Day 16: Court - Making It Official!!!

What an amazing day today has been!  This is definitely a Thanksgiving we will always remember!

This morning we got up, had breakfast, and started getting ready for our day.  Auntie Bev picked us up at 9:00 to head to court.  As is the case at home with some places as well, there isn't sufficient parking in front of the Randburg court, so we had to park about a quarter-mile down the road and walk.  When we went through security, we found out that we couldn't bring our camera or snacks for Nicolas in with us, so we had to run back to the car and drop them off.  After a second run through security (and a second look through our bags), we were allowed to head up to the family court to meet Ruth (from our Agency in SA) and Brad (our lawyer).  We met briefly with the clerk to verify that our information was correct on the last few documents and then headed to the Magistrate's office for our appt.  She was such a kind woman!  She gave Nicolas a sweet (candy) and had a table with toys and books in the corner to keep him occupied while we did the paperwork.  She expressed how excited she was for us - we couldn't have had a better experience!  The whole process was done in under an hour.  After court, we headed out for celebratory milkshakes. :)  I had a toffee peanut butter shake that was amazing!!

After our shakes, we thanked Ruth and Brad for all of their hard work in making this process a reality and parted ways as they were heading back to Capetown this afternoon.  Bev brought us back to our guest house and Nicolas changed into his swimsuit and headed to the pool!  He and Kevin spent a couple hours in the pool before we headed to Auntie Beth's house for Thanksgiving.  Nicolas did take a spill on the steps by the pool and got a cut on his shin, but after a little love and a Spiderman plaster (band-aid), he felt much better. :)

We had the opportunity to spend Thanksgiving with the Oasis Haven team at Auntie Beth's house.
They are such an amazing group of people!!  We are so blessed to have them in our lives and also that Nicolas has had such a great team caring for him and loving on him over the last few years!  Auntie Beth and her friend Claire made a delicious Thanksgiving spread - turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, cornbread stuffing, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, and pumpkin pie.  It was so delicious!  It felt like home away from home. :)

It's so hard to believe that after so much praying, waiting, stressing, over-analyzing  crying, rejoicing, waiting and did I mention waiting? :) -  We are finally here!  The Longstreet family is now 3!  We are officially Mom and Dad.  It feels so weird still to say it, but so awesome at the same time.  He is our son!

Here we are with our presiding Officer after our paperwork was completed!

Here we are in front of the court house with Ruth and Brad from Wandisa, our agency here in South Africa.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  I am exhausted, so I will post more pictures tomorrow :)

Laura, Kevin, and Nicolas

Day 15: Monte Casino Times Two!

Here we are at Luigi's Pizzeria having dessert and taking advantage of free wi-fi since our internet has been out for 2 days now.  We're busy rocking and rolling by sitting down :) (courtesy of "N").  Today, we went to Monte Casino a second time to meet with Ruth and Petra (our social workers in SA), Brad (our lawyer), and Lee and her son Thato (official - woo hoo!!!) who had their court appointment this morning.  Originally, the plan was to meet at our guest house, but their court appt ran long, so we met at Spur in the Monte Casino instead, which was great because "N" loves it!!  While there were some complications with Lee's court process today, Ruth and team are confident that our process will run smoothly tomorrow as we are in a different court district.  "N" and Thato spent most of the time playing games while the rest of us went over what the process will look like after court.  Lots of paperwork and lots of details to remember.  We are very thankful to have them to help us through this process!

After we left the restaurant, we headed back home and "N" had dinner (he wasn't hungry when we were out - amazing!  :) That never happens!) and then did homework before heading to Luigi's for wi-fi.

Tomorrow is our big day!!!!  It is so amazing that it is finally here!!  After all the prayers, all the tears, all the ups, downs, and in-betweens, it's here!!  Get ready because tomorrow I can start posting all of the pictures I have been holding for 2 weeks!  Tomorrow, we are officially recognized at a family!!  It will definitely be a Thanksgiving to remember and one where we are so, so thankful!!!  We will be praying that you all have a great Thanksgiving as well!!  One request, please eat extra mashed potatoes for me!! :)

And, while I mean no offense to all my retail buds, I am thankful that - for the first time in longer than I can remember - that I am not working on Black Friday!!! :)

We do not know when our internet will be back up, so posts may be sporadic.

As promised the other day, here are the pics of my super awesome Sharks rugby hat!

I know.....jealousy is setting in.

