Posts filed under Family

The Final Step Before Home

The Malcolms at Cape Town International Airport

On Monday morning, we flew from Cape Town to Johannesburg. It was hard to say goodbye as we had spent two months there. The Helderberg Basin with its mountains surrounding us and the False Bay—not to mention the countless shops, restaurants, and our church family there always in view felt like a home away from home.

We had a great flight from Cape Town to Johannesburg and were able to get to our new accommodations easily. We are actually in the same building as The Codfather, a favorite restaurant of ours two months ago when we were here.

After settling in, we got ready for a busy Tuesday. On Tuesday, we met up with a family adopting one of Phindi’s best friends (and former bunkmate) from her care home. We had breakfast with them and had them over to our flat so the girls could spend some more time playing. After hanging out with them for most of the morning and some of the afternoon, we got ready to meet Mama Debbie and her husband for dinner at Nelson Mandela Square.

Tisetso being silly in Nelson Mandela Square in 2016.

Phindi at Nelson Mandela Square in 2022.

We had such a wonderful time with them at dinner. We are so thankful they wanted to spend extra time with Phindi and with the rest of us. It is so special to have these moments, especially as our time is winding down here.

The biggest news is that on Wednesday, we had our visa appointment at the US Consulate. It was quite the adventure, as it was when we went with Tisetso, although much less time was spent this time.

We arrived half an hour early only to find our names weren’t on the list. Thankfully, our lawyer had emailed us the confirmation email and that seemed to suffice in getting us through the door. At security, despite Brian checking the list of prohibited items, we were stopped because of the MANY cables, thumb drives, and batteries that seemed to spring out of every pocket in Brian’s backpack (which has a lot of pockets).

After turning off and turning in our phones and electronic paraphernalia, we were allowed to go through. As with last time, it felt surreal to be on “American soil” in South Africa. We were almost put into a long line, but thankfully we were redirected at the last minute to a different window where we were seen only ten minutes later. One form and many dollars later, we raised our right hands and swore we were giving the correct information. We were told to come back on Friday after 11:00 am to collect the passport with the visa attached.

Evening view from another angle in our flat.

So as of Tuesday, June 28th, we will be flying home. We officially purchased our tickets today. It feels crazy that our time here is rapidly coming to an end. I am so thankful that this time around, homesickness has been kept at bay. Do I miss home? Sure! But it’s not an overwhelming, powerful, all-consuming feeling like it felt at times last time we were here.

We would just ask that you pray over our family as we have some good-byes to say in the next few days that are going to be hard. Phindi is especially anxious and resistant to going to America. We can’t blame her—it’s a whole new world and culture that she doesn’t know yet! We hope and pray she will come to love her new home and the people she will meet there, but for now, it’s a big scary unknown.

Thank you for keeping our family in your thoughts and prayers. We couldn’t have made this trip without your support.

EDIT: Sorry this post wasn’t put up sooner! I thought it had been posted! Gah!

Posted on June 29, 2022 by Heidi and filed under adoption, Family, getting ready, In-Country Time, South Africa and tagged Cape Town Johannesburg Sandton Consulate.

When Worlds Collide in South Africa

The whole gang - on a 1.5 hour ocean cruise looking for wild life, especially hoping for dolphins and whales.

My sister and her family were able to come visit us from Turkey. They spent the week with us adventuring all over the Cape area. We loved having them spend time with us.

My brother-in-law, Aaron, has always wanted to visit Cape Town, so we were especially glad he was able to cross this off his bucket list. We are sure, though, that now he’s been here, he may want to come back—maybe even permanently. This city (and this country) tends to have that effect on people.

These two, plus Nora, were peas in a pod. It was great to see friendships forming over the week.

We got to visit Cape Town a few times, including a coffee tour for Brian and Aaron, which was to their liking. It was to Erin and I’s liking that we didn’t have to go on the tour. The kids, Erin, and I went to pet a cheetah while they sipped coffee.

The girls and Heidi with Tobias the cheetah.

We also went on a fun ocean cruise to see some ocean wildlife. We—especially Aaron and I—were really hoping to see dolphins and whales. Unfortunately, we only saw seals and penguins. The really neat thing was that the groups of penguins (a huddle) were so far from land. I’ve only ever seen them in shallow water by the rock colonies they live in.

