December

December was a very filled up month.  As I was putting things on the calendar for the month at the end of November I couldn't believe all the things we needed to go to. I think I will just take this one by day in point form.

- 2nd Leah had wanted to see the second half of Wicked.  She got us tickets on cheap night.  I drove down straight from work. I went to the Giving Machine before the movie started. The movie wasn't bad.  I am glad I finished the movie.  I liked part 1 better.  Driving home the roads were very icy and foggy, but we all made it.

-3rd back down to town, I had my annual mammo and US. Got all the groceries for the stake hot chocolate bar Dave was in charge of.  And by Dave I mean he turned it over to me because he knows I love doing them.  That night we had a practice for the ward live nativity.

-5th We preformed the live Nativity.  2 performances.  We had great attendance the first one and a few stragglers for the second.  As Dave and I were setting up in the morning it was clear and beautiful.  We ran up to town to get a few things and on the way it got foggy and windy.  We went out for lunch and then did more prep to get ready.  Dave figured we spent about 20 hours getting ready for the nativity.  It is a lot of work.  Weather did not improve and we were happy for those that did come out. 

-6th Dave and I went into town with the tractor and trailer to bring all the bale home that were used in the nativity.  Jared had been asked to supply them and had taken them all in.  We knew that he had ball tournaments all weekend and wanted to surprise him with it all taken care of.  Tractor was not running well, I just prayed we would make it home.  Prayers were answered. Next we headed to Calgary to do what Dave has started calling 'the turn and burn' to pick up Myrna. After that was a quick shower and late lunch and off to Macleod for the Stake Youth Activity.  The whole night was very nice.  I didn't see much as I was in the kitchen doing the hot chocolate bar, which was a hit, but it seemed lovely.

-7th Church, my family zoom, and the 1st Presidency Devotional.  It was lovely being able to stay home for most of it. 

-9th Dave was asked to speak at the Christmas RS party.  We had a nice dinner there.

-11th, was supposed to be a coral festival, we were thrilled that it got cancelled and I skipped out of my work Christmas party.

-12th We preg tested the cows.  It was a COLD day!  I was hoping for just one open so we could eat it.  Thankfully that is exactly how it went down. Although the vet brought an apprentice and somehow he got put in charge of the back part of the squeeze.  He did not do well at that part and we had a few disasters, but made it through and no one got hurt.  So I guess I can't complain.

-13th My whole family was in Utah for Kailey's wedding.  I was sad to miss it but just couldn't take any more time off work and travel.  Everyone did great at sending me lots of pictures.  We had chores in the morning. (Jared had taken over chores for us while we were in Africa.  Usually we trade off every other week.  So when we got back we said we would do a month to make up for all he had done) We next went to see the Holiday Train and got to see The Barenaked Ladies perform.  We went to town and grabbed some last Christmas gifts and then to Dave's work party.  We again helped serve.  A delicious turkey dinner. 

-14th After church we went to Leah's.  She invited us to go to her Community Concert.  Dave was going to need to go to work that day to undecorate from the work party, but they got it all done as he was at church.  Leah fed us dinner and then we went to the concert. It was well done.  A lot of beautiful numbers. 

-17th I went grocery shopping for all the Christmas needs.  I had picked up some extra days in December and only had a few days available to shop.  I had heard that the wind was going to come up and a storm was going to come in around noon.  I was at the stores at 7:45 in the morning.  I finished and was 10 mins away from home when the snow started.  By the time I got home and was hauling in groceries it was crazy.  Thankful for my attached garage.  The whole house was shaking and rattling.  I couldn't see my driveway.  4 hours later when Dave came home all was calm and there was no snow.  

-19th We had our Ward Christmas Party.  Blake had left Cherry Grove that morning after getting dug out.  There was a do not travel advisory on some of the roads he was travelling.  We had planned to move him down to his apartment that afternoon, but he did not make it as he had to go pretty slow.  He pulled up just as we were leaving to go to the party.  I was assigned to bring a dessert.  I had a lot of fun designing the stickers and making the cheesecake I took. It went so fast we did not even get to try it.  Hope it was ok.:)

-20th Blake had an alumni tournament to play.  Dave was asked to play as well, but didn't think it was wise as last time he wrecked his back so bad it has taken the last 3 years to be ok again. It was so fun to watch Blake play again.  Blake said he forgot how much fun he had with everyone.  Lots of people asked about his mission, which I thought was nice.  He did great.  Even almost dunked it.  He has lost a little of his vertical, but hiking all those hills in Salone kept him in shape. He had a great time catching up with Gilbert. He had back to back games.  After we took him and Natalia to New Club for lunch.

