Emergency Care

On Thursday, The Village grew by 4 children. A social worker phoned needing temporary care for these children and we quickly stepped in to help. Currently we only have place for boys long-term and the social worker didn't want to split them up. After meeting the children, I think it would have been impossible to separate them even if the social worker wanted to. Thankfully we were able to help them for the night, so they didn't have to sleep at the police station.

It appears the older 2 (the girl holding the baby and the girl in the black shirt) are siblings and their sister was suppose to be caring for them and her 2 children (the younger 2). The mother of the older two had died sometime ago. So essentially we have 2 aunts with their nephews. The entire family situation and relationships are a bit blurred. After listening to the social worker we believe the oldest girl in the photo, age 11, has been trying to care for the 4 of them. The children have now gone to another home where they can all stay together.

“Though my mother and father forsake me the Lord will rescue me.” Ps 27:10

{Children when they arrived}

{After a good bath, new clothes, shoes and a small toy for them to keep}

The Village Family

The Village Family is growing & life is becoming busy around here. Here is the latest photo of everyone together.

Construction Continues

Progress at The Village is continuing and we are thankful for that. On September 9th the O'Tool family staff house foundation was poured. The Lord gave the guys a beautiful working day and good help. We are looking forward to getting their house built so they can move onto the property & be with all of us. All of the cement blocks are ready to go for the house and it looks like the team coming in October will be helping with the building of their house.

Just Being Cute

Final Family Vacation Photos

We had a lot of fun together and enjoyed some beautiful scenery. Welkom is a very flat, dry place to live so when we get the chance to see the ocean, mountains and a variety of animals we love it. We also enjoy watching the kids take in so many new adventures.

When you take a vacation that is 9 hrs away, you have to make a lot of stops. Making the trip more like 11 hrs away, but the kids are great travelers. This stop is lunch time and enjoying some KFC.

Our first vacation spot was in George and we visited good friends of ours-Val and Danie. We also helped Val celebrate her birthday.

We went to a wonderful farmers market on Saturday morning and had a yummy breakfast of fresh fruits, breads, coffee and pancakes

It is always fun to play in the rocks

Picking flowers

Watching the ocean

Whale watching-we saw many whales with their calves

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.