The Fey Family

Between our time in Michigan and Minnesota, we stopped to visit two families with connections to South Africa. Our first stop was just outside of Iowa City, Iowa, a midpoint we had chosen as a meeting place with our friends, the Van Gilders. We met Tim and Athena soon after we moved to South Africa in 2011. Their family had arrived the week before ours, and with children of similar ages, a son 1 day younger than Tyson, a daughter 6 months younger than Jori and baby Zeke, we quickly became friends. It was a blessing to experience life in South Africa with another family from the states. We often had sleepover swaps with the kids, date nights with the adults and lots of Sunday afternoons spent together. The Van Gilders were also a huge blessing to our family when we moved to Tshepo ya Bana, often bringing special treats for the whole gang there, including Thanksgiving dinner! We only had a few days with our friends, but it was great to catch up. As soon as they arrived, the kids ...

Well, we wrapped up our final morning in Hudsonville earlier today and are now just outside of Iowa City, Iowa, waiting to see the Van Gilder family! West Michigan, you were so good to us. Our time in the US has been so much more relaxing and restful and right this time around. I am not sure if we are just more settled into our South African life, if we planned the timing better (like arriving on a Thursday and having time to rest instead of Saturday night and heading out the door for a full Sunday like we did 3 years ago), or if we had our expectations in a better place, but for whatever reasons, this trip has been going a lot smoother. And you all know that when I say "we" I really mean "me" because Darin and the kids are just more even keeled than I am. I will be posting pictures later, but I have been putting a bunch on Facebook and Instagram when I've had a few odd moments to do so. Our time was PACKED, but also so relaxed. I think it felt packed becaus...

Six years ago we arrived in this country with you, our 6 year old boy and 4 year old girl. During our first week, we celebrated your birthdays; Ty-ty turning 7 and Jori turning 5. Our blonde haired, blue eyed babes, getting older, but still so little and sweet. This kid. Just like brother. And now today, we suddenly have a teenager in the house. Tyson Alan we are celebrating you turning 13 today. Where has the time gone? No really, where has the time gone? How did you go from this little 7 year old boy to a young man?  Today I watched you dance in front of a crowd of children and adults from our neighborhood. There was a time not so long ago that you would not have dared to put yourself out there, but lately your brave side is shining through. Whether it is dancing or putting out a fire with your mama. You know, a fire that you told me was going to get out of control, but mother knows best, right? Our "little" garbage fire burned half the field! You we...

It is Friday night, June 9. We are flying to the states in less than 2 weeks. Time is flying and it shows no sign of slowing down. The stomach flu is over, or at least we are hoping it is. Darin had a resurgence on Saturday night, but we think it was actually a case of food poisoning. Our dead mouse count is up to 6 as the kids found an already deceased rodent behind a kitchen cupboard last week. The other mice are thwarting our best efforts to kill them, eating crackers, cheese and peanut butter off of the trap without actually snapping the trap on themselves. Clever little buggers. We are dealing with a lot of stuff right now, including a lot of pain in my family with the death of my nephews' dad earlier this week. It is hard to be away from family, but I am so thankful that this is the year we are heading home for a visit. It is time to just be together with those we love, away from the hustle and bustle here in South Africa. We are looking forward to seeing family and frien...

These last few weeks have been hard. Now, we all have hard in our lives and some hard is like mind- blowingly painful and some is just the every day kind of stuff that piles up and buries a body under its weight. What is hard for one person might seem like a cakewalk to someone else. This is some of the physical, real life hard we've been dealing with. I might get around to posting some of the emotional/mental hard, but not sure if I can emotionally/mentally deal with it, so wait and see! We still have mice. Yep. We've killed three (the bag'em and drown'em method) and thought that was the end of it, but we were wrong. Those who are left behind are brazen; running past us while we watch TV, chewing away at things behind kitchen cupboards while we peer at them with a flashlight; and they poop a lot. It's everywhere. It is gross. When mixed with their urine, it is messy and sticky. **Update: 2 more mice have been caught and killed since I started this post. I repea...

Hello everybody, My name is Tyson. I am going to tell you about what I do and see when I go out with my mom and dad to centers. First I will tell you a little about myself. I used to go to a school called Bethesda which is not that far away from where we live now. My family and I have moved twice since we moved to South Africa I am 12 turning 13 on June 16. I am doing home-school, I mostly do school on the computer, but sometimes go out with my parents to do stuff with them.  I think my mom and dad have a very important roll in “Take Action.” My mom goes out and does surveys of the centers. My dad does “Busetsa” stuff like finances. “Busetsa” is a wood working place that is a great place that you can get gifts or other nice things. I have 3 friends that live on the property of “Busetsa,” the property is called “Butterfly.” If you are wondering what that weird word means, it means to take back or renew. My dad also does the Woolies and pick and pay food, which are stores ...

Do you know what my life is full of right now? Rodents and good intentions. The rodents are irritating. Mice of all sizes including tiny kangaroo mice and rats have invaded our house. First we saw their poop and crackers with rodent sized bites taken out of them. Then we started to find piles of dog food around the house. Now we are seeing the rodents themselves. They are quite at home here; popping behind the TV stand while we sit and watch Little House on the Prairie with the kids, no more hiding out until night time to appear. Oh no, not our little friends. We put down piles of poison. PILES. It all disappears, and still the mice and rats are just here. So cute, right? It is gross. I am annoyed when I lay in my bed at night and hear the rustling of rodents in my kitchen and even in my bedroom. Sadly, I have kind of reached the point where I am like "Meh, we've got rodents in the house. Whatev". The good intentions are also irritating. There are things I want ...