We also spent a day going down the coast. We were able to have everyone meet Tahiyya, which was such a great time. We then headed down to meet some penguins at Seaforth Beach. Unfortunately, there were only two penguins out that day, but it was a good day for shells. Nora found a really neat shell, only to discover it still had someone living in it.

Erin discovered the “medium” cone should be called the “AS BIG AS YOUR FACE” cone.

Erin and I had a fun tradition of fitting in an ice cream cone by the beach in every day, except the very last day. We had so much fun eating our cones and enjoying people watching by the beach, except for one day when we kept getting whiffs of trash. That day stunk literally.

I call this one: Cousins connecting over the internet while sitting next to each other on the couch.

The week was such a great blessing to us because Turkey is not next door to Illinois. We don’t know when we’ll see them next. It’s always so much fun to connect and spend time together. We are so thankful they took time and all the effort to make it to this corner of the world to hang out with us and meet the newest Malcolm.

Posted on June 18, 2022 by Heidi and filed under adoption, Family, In-Country Time, South Africa and tagged family penguins shells coffee Cape Town Somerset West.

What We've Been Up To

Roger and Merry Ann (Grandpa and Grandma Malcolm) + the Malcolms at Tasha’s

We’ve been running around this corner of the world quite a bit the last few weeks. Brian’s parents, Roger and Merry Ann, came to visit us just after my mom departed for home. We have loved getting to introduce Phindi to everyone and showing them around (for the second time)!

We really enjoyed having Roger and Merry Ann visit because they had come visit last time we were here six years ago. We didn't have to hit the same spots, so we were free to visit some new ones and throw in a few days at home as well.

One of the really powerful things we did do was visit Robben Island. We tried to go last time we were here, but were unable to make it happen. This time around, we made it work. Not only was it compelling to ride around on the island and hear about the history, but we got to go on a walking tour led by a former political prisoner who had actually been imprisoned on Robben Island!

It was easily my favorite thing we have done here. Nothing can beat a first hand account of what it was like to live on the island and to be imprisoned for fighting for the freedom of your people. It was incredibly moving.

Dinner without power. Thanks, Load shedding.

Roger and Merry Ann also got to enjoy load shedding a couple of times while they were here. The first time meant we had to quickly cook a roast in the oven before six (when the power outage kicked in). The second time was when the Robben Island excursion took much longer than planned and we got locked out of the house because we didn’t have the right key and the garage wouldn’t open. Once again, load shedding is my nemesis.

My kids, putting up with a photo. (Haha!)

We went to a place called the Giraffe House that has a ton of animals, including—you guessed it—giraffes. The highlight of that trip was when the workers changed the huge branches while we were there and all six of the giraffes came right over to graze on the new leaves. It was so neat to see them all and to be so close to them. They’re one of my favorite animals, so I’m always glad to get to see them.

We took a day to drive down the coast of the Cape and visit Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope. They have a funicular you can ride up and down the mountain to the top of Cape Point, which is a fun little ride with a great view. We were especially lucky and saw many animals this trip: zebras, baboons (with a baby!), bok (antelope), ostriches, and seals.

While the Malcolms were here, it was Brian’s 41st birthday. Hoping to make it feel a little more like home, I asked Merry Ann to pack a box of angel food cake mix, a container of vanilla icing, and her angel food cake pan. She was kind enough to oblige my odd requests and she and I worked together to whisk the angel food cake mix into existence. Whisking was a much more muscle-inducing experience than the usual hand-held mixer experience I have. Thankfully, it came out perfectly and we all enjoyed the cake, especially the birthday guy!

SWAG from Kids Day and from Tisetso’s savings account!

Tisetso and Brian went into Cape Town on a mission to get new shoes. They hit up somewhere around 5 or 6 shoe stores and found Tisetso a sweet new track suit. He had a great time with his dad.

One last little bit of news before I wrap up this post is that Brian got news that Phindi’s passport had arrived at the Department of Home Affairs (DHA). He waited until his parents had departed for home, then headed into the city on Friday and stood in line for 5.5 hours only to be the first person in line to be turned away at the end of the day and was told to ‘come back on Monday.’ He got up at 4:30 on the following Monday and stood in line from 5:30 onwards. At 12:30, he had her passport in hand! This is huge news! This is the step we were told could take 6-8 weeks and only took 3. We are so thankful.

Brian stopped at Truth Coffee before heading home for a well-deserved nap.

