Bringing Maizy Home

In April I blogged about the newest member of our family, Maizy NT'seliseng. She was born in Lesotho, South Africa and joined Brett and Jinni's family. The following post is the pictures and updates that we received from them as they traveled to pick her up and bring her home. Amber also accompanied them on their trip.

Hello every one we have made it safely and absolutely love the people here at Foothills Guesthouse, they have taken such great care of us. We have had a couple of bumps on our meeting Maizy today but hope to leave in a half hour or so. The jet lag was horrible and we slept for about 24 hrs straight and then were wide awake all last night. We attended church yesterday and that was crazy. Half of it was in Seotho and the other in English. Way crazy! We do have some peaceful demonstration going on, but are well away from them. The bestest part is we had another family come in from Vancouver BC last night and are also staying here and our little girls are both at the same place. Such a BLESSING! Well need to run. Will update soon!

Monday, August 22, 2011

So she is now ours!! Today at around 3:30pm we were able to meet with the new PS at Social Health and Welfare and she sent us on to get our Maizy with her blessing. Maizy has been quite shy and nervous and has cried a little bit, bit is doing good now. She has a pretty severe case of eczema all over her body and so we have started working on that. So wish us luck at the embassy tomorrow and faith that it will all go well.

We are approved!
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Maizy did great and slept through the night and today Scott from the embassy said I have had the best collection of paperwork he has seen so far! YAY We have had a great couple of days and have loved being here. We miss our kids terribly and need Brayden and Allison to spread hugs and kisses from all of us including Amber, she just arrived! Well off to enjoy our new little one. Will post pictures later tonight!!!

Another update!
Wednesday, August 24, 2011

So a few of you have commented on Maizy's size and her full head of hair! Well she is really, really big. At this point she weighs more than Breyson and is very round with lots of rolls. I am now getting a little more comfortable with all her hair. It has been so fun to play with. She has been sleeping through the night great and early in the morning she will come and crawl into our bed and sing songs and giggle. She loves to play with her dad, it cracks me up. As you probably can already tell she loves food. She is a good eater and get really giddy when we are making our meals. I had worried a lot about what we would be eating but it has all been normal and we have had plenty. She has a little bit of a fire and will let you know what she thinks. Kind of interesting.

Saturday Update from Lesotho
Saturday, August 27, 2011
So we are doing well and trying to help our little Maizy adjust. Yesterday we went to Morija and spent the morning on a pony ride and were able to go through a museum about Lesotho. It was fun! We went with another family who is here from BC collecting their daughter from the same facility as ours. We have become great friends. We also have another family staying here from BC who are members of our church and so there has been some great connections there. We were able to talk to our kids today and that was the best. Tomorrow we will attend church for the second week in a row and they have been really welcoming to us. Brett leaves Monday and then Amber and I will follow Friday! So all is well, we look forward to getting closer to home and will stay in touch!

Well Maizy came down very sick and so we had to see a pediatrician in Maseru yesterday to find out that Maizy has pneumonia. We got some antibiotics and were able to fly out to Joburg today. We've got to our apartment and to the embassy Dr. for our appointment today and are now way exhausted, so we will post more later. Goodnight!!!
A few more pictures! Our final sign out at the orphanage and a couple from our safari today! We had the best guide ever, total crack up!

A couple of photos from the Lion Park! The baby lions were so cute, the ostrich kept pecking me and the giraffe just wrapped his whole tongue around my hand:) So fun!!!

Visa's are done and flights are on schedule, so we should be home tomorrow! YAY!!! After sitting in the Embassy yesterday for three hours with a one year old in the middle of her nap time, they finally approved us and said to come get our Visa at 2pm today. So please pray that it is ready and we can fly out tonight!!!:) They promised it would be!

On American soil again, sitting at JFK airport waiting to board our final flight on my way to see my sweet little family. Can't wait!

More pictures...

Happy Birthday Elder Mackay!

In Glenn's last email from his mission in Merida, Mexico, he asked us "to eat a chunk of cake or something for me... " to celebrate his 20th birthday. We took him up on his word and celebrated Friday with Wes, Julie and family. Saying "We love You!" with our hands

Katie, MacKenzie and Weston blew out the candles for him!

