September 2015 in Review

A day at the market shopping for shoes. Eunice and my mom. 

We let the kids haggle negotiate their own prices while we yevus think we're staying incognito in the background!

Creativity!

Elolo also picked out his own backpack at the market!

A little excursion to the parks and gardens area.

Little Princilla, Eunice and Rina

And then on to check out a different hotel and restaurant we hadn't been to in years. 

This hotel had all kinds of entertainment for us....peacocks, bunnies....

...random statues....

...yummy food....

....and best of all....a playground!!!! Albeit a little too small for most of our kids but they played on it!

Noble. Such a candid shot of this man-boy who is always making me laugh.

Patience. She took over our kitchen and cooked for everyone!!! God bless her!
She is doing so much better than at the beginning of the year. 

A taxi. Normal. We ride in these everywhere. You share them with anyone and everyone. Want to see what is fueling it????

A PROPANE TANK!!!!! Yikes! This tank is not meant to be fueling a car! But gas prices have increased a lot, so this little MacGyver move is the new normal. As if the roads aren't dangerous enough. Lots of praying occurs when we go places! =)

The bros. Elikim and Sammy. Sammy is finally catching up!

Sweet Frank.

Peace cutting the skins off the yams.

We got to celebrate the birthday girl!

Dinner prep. Tomatoes, onions and tomato paste. 

Peace in her school uniform. This is her last year of high school!!!!!

My favorite chef, helper and friend, Patience and her sidekick, Princilla. Patience's Ghanaian name is Enyonam which means All is Well. It has been a privilege to watch God weave the truth of that into her life and heart despite circumstances. She has come a long way in the past year. Contentment and hope are blossoming.

We love our rice!

Market

Sunset.

The Day of Yes!!! The Day God Moved Mountains and Hearts!

September 22. 

A Day of Remembrance. A Day of Praise. 

The day I legally became Elolo's mom! =)

This was our second day attempting a court hearing; the first one we were assigned was missing the judge....no biggie!

We took this exact same picture on our first court date the week before, so we threw up our 'take 2' pose here to keep it light. Full disclosure: I had to tickle him to get him to smile for the pic! =) See, I'm a true mom already. 

The court building.

The area outside court where we sat for three hours wondering what was happening with our case inside. Elolo, my mom and Mercy.

This will be a day for celebrating and praising God, but it was a battle up to the final signature. God truly moved mountains and hearts. Ultimately, the judge was moved by compassion. I'm so appreciative of the men who were inside that court room battling for us. Outside the court room we battled as well as we sat in a mix of nerves, prayer and worship. God used Elolo's love of music and my worship music to speak to and calm me and to lead us all in a little impromptu worship session under a tree. Better is One Day and Great is Thy Faithfulness will forever mark that day. 

With my lawyer and the Social Welfare folks.

We went out that night to celebrate with dinner at a fancy hotel restaurant!