Our Little Spitfire!

As we have been home for a couple days now I wanted to take a post to introduce you a little more to our new addition. Z is a very different character then her big sister.

Once comfortable she loves to make people laugh and is a total comedian.  While D doesn’t love being the centre of attention Z lavishes in it.  She is incredibly smart and has picked up a number of tricks in the short weeks with us.  She can say “Mama, Dada, a version of D, up, ta da,” and her new favorite “all done”.  Today she walked up to me and said “Up Mom”.  D has taught her a couple songs with actions.  She now waves at EVERYONE she sees. Thanks to Gene’s waves in the front seat mirror to distract her while driving she picked that one up pretty quickly.  She is a terrific dancer.  If she hears the slightest tune she is busted a move in no time.   She loves to laugh and thinks everything is a game.  

She is also incredibly independent.  When Z is told not to do something she usually laughs at you and then does it again.  When told “no” she will often lash out at whoever is talking to her whether she hits or tries to bite.  She loves to pester her big sister and needs to copy everything that D does.  She does not sit still and wants to be running free whenever possible.  While in South Africa we had done our best to keep her fairly close to us but now that we have arrived home we will be doing some serious “cocooning”. In the adoption world it is the steps taken to create a healthy attachment to her new parents after we have upset all she has known for the last 15 months of her life. 

1.We will be spending a number of weeks just creating routines at home.  No unnecessary outings and lots of us time.  When we feel she is ready we will slowly integrate her into our outside society.

2. Adam and I(and only us)will meet all her primary needs: feeding, changing, bottle feeding, face cleaning, nose wiping etc.  All of life’s necessities need to be met through us and us alone.

3. If she is upset, injured or just angry one of us needs to be her immediate comforter.

4. We need to be her primary instructors/disciplinarians.  This is tough, as when you see a kid put sand or dirt in her mouth you want to tell her not too and pull the item out.  If one of us as parents hasn't noticed, tell us.  If we don't seem to react it honestly because we have just decided to let her eat sand. . .  

 Overall, Z has done incredibly well over the last couple weeks.  Considering she had spent her entire life in basically the same bed and essentially one room we have changed locations over the last 5 weeks over 8 times.  She has learned to ride in a car seat(though still hates it).  She has experienced her first airplane rides.  She has slept in make shift beds on the floor when a “camper cot” wasn't available.  She has popped 4 teeth. 

We are madly in love with this new addition and look forward to encouraging her to develop into the child God has destined her to be.  We ask for your continued prayers and patience as we all adjust to new routines and limitations at home.  

3:30am-Probably Time to Start the Day

As we appear to be starting the day here at 3:30am I thought I would take a quick minute to fill in the trip details.

The girls did really well on the first flight both getting about 6-7 hours of sleep.  We were given a bassinette for Z so she could then lay out plus it gave us the front row with way more leg room so mom and dad managed a couple of hours as well. 

We waved bye to Gene and Corry as their flight for their week layover in Amsterdam left shortly after we arrived.  Although we talked about it a lot D was very confused by the fact that they weren’t on the same plane as us. It was such a gift to have them along.  I honestly don’t know how we would have managed this trip without them.  The extra hands and eyes were invaluable!  Thank you Gene and Corry! 

One last wave!

We tried to keep Z awake to save her nap for the plane but no such luck.  She of course slept for 15 minutes just before they announced boarding, just enough to make it a little miserable to get her to nap on the plane.  She did eventually give in and both girls napped for almost 3 hours of plane ride.  Pretty sure the long naps contributed for this 3:30am morning rise!

We made it through all lines quickly at the airport and in no time we were greeting Nina and Papa at the gate.  We were welcomed home to a stocked fridge and dinner courteousy of Nina.   A pot of great Oma's homemade soup was on the counter as well which will be greatly enjoyed after days of airport food.

We officially arrived home at around 6pm which means we were gone almost 37 days to the hour.

It is so good to be home!

We are Home!!

We made it!  There is luggage everywhere, we all feel like crumb but couldn't be happier to sleep in our own bed.  Will post more when I'm not so tired and jet lagged.

One Last Night

We finally have Z's passport in hand!!

Gene and Adam left this morning around 9 to make the hour drive to the Canadian Embassy.

