Planes, Trains, Automobiles....and a Boat

We can't believe it's April.  Does time go faster south of the equator?!

Since we last posted...

Kate had sports day at school.  She has also started a new diet that is gluten-, dairy-, and egg-free.  She feels great and enjoys having her own private stash of food she CAN eat.

(That's Kate with the big "M" on her cheek)

John is doing very well in his BYU advanced high school classes.  He is enjoying having more flexibility with his time to train Emma and hone his baking skills.  He got braces recently!

John taught a class about family history at church.

And he occasionally goes to dances!

Michele has been busier than usual substitute teaching several consecutive weeks of early morning seminary (which she's LOVED, especially since John is in the class).  She has also worked a lot with the leadership team at Kate's school to implement several new offerings (a OT/PT-based Ready to Learn program to start each day, healthy lunch program, extended days for foundations, and lots of fun new extramurals).  Some day, she hopes she and the amazing people who are passionate about education she has met in every city can create the "Ultimate School."  It all started with the Dodge Nature Preschool in St Paul...

We celebrated Jenny's birthday.

Michele went with the Berichons (US friends) to the Voortrekker Monument and Union Buildings in Pretoria.

In previous blogs, you may have noticed a beautiful piece of art in our home entry called "The Turquoise Scarf" painted by Gary Stephens.  It's acrylic paint on Nigerian fabric.  Gary had a show at Everard Read Gallery here in Joburg recently entitled "The Scarf."  All the women were crowned with a scarf upon arrival.

Michele and Kresta

Kresta's Mom (visiting from Colorado), Gary's Model/Scarf Artist, Kresta, Michele

A piece I loved (pastels with colored yarns)

Veronica, the model for The Turquoise Scarf.  It was so fun to meet her!

Gary and Daniel (who works at GE)

A friend sent me this cartoon.  Rolling blackouts have become a way of life.

Jeff and Michele went to see Michael Buble at the Coca Cola Dome!

Michele and Kate had a fun outing to Irene Farm with the Call family

Michele hosted a farewell lunch (introduced all the South Africans to Cafe Rio sweet pork salad and they loved it!) for Baili Chazen will serve a mission at Temple Square in SLC.  She is like a big sister to both our kids, and we love her a lot! 

Jeff gathered with part of his team in Luanda, Angola (that's his boss Bruce, 2nd from right) ...

With Haile Gebrselassie, a famous Marathoner in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

With more of the team in Nairobi, Kenya

Seeing Mount Kilimanjaro from the airplane

And in Koodesport, South Africa looking at some of the locomotives GE is building

Jeff led the organization of the first ever self-reliance fair in held in downtown Joburg for our church.  There were exhibits and classes on immediate job opportunities, addiction recovery, educational loans, etc.   About 250 people attended and it was a great success!  Yay!! 

We introduced the kids to tapas.  That was a hit!!

Emma:  Still the best dog ever!

Kate's best friends from school:  Mosa and Chantal

We've had some exciting weather.  One late afternoon, lightning struck the phone line right behind our house.  Everyone on our street lost phone coverage, but also lots of electronics.  Somehow the power surge came through the phone line directly into our computer.  We no longer have internet on our computer because the electricity blew out the internet connection.  Thank goodness for the laptop--and Telkom who eventually patched the phone line.

Then later that week, we had the longest hailstorm any of us have ever witnessed!  Lots of flooding in the neighborhood.  Our only damage was water coming in under the roof door as the hail melted--and the plants in our garden being decimated.

Kate sweeping hail off the roof after the storm

The gardeners cleared 5 such bags of yard waste from the storm

It took 3 hours and lots of chemicals to revive the pool

Last weekend, to celebrate our 17th anniversary, we flew to Cape Town for a couple of days.

We stayed in Bruce and Annabell's cottage and were grateful they let us borrow their car.  Their dog Barry (foreground) was always nearby waiting for us to throw a ball for him.

"Tablecloth" covering Table Mountain

A former political prisoner named Jama was our guide at Robben Island

Group cell

Mr Mandela's cell (leaders were isolated)

From Cape Town, we took Rovos Rail home to Pretoria (2 nights and 2 days of relaxation and delicious food!)

Dining Car

Lounge with Viewing Car

Our cabin

The Big Hole in Kimberley (largest hand-dug diamond mine in the world) - the size of the water is 5 soccer fields

An estimated 23,000 flamingos call this place home

Klein Karoo

Our train manager Joe who purchases old train cars and leads Rovos Rail staff in completely refurbishing them.  He gave us an interesting tour when we arrived in Pretoria.  (My dad would've loved it!).

VISA update as of 5 April 2015:  

Jeff:  Work VISA through October 2019
Katherine:  Student VISA through October 2019
John:  Visitor VISA through October 2019 (however in 2nd appeal because typed incorrectly by Home Affairs)
Michele:  Visitor VISA expired 31 Dec 2014.  Renewal refused because separated from Jeff's by Home Affairs.  Appeal filed in December 2014.  With Director of Home Affairs and still not processed.

Bottom Line:  Michele won't be leaving South Africa any time soon (by plane, train or automobile); because she won't be able to get back into the country!

November through January!

Gotcha Day!

We celebrated Katherine Orlova's 9th "Gotcha Day" (the date she officially became a member of our family) by introducing a few of our favorite SA friends to Russian borscht and pavlova.

