Meeting Baby Cal

April 30, 2026 

(Day 1 of our Utah trip)

At the end of April and beginning of May, we got to have everyone together for a little family reunion/vacation. We combined picking Aubrey up from BYU with Cal’s baby blessing and decided to turn the whole thing into a family vacation. Brian and I flew out to Utah. Parker drove down from Idaho, Tanner and his family made the drive from Texas, and even Grandpa Vore was able to join in on the fun.

One of the best parts was everyone getting to meet baby Cal. Brian (Papa😉) finally got to meet this little guy in person, along with (Great) Grandpa Vore, Tanner, Erin, Kaide, and Parker. Sadly Parker wasn't feeling well and had to keep his distance...but otherwise, lots of first-time snuggles for Cal—and lots of people pretty excited to finally get their hands on him!

Bri greeted Brinley in the front hall of our AirBnb to hug his baby girl and his new grandbaby.

Kaide wasn’t quite sure what to do with Cal and pretty much kept a solid two to three foot distance. I think he was expecting a cousin who could be a little more interactive. Derek was cute about commiserating with him. He said, “I hear you, Kaide. I’ve kind of always felt that way about babies…until now.” 

Great Grandpa Vore 

Isn’t he precious? Let me just say, it was hard for anyone to get a turn holding him for very long. There was always someone waiting to steal him away.

Real newborn life. But no worries—these two are already pros.

Lots of baby snuggles, and everyone together. Pretty much the best way to start our week.

Cape Coast, Two Friends, And Our Canceled Flight

April 13-16, 2026

For the final few days of our trip, we headed to Cape Coast—and we were so happy to have Parker’s friend Essiam join us. When I first met him, I was trying to figure out how to address him. He said Essiam was just fine, but when I pressed him, he ducked his head and said, “My mom calls me Samuel.” We ended up just calling him Essiam, but the more I got to know him, the more I wanted to meet his family—especially his mother. With children the same age and the gospel of Jesus Christ as the focus of our lives, I think we could be good friends.

Essiam was happy, grateful, polite, and genuinely interested in getting to know us. He asked lots of questions and was so much fun to be around. He was such an easy addition to our little group. He was also a great help with negotiating better prices and guiding us around the area. I especially loved seeing how happy Parker was to have a friend along. Their constant joking and laughing reminded me so much of Parker and Tanner when they are together.

The bus station—both going to Cape Coast and coming back—was an adventure all by itself. It was incredibly packed and busy, and like nothing we have in the states. 

This 30 second video of the bus station is a must watch. It still doesn’t capture the heat, humidity, crowds, constant noise, or the bathroom shack with nothing but a hole in the ground—but it gives a little glimpse into the experience. Video

This cute young lady was selling eggs at the station.
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The bus was an upgrade in that each person had their own seat. The bus does not begin it’s
route until every seat has been purchased. The back of the buses were still pretty full though.

Our time in Cape Coast was great. It was more relaxing and vacation-y than the rest of our time in Ghana. We the canopy walk at Kakum National Park. Walking high above the rainforest was so cool, and the trees were enormous!

Another video worth watching....the rain forest.

We didn't know this lady. She just decided she wanted to join our group picture!

We took a pragya to our house one day.

We spent time at the beach twice, although the current was unbelievably strong. The waves didn’t just knock you over—they slammed you down! Essiam doesn’t know how to swim, but was so excited to be in the ocean. I was a little worried about him, but he had fun without venturing out too far. 

One of my most unreal Africa experiences was getting a massage in a hut on this beach while listening to some pre-teens chant, dance and play some drums with crashing waves nearby.

A group of  6-8 missionaries came to the beach on their p-day, so we visited with them and treated them to lunch.

One afternoon we visited the slave castles, which was sobering, but I'm glad we went. We learned that for centuries, the forts and castles along Ghana’s coast served as major trading centers—first for goods such as gold and later as part of the transatlantic slave trade. 

Thousands of captured African men, women, and children were imprisoned in dark, crowded dungeons before being forced through the “Door of No Return” and loaded onto ships bound for the Americas. 

Standing in those stifeling rooms and imagining the fear, suffering, and loss experienced there was heartbreaking. It was a sobering reminder of a terrible part of history and of the countless lives forever changed by it.

These pictures were taken on the top of the slave castles.

While we were in Cape Coast, we found out that our flight home had been canceled because of a pilot strike in Germany. So, back onto the bus we went, headed for Accra. I’m so glad I followed my sister-in-law Beth’s advice and purchased travel insurance. It made the scramble to find new flights and another place to stay much less stressful.

The unexpected delay gave us another day and a half in the city. We visited the art market one more time and spent the rest of our time relaxing at our very nice hotel. It had beautiful pools, a huge workout room, and an American-style restaurant—which was especially appreciated since we were always on the hunt for safely prepared food and bottled water. Essiam had to go back to work, so we stopped by the MTC to say goodbye before we left.

