Swellendam 2 and Bas Lake

Jessica & Kiera

First of all we wanted to give you a report back on Jessica and Kiera.  They are doing so well and are growing quickly.  Mom asked the volunteers to take a picture of the babies, that looks the same as the picture she took of Kieran and I when we were that age.  She made like a competition and said the best picture would get a little prize from her.  So they all took pictures, but the very best one of all was this one.  It was taken by Fiona from Pennsylvania (Not Pencilvania! LOL).  We think she did a great job, don't you.  And those babies look so lovely.  Next time we will show you how they look now.  Because these pictures were taken a few weeks ago. 

Jesse and Kieran

This picture was taken by Mommy when we first arrived at TLC.  Jesse came first, and I was very sick because of my heart problem.  Mom had to wait another week before they called her to fetch me and she was so happy!  She said she nearly danced all the way to the hospital.  But when she got there, they told Mom that she should just love and look after me nicely, but that they didn't think I was going to live more than a month because of my serious heart condition.  But Mom thought to herself.  "Hmmmm ... God can change anything!"  So she brought me home and started praying for me right away.  I kept stopping to breathe and Mom put me onto oxygen.  I was on oxygen for about three months because every time she took me off it, I would stop breathing again.

One day, she was giving me a wash and I stopped breathing.  She got such a fright and she tried to rescusitate me, but I didn't come around.  So she was very upset and was trying everything.  Just then her old priest friend called Fr. Victor who was the Catholic Chaplain of Baragwanath Hospital phoned her and he did not stop ringing the phone.  So Mom answered and just said "I can't talk to you now!  A baby has stopped breathing.  Before she put the phone down she heard Fr. Victor's  voice shout:  "Is the baby baptised"  She shouted back, "NO!" and put the phone down.  Mom says, she couldn't believe it, she was just back with me and trying to tap my heart again, when she hear Fr. Victor's voice behind her say, "Out of the way, we need to baptise this baby."  She was astonished because she didn't think that Fr. Victor could have got there so quickly, because neither of them had cellphones in those days.  Anyway, Fr. Victor pushed her out of the way, took the special bottles out of his little case and started to baptise me.  Just when he said the words "I baptise you in the name of Jesus" and poured water over my head, I coughed and spluttered and began to breathe.  Can you believe that?   My Mom says that was a REAL miracle that she saw with her own peepers!  And I never lost my breath again since that day!  Isn't that a lovely story?  And it's a TRUE story!

We thought that it will be fine if we put Joanna's kids in now so that it will make more sense later on. Otherwise you might think that her kids are Mom's kids. So Joanna did things differently from Mom because she first adopted West, so she had a heart-kid first. Then she had a tummy-kid and that was Kay. After Kay she had three more heart kids.

FAMILY FOCUS

W E S T

This is West. He is Joanna's firstborn heart-kid. Joanna's family are not called Jarvises. They are called Joneses. It does seem a bit strange that we are actually their uncles because Mommy is their grandmother. The first day I found that out, I was like WHOOOHOOO! I am the uncle of a 13 year old and I am only 10! But now we are all used to it and it's not such a big deal anymore. Sometimes when there are strangers we just say we are all brothers. Otherwise it's complicated.

Everybody loves West a lot because he is very different from other kids. He's kind of unique. He's very gentle and kind but you mustn't annoy him, because he can get into quite a temper sometimes. (I hope he doesn't get annoyed with me that I said that!) Brrrr! I will ask him if he minds, and if he does, I will take it out.  But usually  when West gets mad its because somebody MADE him mad.  He doesn't just get mad for nothing.  So we are usually patient with him because we all get mad sometimes.

West goes to Randeor School with Tommy, my Mom’s 3rd eldest heart kid and Brendon, her 5th heart kid. Randeor is a Technical School for people who don’t like studying Maths and stuff, but prefer to work with their hands. In the beginning West didn’t really like it there, but now he does. Now he has friends. What I like about West is that you can tell him your troubles and your worries. He likes to listen to you and to try to help you when you're sad.

He was always scared that he was going to get bullied at Randeor and they teased him sometimes too, like they tease everybody. But then this year Tommy was made a Prefect and everybody in the whole school respects Tommy too much! Even the thugs and bullies started to respect the Jarvises and Joneses because the bullies know our family sticks together when there’s trouble. Tommy took good care of West and he’s fine now. He likes his school now and he also has friends there so that helps too.

West likes to do stuff like building things. He’s very good at that type of thing, and he likes to dress up. And he likes to do hair and nails and stuff like that.

