When Worlds Collide in South Africa

The whole gang - on a 1.5 hour ocean cruise looking for wild life, especially hoping for dolphins and whales.

My sister and her family were able to come visit us from Turkey. They spent the week with us adventuring all over the Cape area. We loved having them spend time with us.

Cousins at the Two Oceans Aquarium

My brother-in-law, Aaron, has always wanted to visit Cape Town, so we were especially glad he was able to cross this off his bucket list. We are sure, though, that now he’s been here, he may want to come back—maybe even permanently. This city (and this country) tends to have that effect on people.

These two, plus Nora, were peas in a pod. It was great to see friendships forming over the week.

We got to visit Cape Town a few times, including a coffee tour for Brian and Aaron, which was to their liking. It was to Erin and I’s liking that we didn’t have to go on the tour. The kids, Erin, and I went to pet a cheetah while they sipped coffee.

The girls and Heidi with Tobias the cheetah.

The boys and Tobias the cheetah.

We also went on a fun ocean cruise to see some ocean wildlife. We—especially Aaron and I—were really hoping to see dolphins and whales. Unfortunately, we only saw seals and penguins. The really neat thing was that the groups of penguins (a huddle) were so far from land. I’ve only ever seen them in shallow water by the rock colonies they live in.

Nora found a shell with an inhabitant.

We also spent a day going down the coast. We were able to have everyone meet Tahiyya, which was such a great time. We then headed down to meet some penguins at Seaforth Beach. Unfortunately, there were only two penguins out that day, but it was a good day for shells. Nora found a really neat shell, only to discover it still had someone living in it.

Erin discovered the “medium” cone should be called the “AS BIG AS YOUR FACE” cone.

Erin and I had a fun tradition of fitting in an ice cream cone by the beach in every day, except the very last day. We had so much fun eating our cones and enjoying people watching by the beach, except for one day when we kept getting whiffs of trash. That day stunk literally.

I call this one: Cousins connecting over the internet while sitting next to each other on the couch.

The week was such a great blessing to us because Turkey is not next door to Illinois. We don’t know when we’ll see them next. It’s always so much fun to connect and spend time together. We are so thankful they took time and all the effort to make it to this corner of the world to hang out with us and meet the newest Malcolm.

This is not a drill!!

When we were in Cape Town in 2016. Look how tiny Tisetso is! Be still my heart.

After four and a half long years, we are finally writing to say that we have a court date!

On April 7, 2022, our family will grow by one and we are so excited, thrilled, and elated. We cannot believe that after waiting so long, our time has finally come.

This time around is going to look different in a several ways, but here are three:

1. We will meet with our daughter only four days before the court date. When we met Tisetso, we had two weeks before the court date, so things are a little more sped up this time around.

2. We will also be spending three months in South Africa compared to the six weeks last time.

3. We will be in South Africa during the autumn and winter months compared to the summer we experienced last time.

We have begun to finalize lists and boxes are pouring in from Amazon with things for our daughter and for travel. We are putting her room together (Harry Potter themed, of course!). We are shifting things around to make room in our home for another person!

We are so thankful that throughout our time of waiting the Lord upheld us. I (Heidi) had a particularly hard day while we were waiting and found this verse to be so encouraging:

He is not afraid of bad news;
his heart is firm,
trusting the LORD.
Psalm 112:7

I knew that no matter what news we heard (or didn’t hear), it would not shake the foundations of God’s hold on my heart or of His creation. My heart was firm because I was trusting the Lord.

We are also thankful for each of you. We’ve had so many friends and family members praying for us and encouraging us these past years as we walked this much longer than expected path. We know life is meant to be lived in community and we are so thankful for ours.

Bourbon-Poached Peaches

Lined up and ready to boil.

For the last three years, I've made bourbon-poached peaches (recipe here). This year, I got to continue the tradition working with my sister and having constant interruptions from my son and Erin's kids. I loved it! It was, hands down, the best time I've had making this recipe!

My beautiful sister.

My favorite part of making these is how sweet your kitchen and hands smell when you're all done. The smell from scraping the vanilla pods to collect the seeds is intoxicating! (Vanilla is one of my favorite things/smells) I don't have many baking traditions, but I think I can include bourbon-poached peaches now that I've hit the three year mark.

Simmering.

Definitely give the recipe a try! It makes more than you can eat in a month, so they're great to give away, too. Invite a friend and make a double batch. Peeling all of those peaches allows for some quality time!

The finished product.

Mother's Day

This photo is a perfect summation of my family. I'm pretty sure my sister is pinching my butt, I'm trying to smack her, my sister and I are losing it, and my mom and dad can do nothing but laugh at their amazingly beautiful and wonderful daughters. (Am I laying it on a little thick??)

It's my first official Mother's Day. Although, to be honest, I've felt like a mother for a couple of years now (since we started the adoption process in December 2013). Some people would argue that you're not a mom unless you've got a kid in your house, but humanity also used to burn people at the stake for teaching the world was round. This post has taken a dark turn, but all of that to say, people are wrong sometimes. Being a mom has many different facets, some of which do not involve children at all!

Mother's Day is complicated when you've adopted. It's not lost on me that my son has had two women he called mother in his life before me. The title of mother is something I fight for daily. But the fight makes the victories so much sweeter—when he sits in my lap or lets me hug him longer than a second. I am thankful to be Tisetso's mother. It is a gift I do not deserve.

Becoming a mother further solidified in my heart how wonderful my mom is. I am over and over again thankful she managed to find ways to love and support the crazy, hot mess that I was growing up. (Let's be honest, I can still be that way!) She had to put up with my sister and I and still make dinner and keep our house from falling apart. There have been times since we've gotten back that I've wondered how she did it all! She's a saint.

Whether you've got a child in your home calling you mom, or your heart is given to a child you are waiting for or are mourning the loss of, I hope and pray today would be a sweet blessing to you.

African Safari

This weekend was a whirlwind trip up to Rochester, MN to visit my side of the family. My paternal grandmother (Grandma Cookie) just moved into assisted living and her home (which she had lived in for 60+ years) had been sold. I've spent many good times in that home and I really wanted to see it one last time before it was handed over to the buyer. The home needs a lot of work, so it is going to be flipped and will never look the same. 

Grandma Cookie's kitchen wall - it has looked this way as long as I can remember.

Living in a home for that long and never throwing anything away makes for a busy weekend. There was a garage sale and the home was quickly being cleared out to make way for the new owners. One great find - BAGS of beanie babies. While many people were giving their beanies away, throwing them away, or selling them, my grandma saved them all. So when my uncle asked me if I wanted any, I jumped at the chance. We now have a full African safari of animals.

We grabbed any animals that are found in Africa, or more specifically in South Africa. When we were picking out animals, Brian grabbed the mongoose, of which we weren't sure there were any in South Africa, because he hates snakes. I just looked and there is a mongoose native specifically in South Africa. (Brian will be happy to hear there are creatures eating the numerous [venemous] snakes that live in South Africa.) I'm excited for our kids to play with this set. I'm already thinking through other things that could make the safari more fun, but I think we're off to a good start.