The news from here

Happy Friday everyone! It is getting close to 2 in the afternoon and the little ones will be waking up from their naps soon. This morning the physiotherapist came to see Oarabile and Amo. She was so pleased with the progress they've made over the past 3 weeks and was able to show us a lot more exercises to do with them. The volunteers who are here right now are so passionate about these girls and really want them to succeed. They are so faithful in doing exercises with them and putting in the time and effort to bring about positive change for these little ones. We are so thankful for our aunties!!!

My parents are still here, but they will be leaving on Tuesday night. It is so hard getting ready to say goodbye. I really feel the distance living in South Africa, so much more than I ever did while we were in Michigan and they were on the West Coast. We have had such a wonderful time, with holidays to Kruger Park and a wonderful overnight to the water park in Bela Bela. The little ones here have also gotten to know Papa John and Grandma Willie and have spent time with them at their cottage. My dad has been playing guitar and teaching the kids new songs, and doing a lot of gardening and tree trimming and all sorts of other busy work that has been a huge help to us here. My mom has been in the kitchen non-stop making meals, zucchini bread, cookies and more. I think I might need a refresher on making supper after she leaves!

Tyson and Jori have had a nice break from school. They've been having sleepovers with my parents, playing their new Wii games (Just Dance Disney and Lego Indiana Jones), watching movies with the aunties (seriously, did I mention how thankful we are for them??), playing with the little kids and so much more. Chris and her boys were gone the last 10 days and Tyson and Jori eagerly took over with the dogs; Kiki, Cassie and Bishop. I would love to get them a dog of their own, but Darin doesn't think adding a 4^th dog to the mix would be such a good idea. We have been tossing around the idea of getting a goat or a sheep though, but I'm not sure that would be an equal substitute in their minds.

We are all almost back to health here. The stomach bug that was going around seems to have stopped, Koki's impetigo is almost cleared up and other than a few spots on some of the other kids, we seem to have avoided an outbreak. Little Amo still has a lot of phlegm and junk that she struggles with at night, but we've been putting her in a steam tent and that seems to help.

This week my dad helped me haul over all the stuff that we had left at the house across the road except for Darin's filter inventory. I spent the rest of the week sorting, discarding, organizing and packing away. It is a good feeling to have our stuff in one place again and an even better feeling to have a clean bedroom! Tyson and Jori had a little help from Papa and Gram and their room is also clean and organized. We'll see how long it lasts.

Fall is here and we can feel that winter is on its way. I have been wearing flip flops non-stop since mid-September, but this morning I finally caved and put on a pair of slippers. My feet were just too cold. It is beautiful outside right now, but there is a definite chill in the house.

That is the news from here. Tuesday the kids go back to school (yay) and my parents fly out (boo), so please be praying for us as we say good-bye to them and settle back into a normal routine, if there is such a thing!