Accra, and he spoke as well. In the picture below is Dr. Isaak Boateng, hour host. He is the head physician for the area, and has a brand new MD who assists him. He was very kind, gracious and well-educated, and became a good friend as well.


Bruce, as the head of our team (and the only male accompanying 7 women - brave man!!), gave a speech on behalf of our team and Project C.U.R.E. He was great.

At several points during the program there was music. The highlight were the drummers. They escorted the king and his party into the courtyard and then performed several times during the ceremony.

A chief from a nearby tribe heard about the duba and came as well - he was a crowd favorite and danced several times when music was played. The crowd went crazy. He brought a gift for chief Nana, a special goat. The goat was not overly fond of parties and finally two men came and led him away. In the background you can see Chief Nana, his wives and the other important men of the village sitting under their umbrellas.

This was the visiting chief. He also went and shook the hand of all the people in the circle before taking his seat. Formalities are very important in Ghana!

After the chief presented each of us with a special shawl handmade for us, he asked us all to dance for the crowd while the drummers played. The ladies dancing with us are two of his wives. Not sure it shows, but they were a LOT better than we were!!

Chief Nana spoke towards the end of the ceremony. Even though he speaks English, everything is said through his personal interpreter. It was obvious that he is quite the important person.

The picture below is at the end of the formal part of the duba. The chief came back and shook all our hands and let us grab a few photos. In the picture below, starting on the left is me, Anya, her mother Nancy (retired ER doc), Trisha (new nursing grad), Mary - in black shirt - (transplant RN), Chief Nana, Amanda (Lab Tech), Cynthia (Retired OB/GYN), Bruce, and finally Victoria - she oversees the local nursing school.

The whole ceremony was about 3 hours, and when it was all done, we shook the hand of everyone who was there. It was an amazing day! I truly felt honored to be there and as if they were thrilled we had come. Thank you, Tepa!!

Our First Day in Tepa

I know I've been slow in updating my blog, so I'll try to get caught up on the Africa trip this week! Once we took our long drive from Accra to Ghana, and got a good nights sleep, we had a full day to get acclimated before meeting with Chief Nana the following day. In our particular area of Ghana, we had to meet with the local tribal (Ashanti) chief before we would be allowed to work. Since we had a free day, we were able to get a ride in the local ambulance to go in to town and check out the hospital we would be working in, as well as the local town and market.

For such a small village they had their own sign right on the "highway".


We had time to sit on the hotel grounds and visit and get acquainted with our fellow team members. In this photo Bruce, Cynthia (a retired OB-GYN), Anya and Amanda (awsome Lab Tech) visit while a couple of local guys talk with a friend.

The children in Tepa were pretty fascinated with us. This picture is in the center of town, these are the shops in the market. Most trade takes place out in the streets. The children loved having us take their pictures and then show them what they looked like.

I couldn't believe how much people could carry on their heads and how far they walk, often without shoes. Being industrious and creative are a means of survival for these people.

This lady is roasting plantains in the market area. The plantains were much more appetizing to look at than the fish!!

Bruce, Mary and Anya in the back of our transportation, the local ambulance!

We had taken over 6 bags of medical supplies with us. We spent a good part of the day sorting through what we had and dividing it up into the areas we would be working. The meds (2 bags) all went to the pharmacy. In this picture Anya, Trish, Amanda and Mary and trying to make some order out of chaos!

The picture below is the one of the buildings of the hospital. There were 5 small concrete block buildings. This building, the laboratory, had a small area that was air-conditioned. The rest of the hospital had screened windows and screened main doors, no a.c. and it was hot and humid!!! The staff at the hospital welcomed us with open arms, and we learned more from them than we taught. They use what little they have and still manage to do the best job possible.

At the end of a full day of getting acclimated we were hot, tired, intimidated by a whole new culture, and truly eager to get to work.

Next time: We meet with the Chief......