After the tournament we loaded up his bed and and took it to Lethbridge to his apartment, then out to Magrath to Leah's to grab the desk she was giving him.  Back to his place to drop it off.  Then Blake bought us DQ. 

-22nd I had another fill in work day and got our turkey.  We did 23 lbs this year and ate it all in a few days. Jane helped me organize the flowers Dave surprised me with. 

-25th- 27th Christmas with the kids

-28th after church and dinner, Dave and I headed down to fix the co-op that had gone down.  Water was till now working at the farm as power wasn't working and also the co-op. We tried to feed but tractor was not starting as being plugged in didn't help if no power. 

-30 Dave was taking Myrna to Calgary.  He was leaving earlier than I got off work.  Blake was in Raymond.  Just before I got off, Dave texted me and said they had got away a little later and did I want to go.  I had undecorated after work on Monday and was really looking forward to cleaning everything up when everyone was gone.  And I was starving, I had only packed a small lunch.  But decided to go so he wouldn't have to drive home by himself. We decided to get food because we were both hungry.  I had left from work unexpectedly and so I had not packed snacks. Even though it meant not going for Chinese the next day as I had wanted.  Can't go out twice in a row. When we got home I saw that Dave had surprised me by vacuuming the floors and putting stuff away.  Wonderful!

-31st We were boring for New Year's Eve.  I had really wanted to go for Chinese and a movie like we used to before Dave's dad passed away.  We used to do that every year and I was excited to do it again after so  long.  But as mentioned, we went out night before and there were no movies that were interesting to us.  So we just stayed home. Blake and Dave got his car fixed and the shop cleaned.  Then Blake took off.  We had a nice dinner and watched Frankenstein.  Cora had told us about it.  I enjoyed it.  Dave said it was good but did not like the graphic blood during surgery.  We toasted in with blackberry ginger ale at 10:30 and went to bed.  

2025 was another great year.  Filled with family growing, adventures, Blake returning and so much more.  We are so thankful for the place we get to live, the great kids we have and the decisions they are making, our health, and our jobs.  Life is good, the Lord lives and guides us and we are feeling so blessed. 

Happy New Year!

Christmas 2025

We had a marvelous Christmas.  I had been waiting and planning for this Christmas for almost 3 years, since Blake started his mission papers and we knew 2025 would be the next Christmas we would all be together.  

Hatch's came in on the 22nd.  The rest of us still had work on the 22nd and 23rd.  On the 23rd they moved their stuff out of their storage bin and into the house they will be renting.  Blake was going to go help but his car died.  Christmas Eve everyone was home.  We had enchilada soup for lunch.  Those that needed to finished wrapping their gifts. We played some games and started prepping the appetizers.  We scaled back a bit this year.  Made more of a few rather than little of many.  I asked everyone what their must haves were. At one point during clean up, I was holding Jane and Leah had Rhoda as us 3 girls were trying to do dishes.  I looked to the front room and saw all the boys sitting down.  I asked them if they saw anything wrong with the scene. :/  The rest of the weekend everyone helped with dishes and kids.  Blake did seem to get out of a surprising amount and we started to tease him about his skill.

We then watched 2 (turned out to be 3) short movies.  When the kids were very young I found a $5 VHS from Wal-Mart "The Night Before Christmas"  Turned out to be the worst cartoon ever made.  They streeeeetched it to 24 mins, animation was horrible, script was crazy with Santa fighting with reindeer etc.  But we watched it because it was so funny.  I had searched online to see if I could find it again to watch Christmas Eve. I finally found it and we had so much fun watching this terrible movie that brought back memories.  Then Leah and Blake had made a short western movie when they were in Grade 4 & 7.  They acted it out and had saloon music in the background.  I got that loaded up and surprised them with that too.  We were all laughing so hard.  Next, as the video kept rolling and unbeknown to me, Cora, Leah, and Blake had also made another one.  A Lego movie that was fantastically funny.  They had their hands in Lego mode and walking and sitting with knees unable to bend.  I loved it. We then ended on a spiritual note and acted out the birth of Christ.  Rhoda got to play baby Jesus.  Leah had this idea for crowns for the wise men a few days before they came and when they came down stairs we laughed so hard. 