Sign posted on the main highway to Pretoria.
Gene said "they weren't stopping the car for anything"

First there was construction right in front of the building so they had to park down the street.  They describe the building as a modern Fort Knox.  Gene didn't even go in as it was quite the security ordeal.  It is fence upon fence, armed guard and bullet proof glass.  After high security and about 15 minutes of waiting Adam filled out a form and was given the passport.  It is times like this that make us extra grateful for having Gene and Corry on this trip.  Having to truck the kids on these errands would have been an added undue stresser. 

While the boys were on there mini-road trip Corry distracted D and Z hung out while I tried to organize our carry ons for our 26 hour journey.  I was a little surprised to find out when we picked up Z that she is still on formula.  Apparently it is the norm for kids here to be left on formula until age 2.  Z also is used to mush food still which mean she spits out a majority of textured food we feed her.  Makes for a little more thought process and hassle dealing with cleaning bottles, packing formula and which food she will eat while we travel. Cereal, pretzels and banana it is.

I stayed back while Z napped and the others went to a local mall.  We wanted a couple last minute things to take home and now seems the best time to get them.  D was super excited upon coming home that her dad bought her a pair of Monster University pajamas for the airplane ride home.  

We ate supper at a restaurant on site and enjoyed a little time by a campfire outside our room before calling it an early night.  

Melted chocolate, peanut butter and cracker, Yum.
Have to finish of those groceries somehow.

Tomorrow we are going to leisurely leave this B and B.  We have plans to visit with Hilda for tea, the lovely owner of the beach house, in the afternoon.  She lives only 10 minutes from the airport and therefore it will be really convenient to head over at around 5.  

Our last sleep in this country!  It has been an amazing trip! We have been so blessed and amazed! 

The Last "Resort"

Our last home away from home!

Upon getting up this morning we still hadn't gotten any replies from any of our stay inquiries so onto the internet we went again.  Gene found a nice little place that looked like it would work and booked the Farm Yard Inn straight away.  We had searched the area for churches to attend and only came up with ones in Africans.  D had a hard time understanding why we weren't going to church as it was Sunday but I think she finally got it(or just forgot it was Sunday).  Our new location has lots of green space for the girls to run, comfy beds and is a quiet retreat before flying out on Tuesday. We have a large room so hopefully I can take some time to organize for the trip home.  We are staying here for 2 nights so allows a little more time to settle.  I'll be glad when I pack up these suitcases for the last time!

Tonight's dinner. . .(guess what's on TV?)

We have stayed at self-catering for a large majority of our stay but since we have been on the road we haven't had the luxury.  When the place we are staying offers something reasonable or extremely delicious we eat there otherwise we make due with what we have.  The current residence comes with breakfast and has a great restaurant which we will use for dinner tomorrow but tonight we are eating our leftovers.  Might as well eat up all those groceries we need to get rid of in the next couple of days anyways.  

This is on our current bedroom wall.
 Pretty sure D owes some money. . . .
Not sure what the saw above it is all about but super funny!

Tomorrow after breakfast Gene and Adam are driving to the Canadian High Commission in Pretoria to pick up Z's passport.   It will be just over an hour from here so we are praying that the trip goes will and will be excited to have that passport in hand!

Taking the Long Road. . .

Thursday morning we left Southbroom at around 10am.  We had one last coffee at the coffee shop and said bye to some really sad waitresses that will miss the kids morning visits(and our tip as well I’m sure).  Our first stop was in Durban.  We stopped to say good-bye to Robyn our representative while in SA.  This wonderful lady truly believes every child deserves a home and puts in a bounty of hours to make that happen.  Assisting in international adoption is a side project for her as she works at a children’s centre for special needs children as her day job.  She knows the system inside and out and is one of the reasons that things run so well for the families while they are in SA. Many thanks for all the work she does!

Our first destination was Richard’s Bay.  Gene and Adam simply looked at the map and picked a reasonable driving length.  Richard’s Bay put us just outside the game reserve we were planning on seeing.  The 4 bedroom home fit us well. 

Richard's Bay 

We were up early and on the road by 9am as it took us an hour to get to the game reserve and then 4 hours of driving in the reserve. We were going to find some elephants!  Low and behold immediately after entering the park there was a large male elephant!  Thank goodness because the rest of the drive was a little bit of a bust.  We saw a whole lot of fire!  In SA they burn their grass on a regular basis and did we every drive through some firestorms!  Also explains why there weren't a lot of animals in the section of the park we drove through. 

Finally an elephant!!

