Father Daughter Banquet

Last week was hectic crazy, yet great!

First there was the fundraising Golf day with a Gala dinner - we raised U$ 9055!! Early morning saw only about 60 people for dinner, which made that we almost cancelled - a final head count during the evening: 130 people!! Due to the economic circumstances in Zimbabwe, fundraising is never easy - we know that we would never have achieved this on our own and thank the Lord for the success of the entire day.

Then there was the preparation for the Father Daughter banquet on Saturday. Monday morning saw me in "downtown"/"cow's guts", similar to Makola market in Ghana, buying fabric for the twins' dresses. Sheree worked wonders during the week and we had the final fitting on Friday - all still well on track for the next day. All the decorating issues were taken care of; despite rain and plenty of errands that needed to be run during the afternoon, Friday night promised to be spent doing nails, etc. prior to doing the airport run to collect George coming back from South Africa.

Then the phone rang .........

George's flight was cancelled due to the fact that Harare airport was not clear for the night landing, landing lights not sufficient as we had lots of rain. A mild panic attack and then waiting for news of possible flights the next morning. After further delays the next morning, they eventually landed at 9:40am. Rushing home to drop off; to venue to help decorate in need; back home to collect girls for hair appointments (had a great hour with other moms & girls as we shared many coffee variations!!); back home to drop off & do special flowers for dads to give the girls as they arrive at venue; back to venue to drop off and then back home to help dress. CRAZY!!

Then it happened..........

As we zipped Ellen up, the zip was no longer!!! Marina panicked, Ellen was to shocked to say anything and my brain went into overdrive!! There was only 10min to fix this wardrobe malfunction, thus out with needle & thread. I started sewing Ellen into her dress, whilst Marina finished up. I must say Ellen handled "the crises" in such a mature manner. In the end you couldn't even tell there was a problem. They both looked stunning and to me far to grown up. They eventually left at 6:45pm, arrived in time for 7pm and had a great time.

Thank you Lord for this opportunity for George, Ellen & Marina and the other fathers & daughters.

George, Ellen & Marina thoroughly enjoying this very special evening.

Ellen, Hannah, Marina

After George & the twins left, I admit to falling apart. And into this gap stepped Yvonne.

She had been absolutely amazing the entire day. As she is so close to the twins, she felt very left out on this occasion and there had been some tears (prior to the day and earlier on the day itself). Yet, she was the one who drove with me in the pouring rain to collect first the dresses and then George. As we got stuck in traffic, she prayed that God would take control of our chaotic morning and help us to get everything done on time. She helped me do the special arrangements that the girls received at the venue; played mother to Samuel most of the day and then picked up the pieces after they left. She made pancakes for us while I fed & bathed Samuel, delicious! When Samuel was in bed, we could cuddle up and watch a "chick flick". Sunday morning after church, George took her for her favourite: waffles!!

Thank you Lord for Yvonne and the place she has in our family.