We are finally home!

It has been a week since we boarded a plane in South Africa to home. What a week it has been!! We are busy looking for a house - two cars - busy getting reacquainted with family and friends - and missing friends in South Africa!

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House hunting is exhausting!! It is fun to go through other peoples houses, but I get tired just trying to make the right decision on what house is good for us and the family. I found the perfect house - well maybe if you combine the top 3 - is that even possible?
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Here are some of the houses we have been looking at - what do you think?
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KRAFT HOUSE



http://www.greenridge.com/property/property.asp?PRM_MLSNumber=720894&PRM_MlsName=greenridgeGrandRapidsMI&VAR_AgentCode=3416&VAR_OfficeCode=66

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STIMSON HOUSE
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http://mls.grar.com/GRARReports/ListitLib/report_builder.aspx?report=public_full_prop1&mls_acct=1724465&footer=5651485376837974&header=5651485376837974&maillog_id=5038739153

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http://www.theultimatetour.net/videos/5882_Stimson.html



Well, we have finally adjusted to the time change and are busy getting ready for school starting and Maddie and Alex are busy catching up with cousins and friends. On Wednesday we went to the Fredrick Meijer Gardens. The cousins had a chance to play together. We were missing sweet Stella! We had a great day.
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The kids all excited to go inside the gardens



I went with my mom, my sister Katie and my sister-in-law Michelle

Maddie and Arianna - sporting the same shorts!




playing in the great lakes splash pool


The Gang


The horse sculpture

READY



SET

GO!




Maddie and Arianna

Andrew, Alex, Chase and Nicholas
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I also got to spend some time with my new nieces that I just met. HOW PRECIOUS THEY ARE!!



Juliet

Sylvia

BREAKING NEWS!! Scott just came home with a car tonight - ON A TRAILER - not a good sign! He bought a 2002 Volkswagen Jetta 1.8 turbo with a blown motor. He says "all I need to do is put in a new motor" - like he has done that 100x before! He says 20 hours worth of work. I know how much he loves projects - well I think he has his work cut out for him!

backing the trailer up to my dad's shop



the car

Scott proud of his purchase

FAREWELL

AHHHH is all I have to say right now! We are busy packing, saying goodbye and keeping you updated on us. My blog was down for several days so sorry for the lack of blogging. I did not want to leave the blog on a sad note. Anyway - I thought I would post some pictures now and some later on what we have been up to this past week.

We had a farewell speech in our church (Eastside Community Church)on Sunday. We could not have asked for a better church while we lived here in South Africa. They had such open arms for us. We also have meet so many great people!!! A lot of friendships we will treasure. It was also so great to be part of a Bible Study group here. We have become so close! They have been a great support/prayer team for me these past few weeks. Here are some pictures of our send off:

We also had a Farewell party with friends. We played soccer(football) and had a nice braai. At the end of the party we shared stories and prayed together. I have grown so much in my prayer life! It sure is amazing to pray with a group of friends. You really bond and grow your friendship on a different level. We are so blessed. We are going to miss everyone so much!

We have been living with our friends Steven and Robyn for the last few days. They are great!! Robyn is a wonderful friend who makes me laugh - well I think we make each other laugh on a daily basis!

They have a nephew, Keenan, that the kids have become friends with. So last week sometime we took the kids to Dros restaurant to say goodbye. I think I have mentioned before the great kids areas in their restaurants here. I would say about 1/3 of this restaurant was catered for the kids. This makes it great for us adults to spend quiet time and enjoy our dinner. The kids had a great time making their own pizzas and then eating them in their own seat in front of a movie screen. It is great! Here are some pictures:

Alex, Keenan, Maddie

Rolling the dough

Alex's famous pout - he thought his wasn't round enough.

The pizza going into the wood burning oven

Sitting in front of the movies - Yes I noticed Alex took his shoes off - YUCK!

Well it is time to say goodbye to South Africa and hello to another chapter in our lives. It is so bittersweet leaving here. We will miss so many things here! Our friends, church, warm weather, the animals, and all the adventure. We have grown so much! We are defiantly so excited to come home and see everyone. I will warn you the tears will be flowing when I step off the plane! Ok they are flowing now as I am typing. There are so many emotions! When I get back I will have more time to share more on the blog.

We love you all and we will see you on Friday! Now I have to go to finish our crazy last few days.