life.

 This little fellow was crawling around in our suitcases...and then in my backpack I found his relative! Gross.

My house is rarely clean...especially when everyone sleeps in the same room. But thankfully this photo was taken just before the kids moved out of my room and into another. Wahoo! 

Pepper sauce. Yummmmmm!!!!

Makin' beans (to go over rice).

Praise made us a treat one day. This is plantains, sweet potatoes, cassava root and edos. It was really good with pepper sauce on top.

Our vehicle has been down again since mid December. But our friend Frieda has been rescuing us!

Eric found the perfect pepper.

 Probably. ;)

The cutest toddler on the planet still lives here.

Daily cooking tools.

Theo's 2nd (or 3rd or 4th) hand Christmas present lost a wheel the day after Christmas. TIA (THIS IS AFRICA!). 

But he still loves it and drags it everywhere sans the front wheel.

:)

Final touches on Jolliff Rice.

This is Ralph. Officially the boldest rat on the face of the earth. He likes to come out and play while I do my Bible study and drink my coffee. He sits there and stares at me. If only I had the guts to swat him with a shoe...

The End. :)

Who Knew?

 Whoever thought you could fill a waterbed without running water in Africa??

YES YOU CAN! :)

Our friend, Freida, gifted Alex and Beth with a new waterbed. No longer will they be sleeping on the floor! (THANK YOU, FREIDA!)

Praise, the security guards, and I filled buckets - 50 of them - and carried them inside.

 You drop the recycled 3 gallon jerry can down the well, let it fill with water, and then pull the rope up. 

She's talented. I taught Praise everything she knows. :)

There was a trick to how it's done. But it took time to figure it out. It was messy. 

Eric supervised. :) (those are the same tools he uses to dig jiggers out of his toes...and sometimes he offers to let me use his knife...um NO!) hahahahaha.

Thomas, one of our security guards.

TEAMWORK!

Jake salvaging his spillage so it doesn't mold in two days.

Tada!

It was hilarious to watch our African friends try it out. They'd never seen anything like it!

Twenty

My Liberian daughter, Praise, turned twenty on February 26. Her birth momma died when she was very small. I really AM old enough to have a 20 year old...although it doesn't seem like it.

She was so happy.

She told me that she'd never really had a birthday party. One time, when she lived with a lady and worked for her when she was small, the lady popped popcorn and invited some friends to celebrate her birthday. But that was the only time she had been celebrated.

Her half sister came and enjoyed the party. And Theo...well anything with food Theo enjoys. :)

She was beaming. And it was such a joy to watch.

We made sala (potato salad). And Praise requested beans (and rice) and hamburgers. She's pretty easy to please.

My crew is really great at homemade gifts. And we also spent a few small dollars at the local market buying 10 and 20 LD (equal to about 7 or 14 cents in USD) gifts.

It was fun to wrap them all and make it feel big.

I think Praise had a great birthday. I hope she felt loved and celebrated.