Yes, I think dressing up is his most favourite thing and do you know, he is very good at it. He even dresses up his mother, Joanna. Whenever Joanna wants to buy some new clothes, West goes shopping with her and he says – Mom try this on, Mom try that on. – and he matches the dresses with shoes and scarves and things. He can also make clothes, but not real ones yet. Mom thinks he might be a dress designer one day. But his favourite thing in the whole world is to make people look beautiful.

West grew up with the big boys, like Joshua, Reuel and Tommy, mostly. But he’s a little bit in the middle like with Crispin and Brendon on the other side of him.

West loves my Mom too much. He calls her Gogo. Actually all Joanna's kids and Pippa's kids call her Gogo. That means Grandma in Zulu. Whenever he makes a mistake or something he always says ... -- PLEASE don't tell Gogo! -- because he doesn't like to disappoint her.

And my Mom adores West too. She says he’s like an angel to her and she says she knows that he is going to grow up to be a very, very special person one day because he has such a beautiful heart.  She says she loves the way he always listens to everybody's problems and if he can't help them he comes to her or to Joanna and they tell him what to do. 

Maybe he will be a listener one day.  Like somebody who listens, you know, to other people's worries and problems.  There was a guy in the next door farm called John.  He used to come once a week and listened to all our problems and he never ever told anybody what you said.  Something like a priest who listens to your confession.  He will never tell anybody, even if you hold a gun by his head.  Wow!  That's special.

Yes, very special.  It took me a long time to trust our Priest.  Longer than it took me to trust John.  John had these kind of shiny blue eyes and you knew you could trust him.  But a priest?  Uh uh!  I wasn't sure about that.  So I started by telling him only my smallest little sins ... and then I watched Mommy's face for about a week.  I could tell she didn't know.  Then later I started telling him bigger ones and then eventually I told him HUMUNGOUS ones!  LOL LOL!  Now I know I can trust him, even though he's Polish.  It's good to tell the Priest stuff because it washes your heart clean and he prays for you and God gives you grace.  Then your soul gets strong and you can resist the bad stuff.  It does work hey!

Kieran in the Peach Grove Blossoms ~ Swellendam

Cool, now its time to tell you about the rest of our wonderful trip to Swellendam.  On Tuesday Uncle Jerry and me and Mom went in the car to Cape Town.  I was so excited.  But it did take very long.  Very, very long.  Hours and hours.  I kept saying ... are we there yet? ... and then my Mom would say .... Nearly! ...  And then later on she would say yes, this is Cape Town and just before I could get happy Uncle Jerry said ... No no.  This is not Cape Town yet ... this is such and such.

Then finally we got there.  I was so excited when I saw Table Mountain.  Mom was saying that its the grandest thing she has ever seen in her whole life.  She said its not the same to see it in pictures.  So I was wondering and wondering how grand it can be.  But really it is VERY grand.  It makes your heart swell up so that you can hardly breathe when you see it for the first time.  It is so, so huge.  I felt like that even on the first day and we were not even up close yet.  We were quite far away actually.  We only went up close the next day when we went to the Docks and to the Waterfront.

We had to wait a little bit for my cousin, Gerard to get home from work.  He is Uncle Jerry's son. So we waited and that was cool because we were looking at Table Mountain all the time and it was awesome.  We were at Blouwberg Strand, that's like on the other side of the sea from Table Mountain.  Well, not the REAL BIG sea, but sort of around a bay or something.  You could even see Robben Island.  Blouwberg Strand is nice.  Maybe when I am big I will live there because they have millions and millions of smallish houses all next to each other and each one is more lovely than the last one.  And next to the sea they have lots of restaurants and ... yes, I think I would like to live there one day.

So then it was time to go to Gerard's house.  I was so excited and I wondered if he looked just like Uncle Jerry, but actually he looks completely different.  Mommy says he looks more like his Mom, that's why.  (His Mom died).  Gerard was the one to do the cooking and he made a potjie.  Can you see that little black kind of Africanish pot he is cooking in?  That's called a potjie.  So he made meat and vegetables in it and it was really very yummy. 

I was happy about that because the last time I ate potjie it was disgusting.  And I won't tell you who the cook was because he will probably kill me! LOL!  Gerard's got a kind of a wife and her name is Kirsten.  She is very pretty and very nice.  She taught me and Mommy to play Battleships.  We hadn't played it before.  Gerard also has a little daughter who is 8.  Her name is Kayleigh.  She is pretty and very nice too and played Battleships with us as well.  Me and Mom lost.  But I wasn't feeling comfortable.  Mommy kept teasing me and that wasn't nice either.  It wasn't that I didn't like the little girl, I DID.  I just don't know why I was uncomfortable.  Maybe its because I didn't get to know her yet.  And she stays with her Mom in another house so Gerard took her home later.  Then I was comfortable again.

