We have been busy trying to get things for the house. Everyday we are out shopping trying to find the best deals. Some days when there are lots of places to go and I am not familiar with the areas, Lunghi takes us. Other days I drive.

Sofia got her stitches out 2 days ago. She was very, very brave. At first she was not too sure about getting them out but the Sister (nurse) was very good with her. She explained how she would do it and let Sofia hold the tweezers and scissors. After she took them out (5 of them) she put them in a little jar for Sofia to keep. We are down to just 3 in the jar because Sofia keeps taking them out and looking at them. She still has one inside her nose that will dissolve.

Yesterday, the girls and I went out by ourselves. Here the bedding is duvets and you buy the filler to go in (like a down filler). They wanted Disney Princess duvets so that is what I got them. Today we are going to look for dining room chairs and a t.v.

The girls are adjusting very well. They haven't asked even once to go back home. They ask lots of questions about what they see- like when they see little kids come up to the car window asking for change. They ask where the mamma is and why they don't have food or shoes or why they are wearing raggedy clothes.

The car we drive doesn't have a radio and certainly no DVD players so they have to keep themselves occupied in the car as we drive around. They sing alot. They have gotten a lot better at playing with each other while we are here.

On Tuesday we went to a HUGE mall. It is nothing like we have around Arkansas. It is 5 stories and goes on and on. The girls were amazed! It is called the Pavillion. It's about 15 minutes away. then there is an even bigger one called Gateway. It is the largest mall in the Southern Hemisphere. You could spend days in there.

We should be able to start moving in the house tomorrow.

Sofia and Sienna- Tala Game Reserve December 27

Sienna and Sofia standing in the middle of the South Africa bushveld. What an amazing adventure!

Safari #2- much better this time around

Sofia and Sienna admiring the hippos- There are about 20 hippos all piled up in the water just beyond the girls.

Today the girls and I went to Tala Game Reserve. It is about 30 minutes from Hillcrest. First, I went and bought a dining table and a couple of chairs for the living room from someone who had put them in the classifieds. Then we headed to the game park. We got there around noon and stayed until a little after 5 pm. Tala is not as big as some of the other game parks. It is a private reserve. It has hippo, rhino, giraffe, zebra, ostrich, wildebeest, monkey and all the deer families (impala, gazelle, kudu). I drove the tiny little Ford car and was pretty lucky we didn’t get stuck in some of the ruts in the road.

We saw lots of animals. We didn’t get to see any giraffe. I have been to that reserve many times usually always see giraffe. All of the animals we did see had little babies. We saw baby zebra, hippo, wildebeest, monkeys, etc. The girls enjoyed seeing the animals up close grazing. They really liked the ostrich. They got out of the car several times and posed for pictures. It is pretty cheap to go into the park- we paid about 12 USD for all 3 of us.

I am very proud of myself for driving there own my own and finding the way back. I got turned around on the way back a couple of times but made it okay. It was an overcast day and a little chilly in the game park.

Sienna is still looking for a tree frog. Good luck with that one! And she gets mad because we don’t ever see one. She has gotten to where she will just fall down on the ground and lay there. She says she can’t walk. She does it everywhere and in front of people. It is embarrassing.

Sofia’s face is MUCH better today. The bruising is very faint. I have to take her today or tomorrow to get the stitches out. I am not looking forward to that.

We got back to the B&B, I cooked them some pasta on a little camping stove outside, gave them a warm bath, watched E.T. and got them in bed around 8:45.

Sofia's stitches

Sal asked Sofia where her stitches were and she said "in that little round circle in my nose where the boogers are"!!!

All the swelling is gone as well as the bruising.

Today we had a pretty busy day. We went to get the refridgerator. The girls swam here for a couple of hours. They took a nap. We went to buy groceries and then this evening went to a restaurant called Spur. It is steakhouse kind of place. They have a huge play area for the kids, a small little movie theater and about 10 video game consoles. They loved it. But they didn't want to eat.

We have a tiny little gecko living here in the cottage with us. He is about 1 1/2 inches long. Sienna caught one as well this morning. And this evening she found some toads and was throwing them in the pool.

Christmas in South Africa

We had a lovely day yesterday with Dr. Norman and Estelle Hudson. He is a board member. I have known him for about 5 years. They are in their late 70's and were by themselves. Their son and family are in Colorado. They have a beautiful little house next door to their son's huge house. They have a huge swimming pool, tennis courts and trampoline. The girls really enjoyed playing outside.

For lunch we had ham, new potatoes, carrots, salad and other light side dishes. Then the girls went to play in the pool. The weather was very nice- not too hot.

