Ghana Africa

This is going to be a long flight but at least I've got some legroom!

We arrived in Ghana after a 5 1/2 flight from Vegas to JFK and a 10 1/2 hour flight to Accra, Ghana. I'm dead. All of the suitcases that need to get to the mission office made it! We barely have any luggage but we brought a bunch of stuff to the mission home for Elders and Sisters. We even had one Mom ask us to bring a loaf of Grandma Sycamore's white bread. That cracked me up. We dropped off the luggage at the mission home first thing. 

I was so tired when we got there but we had a 4-hour drive in the truck because it was morning when we got there. I about died. I was fighting for my life in the back seat of that truck. We got to an airbnb in the evening and I had a nap and was the best thing ever! We ate dinner and got a full night's sleep and then I was ready for adventure!

We hiked in this Akwaaba rainforest that had a bunch of suspension bridges.

Mikayla would love this sick lizard!

We left there and drove to Cape Coast. I love the culture. People just getting to work. Nothing to see here.

This is Cape Coast Castle. This is the location where would house all the African slaves they rounded up until it was time to ship them all over the world. They were in dungeons, it was pretty grim. Important, but grim.

There were groups of high school girls and they wanted to take pictures with grandma. Then they asked if they could touch her hair and she said yes. It was hilarious! They were so adorable.

Merril and I hiked up Fort Victoria. There were still a cannon. 

I love how people carry things around on their heads!

Look! They sell water in bags. It's super cheap. You just nibble a corner and suck the water out. Even the locals don't drink the water. Everyone drinks filtered water.

We went on a boat ride up the Volta River to the Akosombo Dam.

We found where Longitude is 0!

I love how on Google Maps it says my GPS coordinates are -0.000000 lol.

Then grandma and grandpa were trying a new road back to their apartment and it ended up being a bust. This random guy on a motorcycle was so nice and drove us around on a detour and we gave him some cash. He was so nice! We made it back to their apartment in Penyi.

The next day we spent the day doing stuff around Penyi. Merril wanted to check out these motorcycle trucks. 

We made cookies with the Vida. She's the stake relief society president, if I remember right. Merril really wanted to eat some very authentic food and Vida said she could hook us up with a good place.

It was very primitive but Vida said it was the best place to get fufu, which is very traditional food for West Africa. 

It's a ball of cassava mash or yucca. It's a ball of dough and is called a "swallow food." They mash up cassava, which is a root vegetable that grows well there, and put the dough ball in a soup with meat. We got some sort or fish head and mystery meat? We ate with our fingers. I ate until I was full but there was still a lot leftover. It was the most authentic food I've ever eaten. All was well, we didn't get sick. I think grandma about had a stroke when she saw it. She doesn't eat local food.

After lunch, we got a drink at God's Way Super Mall.

We met up with the Elders later that day and said we wanted to buy them dinner! They said absolutely!

Grandma said all the elders go to Mr. Big Chicken so that's where we went!

Then Grandma took us to the beach!

The next day we went to the Penyi branch for church. It's a nice building but there wasn't any water because it hasn't rained for a very long time there.

Then Grandpa showed us this house owned by a wealthy member. He hosts get togethers for the branch.

Grandpa fell asleep in the chair at the apartment Sunday afternoon, as he does at home!

 

My impressions of Ghana was that's it's very poor but the people there were nice. I don't feel like they notice that they're poor and there was a lot of garbage around but that's hardly their fault. The government doesn't really pick up trash well. There's one dumpster in the middle of town that doesn't get emptied nearly enough. So most people just throw their trash on the ground. I thought the children were so cute and tried to wave and smile at them but they just looked at me like I was bonkers. I don't think very many white people travel to that part of Africa. Penyi isn't a tourist destination. I was amazed by the moms who would carry their children around on their backs.

This is a big semi truck loaded with cows. Then they loaded more stuff and people on the top. The people are supposed to poke the cows so they don't lie down, otherwise they'll die. I was glad to go to Ghana. I don't know if I'll go back.

Now we fly to Egypt! Oh yeah baby! I've been looking forward to ticking Egypt off my bucket list for a long time!

Valentine's Day

Okay, this first picture isn't Valentine's. It's Stockton's farewell but Mark and Talon are all matchy so I wanted to put it in. I haven't mentioned it but Mark's been passing the sacrament for a few weeks now. He was so nervous but he's getting much better. He's starting to look like a pro. 

The traditional chocolate fondue for Valentine's Day! It's so good and stupid easy! Yassss!

I think Mark is going to eat it all by himself. I love these people!

Look at this cute post Maxine made about me. 🩷 It's for my birthday.

 

Hiking with Friends

Anne Inouye wanted to hike Molly's Nipple for her birthday. The first time I realized I got the date wrong and showed up and waited for a while. I sent a text to Anne and she was like, "it's not until next week." Whoops. I came back next week to try again. I haven't been hiking as much and am out of shape. This hike was kicking my butt. It was also way colder than I thought it was going to be. I should've brought a jacket. I didn't die so we're all good.

One of the hikers said her husband could see us from where he works. He took a picture of us at the top. We're so little but you can totally see us! It was nice to get out there!

Mikayla's 13th Birthday!