Breakfast at Blouwbergstrand

The next morning we got up and had breakfast at one of the beach restaurants.  It was very cool.  You could see the mountain and the sea, and Robben Island.  It was really nice sitting there in that beautiful place with Uncle Jerry and Mommy.

After that we went to Cape Town but guess what?  It started to POUR with rain and it was Mommy and Uncle Jerry's fault because I TOLD them not to say the word RAIN and they kept saying it.  So well, what did they expect?  The rain came pouring down.  But we did see Table Mountain up close. The only thing is it was covered with cloud so you couldn't see the top.  But we went to the docks and the Waterfront.  It was nice, but it was raining.  I think Uncle Jerry was not feeling too well because he had to sit down quite a lot.  I felt sorry for him and then I didn't really want to walk around a lot anymore. 

Mommy told Uncle Jerry she would just take me into the aquarium for a whizz around there, while he sat outside, and then we could go home.  So that's what we ended up doing.  I LOVED the aquarium.  It was really, really cool and we watched them feeding the penguins.  I was longing to see a killer whale but Mom said they wouldn't have them there because surely they are too big for such small tanks.  But I didn't believe her.  Look .. those tanks are VERY big.  Anyway, we couldn't spend the whole day there looking for a killer whale.  So she bought me this neat little plastic killer whale and she bought me a special ring that changes colour when you are mad or when you are calm.  It's nearly always brownish yellowish when I wear it, but when Mom wears it, its blue.

So, when we were finished with the aquarium, we had to walk very quickly to the parking because it was pouring with rain.  Then we left and drove straight back to Swellendam, except we stopped for lunch at Steers.  We got back to the farm sort of in the evening, and Aunty Yvonne made some roast lamb for us all.

Kieran with the Poplar trees

Well, the next day was Thursday and I was already getting a bit sad because our holiday was nearly finished.  Aunty Yvonne asked me what I wanted to do, and they laughed when I said I wanted to go shopping!  I don't know why they laughed because I love the shops and hardly ever go to the shops.  My whole family loves to go to the shops.  I mean the kids.  I know Mom hates the shops.  Well, so we picked up Aunty Nel from her little cottage and we all went to the shops.  Mom bought me all the things I asked for ... it was SO cool.  She bought me chips, and a cold drink, a Ben 10 Lucky Packet, a pair of sunglasses and a plastic binoculars, so Mom didn't have to worry that I would break Uncle Jerry's expensive ones!  It was a very nice day.  We went for a walk around the farm and Mom took some pictures of me.

Trying to touch the sheep

Uncle Jerry has sheep on his farm, and chickens and of course two dogs.  Mommy wanted to take a picture of me stroking the sheep's nose, but I wasn't sure about that.  Aunty Yvonne showed me how to do it but I didn't  like the idea.  Mom reminded me of the picture in the lounge with Kayleigh KISSING the sheep ... but I didn't care.  No way was I gonna kiss a sheep.  So here is a picture to show you that I came very close and I did try, but it wasn't for me.
 
The ones you can see:

Before we knew it ... it was Friday.  I was feeling sad because Uncle Jerry had not taken me fishing like he promised.  I wonder if he heard me whining, but I thought I was whining very quietly.  But after lunch he suddenly said, ... So Kieran do you still want to go fishing? ... and I said ... DO YOU want to go fishing? ... and he said ... I hate it when people do that!  Do you want to go fishing or not?  Then I was a bit scared because I thought I had made him mad.  I just looked and Mom and Mom said ... YES he really wants to go fishing.

So we hitched a trailer on his quadbike and I got in there with all fishing rods and stuff and Mom sat behind Uncle Jerry and off we went to the river.  (It's really not very far).  We got there and Uncle Jerry put up two fishing rods.  One for me and one for him.  Then he said we had to be really, really quiet.  I was feeling very happy to be there, so it was quite hard to be still.  But I did try my best. 

Fisherman abandons post!

And I waited and I waited and I waited.  But the fish wouldn't bite.  And I started to get in a bad mood.  So I was chasing Ciska around with a stick for a while and Uncle Jerry said ... You better not hit my dog with that stick! ...  I mean, come on!  I wouldn't hit Cisca with a stick?  Anyway, I waited and waited and waited again but the fish just wouldn't bite.  I know that they DO bite because I saw a picture of Gerard with a fish as big as a dog and he caught it in that very same river.  So, I asked Mom for the 10th time, ... Why is it taking so long? ... and Mom said ... Because fishing DOES take long, Kieran.  We have only been here for half an hour.  Sometimes it can take all day! ... I thought W-H-A-T?  So I didn't say another word.  I very, very quietly left my chair and everything and tip-toed up to the path and then ran back to the house as fast as I could.  I will never fish again.  ALL DAY!  That's just stupid!  I wonder how long Gerard waited to catch that big fish.  Probably all day and all night!