The girls woke up about 6:30 and were very excited to see that Santa had come while they were sleeping. We called Sal on Skype and he watched the girls open their presents.They got lots of barbies and princess stuff.

It was a laid back day but nice.

Santa just dropped off the girls Santa sacks full of goodies. We even have milk and cookies out for him to eat before heading back out through the window. Sofia was a little worried we didn't have a fireplace for him to come down but I assured her he could get through my window. As usual Sienna ate one of his cookies.


Here are the girls getting ready for bed on Christmas Eve. They weren't too enthusiastic about getting their pictures taken. They were more interested in watching Curious George's Christmas.

Here is Sienna's letter to Santa. She included Sofia in it too. At the top she drew a frog and a moose so Santa will know to bring a frog and moose to them. And she wrote her name, "to Santa" in the middle and then Sofia's name at the bottom.

Sienna wrote her letter to Santa tonight. Sofia didn't want to write one and told Sienna to write one for her too

Christmas Eve 2009

Christmas Eve 2009

The girls are starting to adjust to the time change finally. They are actually sleeping until around 7 in the morning now.

Yesterday, we ventured out in a tiny little car called a Ford KA. It doesn't have air conditioner and it was very, very hot so we didn't stay out for long. We went to the post office to mail the cards that Sienna and Sofia wrote for Nonna, Aunt Carla, Mae Mae, and Papa. Then we went to a home furnishing store and the grocery store. The shops are so full right now that it is hard to even walk in them. And Sofia and Sienna want to carry moosey and froggy everywhere and throw them up in the air and try to catch them. They start giggling and get silly. It's hard to get anything done!

They took a short nap and then we went out for a walk in the neighborhood where we are staying. It is really pretty and it had cooled down because of the rain. We walked Biscuit, James's little yorkshire terrier.

Today- Christmas Eve- we left around 10 am to go look for appliances and beds for the house. I bought a refrigerator, washing machine and microwave. The washing machine and refrigerator are miniature compared o what we have in the US.

We had a different driver. A very sweet man named Lunghi. I have known him for several years and he has nevery had a wreck. He was one of the people who was laid off in August from the Heifer cutbacks. I feel really bad for him because he and his wife both are not working. He said they were not going to be able to do anything special for Christmas and his children would not have any presents. I bought his kids bags of chocolate candy and gave him extra money in addition to paying him for driving us for the day. It is so sad. But I will most likely hire him back since that other guy will not be working for us anymore. He was so happy to get a little money.

The girls seem excited about Christmas but it doesn't really seem like Christmas because we aren't dashing around buying presents. And because we are here in SA by ourselves.

Sienna said Santa is brown because we are in Africa.

When we were out today the girls saw ladies carrying bags and other things on their heads. They loved that. They were trying to carry froggy and moosy on their heads.

They also saw some muslim ladies wearing the head to toe burquas with only a small slit for their eyes and they didn't understand why they were covered up.

They are very observant and very respectful of the different things they are seeing. There are people on the side of the roads who sell things. They come up to your car when you are stopped. Sienna enjoys talking to them and making them smile.

The hospital room

A mural on the wall in Sienna and Sofia's hospital room at Richard's Bay

Sienna at Richard's Bay hospital

Sofia in her hospital bed at Richard's Bay

Life is fragile

The day started well. The girls woke up very early as they were still adjusting to the time difference.

We left for the Umfolosi-Hluhluwe Game park about 7 am. It took us about 3 1/2 hours to get to the park. The park is located to the north of Durban- closer to the Mozambique border. The game reserve is the 4th largest in South Africa and is known for its huge rhino population. There are about 1600 rhino in the reserve. It is also one of the few parks in SA that has the big five- rhino, hippo, lion, water buffalo and elephant.

The office driver drove us to the park- his name is Mkho. He is younger- I would say about 20. He has been driving for the office for a couple of years now.

It was very, very hot in the game reserve and there weren't as many animals out and about as I saw the time I was there before. In the few hours we were driving around we saw zebra, giraffe, rhino, warthog, wildebeest, impala, kudu and cape buffalo. The girls loved seeing the wild animals roaming around freely.

Then around 1 pm I am not sure what happened but I see the driver cross the road and run us head on into a tree. The new car that we had purchased for me is totaled. Sofia was the worst. She was bleeding profusely from her nose- at the time it happened I couldn’t really tell where it was coming from. And the driver, apparently in shock, got out of the car and went and sat under a tree. I was screaming at him to get me help for Sofia. Sienna was walking around in shock. After a few minutes some people started to come down the road in different vehicles and started to help us. We were about 30 minutes to the nearest place where an ambulance could meet us. They bandaged Sofia’s nose and this very nice couple took us to the nearest private hospital about an hour away. They didn’t advise us going to a local clinic even though it would have cost much less.

