Monkey Land

Next on our holiday we visited a place called Monkey Land. We took a guided walking tour through the park and the kids were able to get really close to some monkeys. We weren't allowed to touch them but the monkey's would run up right next to us and didn't mind the kids getting close.

Liam and Lindie really enjoyed the monkeys and they are still talking about the fun.

{I know its not a monkey, but there were also lots of tortoises}

Elephant Park

While away on holiday we visited an elephant park near Plettenburg. The kids were very excited about the elephants until they got close and personal with them. We had a bucket of fruits and vegetables to feed them which made the elephants very eager to stick their trunks out to be fed. One elephant even gave Lindie a kiss on the cheek which made her a bit more afraid.

It was a warm day, so the elephants had been playing in the mud making it a messy adventure for us. Brian and I enjoyed the elephants and maybe when the kids are older they will enjoy doing it again.

Red Berry Farm

Last week our family had the opportunity to go on holiday (as they say it in SA or vacation). We decided to go to a place we haven't been before. We headed 10 hours South to George. The kids did great traveling, even Liam after being so sick the day before. It took him a few days to get back to 100% but he still had fun.

Our first full day in George we went to the Red Berry Farm & picked yummy fresh strawberries. Our friends, Val and Danie, moved to George this past May so we spent a few days with them and they showed us around. This strawberry farm has a few rules: to go into the strawberry field each person has to have their own bucket, no eating the strawberries while in the field and you can't fill your container too full. {Haha only in South Africa}

Ok, do you know how difficult it is to explain to a 2 and 3 year old that they can't eat their strawberries yet? Rather difficult...they ended up eating two each.

After our picking fun we had a very yummy snack of fresh scones with cream, strawberry jam and coffee or tea. This was a perfect way to start our holiday.

Liam's New Bed

Last week a family we know from Welkom moved to Zambia. They were moving to a furnished house, which allowed us to buy a few pieces of furniture for ourselves and The Village. Liam ended up with a set of bunk-beds. He was super excited about getting a 'big' bed. The timing was perfect because the week before Lindie learned how to climb out of her crib, but in a rather uncontrolled manner. While we were waiting for the bunk-beds, Lindie took over Liam's toddler bed for safety reasons and Liam slept in the crib because he could climb in and out without difficulty. Liam thought it was great fun sleeping in Lindie's bed-so it worked out fine.

Liam received Thomas the Train sheets and blanket for his birthday so he was all prepared to have a new bed.

{Helping daddy put his bed together}

{Halfway Done}

{Yeah, Liam is very happy}

{Job Well Done}

{Lindie checking out the top bed, even tho she still sleeps in the toddler bed}

Baby #3 Update

Our family was planning on leaving for a holiday today but poor little Liam was sick throughout the night so our plans changed a bit. We are still hoping to leave tomorrow for our holiday. Liam seems a bit better this afternoon. We are praying he will be up to traveling tomorrow and that we get a good night sleep tonight before heading out for a 10 hour drive. Since we are home today, I have a bit of time to blog. {Yeah, that doesn't happen often anymore}

We had a baby doctor appointment yesterday and everything went really well. We got new pictures of the handsome baby boy. Per the ultrasound he is registering at a nice size and he is very busy inside. Even tho I did not need an ultrasound to tell me he is a busy boy.

{Hand & arm in front of his face}

I am now 24 weeks and this is my baby bubble.

Village Update

A lot of progress has been made since my last blog (about 6 months ago) about The Village. I'll try to keep it short and let the photos do the talking.

March 31 our first children's house opened and Mama Lizzar, Lerato and Monica moved into the new house. It was a busy and exciting day. Much of April was busy just getting housemothers and kids adjusted to life.

The end of April started our steady stream of visitors and family. Stephanie, Brian's sister, and Jennifer joined us for 15 days.

We had a great time with them and Liam loved all the attention. They were also a big help finishing up painting projects, organizing a lot of items in the container, making inventory lists and spending time with the Village kids. They also helped us celebrate Liam's 3rd Birthday. Aunt Stephanie and Jennifer made Liam a Thomas the Train cake-it was pretty awesome.

Mid May brought us 6 visitors- Aaron and Tommy stayed for 3 weeks, Allison and Michelle for 6 weeks and Louie's brother Tim and sister Rosina stayed for 3 months. Allison stayed with our family and we enjoyed her greatly. Just about 10 days after their arrival we were joined by another two guys who are medical students, Taylor and Matthew. They spent the majority of their time volunteering in the ARV clinic and at the government hospital. When they weren't busy playing doctor they helped with construction projects and kids at The Village.

During May we added two babies to the house. Baby Amohelang joined us when she was just 3 weeks old weighing 1.9 kgs (4.1 pounds) and 3 days later baby Tumi came. He was 6 months old weighing 19 pounds-so the exact opposite of our little peanut.

In early June our last 2 girls for the house joined us. Motshidisi age 17 and Dieketseng age 15 are sisters and have been a delightful addition to The Village.

As I finish up this post, the second house for children is ready to go. The beds have been made, the kitchen items are stocked and our housemother is eager to start. We actually thought 2 children were coming last Friday but the social worker ended up finding relatives for the children. So we are praying for the children that the Lord has for us to take into our next home. We are anticipating this house to be for boys.

{Started in mid-May and completed by August}

{The house is complete, just need a picture}

Lindie Turned 2 years Old!

Yesterday we had a wonderful time celebrating Lindie's 2nd birthday. I remember when Liam turned 2 he really didn't understand that it was his birthday. But I'm pretty sure Lindie understood it was her birthday because Liam has been prepping her for the past few weeks.

Her special day started with birthday chocolate chip pancakes. After breakfast we opened presents from family. She had fun opening gifts and she even shared with Liam. After all of that it was a usual day until the afternoon.

Together Brian and I made her cake. We planned on making a castle cake and had an idea of how to do it and I asked Brian to help me trim the cakes and make them flat. Well shortly after he started helping he kinda took over and pretty much decorated the entire cake by himself. We had a lot of fun working together.

Around 3:30 our friends started coming and we enjoyed the yummy cake, popcorn, candies and juice. Of course the kids had fun playing with toys and making messes-we had about 9 kids here.

We always miss our family on special days like this but we are thankful for skype and video chats to help us share the day with them.