Our family is about to leave for our two week vacation to Australia to celebrate Russell's high school graduation! And yes, we are ALL be sporting t-shirts to the airport that have the above graphic on the front and an even sillier one on the back. What did I do this year to delay studying for finals?... Draw each family member as a cartoon kangaroo and design a kickin' t-shirt for this trip, of course!
On Monday (our actual FIRST anniversary) we thawed the top of our wedding cake and enjoyed sharing a slice of what used to be a delectable masterpiece. It actually tasted OK, but it was the mental notion that we were eating cake that was a year old that put a damper on the enjoyment. It's tradition, though--- and we were glad to keep it alive.
They arrived on Friday evening just in time for the most delicious (if I do say so myself) gourmet dinner where we used all of the fancy tableware that has been in boxes since our wedding. We showed them our new wedding album and we watched the video of our wedding ceremony and a photo slideshow that Kolby and I had put together. We made caramel apples for dessert and then just chatted, reminiscing about the wedding and how much fun it all was. Kolby cooked oatmeal with fresh fruit for breakfast on Saturday morning and we played dominoes and just hung out until we took them to lunch at a cafe downtown. We all had a great time and I hope that in some small way were able to express to them our love and gratitude.***
After our parents left, Kolby and I packed a bag and headed to Fort Worth to celebrate our anniversary together. We went to dinner at the famous Joe T. Garcia's restaurant and then strolled around Sundance Square (downtown) which was beautifully lit up for Christmas and it somehow was 70 degrees outside so we could actually spend time outside enjoying it. We stayed at a nice hotel downtown and spent Sunday morning at the Fort Worth Zoo (duh!) and then went to lunch at a restaurant near the stock yards.
I had actually never been to Fort Worth before... who knew there were so many fun things to do?!? The weather was beautiful again on Sunday which made everything even more perfect. We had a wonderful time together and look forward to the many many more anniversaries to come!
We thought about bringing it to read together on our trip to Australia but given the fact that it's a sweet story about an owner and his dog, we decided not to read it while we were parted from Maya so as to not repeat the emotional breakdown that took place when we made the mistake of watching the movie Eight Below on a portable DVD player a couple weeks into our time in Ghana this summer.
So, we started reading the book last week and I am so happy to be back in the night-reading routine. Kolby is really really good at reading out loud. I had taken it for granted until the other night when for some crazy reason I volunteered to read. Big mistake. I seriously sounded like a 1st grader practicing reading to her dad at bedtime. "Though his very helplessness, --- oh wait, I mean --- Through his very helplessness, ...". It was bad. The following conversation occurred after one page:
K: "Here, I'll go back to reading. I don't mind."
E: "I'm sorry. I don't think I'm a very good reader."
This weekend we attended our first wedding since our own. It was at the Arboretum and was absolutely beautiful. Best wishes to my cousin Kyle and his bride Melissa! My little cousins Addi and Jackson were the CUSTEST flower girl and ring bearer and I can't believe it has been almost a year since Addi was my precious flower girl. Jackson was only 8 months old at our wedding, but he made his big wedding party debut at this one and I don't think there is anything in the world more adorable than a handsome 1-year-old in a tuxedo! Here's a short video clip of him tearin' it up on the dance floor:
Back: Kason (older brother), Kolby, Kevin (dad)
Obviously Maya doen't have any labrador in her, but this puppy has markings that are IDENTICAL to Maya's markings and I'd like to think Maya was as cute as this little girl when she was a puppy. She was full grown when we adopted her so we'll never know what she really looked like, but I think this picture is pretty darn close. So precious.
Kolby and I at the Baylor football game
Chocolate caramel apples that we all made on Saturday night...so delicious!
Enjoying our VERY HAPPY little dog
Kolby hogging the Princess Pumpkin-Carving Kit tools that we bought at the grocery store
Our final products at their best: Kolby's pumpkin calling for Batman and my pumpkin just sitting there being the amazing masterpiece that it is. If this isn't a creative display of raw talent then I don't know what is!
The whole gang
The pumpkin line-up
We all had a great time and Kolby and I ended the night chatting about how blessed we are with our little life here. We have wonderful friends and have jobs that let us spend time with them often. And our apartment is very old and small but we love it and that night it held 8 people carving pumpkins and smelled like yummy apple cider so what more could we possibly need? 