In the end, Sofia took a pretty hard hit to the face and it caused one side of her nose (where the bottom crease is) to detach. Her check and eye is swollen with a hematoma. They put her to sleep to sew her up giving her 5 stitches. Once it heals it will not be noticeable given the place it is. But the doctor wanted us to stay the night to observe Sofia, particularly. Sienna just had a few bruises. I am pretty beat up- especially my legs and elbows- huge bruises and scrapes. I think my elbow may be fractured but I didn’t have them check me out because it was already pretty expensive to have the services performed on the girls.

Over the past few days, I have been very, very sore.The girls were so brave. Sienna was more worried about the car and the bag of pasta that went everywhere in the car.


All we can figure out is the driver must have fell asleep. He doesn’t talk much English so I wasn’t able to converse much with him during the trip. And he hasn’t told Nunu or Sthembiso what has happened. I know he must feel bad. I feel so angry with him but know he didn’t mean to make it happen. It could have been so much worse than it was. Luckily in the game parks you drive slow so I would guess we were only going about 25 mph but hit the tree head on. The air bags deployed and for some reason the side of my head looks burned a little. All my hair and eyebrow is singed.

The hospital was wonderful. Very caring and such good care for us. Nunu stayed with me every minute to help with Sienna while I was back in surgery with Sofia. And all the staff have called and are sending prayers. Sfiso (the former Ex. Director) drove several hours to the hospital last night to help out. And Gavin and his wife are making us dinner tonight.

It was pretty hard not having family around to help but staff and friends have been great.

When we were in the hospital, there were even a group of women who came around and gave the girls big boxes of presents.

The good thing is that we are all okay and healing well. We have not gone too far from the bed and breakfast over the past 2 days since getting out of the hospital. And it has not slowed the girls down one bit. They have just as much energy and enthusiasm as before. In the hospital, Sofia was asking to go back to the game reserve.

Life is very fragile, never take it for granted.

Rainy Saturday

Today I drove for the first time. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. More than anything I am trying to get used to the car. I can't ever get it to go into reverse. There must be some trick that I haven't figured out. The car is a standard so that is also interesting- changing gears with my left hand. The girls are oblivious to it all- they were sitting in the back seat singing Achy Breaky Heart and Deja Blue.

Also, today was very foggy and the roads are extremely curvey. PLUS people are walking everywhere on the sides of the road AND you have to watch out for wandering cow or goat on the road.

Yesterday, we started out at the office until about 10:30 and then everyone left for the holiday break. The offices will be closed until January 4th. Afterwards, we dropped Nunu off at the doctor offices in Pinetown. Pinetown is another little suburb of Durban. It is very colorful. There are people walking around everywhere and it is really chaotic. People selling vegetables on the street side. Chickens in cages.

The girls were amazed. They had their faces glued to the window. Sofia was in the front seat and Sienna in the back. Sienna sat there and waved constantly at everyone (see picture above). Many were waving back at her. And Sofia wasn't sure what to think. She kept saying- look at all the brown African people, mamma. Sienna said they were all "gathering things" to take home.

Then we headed to the uShaka Seaworld in Durban. It is a huge waterpark, aquarium and animal exhibitions. We only had about 3 hours so we went to the aquarium and animal shows. The aquarium is inside this huge old ship. It is really neat. So many different exhibitions and fish from around the world. Sienna like the shark exhibition best. There are over 100 types of sharks native to South Africa.

We watched the dolphin show- it was the best I have seen. There were over 10 different dolphins performing. And then we headed over to see the penguins. Penguins are also native here. The girls played around the tank for a while and there was one penguin that kept following Sofia around. She was dragging her finger on the side of the tank and it was trying to nibble it through the glass. Sofia giggled so hard.

When we left, the girls were able to see the beach and ocean as we walked back to the car.

Sienna and Sofia are doing really well considering all they have to adapt to. They still haven't gotten used to the time difference and they throw fits easily. They take froggy and moosey everywhere.

Sienna and Sofia in the Valley of 1000 Hills- South Africa

Sienna and Sofia's first day in SA. Here they are at the PheZulu Safari Park, very close to the office. You can see the beautiful rolling hills behind them.

December 16th and 17th

The girls first day in South Africa went well. They were a little rowdy and emotional but overall they are adapting. They don't want to eat much- I think it is because their bodies are still adapting to the time change. They woke up at 2:30 am. I made them go back to bed and then they got up at 4:30. It gets light here about 4:30 so they are confused as to why they can't get up when it is light outside.