We arrived at our guesthouse in Hluhluwe around 4:30pm.  We drove a couple km down the bumpiest gravel road ever to get there.   We bunked in lovely individual cottages with thatched roofs.  There were warnings out for leopards!  They have 3 that have been frequenting the residence as of late.  We were told to keep the children closely supervised and not wander about the property at night.  We enjoyed a lovely full course meal under the stars by candlelight.  They told us not to rush in the morning so the girls got a little splash time in the pool as well before leaving on our next 4 hour drive.

Perfect size for a little splash.

Our cottages

Fireside candlelight dinner

This next leg felt like the longest so far.  Our stop for the night was in Ermelo.  This was extra exciting for D as we had our own TV in our room!  This has been the most “hotel” like place we have stayed at so far.  It is neat to be in such a new unique place every night.  It is always a surprise as Gene is doing most of the bookings from his phone so we don't even know the name of the place we are headed.  The girls continue to travel extremely well.  Z still hates the car seat but generally spends a large chunk of driving napping. D still talks the entire time she is In the car and asks “why” every 2 minutes but we are surviving. 

Ermelo; one of our last "homes" in SA

From this point we have about 2 ½ hours left until our last “home” here.  We plan to stay somewhere between Pretoria and Johannesburg which are about an hour apart.  We will need to pick up the passport Monday morning in Pretoria but fly out of the Johannesburg airport Tuesday night.  We haven’t gotten any replies from our stay inquiries yet but God’s taken pretty good care of us so far so we are fairly unconcerned.    We still have 15 hours to find something. . .               

COMING HOME!!!!!!

We are excited to post that we got news Thursday morning that Z’s passport is in Pretoria!!  We have managed to change our flights to THIS TUESDAY night!  We leave Johannesburg at 8:50pm Tuesday to arrive in London at 6:55am.  Our flight then leaves London 1:10pm to arrive in Toronto at 3:50pm. We are currently about 1/3 of the way on our roadtrip.  Our plan is to arrive in and around Johannesburg by Sunday so the kids can have 2 nights to settle before our long flights home. 

We are so completely excited to know that we will be on our way home.  Our own bed. . our own couch. . my garden…create some routine. . .our pool. . .normal toys and so much more we are ready for!! 

We are currently at an ecolodge with thatched roofs and leopard sightings!  Every day is an adventure(don’t worry we are safe, Nina and Papa)!  Will post more about our adventures in driving to Pretoria when I have better internet access. 

Praise the Lord!!  4 more sleeps here and 1 in an airplane!

"Mom, are we staying here until I'm big?"

“Mom, are we staying here until I’m big?” D asked me the other day.  I had a good laugh as I told her no and that we would hopefully be going home in about 14 more sleeps or 2 more Sundays.  We are starting to feel like we are in the home stretch now.  Over the half way mark at least!  Hard to believe we have been here for the entire month of July.

We have decided to hit the road again and make a slow drive to Johannesburg from here.   We have greatly appreciated our 2 weeks in Southbroom but are ready to do some more touring and excited to soon hopefully have Z’s passport in hand.  We booked our return flights home right out of Johannesburg rather than from Durban.  Generally passports would be couriered from the Embassy in Pretoria(just outside of Johannesburg) to Durban where families are staying.  We are choosing to pick ours up at the Embassy in Pretoria thus eliminating one of the 3 flights(from Durban to Johannesburg) and allowing us to drive there and see more of this beautiful country.    

The trip from here to Johannesburg is approximately 850km.  We are leaving on this morning, driving along the coast and planning to stop at a game reserve for at least one night.  Hopefully D can finally see her elephants(maybe even lions!).  We haven’t made many plans past that but are hoping to make some more bookings today. We will be driving in small spurts as to not create grumpy children.  Our plan is to be in Johannesburg to pick up Z’s passport on Monday morning and make more plans from there.  We are feeling refreshed enough to be in a new location.

D starts every day by asking what we are going to eat and where we are going to go.  We have meals planned fairly concise as to not over buy groceries so the first question is usually easy.  As to the where: we just tell her it is always a mystery!

Family feet in the sand!

One last braai!

