May - 18th Birthdays; Travelling & University :)

Little Women.........

Ellen and Marina turned 18 on 4 May. Yep, hard to believe these two little rascals are already 18 and preparing to leave for university next year! My Mommy heart is still trying to get around it - even today when I look at them, this is what I see :) not these two....

..... although we have to admit the smiles are still mischievous and Yvonne can testify that some days they still do "crazy" kids things :)

I think Michael is under the impression that God placed Ellen on his path to be his and only his sister. Although he is a real love bug, she is definitely his all time favorite - yes, sometimes even Mommy has to stand aside. He tolerates Ellen's attention to other siblings and gets super jealous if she even looks or attends to another baby. Ellen's gift is definitely her love for little ones. She is more involved with Samuel's therapy than her sisters as she is going to study Speech and Occupational Therapy - she wants to specifically one day work with children with special needs.

Marina is the "rough & tumble" sister. She believes the boys need to play like boys and is forever running, chasing, rolling, crawling, etc with the boys. But she is also stricter than her older sister (please note: Ellen is only 1 min older than Marina - Marina just wanted all to know:)). However her brothers and sisters know that she will always have their back - especially Samuel.

I must admit that I stand amazed that God has blessed us with 3 daughters who have an amazing relationship with each other. Despite the twins being close, Yvonne knows that they will always be there for her. To think this photo was taken just before we left for Ghana more than 7 years ago - did not expect any of them to grow up this quickly.

We also spent the last 2 weeks of May in South Africa. The "seasoned travellers" flew down, whilst George and the girls did a road trip. Both the boys absolutely love flying and are so good on the plane. Turbulence brings out the worst case of giggles in Michael, the first sign of this was when the two of us travelled in Ghana to meet his family. Once Michael starts laughing he can not stop, most neighbouring travellers find it difficult to ignore his joy. Samuel normally catches 40winks from shortly after take off till about 20min before landing, then he "reads" the airline safety brochure and their magazine - just like a grown up. The biggest blessing of the trip was that we were there for my parents wedding anniversary and my Mom's birthday.

We also had some interviews at the University of Pretoria and handed in Ellen and Marina's university applications for next year. Yep, we are the already - once again this was way more emotional for me than what I wanted to admit :( So at this stage we are looking at Ellen and Marina going down south again at the end of July to write NBT (entrance exams) and yes it will be there very first solo trip.

I know - I'm overprotective and its high time for this Mommy to let go somewhat of her "little ones" :) Whenever anxiety about their time away from home overwhelms me, I remind myself that God still has the whole world in His hands despite of what the world out there looks like. As long as the girls stand firm on the Rock of all times, and hide under His wings, they will be safe.

Rest of April

The rest of April had been relatively "quiet" with George and I celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary on 26 April. This photo was taken about 10 months into our marriage and around the time that we were told that our dreams of a precious little bundle would most likely not happen without numerous procedures (costing lots of money),a fair amount of tears and absolutely no guarantees of success.But God had other plans.


Yes, the past 25 years had been filled with
- times that we had asked not only each other but also God "why?";
- oceans of tears (both of sorrow and joy);
- definitely "bags of salt" that needed to be worked through.


But God's strength carried us through all, protected us in new countries and above all blessed us more than we could ever have imagined. Our 5 children are a precious gift from God and our family have been blessed with the most amazing friendships in Ghana and Zimbabwe.

God has been and will be the rock we stand on.

Day out @ Bally Vaugh

This past Saturday we visited a animal sanctuary not to far from Harare. Not only do they have "orphaned" domestic animals (pigs,geese,chickens,rabbits,etc) but they also have a number of lions, zebras, crocodiles, variety of monkeys/baboons and other. All the children loved it - the boys were initially overwhelmed, but quickly recovered and then they were unstoppable.

Despite our friends' son ending up with stitches in his leg and a mishap of my own (last photo) a fabulous time was had by all.

On our way.

George & Samuel

George & Michael

This 3 week old orphan almost had a new home.

The boys (and girls) fell in love with him :)

Michael loving on the little one after he realised he could not pick it up,

he did try his best though.

Samuel got hold of a leg, would not let go and

proceeded to plant kisses all over the little one :)

Look, look..........
Michael was almost besides himself with excitement when he saw .........

the zorse...........

no petting of this little one though, he was skittish.

It started with a slow walk through the water..........

then a slight slip on the mossy slope .............

The rest is history................yes, the water was rather chilly :)

The view from our table where we were having lunch, awezim!

Samuel got frantic every time Jacob & friends got to close.

George thought Jacob looked better with my hat than me :)

Jacob, the donkey, getting up close and personal.

A little nibble from Jacob resulted in this - yes, its MY arm!!

Teething, tonsils all in the month of March

Since we removed Samuel's adenoids in December, his breathing improved, but his tonsils didn't. So just after his 3rd birthday we made the decision to rather have them removed. So came March Mommy & the boys went to South Africa and George & the girls remained in Zimbabwe.



Arriving at Johannesburg - 1 nappy bag, 1 laptop bag, 2 boys, 2 prams, 3 suitcases = 1 very stressed out Mommy. Especially since there was a hiccup at immigration with Samuel's visa :)

Oh, did I mention Michael also had a very high fever at the time and did not want anyone near him :( During the first week in South Africa Michael also had a terrible infection of his gums, apart from teething that is, and was not a happy chappy. However it wasn't long before he was up to mischief.

Samuel looking way to adorable in his red pajamas on surgery day.

He did not fancy the "dress" and promptly pulled his arm through - looked more like a Ghanaian kente cloth draping :) which was more to his liking.

God knew that this Mommy doesn't handle surgeries well (not even minor ones) and blessed us with a very healthy Downsie. It was soooo hard for me to leave Samuel in theatre and I was crying more than him when they gave him back to me afterwards.