Shark fin!!!

Lots of love!!

Laura, Kevin, and "N"

Day 14: Great Time Spent with New Friends

This post is from yesterday, 11/20/12, but we did not have internet.

We were blessed with another hot day today – a perfect day for a swim play date with our new friends Lee and “T”.  This morning, we hung out at the guest house playing and reading.  After lunch, we packed up our swim goodies and headed to Lee and T’s” guest house.  The boys and Kevin played in the pool for hours!  Kevin was pulling them around in the pool, throwing them, helping them with their swimming.  Lee and I caught up under the canopy as we have both seen more sun than our skin is used to. J  It was so awesome to watch them play together.  Both boys were jumping into the pool over and over and gained confidence in jumping into the deeper parts!  We have some adorable pictures of “N” and “T” jumping into the pool holding hands. J  We also have a great cannonball photo with all three of them jumping in at once.  “N” is getting progressively more comfortable in the water each day.  He swam the entire length of the pool by himself with no floaties today (and their pool is probably twice the size of ours!!!)!!  So proud!!!

Lee and I chatted about how the boys are doing, how the process has been for her and for us, the funny things the boys say and do, and such.  It is so nice to have another family here to spend time with and share this experience with.  Our journeys have been similar in the sense that we were both down to the wire to get here this year, so we are excited to be in it together. 

Lee and “T” have their court date tomorrow, so it will be a very exciting day for them!!  All the T’s are crossed, the I’s are dotted, and it’s finally time to make it official!!!  We can’t wait to celebrate our two families coming together in this Thanksgiving week!! J

After we left Lee and “T’s” house, we headed to the store to pick up a few more groceries.  Then, it was back in the pool for a bit.  “N” just can’t get enough of the pool!  Food is really the only reason he wanted to get out. J

Tonight was burger night (again) because “N” loves them!  We paired them with the sweet pap (with sweetened condensed milk and corn).  We worked on solving addition problems, telling time, spelling, and reading after dinner and then we played games until bed.

Tomorrow, our social workers will be coming over to go over what to expect in our process after court.  Then, Thursday is our big day – Gotcha Day! J 

Happy almost Thanksgiving everyone!!

Laura and Kevin

Day 13: Monte Casino Bird Gardens

Today was packed with fun!  This morning, we went to Monte Casino which is as it sounds, a casino. It's like Las Vegas invaded Johannesburg!  The picture below is the entrance.  You can see the giant Hyundai hot air balloon in the background.  The boys were planning on taking a ride in it, but it was too windy.  So, we'll go back another day.

Entrance to Monte Casino (one of them at least - it's huge)

This is a picture inside the hotel.  For those of you who know me well, my memory is not the best.  This hotel is strikingly similar to one of the Vegas hotels, but I cannot remember which one it is.  Anyone want to help me out here?

Inside Monte Casino

After wandering around a bit, we headed out to the Bird Gardens.  We chose a weekday to avoid the crowds, which I am thankful for, but a weekday means school groups, which I was not thankful for.  After they took over one of the aviaries, we did our best to steer clear of them.  Much better :)  It's hard to do justice to this place without you being able to see it first hand.  Blue, red, and green macaws - perched on tree branches, completely free to roam.  One of them stood on the path right next to us.  "N" was quick to point out the cockatoo from Rio and I reminded him that the lemurs were from Madagascar.  They also had small displays of snakes, frogs, and some seriously disgusting tarantulas.  One of them was called a Pink Beauty.  Let me tell you, there was nothing beautiful about it!!!  There we also lizards, turtles, plenty of ducks, geese, and swans, flamingos, meerkats (seriously adorable - can I have one???), and tons more!

About an hour after we arrived, there was a bird show in the amphitheater   While a bit cheesy, it was fun and a great chance to see how smart birds are.  Here are some pictures of the show:

Here we go again with my bad memory....I can't remember what this one was called.  It's a crane, but which one I am not sure.  But....cool huh? :)

This is Dennis the Blue Crane.  Blue Cranes are the national bird of South Africa and were once endangered, but are not any longer.  Yay!

They call him the Rockstar - Oliver the Pelican.  It was pretty neat to see him fly and skim across the pond.  He's huge!!  

This is Tango the Toucan.  Kevin managed to snap this awesome picture of him in flight.

Below are a few more pictures we took as we walked:

I have no idea what this bird is, but it's beautiful!