You Win Some, You Lose Some

So we were originally told the Z’s passport would take a maximum of 7 days.  Monday would have been day 7 so after an inquiry by our rep here we found out that it probably won’t be ready until next week Monday.  To speed up the passport process we were to have applied for a temporary passport. Due to a lost document (we are not sure exactly where) Canadian High Commission put the application through for a permanent passport which takes closer to 14 days.  So we gained a lot of time in our super speedy Canadian Citizenship but have now had a delay in our passport by about a week.  Would have been comforting to have the document in hand but we know it is being processed and on its way here in the diplomatic pouch from Canada. 

We have done some exploring around the Southbroom area.  We enjoyed a banana farm which had a small butterfly conservatory, animal farm and play area for the kids. 

We visited a croc farm less than 5 minutes from here and enjoyed watching their weekly feeding.  This has apparently been the coldest winter here ever recorded(went down to a balmy 5 degrees!).  This has made the crocs extra sleepy but enough of them took time to eat to be entertaining. 

D and her baby crocodile!

Yummy! Chicken!

Don't fall!

Massive animals! At the end of the presentation the children were given a chance to hold a 4 month old baby crocodile.  They showed a couple of eggs(D was one of the lucky kids to get to take it home) and then she was the first volunteer to hold the crocodile!  Usually a tentative child in large groups we found it entertaining that she was the first to race forward and want to hold this little crawly creature!

The mothering and protective ability of a female crocodile is definitely one of God’s great creations!   

Hair, hair and more hair!

It was on my short list of things to do in SA to get D's hair done.  I knew that there would be lots of great places here and they should be much faster(and a whole lot cheaper) then home.  On our first day in Southbroom I asked a lady with great hair that worked at the coffee shop where she got it done and low and behold she was a hair dresser! Phindie does hair from home on her days off from the coffee shop and was willing to come to our house which was so convenient.  So after about 8 hours (we pushed 7 days on Wed and then quickly finished on Thursday) presenting D's new hair!!

Started at around 10am on Wednesday

Small poof at the top left by 5 that day.

D's new night time style as otherwise it hurts her head.

Beautiful!  Worth every 8 hours of patience!

Hoping this style can be left in for a couple of months.  Phindie did a great job and was super patient as D needed a number of breaks.  We are realizing more and more that labour is super cheap here.  Phindie charged us R150 for the hairdo which translates into less then $15. Makes it less then $2 as hour!  I'm bringing some fake hair packs home so if anyone wants a new do Phindie showed me how it is done!

The Beach House. . ..ahhhh. . .

We arrived in the lovely town of Southbroom at around 11am Friday morning.  This is a small ocean front area full of permanent and “summer” homes.  The lovely family(friends of our soon to be brother-in-law Adrain, huge thanks Adrian!!) we are renting from actually lives in Johannesburg but uses this as their holiday home.  When we walked through the doors of the home I think we all breathed a collective sigh of relief.  The space is gorgeous and at least 10 times larger than our place in Durban!  Tile floor,  LARGE kitchen, a dining room table(we can finally sit and eat at a table!), 4 bedrooms with their own washrooms, a roomy living space with enough comfy seats for all of us, a BBQ, an outdoor dining and sitting space and much to D’s delight 2 BATHTUBS!!   

Indoor and outdoor living space! 

Lots of outdoor space for D and Z to play.

Elize, from a rental company in town let us in and showed us around.   D happened to ask where Z’s was going to sleep as she didn’t see a Pack’n Play and Elise said she just had one dropped off at her office and we could pick it up to borrow.  We also inquired about getting some internet for one of our computers and Elise said we could use her business’s.  The office is just up the street and there are picnic tables out front.  So hopefully I can get a couple of posts in while we are here  Again we are amazed at how God’s hand is upon all aspects of this trip.  Even Pack’n Play’s and internet!

We aren’t sure exactly how long we are staying here and we are so grateful the owners have said to just keep them posted.  When Z’s passport comes in we will reassess the situation but for now we are just happy that one person can read in a quiet outdoor space and another person can watch TV without sitting 2 feet away from each other!!

We have now been twice to a lovely coffee shop in town that makes REAL coffee.  South Africa is not big on coffee we have found out.  There is now a great place up the street that also serves a delicious spiced chai latte much to my delight!  Our server the first day just so happens to also be a hair dresser so I’m hoping to have D’s hair done while we are here as well.

There are plenty of monkeys here!  We are told to close our windows when we leave the house and avoid leaving fruit out as they will likely help themselves thus making a big mess. They are apparently quite tame. At the coffee shop the one day there was a large amount of them in a tree nearby.  D and I went to investigate and they chucked food at us from the tree!  Super funny!  Pretty sure they are as bad as raccoons in a campground. 

