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.  

Meeting Z!!!

**If you haven't figured out by now we had no WIFI on our trip to Matatiele.  I did continue to write our about our journey and am now posting then as I find time to write.  I will try to remember to date them at the top as to keep things in order**

Friday, July 4, 2014

We were up and running today at 7:00am as we needed to replace the van tire before heading on our 4 hour journey to Matatiele.  After having that done at the local “Tiger Tyre” just down the street we were on our way by 9:30.  Hills, hills and mountains about describes our journey.  We made two short stops on the way.

D was feeling ill so we stopped to walk around and use some restrooms.  I had some liquid anti-nausea in the back so I gave her what I thought was an appropriate dose.  Shortly after being on the road again she fell asleep. 

We stopped again at a “Wimpy’s” for lunch and as D was still sleeping I stayed in the car while the others picked up some food.  Upon looking at the anti-nausea medication I realized I had given her the older child dose so 2 tsp instead of 1.  Oops! Best 3 hour nap she’s ever had!

We dropped our luggage off at our guest house: our home for the next 3 nights and left immediately to see Z.  With all the stopping and truck traffic(they only go about 10km uphill and there are ALOT of hills) the 4 hours trip took us about over 5.  

Z is wonderful!  Everything we imagined and more.    Upon first seeing us she cried.   As we spent more time with her cottage she started to warm up.  By the end of our 2 hour visit she would sit herself on my lap.  She even gave dad a cuddle before we left.  Big sister just wanted Z to sit on her lap and Z was happy to comply.

Couple of observations:

1.        She appears to be “top dog” of her cottage.  When in toy altercations with others she always ended up the winning party.  Watch out cousins!

2.       We are told she loves to eat.  Will fit right in then!

3.       English is not spoken in the cottage so we will have a slight communication barrier.

4.       She currently sleeps through the night.

5.       She laughs a lot and has a very playful spirit.

6.       She is very well cared for.

We are feeling so entirely blessed right now and so thankful for God’s hand upon this trip so far; in safety, patience in travel and especially in meeting this child that He has chosen to join our family.

Still arriving in Durban:the day that was. . .

We were told at 3pm that our bags were ready to be picked up at the airport.  So Gene and Adam headed out after both being refreshed by a shower and afternoon nap.  After spending 5 minutes trying  to start our super van they figured out the sticky key and were on their way: little did they know that this was a sign of things to come. . .

The airport is only  30 minutes from our location so we figured after they returned we would find some groceries for supper and breakfast the next day.  3 hours later and no sign of them we were starting to get a little hungry(we hadn’t really eaten anything since 6 am breakfast on our flight in).  When they finally rolled in at around 6:30 we got the entire story

1.Heavy traffic on the way there due to an accident

2.No parking:then crazy parking circle meant for 20 but holding 200.

3. Adam ran in and had to be brought back in through some back door with full security to get to the baggage counter. All bags were there! They gave him all the bags with no I.D. no questions asked (including Gene and Corry’s) Yeh!

4. Did not have exact change for parking as they were 2 minutes over the free allotted parking time.

5.  When they got to pay booth realized they had accidently left parking time ticket in machine so had to run back and forth to pay booth to pay for 2 minutes over.

6. Finally left the airport only to have a FLAT TIRE on the main highway at rush hour with the sun fading fast. 

7. Adam replaced tire with the spare on the side of the Durban highway.

Yikes! What a day!  So we ordered takeout pizza(it was delicious), Corry and I hitched a ride with our B and B host to the grocery to pick up a few groceries and a $3 bottle of wine! Hoping this is not a sign of weeks to come.