A New Pet

Mommy and daddy have decided not to get me a pet dog or cat while we are here in West Africa. But I am working on persuading them to buy me some other type of pet. People here in West Africa have many different types of pets. I have considered a pet goose, but they tend to be too aggressive. I thought about ducks, but they walk funny. We have had pet lizards in our house, but they tend not to stay around. Then the idea came to me this past week while we were out in the village. One of our friends had one on a leash and was taking it for a walk. It was shorter than me, but looked like it would be lots of fun to play with. So, I figured, why not? I will ask mommy and daddy for a pet calf! I haven’t got an answer back from them yet, but I am still hoping. I will let you know if they actually say yes.

Jacket Weather?!?!

While the fall season has been around for almost two months in the States, we are just now entering our fall season. The leaves on the trees are falling, the rains have stopped coming and the temperatures are cooler. We even have some snow! Okay, so it is not really snow. This time of year everyone burns their fields off, making a gray haze in the sky and there is an almost constant fall of ash from the sky. At a glance you would think it was snow, but you wouldn’t want to catch these flakes on your tongue.

This past week my mommy broke out a jacket for me. While the temperatures during the day can still hit 100 degrees in the shade, in the evening hours and through the night it is dropping down into the 70’s. For me and the rest of the people here that is really really cold!!! About 9 o’clock at night they all head to their rooms and don’t come out until the sun is out and starting to warm things up. Over the next couple of months the temperatures will continue to get cooler and I will continue to get to wear my jacket during the evening and morning hours!

New Outfits

Mommy and I got some new outfits made, so I wanted to share them with you. When mommy buys material to have outfits made she often has material leftover so I can have an outfit made also. All three outfits are skirts with elastic waists and separate tops. While the little girls here wear wrap-around skirts with ties, mommy opted to go with the elastic to make it easier on me. The blue outfits mommy and I have are made from indigo material which they make in our area of West Africa. The indigo materials have many different designs and are very popular here.

Nightly Devotions

Each night around 8:45 mommy, daddy and I have our night family devotions. This is a time when we read from God’s Word, sing songs of praises to Him, and say our prayers. I pick the songs we sing; some of my favorites are “Ezekiel Saw the Wheel”, “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands”, “My God is so Big”, and a new favorite is “Rocka My Soul (in the Bosom of Abraham)”. Following singing is our nightly prayers. Right now my prayers basically consist of me thanking God. I thank God for mommy, daddy, my grandmas and grandpa, my friends in the village, and I thank Him for many of the things in my room. Here is a picture of some of the things I thank God for. “Thank you for my Dora. Thank you for my Elmo. Thank you for my ferris wheel. Thank you for ladybugs. Thank you for my dog. Thank you for my cow. Moooo! Thank you for my duck. Quack quack! Thank you for my pigs. Snort snort! Thank you for my E-I-E-I-O.” I don’t know the name of the farmer yet!

Ocean Fun

Mommy, Daddy and I just returned from a week long vacation. We had a wonderful trip and a fun time just relaxing and playing. Our trip took us to another country and we vacationed a short distance from the ocean. On two separate days we went down to the ocean. The first time I didn’t have my swimsuit. I was scared of the ocean at first because I thought the tide was going to get me. But slowly I was able to inch closer and closer. Finally I realized that it was just water and was fun to play in, so I stripped down and got right in.

The next day mommy and daddy took me back and I had my swimsuit this time. We had fun playing in the ocean. My favorite part was either when daddy was holding me or I was standing up holding on to mommy and daddy when big waves would come. They would pick us up and moves us a few feet. I even got use to the salt water and it didn’t burn my eyes. Now one of my favorite words is “ocean”.