Lots and lots of troublesome monkeys!

D finally got to experience her fist dip in the ocean and LOVED it.  Unfortunately she found out that it is a little salty and does not taste so great!  Did not deter her desire to go in but she is much more careful about putting her head in.  The water is pretty rough here right now and she loved wave jumping with her dad.  Her continual question now is “can I go swim in the ocean?” as the beach is just a short walk up the road.

We attended Margate Baptist Church on Sunday morning.  We joke that Gene googled “grey haired church in Margate” to find this place as they fit right in.  There was a small population of kids there and even a children’s message as well. The message was on knowing that we will face trials as Christians and how we need to cling to God even more during those times. 

We are praying that we hear news of Z’s passport this week but for now are trying to be thankful for the beautiful place we are living!

And finally. . . Giraffes!

D has been told since we had dates to go to Africa that Gene would take her to see elephants.  Today we got half way there as we went to a game park with a couple of animals.  It is no Kruger Park but we had the time today and it was a short distance away from our house so off we went.  Tala Game Reserve had no predators so only Giraffes, Rhinos, Hippos, Zebras and much more.  It was a great day trip for us and D was SOOO excited this morning when we told her we were FINALLY going to go see some animals.

Zebras at a watering hole.

Giraffes right out the window!

It was a great day but all were exhausted when we got home.  The girls had their naps on the van ride home and the men enjoyed theirs when we got home.  The kids are starting to get tired. . .a little crabbier then normal, some extra wining and testiness.  Z has 3 teeth on the verge of popping and has come out of her shell to show she has a very quick temper.  When angry she tends to slap her big sister and has even been seen to try to bite though hasn't made connection yet.  Needless to say we are ready to move to our new house tomorrow!
Our cottage in Southbroom is a 4 bedroom home which should bode lots of more space.  It is close to the ocean so hopefully D can finally get all the way wet in some warm water and a parent might be brave enough to go in with her.  This area is almost 2 hours outside of Durban so lots of new things to see to keep the adults busy as well.  We are leaving here right after breakfast in the morning so should be in our new location by lunch time.
Z's passport application went out yesterday so we are praying for a speedy response on this as well!  When Z's passport comes in we will look into earlier flights home though our travel agent said due to the business of summer the likelihood of fitting us all on an earlier return flight is not very high.  What ever will be will be.  We may just have 2 1/2 weeks to tour around South Africa!!
This may be my last post for a bit as we will not have WIFI in Southbroom.  I will continue to write and when I get some internet will post all I can!  

Over 2 weeks in . . .

Hard to believe we landed in Durban over 2 weeks ago.  We have been happy to enjoy some quiet days here with a couple highlights. 

Outside of Grace Family Church.

On Sunday we attended Grace Family Church in Umhlanga. This is a large over 1000 member church located right off the ocean.  Nothing like a great view!  It was a little different then what we are used too with loud music(D covered her ears) and smoke machines. The songs were still familiar and the message was on God’s Love and was very applicable for our lives as Christians.  

View from church parking lot.

Gene is on a committee for a mission in Cambridge, Ontario called the “Gleaners”  This program takes “unusable food” by Canadian standards and cleans, chops and dehydrates it into packages for shipping to countries in need.  The Container Ministries which runs out of Grace Family Church in Durban is a recipient of the Gleaners products.   On Monday we enjoyed a great lunch out with 2 wonderfully giving people who run this ministry.  We heard about how they operate and different things they are doing to help the many people in need here in South Africa.

Through conversation we also found out that the Container Ministry is Partners with Z’s orphanage in Matatiele.  We are realizing more and more that though the world is very land big it is small in community!

About every 2 or 3 days we are careful to have some down time were the girls can just “be” at the cottage.  D enjoys some time by the pool or playing quietly and Z usually catches up on some sleep.  Today should be our last day of paperwork and then we will just enjoy some more waiting until Z’s passport is in.  It will be nice to know that everything we can do has been done.   We are feeling so entirely grateful for God’s provision on this trip here is just a small list:

1. For good health and safety in travelling.

2. For 2 beautiful little girls who have traveled AMAZINGLY well.

3.For great food and wonderful fellowship.

4. For the many people God has put before us that have inspired us to do more to help those in need.

5. For SUPER speedy paperwork so far

Canadian Girls!!