Red Macaw stretching its wings.

This area was completely open.  So nice to see these beautiful birds given the opportunity to have some freedom!

This is one of the many crane species at the Gardens.  Check out his crown.  If only we could all have guaranteed good hair days!! :)

We had lunch inside the hotel at Wimpy, which is a fast food-ish restaurant that I think would be most like Johnny Rockets.  It's a burger and fry joint, but you have a server.  With "N's" new-found love for grilled cheese, it was no surprise that he had another one for lunch. :)  One thing that we found interesting about Monte Casino was that the casino part of it was actually quite small and completely quiet. There were only a handful of people in it and there were no bells, dings, or jingles.  

After lunch we headed out to one of the malls to try to find SA rubgy hats and to get groceries.  The boys got coordinating green and yellow SA rugby hats and I, in my quirkiness, chose a Sharks rubgy hat.  I took a picture of it, but we didn't bring the right cable to upload it.  I'll tale another one tomorrow.  Let's just say that it's awesome and you are totally going to want one!

Once back at the guesthouse, it was off to the pool we went!  After playing catch in the shallow end for a bit, we grabbed "N's" floaties and Kevin worked on coaxing him into the deep end again.  While he realizes that the floaties prevent him from going under, he still didn't trust them completely.  After many trips back and forth across the pool with Dad, he finally worked up the courage to swim all the way across the pool with his floaties on by himself!  And as if that's not cool enough, he took them off and did it without them!  Yes, I took video.  Again, I did it with the camera that we don't have the right cable for, so I won't be able to post it until we get home, but the video is priceless.  He is a ham for the camera, so there's a dance beforehand as well. :)  He was so proud, as were we!  We are going to go visit Lee and "T" tomorrow at their guesthouse, so we'll see how he feels in a different pool!

Dinner, schoolwork, ice cream, and How To Train Your Dragon topped off our evening.  After all that activity, it took some work to get him up to brush his teeth for bed.  Only a few more days until court!  We will be meeting with our social workers here in SA on Wednesday to go over what we will need to do with our paperwork after court.  Then, after court on Thursday, we have been invited to Thanksgiving at Auntie Beth's house (she is the director of Oasis Haven and is from California).  We are so excited to be able to share the holiday with our new friends and people that have made such an amazing impact in "N's" life.  From the Bethany team in the States, to the Wandisa and Oasis Haven teams here in SA, God has blessed us with great friends to help us through this process.  Yes, there were some bumps along the way, but each one was a labor of love to get us to this point.  There is no doubt in our minds that it has all come through in His perfect timing.  What better day could we choose than Thanksgiving Day to have as our Gotcha Day?  We have so much to be thankful for!!!

Laura and Kevin

Day 12: Cycle for a Cause

Early on in our time here, I made a calendar.  Yes, I have one on my phone, but I wanted a visual at my disposal.  So, I went old school.  Grid lines on notebook paper, people.  I needed a visual so that I knew what day (and date) it was.  When it's 85 in November, I haven't had to go to work in two weeks, and my only responsibility is to hang out with my super awesome kid - I need a calendar to keep track.  Thankfully, time is not racing past us.  While we look forward to getting home, introducing "N" to family, friends and life in Michigan, and getting into our routines (and a snowball fight) - we love being here in SA also.  This time that we have to give "N" all the attention is a priceless gift.  The only thing that makes me miss home would be bugs.  Bugs in my bed.  Yes, I pulled back my sheets to write this post, and there was a mystery bug running across my spot.  I contained my 'freak-out' since "N" sleeps less than 10 feet from us, but thankfully Kevin had a kleenex nearby and swooped in for the kill.  You see, in SA, they do not have screens on their windows.  They have grates (I'd call them bars, but then it sounds like a jail cell - they run horizontally, not vertically) on the windows, but as you can imagine that only keeps people and large animals out.  I have become increasingly good at killing flies with a kitchen towel.  I know you are impressed. :)  Anyway, let me get back to what you are really here for - "N".

