Lions, Giraffes, and Werewolves

I haven’t blogged in quite some time now, sorry! Our shipping is in Johannesburg now, but we’re still waiting for it to clear customs before we can get it up here.. I miss reading! We’re praying that we get it for Christmas, but that probably won’t happen now L 

As to what we’ve been up to in the last couple of weeks, well we’ve done some Christmas shopping, gone to the movies a few times (Megan and I love the Twilight saga-read the books long before the movies!- and were very excited about New Moon.. we’ve seen it three times now! Kind of sad, I know… but in case anyone was wondering, I’m definitely Team Jacob, and always have been :D) and hung out with our neighbours. Since its Christmas break here, theres not a whole lot going on at the moment. It’ll hopefully pick up in the new year which will be good.

On the 7^th  of November though, (the day before Carissa left- I know, it was a long time ago! I just never got around to blogging about it), we got to go on a safari at Kruger National Park. We hired a driver and a sweet open-air truck- you have the option of driving around in your own vehicle, which is obviously cheaper, but has a much lower chance of seeing as many animals- and we had an amazing day.

Our guide, P.G., was incredible! He used to have a high-pressure job as a lawyer, but he loves animals and nature so he decided to study to become a game park guide. He has a photographic memory, so he passed the first time, and now he’s been doing this for 16 years and absolutely loves it.. and you can really tell, he’s so good at what he does! We literally saw every animal you could want to see in the park, minus a cheetah; lions, elephants, giraffes (all three of which were so close to our truck!!), impala and other types of deer, a leopard, hippos, a crocodile, wildebeast, many types of beautiful birds (including one that is nearly extinct; it was one of only 100 left in SA! PG said we were really lucky to see it)… it was such a sweet day!

(pictures will be posted soon J)

 

Special Gifts & Special Friends

I know I said I was finished with my posts about Kibaale, but I just wanted to do a special post about some friends’ sponsor children.

First of all, before I put the pictures up, I just want to say something about sponsor children in general. On the 10^th, us three girls got to help out with putting together gift baskets (which is one of the most celebrated gifts at Kibaale, they are always so excited to receive one!), and giving away special gifts.

It was really exciting to be able to be a part of that, and for the kids who got gifts, it really made their day, and probably their whole week. However, Mugabi (one of the social workers at Kibaale) told us something that put a bit of a bitter taste in my mouth.

“Yes, it is very very good for the children who get gifts, very good. They are so grateful. But they don’t all get gifts.”

When we asked him about it, he told us that while they were very grateful to the sponsors who send gifts to their children, there are also many children who never get gifts. Whether its because their sponsors don’t send them gifts, or if its that they just aren’t sponsored doesn’t really matter to them.

“They are so grateful for the money their sponsors send towards their schooling…. But the ones who do not get gifts come to us and are very sad. They ask why they don’t get special things too like some other children do.”

If you have a sponsor child, and have never sent them a gift for whatever reason, I urge you to do that!! Or if you do send your child gifts, but still want to help, you can send money in to whichever child needs it the most, and it will go towards the children who seldom (or never) get gifts. It really makes a difference to them.

Anyway, that’s my spiel for today, now here are some pictures J

Kirsten:

Cassy:

Erica:

Alyssa:

Cathy:

The Hattons:

The Kotts:

The Savages:

The Petersens:

No Need to Say Goodbye...

Sorry for the lack of posts for a while…frankly there hasn’t been much to blog about at all lately! (I am slowly updating my old posts with pictures though, so keep checking back for those!)

Today, however, is a very sad post. Carissa, who has been with us for the past two months, left  this morning to go back to Canada…

We all miss you so much already Carissa, there were lots of tears from almost everyone in the car on the way back L L

But we’ll always remember the words from The Call;
there’s no need to say Goodbye……

~
It started out as a feeling,
Which then grew into a hope,
Which then turned into a quiet thought,
Which then turned into a quiet word.

And then that word grew louder and louder,
Till it was a battle cry…

I’ll come back when you call me,
No need to say Goodbye.

Just because everything’s changing,
Doesn’t mean its never been this way before.
All you can do is try to know who your friends are
As you head off to the war.

Pick a star on the dark horizon,
And follow the light….

You’ll come back when its over,
No need to say Goodbye.

Now we’re back to the beginning,
And its just a feeling that no one knows yet.
But just because they can’t feel it too
Doesn’t mean that you have to forget.

Let your memories grow stronger and stronger,
Till they’re before your eyes…

You’ll come back when they call you,
No need to say Goodbye.
~

Please pray for Carissa’s health and safety, she has lots of hours of traveling ahead of her!

Love you Ducky <3