Our 2 Canadian girls in their Canada shirts!!

This afternoon we were shocked to find out that Z's Canadian Citizenship has been granted!  This part of the process was to take 2 weeks and it took less then 24 hours for us to get confirmation!  Our rep here says she has never had a response this fast.
We have spent the last week waiting for the Court Order which came in yesterday(Monday).  Our application for Citizenship was sent out right away and we received the e-mail this afternoon that Z is now a Canadian Citizen.  We now have our Canadian Passport Documents completed and they will be sent out tomorrow.  This is the last part of our wait.  Super exciting!!
I have previous things to post from days gone by and will try to get to them tomorrow but had to write a quick note with the wonderful news!!
Our prayers have been answered in an amazing way!

Finally rest(and itchy feet for some)

Tuesday morning we were ecstatic to finally be able to have a morning without setting our alarm.  Whew, what a whirl-wind of a last week we have had!  Z now has a bad cough and was up throughout the night barking.  As the week has progressed she has gotten better.  Unfortunately they were on a strict schedule at the orphanage and all children were woken up by at least 6am.  Needless to say 5:30am seems to be when she has decided to start her day.  Hoping to work on that when we get home as big sister prefers to sleep until at least 8-as does momJ.

We have settled into a bit of a routine here.  After the men started to get itchy feet from the lack of schedule we have decided to eat breakfast at 8.  If we are doing a day trip we then meander out for the morning.  Usually back around 1 or 2 then have some lunch and the girls(and adults) can have a little nap.  By 3 it is “tea time”  then supper needs to be made, coffee at 5, dinner, children’s bath and bed time, game or watch soccer, night cap and then bed.  We then start the entire schedule over again the next day. 

Balancing the trip is somewhat of a challenge.  We need to stay busy enough that we don’t go stir crazy but create enough downtime that we don’t create grumpy children.  We also need to be cautious that the new one has time to adjust to all these new experiences.  We are still struggling to find that balance.

We have gone on a number of “outings”.  We went to visit 3 other families from Canada adopting little girls:one from London, one from Breslau and one from Baden of all places!  They are all staying at another B and B about 5 minutes from our place. Who knew we had to travel 2 days to meet people living 5 minutes from our house!

We have gone to “The Pavilion” a large mall that is basically the same as our malls back home.  Same name brands, same clothes and about the same prices.

We left one day to go to a large market downtown.  We were told the safest was to park in the underground secure parking and to go in the morning before it got really busy.  We arrived and saw the clearanceor the underground parking was 2 metres.  We thought we would fit. . .  We got a couple feet in and started to hear a lot of scraping on the top of the van.  A parking attendant came by and told us we were not going to fit and needed to park on the road. D still tells the story of “when we tried to park in the garage but were to big”.  As Gene says “we would need a little more Vaseline to fit in that one”.  Van came out unscathed and we still have a good laugh about it.

Our super van(they call it a bus here) which apparently has a clearance of 2 metres and 1 inch.

We then tried to find parking on the street but downtown Durban is more than crazy.  We opted to see the “Golden Mile” instead. This area was “redone” for the World Cup years ago and is a mile of beach front beautifully made for walking, shops and activities.  There were lots of street vendors so did a little shopping. D was more than excited to be at the ocean and asks daily when we can go back. 

First feet in the ocean

We generally need to do groceries every 2 or 3 days as we have a small fridge.  So that is another outing. We have become fairly familiar with the local “SuperSpar” and rather enjoy it.   Corry and I are proud of the meals we can create in our small kitchen.  Having familiar food has helped us cope with the reality of the long time away from home.  We were also over the moon to find out that our unit has a WASHING MACHINE!  We thought we would need to find a laundry facility and this has made things much simpler for us.  

Our small but very functional kitchen.

Our current accommodations is a 2 bedroom, 2 washroom cottage with a small living space and kitchen. On Friday we are heading to a 4 bedroom cottage by the beach.  We have made this comfortable but are glad to be moving somewhere that at least has a table to eat at and a little more space so we aren't tripping over each other.  The weather here is only warm when the sun is out from about 11-3.  Then we all put on our warm clothes, crank up the heater and move inside.  D has jumped in the pool a little but it is REALLY cold even for her.

The view of the pool from our cottage.
You'll notice we are in the last bit of sun left!