Posted on June 12, 2022 by Heidi and filed under adoption, attachment / bonding, Family, In-Country Time, little things, South Africa and tagged visitors Cape Town Cape Point parents birthday Kids Day passport DHA.

Nana's Visit

Last week, the Malcolm family welcomed my mom to South Africa! My dad was unable to come due to his work schedule, but they both decided that this was important and that my mom should still come to see us. She stayed with us for a week and we had a full, fun week!

We spent a day walking around Stellenbosch, considered the Napa Valley of South Africa, although some might take offense as this area is much older than Napa! Stellenbosch is a beautiful town with restaurants, shops, and historical buildings, all reminiscent of a European village.

My favorite store in Stellenbosch and my sullen teenager in the background.

On Saturday, we went into Cape Town and went on a one hour boat ride. My mom and I rode at the front of the ship, which I am thankful for. I would have lost my breakfast many times over had I not seen the waves coming. It was like riding a rollercoaster going up each wave and dropping down, sometimes 10 feet! BLEH! After our boat ride, we got to walk around the Victoria and Albert Waterfront.

Our welcoming committee when we got back from the boat ride!

On Sunday, we had planned to explore more of the Waterfront, but the weather was so wonderful and Table Mountain was so clear, we headed up the mountain and bought tickets for the rotating cable car up to the top. Our unplanned trip worked out smashingly! The weather was beautiful. It was cool, but not cold and the sun was shining—not a cloud in the sky. Because of said sun, I splurged and bought a Table Mountain hat and wore it on Table Mountain. I likened it to going to a concert and wearing a t-shirt with that band on your shirt. Generally frowned upon, but it was sunny and my eyes didn’t care about sensibilities.

There’s a post box at the top of Table Mountain. We bought some post cards and stamps to send some mail to family.

Cape Point, the south-western most point of Africa

Cape Point Light House and a LOT of stairs.

On Monday, we headed down the coast all the way to Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope. We made the trek up a lot of steps to the lighthouse on top of the mountain to see the view. Unfortunately, I can report that the views are actually better off to the side (and with only 5 or 6 steps to contend with). Also, there was a gal who was going nuts with her friends and taking photos while we were up there. She was doing a photo shoot and we didn’t even get see the entire area up top. sigh Tisetso did enjoy climbing on a large rock and acting like a model. (See below.)

We did get to see some wild ostriches on the way to Cape of Good Hope!

Brian did not appreciate the spirit of the signage.

Tisetso with a penguin (by his left ear). Also, he got a hair cut!

After the Capes, we headed up Seaforth Restaurant where the penguins are. We met up with Tahiyya and Dylan there so my mom could meet them. After a lovely lunch, we headed down to the beach. The beach has changed quite a lot since we were last there. When we last visited, the beach was a free-for-all. Penguins were everywhere. People were everywhere. This time, there were only about 7 or 8 penguins, a fence along the boulder area where the penguins were, and fewer people. We didn’t think we would see more than the few penguins from 20 feet away until three penguins (a parent and two adolescents) swam around the fence and waddled up to the beach where we were.

Parent on the left and kids on the right.

On Tuesday, we headed to the Waterfront for a little while and then went to the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. It was beautiful! If you come to Cape Town, you’ll want to make a stop at the Gardens. I really enjoyed walking along the paths through the different gardens and seeing the flowers, plants, and trees native (and not native) to this area. My mom, a master gardener, loved every moment except for maybe my kids’ complaining about their tired legs. (Sorry, ma.)

The tree top canopy bridge was VERY wobbly and made me almost fall over at one point. I made the excuse to sit down and take this picture. Isn’t it nice?!

Wednesday was a fun winery tour with my mom at Vergelegen. When you enter the estate, you have to pay a small fee to enter. I told the guard one adult ticket ($0.63) and one pensioner (old person) ($0.31). He laughed and charged me for two adults. I was robbed!

We got to tour their winery and have a delicious wine tasting. Along with wine, they also have gorgeous gardens. After the tour and tasting, we met up with Brian and the kids for a delicious lunch at their restaurant. When we were done there, my mom graciously helped us move to our new accommodations. (We have since moved out of the flat we were in and are now in a huge house.)

A view of Table Mountain from Victoria and Albert Waterfront

Thursday was a pretty low-key day. We spent the day packing and getting ready to send mom home again. It was such a fun week with her. The only way it could have been better was if my dad could have come with. We are so thankful to my mom and dad for sacrificing so much to make the trip possible. Love you, ma and pa!