My Mom's visit to Burkina- many months of memories

I had the greatest time with my mom. I still can't believe that her time here in Burkina with us has already come and gone. She was here almost three months, and it was a fantastic three months. She just fit into out family like a well worn glove. She is the beloved Mimi after all. And we just adored having her here.

My mom had two purposes for coming out to Burkina Faso, the first being to visit with us. And the second being to conduct research for her dissertation for her doctorate degree which she is doing on the education system here in Burkina.

She left having satisfied both purposes. Her time here was very well spent and purposeful.

She did so much while she was here. As I reminisce and think back over her visit I'm so proud and happy of all that she was able to do in her short time in country. God really really put her visit to good use and allowed her to engage and serve and be present in a variety of ways...

Here's a snippet of her time here in Burkina and our memories together from March to June......

Before my mom arrived I put her in touch with a missionary friend who was in need of a part time teacher to homeschool her daughter for the remainder of the year. Her previous teacher had to depart the country unexpectedly and my mom jumped at the chance to serve this family in such a needed capacity. So shortly after my mom arrived she started teaching.

This is Alannah, her student! She came over to our house every week, three days a week for my mom to homeschool, and the both of them became fast friends.

Somebody else she got to be fast friends with.....my mom's newest grandchild, her first grandson. God allowed her trip to coincide with bringing Steven home to our family. We didn't have a timeline for when that might take place, but God had it all planned out, and he was released from the orphanage exactly four weeks after she arrived so they were able to spend a good bit of time getting to know each other and bonding. We were so appreciative and immensely grateful for mom's wisdom and support as we transitioned through those first initial weeks of becoming a family of five.

Of course we ate out- because we love to eat! We took her to some of our favorite restaurants, Belvedere, Le Verdoyant, Sofra Turkish Restaurant, Gondwana's, Le Cappuccino's, La Vida, Chick (not a favorite, actually). After a while, or, after a short time, you realize that all the restaurants serve all the same food, so I think my mom was happy to get back to the land of cuisine variety! 

Here we are pickin' mangos together....the whole family had to pitch in and help catch 'em and haul them to the patio....even Steven! Everybody works here!

Mom's smart idea to use a sheet to catch them as Isaak chucked them down to us.

It was a lot of work, Isaak was a sweaty mess, but we collected well over 200 mangos from our efforts on two occasions. Which we then had to wash, peel and cut!

But, we had a freezer full of mangos for all the sorbets we ate! In addition to all the strawberries we had as well! We spent a good many hours in the kitchen...washing and cutting fruit. But my mom is great company....so it was all good. =)

There was also lots of baking bread and making yogurt.

And researching!!! My mom was so busy conducting research for her dissertation. My dear friend Rebecca hooked my mom up with a translator, Saba, to help interpret for my mom while she was here. Mom needed to make connections at a number of schools and not only did Saba help interpret for my mom, but she used her connections to connect my mom with directors at a number of schools both around the capital and in some villages as well.

I love that my mom had the opportunity to visit all these school. It really provided her with an opportunity to connect more with the local culture. She went all. over. the. place! Each week Saba would set up appointments for her and the two of them would set off in a taxi in the morning and come back hours later.

One day Saba took my mom a few hours away to her village to meet her family. This is a picture of my mom with Saba's grandmother, who is the oldest person in the village at over 100 years old.

Saba, back right, with the village chiefs.

A school in a village. Some of the schools were very nice buildings, but others consisted of nothing more than mud brick walls and a straw roof.

One of the places that had the biggest impact on my mom was the blind school she visited a couple of times. What these children have to overcome just to attend school is very humbling. And it left a deep impact on my mom. Here she is handing out rubber band bracelets (that my cousin's girl scout troop in Virginia made) and helping the children to feel them on their wrists.

I'd love it when my mom would come home and share with me the stories of the adventures she had that day. I was so proud of her for all the ways she stepped out of her comfort zone! I about fell off my chair when she said she had rode on the back of Saba's moto sans helmet! That's not even something me and Isaak would do!

Mom and Sydaleigh hard at work writing their book. They worked on it almost everyday or night while she was here.

May brought the girl's dance recital!! Both girl's took dance lessons this year and it was such a joy to be able to watch them perform!

They were so precious!

The recital was fantastic. My other friend Rebecca was their instructor. She was a missionary here for two years and also a very talented dance and put together a wonderful show for the dancers and parents! Mega impressed!

She provided so many kids with the chance to dance that otherwise wouldn't have it while living here.

Group picture after the show.

It rained a number of times in the early months that my mom was here. It's rare to have any rain fall before June, but we sure were grateful for it! Especially since our pool was broken the majority of my mom's trip, so the rain at least provided a welcome chance to play in the water! 

When it wasn't raining and the pool wasn't working we'd play in the sprinkler or have water balloon fights to stay cool. March, April, and May are the hottest months of the year in Burkina, so the water was a welcome relief!

We also went to the girl's school or the embassy on a couple of occasions to swim, which my mom loved, being the avid swimmer that she is. 

A little shadow as my mom plays WWF's!

Many many evenings we would play the Wii or Just Dance together before the kids went to bed.

My mom's got some serious moves....

