Ithemba Trust

The Ithemba Trust is the trust that started the schools that we visited in South Africa. Kitty Phillips and Angela Price co founded the trust together and started a private Christian school intially for their own children. The public schools in SA are not very good and the children do not get a good education, so parents normally send their children to boarding schools hours away. Kitty did not like sending her kids far away and not being able to be an active part of their daily lives. So Kitty and Kevin prayed about what to do and God lead Kitty to bring her children home and homeschool. Man what a calling God had and still has for her. The school started in a garage with their children and now has it's own land, building and 60 children. Here is their Vision off of their website:

"To become a life-giving community of people that nurtures, comforts, supports and develops the talent and gifting of school children through holistic education and a Christ-filled lifestyle."

Here is Charles, he is a little boy in the preschool class. We had the chance to visit with them and play with them. It was such a joy to be able to bring toys and presents to them and play with them.
Marvellous and Lisa. Such sweet children. They were both just learning english and were so excited about counting and their alphabet.
The information at the luncheon.
Charles and Angela Price and Kitty and Kevin Philips speaking at the business/community leaders luncheon. The Lord has so much in store for them and for the schools. Just recently they were able to buy a home to house some students and their families. Also they got a new principal and are making old farm buildings into classrooms. It is so neat to see God working in their lives and through them. If you want more information about the school the website is www.ithemba4hope.org

Also be praying for Kitty, Kevin, Charles and Angela for God to lead them in the next steps for the school and staff. Pray for the teachers to teach God's will and for the children to soak it all in and see the love of Christ. It is such an awesome experience apart of this and I urge you, if you ever have a chance to do any sort of mission work do it! It's amazing!

Kitty, Kevin, Angela and Charles- Thank you for coming here and visiting us. Thank you for sharing your heart with us and for being open to what God wants you to do. Thank you for being such amazing and fun people. We can't wait to see you again! Love to you all and your families!

Also continue scrolling down for some more new posts. I'm on a roll tonight!

How ya Feelin'

In March 2009 we went to Discovery Bay, Jamaica and stayed in the Fortlands Point Villa. There were 13 of us that all went together. We flew into Montego Bay and then drove to our villa. Which is between MB and Ocho Rios. The villa is nothing short of amazing.

We had our own pool and our own little beach.

We also had kayaks, snorkel gear and plenty of games to play with. The kayaks were so much fun to take around the Bay. One evening we had "Rock star Night" Yes we dressed up did our hair had fake tattoos and we were all rock stars ( well some of us decided not to participate, ahem, DAD and C!) But I'll forgive them and go on with my story! On rock star night a steel drum band came out and performed for us. On my goodness it was so fun. We ate and danced and sang the night away. We even had a little bomb fire. It was so fun.

Our table for dinner on Rock star Night
The Steel Drum Band
All of the girls on Rock Star Night
All of the guys on Rock star Night

We did rent jet skis on day. It was pretty exciting, but I liked the kayaks more. The food was absolutely amazing. We went to Ocho Rios one day and went to Dunn's River Falls and climbed up it. It was a pretty fun experience, a COLD experience, but fun. The camera man kept yelling "HOW YA FEELIN'" and wanted us to yell back "hot hot hot!" He said this probably 1,000 times in an hour. It was hilarious. Another day we went on a snorkeling cruise. It was a lot of fun. The CD they were playing on the boat was the funniest things I've ever heard (well except the American Idol guy singing Pants on the Ground, if you haven't seen it look it up! HILARIOUS!) Anyways, back to the boat. They were playing songs about loving big booty's and big bamboos. It was so funny, the people working were singing every word and just loving it and we were all cracking up! Most of the trip we stayed at the house and just enjoyed our relaxing time. It was such a gorgeous house.

Scroll Down for another new post! =)

Busy, Busy

Ok first off did ya'll not just LOVE the Boden clothes?!?!?! I order two shirts! I'll have to post pics once they're in! So excited!

