izzy & her dad

Izzy loves her Daddy! Her first babbling of a word was "Babba" (which is actually "Daddy" in Songhai). The kid is multilingual already! Here are just a few cute pics of the Belle & her Dad.

I love how she's holding on tight to him in this picture.
He is her "wangaro" (Songhai for "hero")!

She even likes to share her bread with him. She doesn't do this too often!

They have the most fun together! He was the first person to make her laugh & still makes her laugh more than anyone else.

Sometimes they just like to sit & stare at each other. I guess it's a Daddy-Daughter thing!

Sidenote: Did y'all notice that Mark is wearing the same shirt in all the pictures? Too funny! Let's hope Izzy steers away from that habit!

congratulations Mark

This is a little bit late but I just wanted to congratulate Mark Carney Phillips on completing his MDiv from Southern Seminary. It has been a long road but he is finally finished. When he started back in the fall of 2002 (only a couple of months after we got married), I never would have thought that he would complete it in Africa of all places! But he's done & I am SOOOO proud of him!

I am also SOOOO glad that the mountains of books & papers are finally finished. Six years of stacks & stacks of reading, 6 years of paper after paper, 6 years of always having to turn something in has finally finished! In the States he would use one of his days off from church to drive 4 hours round trip to Louisville & usually be gone from 4 am to 11 pm. That was just for classes & doesn't include the work! Here in Africa it consisted of lots of reading & papers & watching lectures on DVD & using his "internet time" in Niamey to turn things in or check up on assignments. Finally, it's done. It brings much relief to me but I know it's an even greater relief to him. Have I said how proud I am of him? I am SOOOO proud!

funny face

I tell ya, this child has some awesome faces. She is making us laugh ALL the time! Some are just so cute you want to pinch her cheeks & some make you want to say, "Where in the world did you come from?!"

Cute face. Very pinchable.

Even cuter because she's sitting in our laundry basket.

A mix of cute & crazy.

All crazy right there my friends. The child is all crazy!

Back to cute.

Awww! Now isn't that just precious?

Okay, I know you can't see her face here but it's just another picture to show you we do, in fact, have a crazy child!

christmas again!

Isabelle's Christmas just kept on going right into January! We celebrated with Mark's parents & Izzy got a second helping of presents. She also got a fun new Christmas outfit from Bailey Boys. Isn't she a doll?

picky eater? i think not!

Izzy is getting very good at trying & eating all sorts of new foods. She's even learning to feed herself! She's growing up way too fast. Her favorite is still bananas but coming in a very close second is Kossam (a liquid yogurt). She is also enjoying her Gerber Finger Foods that her Aunt BJ & Aunt Badanda sent her for Christmas as well as Baby Mum Mums. Mark & I, as good parents, have taken a sample of all her new foods & we agree ... they are pretty good! Now if only she could learn to either eat without getting so much on her or learn to clean herself up, we'd be all good!

Nibbling on a biter biscuit. These things create more of a mess than anything else ... hence, why she is stripped down while she is eating!

Papa feeding Izzy pumpkin - the ONLY vegetable we can get in Ayorou.

Ha ha, Papa & Gaga. Very funny! They tried to trick us & make us think they had given the Belle a sip of Coke. We didn't buy it one bit!

Munching on her Mum Mums

Sucking the juice of out my apple. She hasn't quite figured out how to bite off a piece yet!

Another of her fave foods - avocados. Unfortunately, they are only in season for about 2 weeks so we won't see these pretty fruits again until next December.

gaga & papa visit again!

Isabelle's grandparents, Gaga & Papa, came to visit her in Ayorou. They saw her for the first time in October when we were in the Ivory Coast & they treated her to her first vacation at the beach. This time around, they came back to Ayorou & were able to see Isabelle on her stomping grounds!

Of course, they still took time to play with the kids while they were here. Isabelle got most of their attention but they couldn't say "no" to the adorable faces of the children of Ayorou!

They also took Izzy out & about with them as they went to visit some of the friends they had made last year.

The Belle & Papa loved playing together!

And Isabelle loved getting to spend time with her Gaga again!

This child loves her grandparents!

Thanks Gaga & Papa for coming to see us again! We love you & miss you!

Christmas in January

We were able to have another time of Christmas while mom and dad were here. It's kinda fun leaving Christmas decorations up till mid-January! It also gave us an excuse to keep listening to Christmas tunes!


Izzy got some new toys including this one. I think she likes it!


Izzy's mom and dad liked their gifts too!

izzy & friends

Isabelle has many a friend in Ayorou. Young or old, everyone loves Nadia (her African name, in case you've forgotten)!

Hilema playing with Izzy through the car window while we were waiting for Mark & Don to finish their shopping.

Izzy & our guard's oldest daughter. This was the first time they had sat together & they hit it off right away!

Izzy & her BFF, Hawa.

Isabelle & her 2nd African mama, Hamsatou Kayna. In case you didn't know, Isabelle has 2 African moms (both who are named Hamsatou).

And her newest friend is the mother of one of my friends. Everyone, young or old, loves the Belle!

Don and Janis part 2

Don and Janis just finished their second trip to Ayorou. While we'd like to think they came to visit with us, we know that they came with one goal in mind: hanging out with a little girl named Isabelle Ruth Phillips. While here they also found time to reconnect with some friends and visit with Parker and I.


We were able to celebrate mom's 60th birthday (just a few weeks late) while they were in Niamey. We ate at a great Lebanese restaurant and then had cake.


They were also able to meet with Ela several times to encourage him in his faith.


Of course hanging with the kiddos was a big part of their trip. The kids remembered them from last year and didn't want to see them leave!


Dad had to show off his mad piano skills. The kids were quite impressed.


Mom and Dad reconnected with some of their friends from their first visit and even showed off their African style!


Thanks so much Mom and Dad for everything! Izzy, Parker & I and all the people of Ayorou had a blast hanging out with you!

Christmas!

We had a WONDERFUL Christmas this year. Mark and I love traditions. In America, right after we got married, we agreed that one of our traditions would be to have Christmas morning in our own home every year. During those 1st 4 years we also had the tradition of attending Living Hope's Christmas Eve service, having dinner with Mark's parents & then going to see a movie on Christmas day. The only one we've been able to keep since being here is having Christmas in our home. But with Isabelle here now, we wanted to have more meaningful traditions established. So this year we took our time getting up on Christmas morning (a first for me in 28 years!), had some coffee, and then read the Christmas story before opening presents. After presents, my Dad & I made sausage, biscuits & gravy, and eggs for breakfast - not necessarily a meaningful new tradition but definitely a delicious new tradition to keep!


Working hard on Christmas breakfast. Everything was from scratch except the gravy ... yes, even the sausage. You can't buy breakfast sausage here so you have to get the butcher to grind pork for you & then you add your seasonings. Thanks Marion for sending us that yummy sausage seasoning!


New, fun kitchen stuff!


i-Tunes gift card! Thanks Amanda!


Isabelle checking out her presents from her Great Aunt Sue.


Izzy helping to pass out presents. It wasn't that hard of a job since most of them were for her anyways.

random fun

Here are some random pics of the Belle ...

Sittin' very happy with the contents of a package from her Great Uncle Randy & Aunt Theresa

Helping Mommy pick out clothes

In her new monogrammed dress. Yep her initials spell IRP!

Gnawin' on a chicken bone. Mmm mmm, that's good eatin'!

Pretending to be a Tuareg man