Mikayla is officially a teenager! Wut. I can't believe it. She's a great kid. We love her. We had a small party with an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen. 

Mikayla got some presents from Grandma Campbell, from Ghana.

And this picture is from temple baptisms with the ward.

Grandma Evans Funeral

Grandma Evans passed away this week. It is sad but she was 93 and been living in a retirement home for a few years so it's okay. I remember when she was younger, we would go to the Laub reunion in Beryl and there would be horse back riding and cousins and food and hanging out. She was a temple worker and that's where she met her second husband, Gary Evans. She was kind and a hard worker. We'll see her again someday. Juliet played the piano and Mikayla played the cello for a musical number. The rest of us sang. 

I don't have a single picture of the funeral but the grandkid cousins got together.

Stephanie, Maxine, and Jade went bar hopping at all the bars in St. George. It seems like that wouldn't take very long. Lol.

HHS Robotics Qualifier

Hurricane High School holds a robotics qualifier for the FTC teams and Juliet has put in a ton of work for it! She's organized so many volunteers and all the other things needed and it's been a lot of work for her.

Merril, Maxine, and I came to help. I didn't really know what I was doing but we are able to help. She's going to be so glad that it's over! Good job Juliet!

 

Moto Adventures

It's a little cold at Toquerville and it looks like some adventures were had. The waterfall has some ice!

These guys. Lol.

Merril needed to go to California and Ryan tagged along and they rode motorcycles and looked at the ocean.

Merril recently purchased this Hayabusa. It's as good a reason as any to get out there and ride.

New Temple Bag

Maxine has been eyeing the new temple bags. I really like the one Grandma Gordon purchased for her. So I bought her a new one and she gave me hers. I've been using the same one for 24 years. Grandma Campbell made it for me. It was time for a new one. Yay! Hopefully this one lasts for just as long.

 

Update from Jack

Jack's report on baptisms: There were 2 baptisms in our ward this week. Sisters Lyn Vi and Moana got baptized and confirmed this weekend! It was really cool to see them go from people who were unfamiliar with the gospel to active members of the church. I was here for their baptisms and I was asked to baptize sister Lyn Vi. It was as amazing as ever to baptize a convert. The spirit was so strong. We also got a lot of people to come in support which was really cool. The whole room was full of people there in support. They were confirmed on Sunday and received the Holy Ghost. We also helped them to get limited use Temple Recommends so that they can go do baptisms in the temple. Hopefully we will be able to go with them for that as well! That would be really cool to do as well!

What a guy! He's doing great!

 

Ellen and Trentin Got Married

Okay, Trentin and Ellen were actually sealed in the St. George Temple on December 14th, I believe but the professional pictures just came back and there's an adorable one of Maxine and Ellen. I love her dress! It's so pretty! Cool bouquet too! It's crazy to see all these kids that used to hang out at our house getting married. What an awesome time of life! They are growing up to be awesome adults!

 

We Can All Attend the Temple

Mark is a brand new Deacon this year! He was so nervous to pass the sacrament. He didn't want to mess it up the first time. We keep trying to reassure him that it's a new thing and he'll get better at it with practice. Now he has a temple recommend too so that we can all go to the temple! We made an appointment as a family to go and it was great! 

Mark wanted a sweet treat at Yogurtland afterwards!

Jack would've liked to be here but he's doing great things where he's at. We missed him though! We'll do them all together when he gets back!

Maxine and Leighna and Fei

Maxine and Leighna are at a party at Utah Tech. Such cutie girls. They are at a silent disco. She said they had fun! Maxine and Leighna have gone to a lot of school activities together because they don't have a lot of friends at Utah Tech.

Also, Maxine has started hanging out with this guy she met at work at the writing center. His name is Fei, short for Shinfei, and he's a pretty avid boulderer. Apparently he's like really good. Like is one of the best in the area. But he's a little shy so we haven't really met him yet.

 

Epiphany

Everyone wants the baby Jesus and so that's what everyone gets! My king cake was pop can cinnamon rolls but they did the trick. 

I think Mark had 4 cinnamon rolls, trying to get a baby Jesus. For me, it means Christmas is really over. I'm sad. I feel like the new year slapped me in the face a little. How is it time to take down the decorations? I need to make some goals or something. 

Maxine's Moving Out

Maxine found a place next to the Utah Tech campus and she's moving out. It's on 700 South and 700 West. 

Loading up all the things! She searched around and found a good deal that wasn't totally terrible. They've just remodeled it so it looks nice!

I think it'll be good to be in town so she doesn't have to drive home and then back if there are social things. 

A Night Out

Yay! We had a hard time getting together. Valerie literally picked us up in her van and we just drove around and chatted. I will take a girl's night any way that I can.

Juliet made these little sauce dishes for me in ceramics and gave them to me for Christmas! I was so excited to try them out. 

 

Happy New Year!

It's been quite a few years since we've been to the Coral Pink Sand Dunes for new year's day. Mostly because we have sand dunes so close to our house and the Coral Pinks often have so much snow that it's hard to wheel. Mark brought his Christmas RC car and we played around at the top of the world.

If we look chilly, it's because we are. Chilly and silly. :)