Mabula 2008 Click on the picture. It is a link to a web album.

Remembering my Dad

Yesterday was the 1 year anniversary of my Dad's passing. It was good to grieve as a family and remember the legacy Dad left us. A legacy of courage and compassion. A life lived well.
The picture above is such a gift to me, Dad connecting with Keira, full of joy and life. I miss him.

Well we made it, after 22 hours of flying time we arrived to a great welcome of our family. You should have seen the peoples faces when we hauled our multiple bags and boxes through customs with the help of the local ground crew.
We then headed straight to Mabula, a game reserve where we spent the first week. It was so great to relax, hear the sounds of Africa and have the sun shinning on our shoulders (We'll maybe a little to much of that....can we say sun burn).
We were up at 5:30am thanks to jetlag and of course Keira. We watched the sunrise together, chased birds, squirrels, played on swings and went for walks all before Mom got up. Mono can be a good thing sometimes I guess. It is good to see Chrissy getting better and be able to swallow again.
It was a special joy to be with family and to watch Keira play with her cousin Tayla and interact with all the critters that were in abundance. You should have seen Chrissy's face as Keira picked up and played with the bugs. Proud and yet fearful that she might give them to her.

We were well rested being in the bush, but now we face the hectic pace of Johannesburg, trying to get things sorted out. We waited in line at the traffic department for 3 1/2 hours to get the car we bought registered. Don't let me here anyone complain about the DMV. It was an African experince. A line to get in. A line to hand the papers in and a line to pay. Each taking over an hour. Glad that's done.

Then we tried to get cell phones. But you can't get them if you don't have credit, or 3 months pay slips or bank statements. Tricky when you haven't lived here in 11 years or never. Thankfully this is Africa and we have made a plan. Just ask nicely and bring some chocolates next time.

That's enough for now. We miss you all in the US. Play in the snow for us.
Trev, Chrissy & Keira


P.S. We would have liked to post more pictures but for some reason we could only load one. We will try to show some of the animals Keira had fun seeing.

Ready to leave

We are less than 24 hours from leaving the US and heading to South Africa. This has been something that we hard been preparing for months and years.
We are grateful for the time we have had to get ready, time with friends, donors, supporters and family. Fun watching Keira have fun with all of you.
Chrissy was recently diagnosed with Mononucleosis (Glandular Fever) on Friday last week, which has been a real bummer. She has been really sick. The doctor saw her on Monday and put her on steroids which meant we needed to postpone the trip a day.
We are thankful we are still able to leave mostly on schedule and are looking forward to resting with my family in South Africa. We will be taking the first week at a vacation spot at a game reserve, a peaceful, slow paced place.
We just wish this added stress of Chrissy's illness could have been better timed. Now to make it through the rigours of long-haul international travel.