If you read the post from yesterday, you know that we were concerned that we wouldn't make it to church because we were parked in.  Just in the nick of time (at 8:25), the car blocking us in left, so we were able to head out for church.  There was a huge bicycle race in Joburg today, sponsored by one of the radio stations.  They had mentioned on the radio that many major roads were blocked for the race, so we were unsure as to whether or not we would have to seek an alternate route.  Turned out that we did not need to.  Church was not as full today as a large portion of the congregation was either participating in or spectating at the race.  Let me backtrack briefly to explain that "N" has attended a Christian school here in Joburg that is a part of New Creation Family Church.  The organization who has been caring for him for the last few years is Oasis Haven, a ministry of the church.  I am pleased to say that Team Oasis Haven was well-represented in the race, working to raise money for the two homes that care for 16 orphaned children.  Its actually quite amazing how many major outreach ministries the church has.  In addition to their support of Oasis, they also talked in the service today about a ministry they are starting in India to help young entrepreneurs get the training and assistance they need to avoid the life that many of their peers face in human trafficking.  They have a team leaving on Wednesday, so please pray for their safety, their ministry, and their effectiveness.

I still haven't got to anything about "N" - sorry about that.  He goes to a children's service during church, so he basically disappears when we walk in the door, will drop by for a flash from time to time, and then doesn't reappear until he's ready to head home fore lunch.  We have met a lot of people at New Creation who know "N" and have loved him and cared for him.  Today, we met Jacky who has helped him with his studies and Carl and Jenny who are missionaries here in SA that are from California and have also grown to love our little guy.  It has been such a blessing to meet so many people who have made an impact on his life, to have the opportunity to say thank you.  Thank you hardly seems to scratch the surface of the gratitude we feel, but I pray that they know how much it means to us, and to "N".

After church and lunch, we did a little reading and, no surprise, headed out to the pool.  He is a fish, getting stronger in his swimming by the day.  He loves the water and splashing around.  He also likes being the shark in the pool! :)

Our meals today were a smorgasbord of leftovers from the last couple days.  I made grilled cheese to add something new.  I am telling you, the key to "N's" heart is grilled cheese.  He LOVES it!  He has a tendency to make a terribly cute puppy dog face when he wants something.  He ate his two grilled cheese squares first, and with a plate still 3/4 full of food, he looks at me with those eyes and said " I love this sandwich.  I wish I could have more."  Oh geez, sure you can have more!  He did eat the rest of his food as well, and we did take the opportunity to share with him that he should not try to use the puppy dog face on all of you to get his way.  I make no guarantees that he won't try it, so prepare yourselves and be strong!

On our evening routine, we did school work after dinner and then had some ice cream and a movie.

It is a beautiful, clear night, so below is a picture of the walkway from our room to the pool.  The photo is taken from the pool looking toward the entrance to our room, which is on the left.  Truly an amazing view.

Tomorrow we are headed to Monte Casino to the bird conservatory.  Have a great night!

Laura and Kevin

Day 11: Goggles Make All the Difference

After the storm last night settled, it gave way to a quiet night and a beautiful Saturday.  It was about 85 degrees today with a few clouds in the sky.  We had another lazy morning, just hanging out.  "N" played with his cars, he and Kevin did some coloring, and then we got ready.  "N" reminded us that today we were going back to Sportsman's Warehouse (again) for goggles.  He likes to be under the water in the pool and also likes to be able to see where he is going.  So, goggles are the answer!  After lunch and a very amusing goggle fitting session, we were off the to the pool!

The goggles made all the difference!  Despite the fact that they seemed to be fogged up most of the time, he was having the best time!!  Back and forth, back and forth he went.  He didn't have his ball in the pool at first because there are two other dogs here right now, one of which tried to eat his soccer ball.  After a bit, though, they put the dogs inside so we were able to get the beach ball out.  Today, Kevin was tossing the ball from the side of the pool and "N" would jump in to catch it.  I'm sorry I can't post the pictures....they are so good!  Thursday :)  He also donned his floaties for a bit to swim in the deep end.  My favorite quote today was when "N" said as he tried to dive down in the water with his floaties on "I can't dive under with these things!".  Yes, dear, that's the point. :)  He would have stayed in the pool all day if it was up to him.  Unfortunately, one of the new dogs (who loves swimming in the pool also) was swimming by him and scratched him in the head, so we decided to call it quits for today.  It's only a surface scratch (thank you God!).  A little neosporin should do the trick.  He was bummed, but was back to his normal self by the time he was done rinsing off in the shower - singing and dancing.  It's amazing we haven't had more accidents!  He moonwalks in the shower and, with a tile floor, it gets very slippery.