We were blessed to the have missionaries that serve in our area staying with us on Saturday night and we asked them to celebrate too. Besides family, who better to share his birthday cake with than missionaries?! Elder Sharp, Elder Nelson and Scott ready to enjoy cake and ice cream

A Peak into Eternity

On July 9, we shared a wonderful day with the Vern Fellon family as they attended the Idaho Falls Temple. We witnessed their family sealing. It was such a treat to be a part of their special day. The phrase is true - " a picture is worth a thousand words"...

Mackay Reunion 2011

The Walter Mackay family reunion for 2011 was held in the Rupert, Idaho area. We gathered Friday and many adults enjoyed a Mexican lunch at Penny's Cafe in Norland. Layne and Barbara served Dutch oven chicken, potatoes for dinner that night and later, S'mores around the campfire. Friday evening campfire

Saturday was spent at Steadman's Slide at Raft River. Everyone enjoyed a relaxing day on the slide, zip line and visiting.

Brian and Joan enjoyed the thrill of a ride down the slide, along with...

Allen....

and Brayden and Mason.

Wes on the zip line.

Later we had the kid's party, family basketball game, volleyball game and dance and pizza and homemade root beer.

The traditional family basketball game.

For church we attended Rupert Fifth Ward and saw many friends from the years past. A grocery shower was given for Cliff and Julie, a talent show and we learned from Dad and Mamo as they answered questions about their past, giving us a glimpse into their lives.

Monday was the Fourth of July and we started our celebration at he Rupert parade. Afterwards we enjoyed a BBQ at the Layne and Barbara's along with snow cones and homemade ice cream. A lot of four wheeler and dune buggy rides were given. The traditional Alka-Seltzer water gun fight expanded as a few cups of water were tossed by Cliff. Heather and Jenny teamed up to get him back with buckets! He then became the target of water balloons thrown by the younger generation.

Enjoying the Fourth of July parade in Rupert.

Weston and MacKenzie shared their piano skills during the talent show.

The 'gunmen' after a target shooting session in Lemhi.

Enjoy more highlights with this slide show

The Most Water in Flint Creek We've Ever Seen

The above average snow pack is melting and we have had a very rainy spring which has created quite a dilemma here in the Drummond area - flooding. A neighbor that grew up here commented that this was the most water that he had ever seen in the Flint Creek. I took a moment to take a few pictures today. (Sorry about the spots - they are rain drops on the camera lens!)

This is looking south up the Flint Creek at the bridge.



Looking south west towards Spencers.

At the first bridge, looking south.

On the south side, at the first bridge, looking back towards Flint Creek. l

On the North side of the bridge looking down Flint Creek.

Just passed the first bunch of trees in Parke's pasture on the north side of Flint Creek .

At the first bridge, looking back at Flint Creek.

North side at the first bridge.

At the first bridge, looking back at Flint Creek.

Spring Break

We have been hoping for some time to make a trip to visit Allen and Jenny and family in Flagstaff and finally made it during towards the latter part of April. It was great to spend time in their home. They took such good care of us. Ethan, Allen, Alaine and Scott outside of Allen's work

When we decided to make the trip, Allen figured that it would be a perfect time to renovate the chicken coop that was on their property. Their family had decided to start raising chickens. So with his dad there as a building project partner, they set of to work.

Ethan, Spencer and Allen - working on the sides of the nesting boxes.

Ethan and Grandpa Scott attaching the sides to the top.

The nesting boxes from the inside of the chicken coop.

The eggs will collect in this tray on the outside of the chicken coop.

Ethan and Spencer put their hands through the nesting boxes to the outside.

The finished view of the nesting boxes, inside of the chicken coop.

On Monday, we traveled to the Walnut Canyon National Park and toured the

cliff dwellings of the Sinagua Native American tribe that are about 800 years old. It was interesting to see how they made their surroundings work for them.

Ethan, Jenny, Allen, Spencer, Alaine, and Scott inside of one of the rooms.

Allen and Spencer inside a cliff dwelling.

Ethan, wondered if it was door behind him, connected the rooms of a house for one family.

As we came to the end of our hike we were discussing the shapes and dimension of the rocks. Ethan told us that this was a 'rumple rock' because it had rumples in it.

A lizard!! Ethan wanted to catch it!

I love to look for peculiar images in nature and found these shapes in the knots of a dead cedar tree.

On the way back to Phoenix Ethan and I posed for a picture by a Saguaro Cactus. Allen kept encouraging us to step back and get a little closer!