Hello all!

Hello friends and family!! Howzit? (That is something that is said here quite often as a “How are you?”)

I can’t believe that it is already nearing the end of July…time has just flown by. Just two weeks from today Rachel and I will be home! For the remainder of our time here, we have many plans for almost every day until we leave so we can make the most of every minute we have left with the babies, aunties and uncles, and the people in Johannesburg.

I have enjoyed very much being with Rachel in this adventure. She had grown to be an incredible friend. We have shared so many laughs, frustrations, and tears. We have laughed so hard standing over a washer with clothes soaking wet, wringing them out until our hands here numb, over our many coffee dates, and at the funny things our babies do throughout the day. We laugh at the many “oh my goodness, we are in Africa!” moments that we still experience at the most random times. We’ve shared the frustrations of housing situations, driving in the crazy African traffic, and adapting to the different cultures of the aunties and uncles at the Baby House. We’ve shared the sorrow of missing our friends and family back home and have shared tears as we have heard the heart-breaking stories of our sweet babies. We are learning from each other and sharing the incredible moments where God is clearly speaking and teaching us more of his character and passion for his children. Rachel is such an amazing woman who seeks God with all her heart and has a huge passion for loving on people, just has Jesus did when he was on earth. She is an inspiration for me to love without inhibitions or fear. I am so grateful that God allowed me to be here with her for these 2 months. There is no doubt that Rachel and I are going to share these memories forever and we are going to be able to look back and see how God has worked, not only in our lives, but in those around us.



This past Sunday (July 19) we went to Rosettenville Baptist Church with Uncle Colin again and took two of our babies with us! We dressed them up nicely and bundled them up in blankets and jackets. The prior Sunday we went, and it was freezing inside the church, so we were going to be prepared this time. Of course, this Sunday they had the heaters on so high we got really warm. The babies loved getting to see lots of people and looked around during the worship time listening to all the different voices singing. During one of the prayers, a man sneezed behind us, making Rachel’s baby boy jump with fright. It was so funny…we had to control our laughter so we wouldn’t just burst out in the middle of the prayer. The little girl I was holding fell fast asleep during the sermon and didn’t wake up until I started to put on her jacket.

After church, we went for a day of fun at the Glen Mall with the baby girl. We carried her around in a baby carrier. She LOVED being at the mall and getting to spend some time with just me and Rachel. She just talked and talked, laughed, and smiled while we walked around. Her eyes were constantly moving trying to soak in all the sights. When we first got here, this same girl never made a sound and it has been so amazing to watch her open up. It was so fun, and I will never forget the smile she had on her face (I got THE BEST picture; I wish I could post it here, but I will definitely show you when I get home!).

On Monday, Auntie Veronica never showed up for work and she later called to let us know that she was in a wreck on the way to work. She and her husband were fine, but they were pretty shaken up. It was a much busier day without her help. She came to work on Tuesday and her back was a little sore, but she was feeling much better than she did on Monday. Praise God for his protection!

After work on Tuesday, we were invited to have dinner with a local volunteer, Jay, and her family. They cooked us an Indian cuisine feast! We started off with butternut soup and salad and then were served chicken curry, prawn curry, macaroni salad, and rice. It was all so yummy! We really enjoyed spending time with Jay, her sister Pria, her brother, Shawn, and her mom and dad. Jay’s father is the CFO (chief financial officer) of Coca-cola in Africa and the Middle East…so, needless to say, their house was beautiful!! They also own a local pizza place that Rachel and I have gotten take out from a couple times. It’s called Debnairs Pizza and it is SO yummy. They have invited us to their restaurant on Saturday to make and eat pizza with them! I'm so excited to get to spend some more time with them!


On Wednesday, Auntie Veronica was off, so we worked with a girl from South Carolina named Melody. She is living at the volunteer flat at the Baby House with the girls from Virginia. She is really sweet and we love working with her! It was a great day! We got to take some of the kids out for a walk to feel the sunshine and get some fresh air. We had the most hilarious music time yet. Several of the aunties and uncles were all dancing around and being really silly and all the kids were just sitting in bumbo chairs just staring. A couple of them kept falling asleep sitting up in their chair…it was a good laugh. I've attached a video of the crazy music time…

Wednesday ended wonderfully as I rocked 2 little girls to sleep. This is one of my favorite things to do at night before we put them all in bed. The 2 little ones I was holding were crying, so I just talked to them and rocked them until they were fast asleep.


Rachel and I are SO EXCITED about tomorrow (Friday, July 24). We are going with Uncle Colin to the Johannesburg zoo! We are also taking “Big Mama” and another little boy that we call “Pooh Bear”. It should be so much fun! While we have been here, we haven’t seen any elephants or giraffes, so I'm really hoping to get to see some. I'm also excited about getting to spend a little extra time with Uncle Colin. He tells us a lot of stories about growing up on his dad’s vegetable farm, about his late wife, and about all his children. So, I can’t wait to just walk around spending extra time with the family that I have found here. Big Mama should be a handful…she is beginning to stand on her own a lot and is thinking about walking. Rachel and I are definitely taking 2 strollers (they call them “prams”) and a huge baby bag to last the day.

So, I'm looking at my calendar, and we have only 5 more days scheduled to work! Our days off are filled up with taking babies out, so we will have plenty more days to spend time with them. I will be home in less than 2 weeks and I cannot wait to share stories and so many more pictures with you all!

Much love!
Katherine

Prayer requests:
- Continue to pray that Door of Hope can find a social worker and a new manager.
- Pray for our children, that they will continue to be healthy.

Praises:
- 6 of our 12 big babies have been matched with families and will be going in about 2 months! Several of the small babies have been matched as well!