Before dinner, the guys turned on the rugby game - South Africa vs. Scotland.  I made pasta per "N's" request this evening.  I added meat to the sauce to make it a little more interesting.  As usual, he loved it.  We need to prepare ourselves. :)  "N" can eat as much as me and he's 7!  After dinner, we finished watching the rugby game (even though I still don't understand how it works) and SA won 21-10!  Woo hoo!!

Keeping to our routine, we did school work after the match was finished, and then had another skype date.  I know he wouldn't admit it, but I think he was a little tired this evening.  We finished watching the last of Annie and he was off to bed.

We are hoping to head to New Creation for church again in the morning, although it will depend on whether we are parked in, which we presently are.  We'll be praying that the cars move out soon.  Being parked in (in my opinion) is a pretty lame reason to miss church!  I would imagine that tomorrow afternoon will be spent in the pool as long as the dog isn't around.  

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!  Thank you again for all your prayers and comments!

Kevin and Laura

Day 10: Just Keep Swimming

Currently, it is storming outside.  It seems that Joburg weather is not that different from Michigan weather after all.  The weather forecast says we have a 10% chance of rain this evening.  As I was washing my face, the winds picked up out of nowhere, and the rain, thunder and lightning arrived with it.  I poked my head out of the bathroom and "N" was in our bed... afraid of the storm, We got in bed on either side of him and I read him a chapter of The Story.  He dozed off.....I remember when I used to be terrified of storms.  I remember when the movie Twister came out.  My parents had gone to the movies (not to see that I don't think, but to give you an idea of the time frame) and a big storm came in while they were gone.  Thunder, lightning, pouring rain - the whole nine yards.  I laid in my parents bed with myself completely covered under all of the blankets, despite the fact that it was probably 85 degrees out.  I cried and continued to sweat under those blankets as if the storm might snatch me right up.  Of course, it didn't, but I know how he feels :)  The thunder and the rain are still going here in Joburg, but our little guy is snoring on the couch.  We are thankful that he is a pretty heavy sleeper. :)

Let me backtrack to this morning.  I woke "N" up for breakfast.  Normally, he sits up and says "Good Morning", but today he said "I'm tired" and took his blankets back.  So, I let him eat his breakfast in bed.  By the time he was done eating, he was awake anyway, so he came up and sat in our bed and we read his Devotionals for Guys book.  "N" knows so much about the Bible and about God.  It's so awesome!  We just hung out in bed for a bit.  I told him I was going to miss being able to veg out in bed together when we get home.  He's pretty fun to be around and never says no to a hug! :)

We all got around and headed out the grocery store to restock our fridge.  Then we had lunch.  Finally, a first for "N"!  I made grilled turkey and cheese sandwiches.  "N" likes just about everything, so he's pretty easy to please, but he got pretty pumped about grilled cheese!  I'm hoping he'll continue to be this impressed with my cooking! :)

After lunch, we had another skype date.  We were able to skype from our guesthouse today.  There was still a delay, but it was much better than our last few attempts.  This afternoon was all about the pool.  "N" loves being in the pool!  I think he especially enjoys wrestling around and climbing on his Dad. :)  We have been working with him to help him improve his swimming stroke.  With floaties on, Kevin was bringing him into the deep end and coaching him on his kicks.  So cute!  I bet by the time we leave, he'll be jumping in the deep end all by himself!  Once we all looked like prunes, we headed in to rinse off and hang out before dinner.

Dinner tonight was salad, another variation of chicken - this time with a tomato and onion sauce and cheese (this boy loves chicken!) and the sweet pap I made the other day.  I think, if he had his way, "N" would rotate between chicken, pizza, and burgers every day! :)

We have developed a routine of doing schoolwork after dinner and it seems to work out quite nicely.  He actually did his reading while I was making dinner with Dad, so we only had spelling and math to do after dinner.  After a bowl of ice cream, we sat down for the night's feature presentation - Annie.  I didn't think it would ever happen, but he actually started dozing off during the movie, so we will have to finish the last of it tomorrow.  The storm kicked up right after he got in bed, which brings you up to speed.

We learned last weekend when we fought the crowds (every person looking as if they will walk right into us) at the mall that we are better off to stay in on the weekends.  So, my guess is that we will lay low tomorrow and then, of course, church on Sunday morning.  We are planning to attend New Creation again this Sunday and we're excited!  I think I mentioned it, but last week's message was given by one of the life groups, which was really neat to see.  Can't wait to see what God has in store for us next week!

Laura and Kevin