Jane was the cutest little shepherd. 

We spent some time just chatting, working on puzzles, and reading till it was time to put the stockings out. 

Dave and I went to bed as everyone else stayed up.  Later they told us they went to the basement to workout with kettlebells till 2 am.  Crazy kids.

Christmas morning we slept in a little.  I got up and got breakfast in the oven and Dave stuffed the turkey and started it roasting. When everyone finally awoke we opened presents, ate breakfast, and got looking all pretty for family photos.  Leah did a fantastic job or taking pictures and giving us prompt to get great shots.  It was so cold we could not stay out long. 

a few of us went to break the bulls water.  I took Jane along, she loves cows.  Then back to start prepping the rest of Christmas dinner.  We had invited the missionaries to eat with us. A few card games as the turkey was finishing.

After a great dinner and saying goodbye to the missionaries, Cora had a power point presentation for us.  It was kind of done in jest and a study for herself.  She had documented how many times she had cried during the year. Cora is not a crier, she could think of 5 x in her life she had cried before having kids and there was 17 x last year.  She had pie charts of why she cried etc.  It was fascinating.  If you have question you can ask her about it.  Later they were joking that Dave should document all the new words I make up during the year. 

Again the kids stayed up late. 

Boxing Day was chill.  Breakfast, games, chatting.  Natalia came out that night.  Cora made us dinner.  We watched It's a Wonderful Life.

27th was more games, we played a lot :).  Dave, Blake and Natalia went out to fix the cows water that was frozen and feed cows.  Which did not happen because the tractor was frozen as well.  Power had gone out over at the farm and so the tractor wouldn't start.  We invited Myrna over for dinner so she could see the little girls.  Leah was going to make dinner that night, but we had so many left overs we just ate all those.  Leah and Braydon then left to go home so they wouldn't have to get a sub for their class the next day.  We started Hatari.  That was such a fun movie to watch with Jane.  She loves animals and is talking a lot and she was enthralled with it all.  Blake and Natalia left about half way through the movie as it was getting late. Cora and Ammon were staying with us a till Monday.

It was a great Christmas all together.  Good food, many laughs, just hanging out and being together.  Rhoda is the smiliest kids and Jane is so fun.  zshe is a tease and it's hilarious. 

Merry Christmas to you all.  I hope your holiday was filled with love.

November

We arrived back safely after visiting Sierra Leone.  The next day we did some laundry and gathered some food to take up to Hatch's.  Blake packed and went to his dental appointment and then to town to  meet with a lady from the University that was to help him plan his classes and register.  He did get registered but said Natalia was more helpful than she was.  He then stayed the night at Leah's.  Saturday Dave and I drove up to met the new little grandchild.  She is so sweet and tiny.  Blake worked out with Braydon and hung out with Leah, then went to hang out with Natalia then back to Leah's.  He went to church with them and then also headed up to Cora's.  He is working for Ammon until he comes back for Christmas and to start school.   Dave and I stayed longer than we usually do and it was so fun to see them all again. 

Monday we went to the military base in Cold Lake and were able to watch the jet fighters.  Ammon and Cora's bishop works at the base and so they texted him for the schedule. I love watching this and listening to them.  Blake got an awesome video.  It was warm at Cora's house so we all decided to ditch our coats and gloves.  That ended up being a very wrong decision.  We were so cold.  There was a very cold wind that came up.  I had one small blanket in the car and gave it to Blake since he is still cold, but he gave it up for Jane.  I told Jane that her Uncle Blake must really love her. We also got another tour of the chapel.  It is looking beautiful and is going to be very treasured up there. 