Accra, Ghana

On August 20, Bruce and I flew from Phoenix to New York's JFK airport, where we met the members of our Project CURE team for the first time. After making sure we were all there, we all boarded our 11 hour flight to Accra, Ghana. It was a huge relief to get off the plane and be met by Dr. Isaac Boateng, our host for the trip and David, our driver. They helped us through customs and we were officially in Ghana!

This first picture is a shot of the Accra airport.

From the airport we went to the physicians council of Ghana to register our two physicians, Cynthia and Nancy. Then it was on to the Nurse and Midwife council for Mary, Trish and I to be registered to work.

The Nurse and Midwife council was right on the coastline of Accra, so we had a great view of the ocean.

After finishing all the official paperwork, we piled into two cars (5 people in each un-airconditioned compact car), for a 9 hour drive to Tepa, our final destination.

The streets of Accra were crowded with traffic and beautiful Ghanaian people, then it was a looooong trip through rural and primitive roads to our destination. We all arrived tired, and all new kinds of dirty! But we were excited to finally be at our "home away from home" for the next 2 weeks.

Back to Reality

I realize it has been a long time since I posted. We left for our African trip on August 20. We flew from Phoenix to Accra, Ghana and had two life changing weeks working with Project CURE. When we had finished in Ghana, Bruce and I went for a two week safari in Zimbabwe. It was awsome!! We saw every animal we hoped for and more than we expected. I have lots of pictures to share and will be posting them in groups in the next few days. Now that we have been back for almost three weeks, I think I'm finally getting myself organzied again!

Quilt Camp

I went to quilt camp in Pine, AZ this weekend, to relax and finish up some projects. Before going, my good friend, Jody, and I decided to make these awsome bags that are just the right size for toting around all your quilting "stuff". It seemed like such a good idea at the time, but turned out to be the project from H---"!! We worked on them before getting to camp, the pattern was awful, it sewed up with HUGE difficulty. Neither of us had them done in time to go, so we finished them the first night at camp amid much grumbling and grousing. We agreed out bags looked like a 3-year-old-sewer had made them. As you can see from the picture, neither Jody or I were happy we had made the bag. Only time can heal some bad thoughts, and we harbor some against this bag designer!!!

Things defintely took a turn for the better once the "horrid bags" were done, and I was able to complete a fun quilt top on Saturday. You'll notice I went from frowning to smiling!

After a great day of sewing, eating, talking and laughing on Saturday (we saw two elk and the weather was 85 during the day and 50's at night!!), I had an amazing massage. Slept like a baby.

Our hosts, Candy and Jim, fixed us an amazing breakfast and then Jody had a group project for all of us. Hard to tell in the picture below, but it is a really cute fabric wallet that holds a notebook. It turned out great, and will be a fun gift to make. We all had our picture taken together with our project and headed home. What a great way to spend the weekend.

My latest creation

I finished up my latest quilt, "Borderland in Butternut and Blue". Each block is based on a woman from the Civil War Era. These women were all on either the Missouri or Kansas side of the border, one (Missouri) a slave state, and one, Kansas a Free State. It was a project that took a year to complete, and learning about each of the women, and their trials and perspective of the times they lived in, was a great experience. The quilt was designed by Barbara Brackman, who is from Lawrence, Kansas, our home town. I know I say this each time I finish a quilt, but this is my favorite! My friend, Jody, did an amazing job on the quilting, doing a seperate design for each block.

Peyton turned Two

Peyton is officially two years old now. Sara and Scott hosted his party at our house this weekend and all his Uncle John and Aunt Jen, Uncle Brian, Aunt Melissa, Cousins Rylee and Maddie, all came for swimming, food, cake and presents. It was a fun time for all of us.


Maddie was a big help with the presents!!

Rylee dove in to her cupcake,

Peyton wasn't real sure why we were all singing about the candle on his cupcake.....

and "Grandma and Papa" had the best time ever! Can you tell we love this boy?