As wonderful as it was to have Essiam with us, one of the greatest gifts of this trip was simply getting to travel with Parker. We usually travel with our whole family, so having this much one-on-one time with our boy was rare and very special. He loved Africa, and I loved seeing it through his eyes—meeting the people he loved, visiting the places that had meant so much to him, and watching him slip so naturally back into that part of his life. He was thoughtful, helpful, and genuinely grateful that we had made the trip. He teased us just enough to keep us laughing, but never enough to make us feel badly about how completely dependent we were on him! It was such a unique experience, and I will always be grateful for that time with him.

Throwback picture from our trip out to the bush a few days before.

The hotel where we stayed the night had two large bedrooms and a kitchen, but we were hanging out in the living room until we could switch over to studio we rented for the day of our flight.

After so many full days and new experiences, our final day was wonderfully uneventful. We swam, rested up for our 20 hour flight home, ate familiar food, and enjoyed a slow ending to an unforgettable trip.

Two Full Days in Accra

April 11-12, 2026

Saturday and Sunday were filled with a trip to the temple, tours of the MTC and Church Area Offices, a visit to the mission home, shopping in the art district, attending church, and exploring the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park and Mausoleum. Here are a few highlights from two very full days!

We went to the temple early Saturday morning to attend a session. The Accra Ghana Temple has the same floor plan as the temple we attend back home in Lubbock, Texas—about two hours from Odessa. Parker said it was a neat experience to enter the temple as a missionary and discover that it felt so familiar.

One thing I especially want to remember is the deep reverence of the Ghanaian Saints. It was completely quiet before the session began—no one even whispered to the person next to them. There was such a peaceful, sacred feeling in the room.

We had our own personal tour guide for the MTC—Elder Samuel Essiam! Well, former Elder Essiam. He was an assistant to the mission president when Parker served as an office elder, and Parker always spoke so highly of him. After meeting him, I could see why! More on “Essiam” to come, but for now, just know that he won Brian and me over immediately—and he was a great tour guide.

Essiam now works as the supervisor at the Ghana MTC and had answers to all our random questions. Since Parker attended the Provo MTC, everything was new to him too. We toured the classrooms, cafeteria, and multipurpose room used for firesides and P-day activities.

This stairwell had pictures of West African saints who were pioneers in the gospel.

We also learned how competitive it is to be hired as an MTC teacher and about the food service. The cafeteria contracts with a catering company for six months at a time and then switches companies, giving the teachers/area office employees some variety in their meals. Interestingly, the employees preparing and serving the food were not members of the church—what a great opportunity for the workers and missionaries to interact with one another.

After our morning temple trip and MTC tour, we stopped for a picture at the Black Star Gate in Accra’s Independence Square. The monument commemorates Ghana’s independence in 1957 and bears the country’s motto, “Freedom and Justice.”

Next, we wandered through the Accra Arts Centre, an outdoor market packed with what felt like hundreds of little booths. Everywhere we looked, there were colorful fabrics, paintings, baskets, beads, carvings, drums, clothing, and souvenirs. The vendors were eager to show us their goods—and Parker and Essiam were just as eager to bargain!

Parker is with Wisdom. I think Essiam taught him when he served in this area. He is currently serving in his ward as the building coordinator. It was great to know he was still participating in church. We purchased several canvases. (No bargaining here...we wanted support him and his business.) 

Sunday morning, we attended church, of course. We had spent a lot of time with Edmund, our driver, so it was wonderful to finally meet his wife and all five boys! Parker helped teach many people who were baptized during his mission, but he said Edmund’s family was the only entire family who joined the Church together. It was pretty special to see that, two years later, they are still going strong.

Most of the time in the car, Edmund listened to talk radio. But on Friday and Saturday, he suddenly switched to General Conference—or so I thought. It was actually one particular conference talk playing on repeat, which was a little confusing at the time. Once we attended church on Sunday, however, it all made sense: Edmund was teaching the Elders Quorum lesson that day and had been preparing!

After church, we visited the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park. Well, Brian did not. He decided to have an afternoon nap so he would be "back on top" for our adventures to Cape Coast the next day....but back to the park.... It honors Ghana’s first president and one of the leading figures in Africa’s independence movement. 

The memorial is the final resting place of Dr. Nkrumah and his wife, Fathia. We also toured the museum, which has photographs and artifacts from Nkrumah’s life and Ghana’s fight for independence. It was an interesting way to learn more about the country’s history and the man who played such an important role in shaping it. 

This bronze head was once part of the original statue of Kwame Nkrumah that stood outside Ghana’s Parliament House. When Nkrumah was overthrown in a military coup in 1966, the statue was pulled down and decapitated. The body was eventually recovered, but the head remained missing for 43 years. In 2009, an elderly woman who had quietly kept it safe returned it to the government. Rather than reattach it, historians recommended displaying the head separately as a reminder of that turbulent chapter in Ghana’s history

The car President Kennedy gifted President Nkrumah was in the lobby area along with several photographs.

The exterior of the museum features detailed relief carvings depicting a traditional Ghanaian gathering. The design combines Ghanaian Adinkra symbols with touches of Egyptian influence, reflecting Nkrumah’s vision of African unity.

I love this picture of Essiam and Parker. Two great friends—one born in Africa and one who will always carry Africa in him.