Despite having lost weight initially, Samuel is currently eating like a typical boy! :) His speech is improving daily, especially when asking for something to eat. One can't help but love this :)

So many people prayed for Samuel for healing not only from the tonsils, but also his sleep apnea. God heard those prayers and Samuel's sleep has improved in leaps & bounds.

I'm constantly made aware of the fact that God loved our children, all of them, even before George & I became their parents.

His hand of protection is strong, constant and forever.

Lake Kariba + good friends = FUN

Yvonne's birthday fell on a mid-term weekend break which meant that everyone that she wanted to invite was either already away or on their way. Before she had a chance to feel "unloved" due to circumstances, God revealed His special plans for her birthday. Wonderful friends of our invited us to Lake Kariba for the weekend!

The town Kariba was built for construction workers on the lake's dam in the 1950's.

This is a view of the dam wall that links Zimbabwe with Zambia.

The whole group of us, excluding George the photographer. Yes, one can have an awezim weekend with 5 teenagers & 4 little ones.

All 7 of us on the highway with the lake behind us.
Looking out over the largest man made lake and reservoir in the world,
was a humbling experience.


George with all 5 our precious ones.
Ellen was very apprehensive, she is not a lover of bridges,
walls or any construction that involves "crossing over".


The boys really wanted to see what was on the other side of this 128m (420ft) dam wall.

One of the double highways between Zimbabwe & Zambia run over the the dam wall making it a no mans land between the 2 border posts - traffic however is limited. Samuel & Michael must have thought they struck gold as they had miles to run - crossing borders without passports :)

I would have loved to know what they were sharing - lots of baby talk & then they walked off holding hands. Brothers forever :)

When he was not "running wild" Michael made sure he was within reach :)

This is just one of the harbours in Lake Kariba where the houseboats anchor.

Definitely one of our adventures in the near future.

We visited a little church built by the workers which they used for Sunday services and funerals - this is a marble plague of remembrance for the men who lost their lives during construction.

The church interior is simple but beautiful.

After sightseeing and of course some roadside shopping to keep the economy going :) it was time to cool off. The afternoon was spent at a local hotel / timeshare with a super, super water slide!! Even some of the grown ups were like kids again - will however not post those photos here :) Here is Yvonne & Ellen with a friend.

Yvonne's "biggest" birthday gift - a visit from the hippos on our last night there. They grazed right where we were having our braai / bbq.

What an awezim weekend.

We are blessed to be living in a beautiful country.

"Sweet 16" for our Yvonne

For 14 years Yvonne was the baby of the family. She gave up that position when we adopted Samuel, however she is still our 'baby girl'.


This family photo was taken in May 2009 before I left for Ghana to fetch Samuel. And yes, she is now the tallest girl in the house!

To see her grow and change from surely the cutest, curly top baby girl to a young lady has been a privilege. She has always been a very intense child, asking some serious life questions from a young age. Yvonne is passionate about reading; has an incredible art talent (which she recently discovered & is still very shy about) and continues to ask intense questions. She has always loved ballet & any story that ends with 'happily ever after' :)

Although living with older twin sisters isn't always easy for her (her words not mine) she will take on anyone who dares to say anything about them.


Despite the fact that she is 16, Yvonne never hesitates to join one of her brothers on the playground - she really enjoys 'little kiddies activities' with the boys,always ready to play.

Yvonne is always ready to travel, her 'car activity bag' is always the most interesting & she is always the first to make any hotel / chalet room home.

Yvonne is always game for something African, whether its drumming or having her hair braided.

Yvonne is a loving sister to 2 very, very busy baby brothers!! They just love her room which is a treasure chest of books & fluffy toys. They squeal with delight when allowed to 'sneak' in when she's not looking :) Despite Samuel waking her up before 6am in the mornings by using her as a climbing exercise....

.... she cried tears of joy when seeing him after 5 weeks in Ghana.

She is always willing to share a good story with a precious brother.

From being a 'grown up' to 5 min later ...............

....... loving being a kid sliding down an embankment on a box......that's our Vonnie :)

Thank you Lord for Yvonne.

Lord, even from before her first breath You had Your hand of protection over her and

we know that You have great plans for her life.

We thank you Lord for the place she has in our family.

Vonnie you are so special and we love you LOTS!!!

Kidzcan Zimbabwe

Although our children are home schooled, we encourage our children to take part in fundraising efforts where schools are involved. On 15 February we all wore orange in support of Kidzcan Orange Day commemorating World Children's Cancer Day.

Ellen loves a bandana - although she has a wide variety, the love started with her first collection of Sunflower bandanas & every year she buys the entire rainbow of their new collection. These bandanas are on sale from about August each year on behalf of The Sunflower Fund (http://www.sunflowerfund.org.za/). Not only are the funds raised by the sales and Bandana Day (12 October this year) going to a very good cause, but people are made aware of the plight of especially young leukemia sufferers.

Back to Kidzcan...Between the girls' collection of Sunflower bandanas we were able to all wear at least one orange item for the day - yes, George did wear a bandana to work with his suit :) Must say I do love the boys in their bandanas - Samuel thinks he's a pirate, Michael did not care so much for his Mickey Mouse one :)

Kidzcan Zimbabwe (http://www.kidzcanzimbabwe.org/) have been working tirelessly not only to raise funds to pay for medical treatment, but also establish support groups and offer practical assistance for the children & their families in the paediatric wards of Harare's main hospital. Parents often have no choice but to leave their little ones to face cancer treatment alone and that's were Kidzcan steps in. They have been working closely with paediatric doctors and surgeons, stepping in as a caregiver for many of these little ones.

To date Kidzcan raised U$15.546-00 with their Orange day and donations are still coming in!