We traveled back on Remembrance Day.  Back to work and normal life again.  Jared had started separating cows as we were travelling back, but they broke out and it was getting dark.  Saturday we all gave it another go.  We started early in the morning and fixed a lot of fences for hours.  We then got them in and separated, but again it was getting dark and needed to leave it for another day.  Dave and I then got the truck so we could take water to the bulls and fed cows.  It was a long week at work for both us the following week.    I went to work with Dave early on the 21st.  I had a big grocery list as I had not been shopping since before Blake got home.  Just a milk pick up or apples here and there.  Dave was teaching a training course.  I ran into my parents while in town and had a nice visit with them. After we got back from town we went out again to get these calves taken care of.  We got the heifers in a different corral and got all but one steer banded.  It broke out and we needed to find it.  They were really riled up and so we decided to do it Saturday after the funeral.  I then went to a RS activity that night where we put together 100 hygiene kits.  There was more going on, but I didn't want to do any crafts. The next morning we left early to attend Dave's Aunt's funeral.  It was a nice funeral and it was nice for him to see some of his cousins again.  Even though sad conditions.  We stopped by my parents quick to drop of some things off.  Then back fast as we were going to try to get that last steer done.  We dropped everything, changed super fast and went over to the corrals.  No one was there.  Dave called Jared and he said he was not feeling well so we decided to do it the following Friday as Dave had a First Aid course he had to Saturday and Sunday for work.  I was getting frustrated at how many days it was taking to do 30 calves. 

Sunday was the Primary Presentation.  As always it went well because somehow things always work out in the church.  Leah text the night before and asked if they could come visit on Sunday.  We said yes please!  Dave had just been saying how it had been to long since we saw them.  Blake had made a very quick trip down to surprise Natalia for her birthday.  Stayed at Leah's again.  Then Sunday he looked at an apartment, swung by our house to drop off some of Cora's boxes and had a very late night getting back up there.  It was foggy and snowy and I was very glad when I knew he had made.  We had a great time with Leah and Braydon. 

Then next weekend went to a Hurricane's game, courtesy of Southland. It was a fun date night out and they won, so that is always a bonus.  

Saturday was chocolate making day.  We did less then usual and Leah came out to hang out with me.  Which was very fun.  Lalainia kept the chocolate ready to go the whole time and it went so fast.  We were done before 2. 

We got everything cleaned back up and had a lovely soup from Amber, then Leah and I went to see the big train derailment that happened near us.  Pretty crazy.  39 cars derailed.  We then came back to the house to chat until she needed to return home.  Dave got home shortly after she left.  He had gotten a free fries with his ticket for the hockey game.  If the Hurricanes scored over 5 goals then Arby's gave everyone free fries.  He got a sandwich to go with it.  By the time he got home we just read scriptures and off to bed.  He had to leave again early the next morning to finish his course. 

Sunday after church I decorated for Christmas.  Early for me, our next few weekends we don't have any free time.  I thought it would be a fun surprise for Dave when he got back late, in the dark to see all the Christmas lights. 

It was a great November.  I can't believe that Christmas is so close.  Blake has a place to live.  6 guys in the apartment and the one he met seemed good.  We are looking forward to having everyone home for a few days. 

Sierra Leone 3

We got to our hotel and it was in a great location.  Easy to get to.  Our room wasn't ready yet.  We decided to get lunch at the hotel restaurant.  That cost a pretty penny but was amazing.  First fresh raw vegetables I had had in 2 weeks.  As we were waiting after lunch in the lobby, Blake would start to kind of laugh and look down.  Then they would come over and apologize that it was taking so long.  It wasn't a big deal.  We were a little early and they had free water and A/C.  Finally we get to our room and Blake said that they had been discussing how there was quite the party the night before, curtains were down and it was a real mess.  They were nervous to come tell us it wasn't ready.  Blake understood it all, but they didn't know that.  This room was worth the wait and the price.  We felt like we were hobnobbing with the elite of Salone.  2 bedrooms with King beds, 3 bathrooms, complimentary water, kitchen with dishes, and ....... a washer! We had so much laundry after the island and just thought we would be doing it all night.  Blessed day!! We were full from our fantastic lunch and didn't feel like going back out.  Blake did research on the classes he needed to register for as that was opening the day we got back.  Dave and I did some journaling and reading. Also we were so tired from not sleeping well the last couple of nights. 