John, Baili, Kate

Elder Cazier (from Germany) and Elder Lamon (from Belgium).  Yes, we love his last name as it sounds exactly like my maiden name!

Nate, Andrew and Charnell

So, like many dinners lately, Michele cooked the borscht over a LPG gas cylinder because the power was out.  We are in a big load-shedding crisis here in South Africa.  Very often, we have no phone service, no internet, no air conditioning, no refrigeration, no traffic lights.  Everyone from doctors to hairdressers just shuts down.  It is being forecast that this will go on for several years in SA.  The government has not supported infrastructure, the population is booming, and so here we are.  

Holiday Gymkhana at Chartwell Stables

 Thanksgiving

Pam and Ian hosted a huge potluck for all of us again this year despite Pam being on crutches after knee surgery!  We are still hunting for a fresh or a canned cranberry! 

 Southern Africa Business Awards

Jeff received award for Chief Compliance Officer of the Year.  Unexpected and very fun!

 Donald Gordon Medical Center, Wits University

John underwent an upper endoscopy to confirm he has the same thing as Jeff:  eosinophilic oesophagitis.  Nexium, Flixotide pump and avoiding some of his favorite foods--salmon and peanut butter--seem to be keeping him from choking so much.

Nobel Moment

 Jeff was able to attend a dinner with some other GE people and visit with Archbishop Desmond Tutu before his speech.

 Emma Girl

Yes, we are biased, but we are all head over heels for John's puppy!

In Other News

John worked with a woman in Jeff's entrepreneur class to create the perfect chip (French fry) she can sell on the street.

 Michele and Jeff at GE's Gatsby-themed holiday party

Nate, Larry and John at Seminary Graduation

Christmas in Utah  

Although our VISAs expired on 31 December, the immigration attorneys decided to run the risk of having us stay in SA rather than travel to the US to renew them.  

More than any gift, John wanted to go to Utah for Christmas.  So he made the long journey without us.  And though we missed him for 3 weeks, we were happy to hear about the great time he had every day with so many people he loves!

He stayed in our home with Grandma and Grandpa LeMon and loved his time with them.

Michael and John on Christmas Eve (in PJ's Michael's mom made for them!)

With the Judsons at the lights on Temple Square

 

With the Barlows at The Cheesecake Factory

With Erica in Provo (can you believe she started babysitting him when he was 2?!)

With cousins Chandler, Chloe,

and Briggs at Museum of Natural Curiousity

The gingerbread house John and Grandma made

(Thanks to the moms of John's friends who sent me the photos!  John somehow didn't have it as his highest priority to "take lots of photos for the blog" as I instructed him to do when saying goodbye at the airport!  Haha).

Saying "welcome back" at the airport was also interesting.  Since John's VISA would expire in 2 days, the immigration officer tried to deny John's entry back into SA.  We got a call from John and the officer as we waited in the International Arrivals area.  Jeff had already cleared the travel with GE's immigration attorney, so he was well prepared.  The officer didn't get his bribe that day and John was allowed to proceed (after the officer threw his pencil toward John.  ...TAB!) 

Christmas in South Africa

Christmas Eve at the deKocks with Cherise and Charnell

Christmas Day potluck at our house.  (Mirandas)

(Calls, Galena)

(Sune, Susan)

(Mendozas)

It's the first time we've ever had a swimming party on Christmas Day!

My friend Lisa offered us her flat in Uhmlanga, Durban over the holidays

Great view to the Indian Ocean!

Lisa's friend, Linda, was a highlight for Kate.  She took her on a motorbike ride!

Michele & Friends

Emi Dunn visiting from US, Michele, Charnell, Jenny at Weltervreden Farm

Michele and her friend Cynthia hosted a farewell brunch for Lorraine who is moving to Cape Town (and their friend Claire made this cool collage for everyone)

And our beautiful friend Emmah from Zimbabwe married a wonderful guy named Brian!  They journeyed from Zim to the temple here in Joburg.  Then Marilyn and I hosted a reception for them so all their Joburg friends could wish them well!

Crossing the border from Zim has gotten even more difficult!  Emmah and Brian took the bus from Harare with plenty of time but ended up being late to their wedding because they were held so long in the ebola line!  What an odyssey they had been on just to get to Joburg!  I cannot do it justice to describe people carrying their clothing in plastic grocery bags with hopefully a sandwich to eat.  Getting on and off multiple, crowded buses.  Enduring lines and inefficiencies and unfairness.

Our housekeeper Susan recently traveled back from Zim.  She was in the ebola queue from 8pm-6am.  No order, just pushing and shoving.  No sitting down.  One fever scanner.  

I am overwhelmed by the faith and patience of the people I've met here.  It has been life-changing to learn from them!

And Finally

Kate started Grade 4 in mid-January and loves her teacher.  John is doing BYU High School on-line advanced courses and loving it.  Michele is enjoying having more time with both kids and still working for Kate's school board, RS presidency, and teaching early-morning seminary till the teacher returns (held up in US with VISA issues!)  Jeff still loves his job and is spending lots of time in Angola and collecting lots of stories for the book he will write someday.  He is still helping people find employment and being a very engaged dad and husband in his spare time!

We hope we will be here another year, so if you're considering coming to visit us, know you are welcome and start looking at dates!!