We went to dinner for my dad's birthday with my fam, L's fam and my Gran. It was a delicious meal and a great time!

My sis sat by me and was just the sweetest cutest thing! She is 14 and getting to the stage where she wants to know everything and be in every one's business. It is so funny. L and I were talking about paying for dinner and getting our waiter the credit card and she got made b/c we wouldn't tell her what we were saying. Too funny. Also she looked super cute. I got her these bows for Christmas (i got some too!) And she just looked SO cute! Love her!

Saturday our friends from South Africa were in town. Charles and Angela Price, own part of the place we went to in SA and Kevin and Kitty Phillips are the co-founders of the school that we support and went to this summer. They are in the States for some hunting shows and came here and stayed with my parents and the in laws. It was great to have them here. Saturday we went to the in laws and ate dinner. We played on the Wii and Charles even sang Miley Cyrus "The Climb" for us on Wii Sing. It was HILARIOUS! L was videoing (if that's a word) it. I'll have to post it! On Sunday I took the girls all over town shopping. It was so much fun. It was great to get to spend more time with them. We ate dinner at my parents and watched the DVD of our Africa trip. It was so much fun to watch it with them. On Monday our church had a business/leaders luncheon and had them speak about the school in South Africa. It was great to hear their hearts and to hear more about the schools. I do plan on making a post about the schools b/c it is such an awesome thing. That night we went to the other owners of the Safari's house (they live here in the city) They hosted an evening about the safari and hunting. It was great to catch up with them too and we all have a wonderful time. It is so good to catch up with old friends and to be able to learn more about people. Kitty and I got to run around some together Monday afternoon and it was so cool to hear her story about her and Kevin meeting and her kids. I hope we get to see them all soon. God is doing awesome things in SA in the schools and in their lives. It is such a neat thing to be apart of!

I do think I am going to go back in our travel "files" and post some pics, tips and journal about different places we've been . If only for us to remember and be able to record them! I hope you all enjoy looking though and reading about our adventures!

Random

So this post is TOTALLY random! That's kind of how my mind has been lately, so just go with it if you will! =) The pic above is from the other night L and I got to go see Legally Blonde the Musical! Oh my gosh it was SOOOO good. If you get the chance to go see it you must! It was hilarious! We had so much fun. We got dressed up and went to a really nice steak place and then to the play. It was a great evening just the two of us. We don't get "dressed up" and go out on dates very often so it was a nice treat! We also went to an NBA game with some friends of ours. It was a great game! It went into overtime, but we ended up losing! It was still alot of fun though.

Ok totally random, but I just got a new magazine in the mail that has the CUTEST clothes. The website is http://www.bodenusa.com/ I've never heard of this place and it has the neatest clothes and they are so unique. They also have men's and children's. The stuff is a little pricey, but I think I might splurge and get a couple things!
Oh a little update on Curves! We have had such a great 10 days at our new location! Not only does everyone LOVE it! But we got a new machine and we have had so many new members and new people come in for information. It makes me so happy to have new people in and for some of our old (not age old) members come back in! It is so fun to see them again and get reconnected!
We have a super busy weekend, but I am super excited about it! My dad's b-day is today so we are going out to eat with the whole fam for his birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY-O!! The people that live in Africa that own part of the lodges we stayed in are going to be here this weekend, so we are having dinner with them Saturday and then lunch and dinner on Monday. It should be super fun getting caught up with them and spending time with them.
OH and another TOTALLY random thing! We got the Just Dance game for the Wii! OH MY LANDS! It is so much fun! (and yes I did just say on my lands!) It is a cardio workout for sure, but oh so much fun. I pretty much rock on it! I have only been beat one time and that was by L's lil sis! The sweet hubs even played me (don't worry I beat him!!) If you have a Wii you have to play this game! So much fun! Ok I think that's it for my totally random post! Aren't you glad you see how my head works! (I'm sure you're even more glad you aren't in it! It gets a little crazy sometimes! )