My brother's t-shirt company has just launched a chilren's line, Lil' Two-Five. Each t-shirt purchased still provides a chicken for a poverty-stricken family in India. So, if you have any kiddos or even know any kiddos --- buy them a cool t-shirt and know you've changed the life of a family in need. Here are a couple of the designs:
Addi helped Kolby take Maya on her daily walk through campus and Jackson enjoyed our stop to visit the Baylor mascots. 
I'm getting to spend this beautiful Saturday cooped up at my desk studying for a microeconomics test that will most certainly be the death of me. I vaguely remember the head of the economics department telling me (years ago) that if I plan to go on to graduate school in economics then I should use my undergraduate electives towards upper-level math classes. But what fun would that have been? Not nearly as much fun as taking classes like "backpacking & camping" and using the spare time to plan a wedding! The fun was short-lived. So if any of you math guru's out there have any insight on the following topics, it would sure save me some time on Wikipedia.com:
Dressed as G.I. Joe & G.I. Jane for a costume banquet... age 16.
In St. Louis, Missouri on a church mission trip... age 17.
At youth camp... age 15.
For $20 you can have a cool shirt and know you've helped a family in need... so why not join the Two-Five movement?!?!
I'm sorry for the back-to-back dog posts. I promise I won't make a habit of it! Today was the first Saturday in MONTHS that we've been home at our apartment so we took advantage of the leisurely day and cooked a big breakfast. Maya assumed that because I was in the kitchen cooking-- it must be dinnertime. I tried to tell her that it's not time for her dinner yet, but she obviously didn't understand. Thinking she must have misbehaved so badly that she didn't even deserve her dinner for the day, she retreated to the living room so ashamed of herself that she even had to hide her face. She is still being a mope about it... silly dog!
We think Maya is the best dog... ever. She's the happiest dog in the world but also very calm. She's totally silent and possesses none of the annoying dog habits like jumping on people, begging for attention, getting into things she's not supposed to, etc. She is also a snuggler, especially when it's getting close to bedtime. And she's BEAUTIFUL! I'd say 9 out of 10 people that I pass on the sidewalk when I'm taking her on a walk comment on how pretty she is. Add that to the mystery of not knowing what breed of dog she really is (obviously mostly husky, but she only weighs 33 pounds so she's got to be mixed with something else) and she's just the whole package. I couldn't recommend rescuing a dog from an animal shelter highly enough... especially ones that are full-grown like Maya was when we got her. Such a joy!
Here is a picture of the four seamstresses who participate in VEG's Lady Volta Batik project listening to Kolby's lesson on decimals (batik: textile-dyeing technique common in Ghana).
I worked with VEG's micro-credit program and spent most of my time with the rural women who participate in the program. These women use the small loans to aid their self-employment activities which usually consists of the trading of commodities such as vegetables, maize, fish, or household provisions. It was an eye-opening experience, and there are so many difficulties associated with the implementation of micro-credit that I would have never really understood without seeing it all first-hand.
Here is a picture taken at a meeting I held with the loan groups in the village of Helekpe.
Here's a picture of me in Helekpe with Mary, the chairperson of one of the loan groups, who gave me a bottle of honey that had been produced by a the women in her group.
Here is a group of women who produce palm kernel oil, a substitute for vegetable oil that is made from the seeds of an oil palm tree.
One weekend we made the treacherous 3-hour climb up Mount Adaklu. Here is a picture of us at the top.
Unfortunately, going down was even more difficult than going up. I didn't fare too well (huge hip bruise, rolled ankle, ants in my hair, etc.). Let's just say that if we were keeping score it would be Ghana-1, Emily-0.
Kolby, however, thoroughly enjoyed every part of the excursion. Here he is in front of the mountain with our "tour guide" (11-year old boy), Wonda.
Another weekend we went to a village called Tafi Atome where we visited a monkey sanctuary and rode bikes to a kente cloth weaving village.
It was a great trip, but after three weeks of cold showers, mosquito bites, unfamiliar food, and a $6.50/night hotel room, we were eager to make it home! We are grateful for the amazing experience and send our love back to VEG and our new friends there!
