Liam Reading to Lindie

Liam loves reading books and enjoys sharing them with Lindie. One afternoon I was sneaky enough to get him on video reading a Thomas book to Lindie. This video is about 3 months old, but it is too cute not to post.

Liam Riding his Dirt Bike

Brian bought this little dirt bike before Liam was even a year old. Brian loves riding dirt bikes and quad bikes as form of entertainment. He also enjoys teaching the kids here how to ride and to give them rides around the property.

Liam and Lindie both LOVE riding on the dirt bike with daddy. It is one of their most favorite things to do. Both of them started riding before they were a year old. Brian recently decided that it was time for Liam to learn how to ride his dirt bike. He also wants Liam to learn how to ride his dirt bike before he learns how to ride a regular bike :)

The clever daddy that he is, ridged up training wheels for the dirt bike and adjusted the throttle to keep it from going full force.

Here is Liam on his first solo ride & he did great.

Lakeside Team

A week ago a team from Lakeside Church in Polk City arrived and ready to work. This past week they have been involved in a variety of outreaches including planting a garden for a family in Thabong, Hospice Daycare, Sunday School and homework ect. We've also kept them busy at The Village building the O'Tool's house. I'll let the pictures do the explaining on how hard they've been working.

Working on the gable ends of the house

Mixing and pouring a lot of cement into the walls

Setting trusses

We've thoroughly enjoyed getting to know this team and have had a lot fun amongst the work.

Liam having fun with the guys

A little time off to have fun on the quad bikes

Baby N at 32 weeks

Yesterday we had another baby doctor's appointment and the doctor was able to get some really good pictures of little baby N's face. I am now 32 weeks, so just 8 weeks or possibly less left to go. Liam and Lindie are both getting excited about their new little brother. Liam says the baby is still 'loading' and isn't ready yet. Haha, cute kid.

O'Tool Staff House

This past week the guys started laying the cement blocks for the O'Tool's staff house. By Friday they made it to truss height, just the peeks on the ends of the house are left to be completed. We have a team from Lakeside Church, from Polk City Iowa, arriving today and their first project will be helping with the O'Tool house by setting the trusses and putting on the roof. They will also be working on the playground for The Village.

By the end of Monday this is what was completed. The laying of the first two rows of cement blocks are the most time consuming because they have to make sure the spacing is very accurate.

This is progress from Tuesday and Wednesday. You can clearly see the openings for the windows. This is the front of the house.

By the end of Wednesday

This photo shows where our house is located in relation to the O'Tool's house. Our house is on the left in this picture. There is enough space between our two houses for both families to have a double wide covered parking area.

End of Thursday and the trusses were delivered!

Birthday Party for 3 kids

Today we celebrated three birthdays at The Village.

Dumisang but we call him Tumi, turned 1 today. This little butter ball of a baby joined us in May & ever since we've been enjoying him. Lerato is his favorite person at The Village and she enjoys him very much. She is about the only person that can get him to smile on demand. Tumi just got his first 2 teeth a few weeks ago and has just started crawling.

{Lerato helping Tumi open his presents}

{Checking out his new cup}

{Lerato where did my cake go?}

Siya joined us at the end of August and the day he came to The Village it was his birthday. We didn't want to skip over his birthday so he joined in on the celebration today. He turned 2. Siya is a loud little guy that has brought new life to The Village. He keeps his housemother busy but is a lot of fun.

{Opening his new truck}

{He loves having his picture taken}

{Enjoying his cake}

Paulina joined The Village on Sept 2 & has adjusted very well to living with Mama Lizzar and the other girls. Her birthday was just before she arrived. Most of the time birthdays are forgotten and not celebrated at all due to families not having money. We didn't want to make her wait another year before she could have a proper birthday so she also received presents and celebrated turning 11.

{Paulina 11 yrs old}

{Of course we all enjoyed some cake}

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}