What A Year!

Melinda took some time to put together a monthly photo collage of our 2018. She decided for our records and for those that may want to read, to put a little more description to each of the photos chosen. We had an incredible year and are beyond blessed by what God did! We also have our family and friends to THANK, because, with out your support and prayers, most of what we did would not have happened!! We are grateful to have each one of you in our lives! Whether near or far, you are important to us!

JANUARY:

Stephanie (TX nana) and Bob, blessed our family with a trip to Colorado for Christmas. We had an amazing time relaxing and enjoying the beauty of Colorado and look forward to returning!

Our friends, the Russell family, were in San Antonio (from MI) for a short time, and were so thankful that we had the opportunity to visit them for the day! On our way home from San Antonio, we made a last minute decision to drive to Houston and visit our other friends the Arriaga’s (our neighbors at CFNI). It was a day of travelling, but how great it was to visit their family, meet their newest daughter, and see their first home!

If you read our post about our South Africa visa application process, then you know that we made a quick trip to Chicago. Of course, when in Chicago, deep dish pizza is a must!

Another exciting time in January is when Seth’s mom came to TX for a visit! The children had a great time being artistic with grandma and making cookies! We also made our very first visit to the Fort Worth Stockyards with her.

FEBRUARY: We were officially out of our apartment in February and began our packing for our move to South Africa.

I was honored to be able to serve on one last Quest in Oklahoma with an amazing group of women. If you don’t know what Quest is, please check out their website or ask Seth and I! We have both attended and been back to serve….a life changing event!

We also had another visit from family, my mom and sister. It was great to show them around and it was my sister’s first time on an airplane!

MARCH: This was a month of tears and smiles! We said our “see ya laters” to our Texas family and headed off to South Africa. We landed in Johannesburg on March 9th (a day later than planned after a detour through Brazil) and settled into our “home” for the year. We purchased our vehicle, (Grover) the Land Rover, which all of our children would love if we could bring back, lol. The children played cricket for the first time and we experienced our first of MANY trips to the dairy. They also jumped in and started learning about gardening shortly after we arrived.

APRIL: Most of us (minus Seth and Naomi) made our first road trip with Oupa Leon almost to the border of Swaziland to pick up his daughter from an eco-village. Our entire family made a road trip at the end of the month to visit our dear friends in the Drakensberg area. We are hoping to make one more trip there before we head back to TX and meet their newest addition, their first son! Our month was ended by celebrating Keturah’s 9th birthday.

MAY: We volunteered at our first SAPRI information meeting. The children had fun giving Ouma Meleney a painting for her birthday and we took the children to visit the Union Buildings in Pretoria on Mother’s Day. We spent a lot of time laying grass at the new event property next to the farm. We all have a much higher appreciation for grass!

JUNE: Isaac turned 5 and we spent the day making our way to Rome to visit Seth’s sister Rebecca. When we returned from Rome, we got to volunteer at the yearly Viva Art Festival in Mamelodi.

JULY: This month was filled with more event property work, including the building of the stage. Madiba Day was a fun volunteer day to bring people together and help get some cleaning/gardening/painting done at the Viva School. Melinda also started her doula training course.

AUGUST: The month was started off celebrating Abigail turning the big 1-3!!! Her dad even let her get behind the wheel and try out a little driving! The farm work is on-going and this photo shows the children spending some time cleaning up the front entrance of cow poo! Meleney’s sweet cats had their first batch of kittens, just before we both flew to the US. Melinda turned 35 and then flew to be with our friends as they welcomed their first baby into the world. It was great to catch up with some other friends as well during the 3 week visit.

SEPTEMBER: While Melinda was in TX, our visa’s needed to be renewed, so Seth flew with the children to Livingstone, Zambia for a quick 2 night trip. They enjoyed seeing the Victoria Falls and the children got to experience their first African safari ride! Melinda returned and then we got to celebrate Naomi’s 8th birthday. Her dinner request was tacos, which Melinda made sure to bring back plenty of from the states. We also started our new year of school, Exploring Countries and Cultures through My Father’s World. The weather was beautiful to enjoy an outdoor movie night as well.

OCTOBER: This was quite the fun-filled month! After the weekend of the music festival, we packed up and heading to Kruger Park for our first family camping trip! After we left the park, we made an over night stay to visit God’s Window and the Rainforest in Mpumalanga. Luke turned 12 during our trip, so we made sure to celebrate him once we returned to the farm. Just before celebrating our 15th anniversary, we found out we are expecting baby #6!

NOVEMBER: Lots of kombucha making had been going on, but Melinda finally made it a point to get in a few photos. Luke enjoyed learning some artistic skills from Meleney and Leon’s son, Rheece while the girls ( and Luke) learned how to do macrame with Lain (Rheece’s wife). We had a fun day with the Viva staff celebrating the another  successful school year coming to an end. Jess and Melinda finished doula classes and took their final exam. We enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving and even started a new tradition to take back with us (signing of the table cloth).

DECEMBER: Jess and Melinda passed their doula exam and had their graduation party to kick off the month! We got our first peek at baby P as well as hear the heartbeat for the first time. One last visa renewal trip was made with the entire family making their way to Livingstone this time around. Seth celebrated the “hottest” birthday he has ever had! Christmas for us this year was also quite different as we spent it by the pool!