And she's giving the 60's new life this lady. Young as ever. Not letting age define her or slow her down. Always right there in the middle of things!

Date to the Rec Center in floppy hats and shades!

Playing croquet in the back yard with Marvelly after school.

She was here for the girls student led conferences and got to go to their classrooms and see a sampling of all that they've been learning throughout the year.

Isaak and my mom with the goat that Isaak bought, one random day. After the coolness of owning said goat wore off and he realized it was never going to be a pet and it did nothing more than poop all over our yard, he gave it to our housekeeper...at my nagging insistence.

Playing "buried alive". A game my mom came up with.

Of course there was shopping. Here we are at the artisinal village looking for some batik's.

She also served alongside me a couple of times at the orphanage. It meant a lot to be able to show her where I spent so many of my days and introduce her to all the kids she has been hearing about for almost two years. After we brought Steven home and I took a break from going weekly she still continued to go with my friend Joanna a couple times.

She sewed Steven some bibs and together we sewed some pillow covers. And there was lots of baking with the kiddos.

There were many evenings spent on the patio, listening to the rain pelt down, talking, soaking up the breeze, enjoying each other's company.

We celebrated Mother's Day together, as well as her 62 birthday.

My mom with Willie. An artisan on our street. He is handicap and makes a living sewing purses, water bottle bags, hats, and making jewelry. He is very skilled! My mom was a frequent customer of his and gave him some good business! She had him make her dozens of water bottle bags to bring back to the States as well as many other items. They were buds, these two.

We went bowling, at Burkina's only three lane bowling alley! It was a blast!

We drove out to Kourbi for a day and went swimming, had lunch and played. They have a rock climbing wall, swings, a dock and a very large pool. My mom thought it was such a nice little getaway, and it was only about a 45 minutes drive from our house. 

We were all able to swim, lounge by the pool, and just take a breather....

We had a good time. This was our first time taking the kids here, and they equally appreciated just being able to get out of town for a day.

This picture did not end well for Isaak-Bah ha ha!

Me and my sweet chillin's. All three of them!

Oh. my. gawsh. Amira and my mom. This darn cat. I don't know what it was, but she had a deep love for my mom....a little too much love if you ask me. Bordering on extremely inappropriate at times seen as how our Amira is not fixed and goes into heat quite regularly. And unfortunately for my mom this little lady couldn't seen to relax the entire time she was here and bothered her endlessly.....I mean, endlessly! She would wait outside her door and pur and make little meow noises until she would come back out again. She'd try to rub all over her (and not in the sweet way) whenever she was out of her room. She just, couldn't help herself. It was so hilarious!

But then again, everything was hilarious. That's what I loved so much about her visit. We just laughed non.stop.

Case in point. My car was falling apart. The door handle thingy kept falling off every time I closed the door, and of course I would forget every. single. time I closed the door. Which of course we found hilarious. Everything is hilarious when my mom is around. Oh my gosh, we would just have fits of laughter at everything. We love to laugh, us two (sometimes at inappropriate times, but it's a Gerard gene, it can't be helped). Driving with my mom was honestly one of the greatest joys I had while she was here. One time we were driving to the store and I was going through an intersection and there was an electrical wire dangling into the street, and people on the bikes and motos were dodging it left and right....which of course she found hysterical.

The craziness of Burkina. The extreme differences and totally random things you see on a daily basis, she just found it all so charming and unique and funny. She has such a remarkable ability to find humor in almost any situation. She just brought humor to every aspect of life here, and it was so refreshing.

And a shout out to this guy. Not a lot of men can handle their mother-in-law living with them for three months, but Isaak was such a trooper and embraced my mom and her presence in our life with such grace. They spent many an evenings on the couch together, Isaak patiently going over computer technical difficulties my mom seems to have on a daily basis. =) They talked all the time, about everything. He never complained, not a single time. Even when we'd monopolize the tv almost every evening to watch movies and eat cereal snacks. He took everything in stride. It made my heart so happy.

The best picture we could get at the airport as she prepared to leave. 

Her trip was beyond everything I hoped it would be. She was able to do so much...teaching, serving, researching, she jammed a lot of living into her three months....but mostly I'm grateful that she was just able to be here, with us. I moved away from home when I was 19 after marrying Isaak and we haven't lived close to family since that time due to his last 14 years of serving in the military. We love our life, but it's not easy at times being so far away. And just the simple fact that she was here, doing life alongside us, was my favorite part. Waking up in the morning and knowing that she was in the other room. That I could sit with her at breakfast. Seeing her help bathe the girls. Having her to talk with in the car. Hearing her play and shout and laugh with Sydaleigh, Marvelly, and Steven in the pool. Making dinner next to her in the kitchen. Talking about life. Talking about movies. Talking about everything. Watching movies every night. Eating Twizzlers and smores in the microwave. Feeling excited when I heard her come home after being away all day. Because she's my mom, and just having her walk through the door made my heart happy. We all had such a splendid time together and made such great memories. The best. I love my mom. The kids love their Mimi. Her time here blessed us in a deep way. 

But, this is not the end of my mom's adventures in Burkina.....she's coming back in December for two more weeks!! Pretty soon Marvelly will have to start counting down the days again on her calendar! 

Round two coming soon!!