It feels like I’m in a time warp. What we did two weeks ago seems like both yesterday and last year. At any rate, continuing the “story” of our time in South Africa, after returning from Pennington Beach Camp we went to Glenridge Church with our host families and had a really wonderful time praising the Lord together.
Monday, we got to meet the babies at the iThemba Lethu transition home. And yes, we loved them! No, we cannot adopt from South Africa, but if you live in a country that’s not the U.S. you probably can and maybe you should!
We played with the children in the yard at the home and also got to take some of the older ones to the beach to play in the water! The two oldest boys LOVED playing with Jonathan in the surf.
Here is one of my favorite photos of our time with the boys Thomas and Duzy:
They are big lovers and such fun boys! Out of respect for their privacy, we won’t post many photos of our time with them, but suffice it to say that we loved each of the children and we’d love to show you photos and tell you stories in person! One little boy, Benny, was the first one to warm up to me and man, he stole my heart with his cuddles and smiles. And then there was little Stella, a strikingly beautiful baby girl who was clever and quiet and so much fun to be around. She wasn’t quite walking yet, but she would sit and talk with an amazing vocabulary! The only problem with Stella is that she didn’t want me to put her down and I didn’t want to put her down either, but my arms were tired! I’m not used to carrying anything for very long I guess! I’ll have to work out my arms a little more.
It was a great blessing for us to see the way the children were being loved and raised in a caring way that is growing them into loving and helpful kids. They all look out for each other and love each other like siblings (and yes, there are even tears and some hurt feelings over toys like siblings have too, which I thought was so great).
I believe we will need an Africa stories break for Christmas festivities. Stay tuned….
hey … i took that picture! now i can say some of my photography has been ‘published.’ yes? i know i’m stretching it.
love you guys xoxoxo
Awesome picture! You guys rock.
Hey I was just reading your about us section, and I will be in the area until January 6th, can we meet up?? hugs!
I’m loving these Africa posts.
You guys totally rock.
I was wondering why people from the US aren’t allowed to adopt kids from South Africa, but other places are?
Also, thanks for the wonderful Christmas letter – you guys have the best pictures.
Lisa: yes, you may say you’ve had your photos published! It’s a great picture!
Cassie: not sure why U.S. citizens aren’t able to adopt from South Africa. Right now, the official word (that I could find) is you can only adopt from South Africa if you carry a South African passport. People have been successful in adopting using lawyers and such but it sounds rather tricky. And we’re glad you liked the Christmas letter! I hope you had a great Christmas!