Sunday we had the best breakfast ever.  Then we travelled a ways to get to Allen Town.  It was Blake's last area and he was a little nervous as he had just left there.  He was relieved to find out it was Stake Conference and it was the first meeting in the new building.  So many missionaries there as it was conference and also a visiting area authority was there.  Blake was outside talking to the other missionaries, Dave and I were seated a little over half way back and the area authority spotted our lone 2 white faces in the congregation and came down off the stand to meet us.  I guess we really stuck out.  Bro and Sis Farr were there also.  They are the senior couple of the building of the temple.  We asked if we could see the temple Tuesday and they asked us to find them after and set up a time.  After conference there were a lot of people that wanted to talk with Blake.  This cute girl would not let him go.  She is 9 and her name is Bridget.  Blake said she really is one of his best friends and he will really miss her. 

We talked to so many people.  The Farr's kindly ended up giving us a ride to the temple site after Blake was done chatting.  It was a good thing.  If we had not gone with them we would not have seen one thing.  There were guards we had to pass through and a big 12 foot solid steel gate.  We couldn't go on site, which we knew, but if they had not been with us to open the gate we would have just viewed the gate.  They were a lovely couple. 

They then drove us back to Blake's last complex. We were meeting his old comp there and were to go proselyting with him.  Blake's old shoes were still sitting outside the door.  Lots of young men were there to go walking with us as well.  One very knowledgeable, kind boy we found out had only been baptized 2 weeks prior.  He was part of the family that came just before Blake left that he said were golden. We walked about 2 hrs and taught 5 lessons. It was a lot of fun. 

We learned during stake conference that all the Elder's were coming into Freetown for a mission tour the next day with the Area Authority so there pday was moved to Wednesday.  Blake had planned to visit Bro and Sis Bateman on Monday.  When he found they would be busy with the tour he texted and asked if we could come Sunday on our way home.  They answered right away and said yes please.  Blake loved the Bateman's and was excited to see them again. 

Again lots of Elder's Blake got to see and talk with again.  We had a great visit with the Bateman's and then we went to try the famous Zinger Burger.  Blake had had this burger delivered many times to his apartment when he had a little extra sub or they won for having cleanest complex.  It did not disappoint  Blake said it was even bigger in the restaurant than when they delivered it. We had a really full day.  All the things we had planned to do on Tuesday we squished into Sunday, but it was good, because we then did not have to travel all the way back to Allen Town, we could just stay on our side of Freetown. 

Monday was tourist day.  I wanted to find a wooden nativity and get a new book to read.  Blake took us to the place they sold wooden carvings.  He had to take a deep breath and work himself up to go.  He does not enjoy the bartering and constant hassle.  We found a few little things to take home, but no nativity.  I found a book and bartered the price myself.  Blake said I did well.  We had lunch at a bakery Dave had found. Next we visited the National History Museum.  It was interesting, but you can tell they have no funding and not many visitors.  A lot of the boards looked like and elementary school report with printed pictures.  Our guide was great.

Then we found the National Railway Museum.  This was in a sketchy part of town.  One of the few times I didn't feel save during the trip.  I was sure Dave and Blake had taken a lot of wrong turns.  We eventually did find it.  It also was low budget but very fascinating.  We were able to go in all the trains and ride on them and it was cool.  Walking out we met the 'curator' or who just happened to be there that week from England.  She was a lovely lady and loved talking with Blake. 

On the way home we planned to just get some snack to eat back at the hotel.  Blake was really wanting some couscous.  Now this dish does have couscous in it, but it is very spiced up and has noodle, mayo, tomatoes, lettuce, fish or chicken, pepe, and one other thing I can't remember.  I saw all that meat sitting in the hot sun and was like nope.  Blake was very excited.  We got some and some popcorn, ran into more missionaries, and got some pop.  Then walked the rest of the way back to the hotel. Blake dug right in to his couscous.  Dave had a healthy portion, I had 2 bites to taste it.  Was really good, but I was not brave enough for more. 