Our 2 bedroom cottage on the hill.

A Run Down Building and A Whole Lot of Vomit

Monday, July 7 

This morning we were at the courthouse in Matatiele for our 9 O’clock appointment.  The Magistrate(judge) was on leave the week before and was making the drive from Durban(4 hours) this morning to come into work.  When we arrived he obviously was not there yet.  It gave us a chance to really observe the building.  This building was very unassuming, though large, dumpy almost and fairly unkept.  It also appeared that we were the only ones there this early on a Monday morning. 

Shortly after 9 the Magistrate showed up.   Arend  Treurnicht which translates to eagle-don’t be sad Gene and Corry say.  He seemed a little flustered but quickly led his to his office.  It was a large room with a couple chairs, files, desk and computer.  There was a very large crack running from the ceiling all the way to the floor and glass panes were missing from the window which was making the room even colder on this already cool morning. 

Robyn, our representative,  explained everything that needed signing for him(she even drafted all the documents herself as she said sometimes in small towns the printers aren’t working or they don't have the proper forms).  He spent a little time looking over the documents to be sure all was in order but in the end he simply asked if we were sure about this adoption.  We, of course, said yes.  We signed where needed, he stamped were needed and we were out of his office in 30 minutes. 

The longest part of the appointment was when he had to find the official adoption number.  It turns out that we are the first, and possibly the only, adoption from Matatiele this year.  Very sad.

The magistrate gave and old “Heep, Heep, Hoo-ra” on our way out the door. (Gene said it is the Dutch soccer cheer) 

Just like that-we are officially Z's parents! 

We then got into the van and began to make the 4 hour drive home.  Z was not excited about getting into the car seat in the first place but after a bit of driving her stomach decided it wasn’t a huge fan either.   We were planning a stop about an hour into the drive and it was good we did as by the time we did arrive at a store she had emptied the complete contents of her stomach.  Thankfully, I had seen the grey pallor start upon her face and was prepared for what followed though when that much comes out not all of it hits the bowl.   Her outfit needed changing and the seat needed a wipe down but otherwise it could have been a whole lot worse.

The rest of the ride was fairly uneventful, kids slept, view was gorgeous as we took a different highway back.  Goats, cows, unbelievable valleys and mountains, orange groves and so much more made the drive seem worth the while. 

This was the "hill" behind the church we attended. Can you read what is written?

Hills, hills and valleys

When we were almost back in Durban the kids woke up and the vomiting began again.  Z had managed to eat a couple crackers and they apparently didn’t sit well either so up they came.  She managed to stand all this with only a little whimper, what a trooper.  Needless to say the car seat will probably not be her favourite place for a while!

"Z Day"

We arrived home from church and all took up position in the sun to try to get the chill out of our bones.  We enjoyed a light lunch and I had just told D that it was time for a nap when Liz, the orphanage director drove in.  There, sitting on her lap, was Z with tears in her eyes.  Liz said she didn’t have the heart to stick her in a car seat as Z does not have much experience with vehicles and started to cry as soon as they got in.  It was a short drive. 

Big sister was over the moon and has been ever since!!  Z gets about 20 kisses on the forehead a day, lots of hugs and loves just about anything big sister does.   The transition of going from only to big sister has gone very well for D(so far) and Z as well. 

Z was dropped off with a bag full of clothes, bottle, a couple of diapers and formula: definitely much more than we expected.   Grandma Polly supplied us with a little baby cereal and extra blankets for the night so we were good to go.  With little fanfare Z was now ours.

Z spent most of that first day in my arms.  She is a thumb sucker and would simply cuddle in with her thumb in her mouth to deal with the uncertainty of the situation.  She spends a lot of time observing what others are doing.  She had no problem eating, went down to bed that night without a peep and slept through the entire night.  So far so good!!

The entire situation is so surreal right now.  We first saw this beautiful little girl just over a month ago, met her 3 days ago and now here she sleeps in our room!  Tomorrow we will attend court to make her an official part of our family but as far as we are concerned this is where she has always belonged. 

Thank you Lord for this amazing blessing!! 

Still Alive (and doing well)

Just a little note to say that we are alive and well.  I have so much more to write but I have been busy visiting, travelling etc  but will get to the posts soon!!  Court was passed on Monday, big sister and little sister are doing amazingly well.  Will post about "Z Day", court, trip back to Durban etc ASAP!!  Thank you for all your comments and notes of support!