The 16th is a national holiday here in SA- National Reconciliation Day so the office was closed. Nunu and her daughter Sine came and got us and took us to the grocery store and other various places. Then we went to the PheZulu Crocodile Park- about 2 minutes away from the office. The girls had fun running through the park and looking at the reptiles. There are so many crocodiles, turtles and snakes. I held a burmese python and Sienna was very excited to get to touch it. Sofia didn't want to have anything to do with it but she finally did stick her finger out and touch it.

All Sofia wants to talk about is getting a white kitty once we get into our house. She is going to name it Serafina. Sienna also wants a kitty she is going to call Lina and a tree frog.

We came back from the park and the girls crashed for about 4 hours. They were so tired. We ordered pizza but they didn't want it once I got it. We caught a big toad and they were more interested in throwing it into the pool and watching it swim around.

December 17th
We went to the office around 9 and stayed there pretty much all of the day. The office has a big board room that the girls settled in and spread out all of their toys. They made themselves right at home.

We went to see the house and met the owner. It is a great place for us. The yard is beautiful with all kinds of incredible plants. There is a section fenced off that has a playhouse, a treehouse, a swing set and a sand pit. There is also a small pool. The house is 3 bedrooms and two bathrooms. It also has a separate section for guests which is a sitting room, a bedroom and a bathroom. Then there is another small building for the laundry. We get to move in on January 1.

The girls were exhausted and kept trying to go to sleep in the car, on the floor and any other place they could sit for more than 5 minutes.

Sofia still doesn't believe we are in Africa. She keeps saying "when we get to Africa". Sienna seems to be doing a lot better at adapting. She is soaking i all in.

Trip from US to South Africa with Sienna and Sofia

December 14- Sienna, Sofia and I left for South Africa. We had 10 suitcases, 7 carryons and a long journey ahead. We get to the LR airport and our plane had already been delayed 1 ½ hours. That left us with essentially 30 minutes in Atlanta to make our connection. We get to Atlanta and ran through the airport. The girls were so cute with their big backpacks and pulling their carry ons. We managed to make the connection JUST in time. We the last to get on the airplane and of course there was no space for our 7 carryons.

15 hour flight to Joberg from Atlanta. We had a row. Sofia sat by the window, me in the middle and Sienna near the aisle. The girls did amazingly well on this long flight. They didn’t complain once. They didn’t kick the seats in front of them, they didn’t cry. They watched movies and did sleep some. Sienna was thrilled that the Lady Gaga CD was available to listen to in the entertainment system. She was singing pretty loud with her headphones on and a couple of times I had to tell her to not sing so loud.

I didn’t sleep a wink on the plane. I was pretty busy trying to keep the girls from stretching their legs out. Sienna kept putting hers in the aisle and Sofia was stretching hers out on Sienna’s head.

December 15- We landed in Joberg and were trying to get all of our things collected. Sofia started complaining that she needed to go to the potty. Everyone was standing and not moving to get off the plane. She started fretting and then vomited everywhere. Luckily I contained it to just in the floor and miraculously we didn’t get it on our clothes or belongings. After I thought it was finished she did it again. I cleaned her face and off we went.

In Joberg, we had to collect our 10 suitcases and recheck them. I got 3 porters to help us and they carried all our luggage to the check in counter. For the first time ever ALL my luggage arrived in SA! I was convinced that several bags would not arrive but they all did.

The girls kept asking if they were in Africa yet. I told them yes but they didn’t understand and said they didn’t see any animals (in the airport). And Sofia kept asking where the “brown kiddos” were so she could give them some of her toys.

By the time we reached Joberg the girls had decided they did not want to carry ANY of their bags. So, I was juggling all the carryons- 3 backpacks, 3 rolling cases and my purse. The worse thing is that everytime we would get settled for a second one of the girls would have to go the bathroom and I would have to load up everything again.

Anytime we would stop to get a drink somewhere (or on the plane), the girls kept asking for sweet tea.

On the plane to Durban, the girls were pretty tired and started having the giggles. I was really glad when we landed. When we landed it was dark so once we got out of the airport they couldn’t really see anything and were not convinced we were in Africa yet.

We get to the Bed and Breakfast where we are staying about 10:30. I get them in bed about 11:30 pm and they already at 2:30 they were wide awake. I managed to get them back in their beds until 4:30 when it started getting light outside and finally I let them get up. They didn’t understand if it was light outside why they couldn’t get up. So, here I am writing this at 5:30. It is going to be a long day.

December 16, 2009- National Reconciliation Day