The next morning we get ready for breakfast and were surprised to need to wake up Blake.  He had been sick all night.  He was not venturing far from a toilet.  Dave and I went for breakfast, I snagged an apple, muffin, and water for when he felt like eating a bit.  A little later Dave started not feeling well either.  Again we were so grateful for the hotel we found.  Everyone could just rest with lots of bathrooms and private bedrooms to sleep.  I did a lot of reading and played solitaire.  In the afternoon Blake started thinking his symptoms were a lot like malaria symptoms.  He messaged Elder Stirling, who was the mission doctor.  This lovely man still helped Blake out.  He told him to get right to the clinic and get a test.  We knew were the clinic was because we had passed it a few days earlier and Blake told us that is were the Elders went. Also Blake really wanted us to go to Lumley Beach and get gelato.  He rallies himself just after 3.  We went straight to the clinic.  His test came back neg, but Elder Stirling later said after Blake showed him results that he had parasite in him so he still needed the meds. 

We hoped in a keke and went out to Lumley Beach.  Very pretty but so much litter it was sad.   We did have a delicious pizza and the gelato was fantastic.  No wonder Blake wanted us to try it. 

Wednesday morning we were all feeling a bit off.  Dave and Blake ran to pharmacy and got the meds we were told to pick up.  We did not have to check out until noon.  Ferry was not until 2:30.  We just relaxed and stayed cool as long as we could.  Said a prayer that we would all be okay on the travel home and went to the ferry.  We had a 2 hour wait.  Once on the ferry it was a smooth ride to Lungi and then we found a taxi to the airport.  Again we discovered that there was a $25 US fee to get into the airport.  We decided that fastest way to kill tourism in your country is to charge people to get in and out. We had a couple hours to kill at the airport.  Where they did 8 checks of our passports, 2 searches of our bags, 2 pat downs for security and finally on the plane.  We should have slept as it was 8 pm at this time but none of us really were able to.  We reached Belgium safely with much relief.  3 hour layover.  Dave napped a little.  Blake and I were hoping to sleep on the next plane so made sure we stayed awake. We were all starting to feel a bit better.  Next plane we did not sleep well, maybe 10 mins each.  Very short layover in Montreal and we had to go out and back through customs.  So glad we don't check bags.  Having our little backpacks made everything so much easier.  We made it just barely in time to discover that our plane was delayed.  It was such a wonderful feeling to touch down back in Calgary.  We picked up our car, got a few groceries and dinner, then started the drive home.  We were all so incredibly tired.  Figured we had been up for almost 44 hours.  My brain was literally shutting down.  I thought I was going to help keep Dave awake, only to wake up 10 seconds later.  I guess when I read scriptures it was all gibberish and I had no memory of even starting to read.  We were not very safe on the road and were blessed to be guided home safely.

It was a fascinating trip.  There were so many blessing we had.  It was wonderful to see ourselves what Blake had done and experienced on his mission. He is one amazing kid.  We had renewed admiration for him almost daily. The Lord has prepared Sierra Leone for the gospel and they are hungry for it.  Beautiful country, lovely people. 

Sierra Leone 2

Blake had never served in Bo.  They split his mission before he got a chance to be there and just wanted to see what it was like.  It was the nicest part of the country.  It was flatter and cleaner then the other places we visited. We really just walked around and checked out the town for 2 days.  One of the Elders Blake had trained was now in the mission home in Bo.  Blake messaged him and we stopped by to see him and some other Elders. These are cocoa beans on the ground that they were drying.  Later in the day when we came back this way they were all dried and bagged up. 

Again there was a church very close to our hotel.  We asked the Elders good places to eat and they recommended the Dohas which was great since we were staying there and one other place. 

Next morning we got up early to walk around.  There was an old air strip close to us.  We saw the sports arena. 

Well Blake and Dave saw it,  I looked at the fence :) 

I felt very safe in Bo and our hotel was right off a main road.  Just before noon I decided to go back to the hotel myself as I was starting to get a headache and Dave and Blake continued exploring. Honestly if it was not for the heat, everywhere in Sierra Leone would have been fun to just walk around and explore for hours. 