The Coldest Church on Fire for Jesus

We were up at 6:45am this morning and it continues to get harder and harder to wake D up as she is not really an early morning person.  Plus it was only about 3 degrees this morning so even harder to get out from under the blankets.  We enjoyed Grandma Polly’s wonderful breakfast hospitality before heading to church with Liz, the orphanage director and Robyn, our representative in South Africa (an amazing lady who I could write an entire post about and probably will later). 

Church was located in a little town called Cedarville.  We drove through it on the way to Matatiele and glanced around but in the 10 seconds it took us to drive through it we did not see a building that appeared to represent a church.  So on this morning we simply followed Liz to this building:

Gene and Corry still get the chills just looking at the picture!

There was a large propane heater in the middle of the building and we chose seats close to the heater hoping to pick up a little heat.  We noted that in the ceiling were 6 “skylights” lacking the glass so thus letting the heat right out the top.  Gene’s hands were shaking so badly from the cold Corry could barely read the words of the Bible! It was SOOOO cold!  We could see our breath during the service!

There was a table with children’s activities at a small table in the back, about 40 chairs set up and a small podium located at the front.  When service began there were about 30 people gathered in the small building. 

We enjoyed prayer, singing and a wonderful message about our purpose in life.  We were reminded that we can all strive to have goals and worldly purpose but essentially we are called to do one thing “the will of the Father”.  All else comes second to doing God’s will in our lives.  We felt truly blessed by the people and message of this service.  They finish off the service with coffee, cookies and a time of fellowship.    

D noticed that the other children were allowed to play during the service so joined the table at the back.  About midway through the service a handful of neighborhood boys arrived to enjoy the play activities(and snacks) too.  What a wonder to see how children interact!  Although no words were spoken I observed a boy help D with a marker, her share some blocks, the group of them build a tower together and at the end of the service she even felt compelled to say bye to a few of them before leaving the table.  As adults we do tend to confuse things with too many words!  I have noticed a number of times during this trip that a language barrier does not seem to exist in children. 

We arrived back at the guesthouse to hopefully catch a nap and some sun to warm up before Z is set to arrive.

Making New Friends

Saturday, July 5

We awoke to our alarms again this morning as we wanted to get a good visit in with Z before her 11am nap.  It was hard to crawl out of our heated bed at 7:30am to a FREEZING cold room.  The temperature at night goes down to about 0 degrees and although we each have small heaters in our room South Africans do not build their homes to retain heat.    The nice feature we discovered was the heated blankets under out sheets!  We would just turn them on high before going to bed and be toasty and warm upon climbing in.  The first night Gene “fried” as he didn’t realize there was a setting on both sides of the beds so Corry’s side got turned off and he couldn’t figure out why his side was still so hot!

We are spending  the weekend in Matatiele at a B and B called Upmarket Accommodations.  This place is run by an 84 years old women we call “Grandma Polly”.  Our stay includes dinner and breakfast so it has been a treat to have home cooked meals made for us!  Breakfast’s first course is cereal with cold or warm milk and yogurt.  That is followed up by eggs, bacon, sausage, toast and more.   Dinner is served by candlelight with fine china and linen napkins.  At least 3 different types of vegetables, a meat dish, rice and warm custard over cake was our dinner every night.  Grandma Polly made us feel at home the entire weekend and we truly appreciated it!!  Plus D was allowed to pick a “sweetie”(marshmallow) after the meal so she was happy. 

Today will be our last day of visiting the orphanage much to D’s disappointment.  D has made fast friends with the children there and thought we should invite them all back to our guesthouse to play even longer.  A very special character named Rowen gave us tours and entertainment on every visit.  Almost all the children we have met will grow up in this orphanage.  Due to the rural location there are not a lot of foster homes available plus it is much too far out for domestic adoptive families to make the effort when there are closer locations and so many children in need.    

D getting a big push from Rowan on the swing at the orphanage.

We again spent as much time with Z as we could in the afternoon as to acclimatize her to us a bit as she will be dropped off at our guesthouse following church tomorrow.   She still cries a little at dad but will warm up after some patience and time. Men are not often seen in the orphanage, white men, almost never so she is very uncertain about these strange creatures!

D running to Z cottage to visit her for the last time before she lives with us forever!

We continue to pray that this change in Z's life goes smoothly and that we as a family do all we can  to ease this abrupt transition.