After our 2 days in Bo it was time to head back to Freetown.  We caught a poda poda.  I had not felt well during the night and was worried about travelling the 3 hours it was going to take us. I didn't eat anything and took just a little water. We made it back to Freetown safely and began looking for our hotel.  It was in a hard location to get to and very out of the way.  We finally found it and it was a weird check in, no bed for Blake, didn't see anyone else there.  It just felt sketchy.  We were only there one night but were booked to stay in the same place after Banana Islands until the end of our trip.  It had great reviews, somehow. I started looking at other hotels but not much available except one very pricey one.  I thought it was just me so decided to suck it up.  It was right down town by the famous cotton tree. And close by to Chicken Town, a restaurant that Blake and other missionaries had talked about often.  We gave it a try.  Was good. 

The  next morning when we woke up Dave said he had been looking at places and could we cancel the reservation we had.  I could still get a free cancellation and explained that the hotel he was looking at was really expensive.  He said at that point he did not care it would be fine and to book it.  Best decision we made. We got ready to go and headed to a fabric store for Blake to get some material.  Then found a tailor and gave measurements for the things Blake was getting made. 

Next off to the Banana Islands.  We caught a keke that took us all the way.  We had to go to Kent, an hour out of Freetown to catch the boat to the island.  We got stopped and were told we had to pay a fee.  Blake knew we didn't but after 5 mins of arguing he just gave up and we paid it. On the way back when one of the local men on the boat found out that we had been made to pay the fee he was very upset and went and talked to the boys.  They will do it to the next tourists but did get reamed out that day. We got on this interesting wooden orange boat and sailed 5 miles across the open Atlantic.  Not something I thought I would ever do. 

It was a small resort that we stayed at.  Only one other family was there at the time. There were getting ready for there open season.  We had a lovely girl that met us at the dock and had us come and sit at the outdoor eating area.  She explained that we could do and order whatever we wanted and that they would just keep a running tab and pay at the end.  We ordered dinner at 3 to eat at 6.  We would see them go out and fish for our dinner.  It was a neat idea and had some fun sitting areas and nice atmosphere. But the rooms were so hot.  No fan or power and open walls and windows.  Just a few tweaks and it could be really neat. One night there was a lizard in the shower and another night a mouse landed on our bug net.  Very glad for that bug net.  They cleaned the beach each morning and the ocean was beautiful to swim in.  We took a walking historical tour of the island that was interesting. 

We played a lot of cards and read.  Dave and Blake said it was like taking a vacation in the middle of our vacation.  We had been told that our MC may not work out there so to bring cash just in case.  We had already paid for half of the room so took an estimate of the other half and what the price of our meals had been so far.  Added in more for any excursion we might want and then more just in case.  We thought we were golden.  Our last night there we booked the boat for 10 and booked a car to take us back.  I didn't trust looking for a ride in Kent and didn't want to deal with the people on the beach.  They took our breakfast order and totaled everything up.  It was 2000 SLE ($100) more than we had taken.  We had been told the boat was complimentary, it wasn't.  Water was more expensive than other places and a few other surprises.  We started to panic a bit.  Dave tried his card.  Did not work.  He tried it a few times.  Nope.  I tried mine.  Still nothing.  Now we panicked more.  We had no way to get money on the island and no idea what to do.  Then I remembered when I had paid half the fee they had given me a website to use.  I still had that email so found the website and paid there.  Nothing.  We were sweating and praying at this point.  Literally had no idea what to do.  Then Dave asked Blake if he had room on his card.  He has a very low balance in case it got stolen on his mission. He had just enough to cover it.  We literally said a prayer and tried his credit card.  It swirled and swirled and finally went through.  Oh. My, Heck!  the relief.  We went to bed, got up and had breakfast and waited until the boat departed.  The whole time just a little nervous that they were going to come back and say oh guess what.  The driver we booked through the resort was worth every bit.  He met us right at the boat and took us straight down town Freetown.  We didn't cram in, just the three of us in the car.  I was never so happy to get off an island in my life.  But now that we know and could do a few things different, it could probably be a nice place to stay. It was beautiful and fun to have fresh fish, I don't even like fish normally, and lots of available activities.  It was very relaxing.  Just need to be better prepared.  

We drove straight to the tailor shop and check on Blake's stuff and then went to our hotel.