Well, after the 'fishing' we had supper and then Mom and I packed our bags and we were ready to leave in the morning.

So the next morning arrived and we packed up the car and left for George.  We had some lunch there and then we got on the plane at 2 o'clock.  It didn't take us very long to get to Jo'burg.  It was 2 hours but it felt like a half hour.   Pippa was waiting for us with Jesse, Paul, Dominique and baby Ruthi.  When I saw them I realised I was happy to be home again.

Yeah!  And I was SO HAPPY to see my brother again.  Even though he didn't buy me a single thing in Cape Town.  Jesse you got nice stuff from Aunty Yvonne and I gave you my best ring!  You are so ungrateful.  Oh yes ... that's true ... but I wasn't talking about Aunty Yvonne, was I?  But then he DID give me his ring and I as very happy and Mom stopped at the CD shop and replaced my Justin Bieber CD and then I was REALLY very happy.

Paul stayed in the car

So the next day was Sunday and we all went to Mass as usual.  It was nice being altogether.  And the tent wasn't THAT hot because it was a coolish day.  After Mass Pippa took us all to Bas Lake.  That was so exciting.  Bas Lake is a quarry that was dug out of the rocks and is really quite big.  They don't use the quarry anymore.  Now they use it for training people to dive.  It is more than 100 metres deep!  That's kind of scary.  Mom didn't like the idea either.  When we got to the lake Mom said ... --- eeeew ... I don't like this place.  Its sinister. ---  Then Paul asked Mom  --What's sinister --- and Pippa said ... Scary ... and then Paul said ... --- I wanna go home!--- and he refused to get out of the car.

It was a lot of fun.  Tommy swam right across ot the other side of the lake.  That was SO brave and all of us were holding our breath and hoping he would get back safely because it its really a long way to go.  Mom was say ... --- Oh my God what if he gets a cramp? --- and Pippa said --- Then we are in big trouble! --- We kept yelling to him ... --- Come back Tommy!  Are you alright Tommy?  Then finally he came back and was fine, thank goodness!  Mom was getting quite tearful and we were scared that she was going to get sick again because everybody was so happy that she is back at home now and not at Postinia anymore.  So when Tommy got back Mom was SO happy!

We were all watching Tommy and hoping he would get back

So then Pippa made a delicious braai.  Pippa's braai's are the best in the world.  But I always feel sorry for her because she goes blood red from cooking because she has such a white skin.  We all at a great feast and everybody was so happy because we were all together again and not only that, even RHYS was there because Mommy was home and he wanted to spend the day with us.  He was being very funny and making us all laugh with his jokes and stuff. 

Pippa kept saying - --- Oh this is lovely!  Oh I just love this place!  Sorry you think its sinister Mom.  But I think it's so lovely!  ---  By this time Paul was out of the car.

Well, it was a great day.  In the end we all had a lekker swim and it was a bit of a slimy idea because it is FULL of fish (BAS).  Luckily I didn't realise it because I only saw them later when my Amy and Khensani threw some bread in and they all came bunching and crowing together.  Whaaaaa ... I didn't get back in the water after I said that.  Especially when someone said that they can suck you TOES!

Well, sorry that the blog is late but you see it is very, very long today and it took ages to finish because of all the stories Kieran had about Cape Town and stuff.  Huh?!

We just want to say thank you to all the people who make comments:  We did try to answer on the comment place but we think that you don't look there after you made your comment.

So:

Jeppe D thanks that you always say something on the blog.  It  makes us very happy.  And you will see more of the family, we promise.  We are starting to do them in our spare time so that they can be ready for you.  Pippa also started to put little pieces on her special camera so that she can load up some of the brothers and sisters to say a short bit.  But we are not sure if that will work yet.  One day we will visit you in Denmark.  Mom says the happiest people in the world live in Denmark.  She says its because you have a queen and not a king!  LOL!

Hi Hannah Johnson.  Sorry that we went to the football without you.  It would have been even more fun with you there.  Poor Becki had to give us all her stuff.  Her coat, her jersey, her next jersey ... because we forgot to take ours off the bus.  She is just as kind as you are, Hannah.  We miss her so much, and we miss you too.  Here is a picture of her because she came to Bas Lake with us on Sunday!

Crispin and Becki Johnson

Hi Emma.  So it was YOU!  Well, we won't get anybody else looking at us in Gibraltar now.  And we noticed that all our Chinese fans have disappeared too.  I guess English is too hard for them to read.  I know Chinese would be hard for me to read.  Hope your new class also likes our blogstories.  We love you Emma.

Hello Aunty Jay.  Hannah has just arrived, but she is hobbling and is on crutches, did you know?   Shame.  It looks really sore.  It's nice to have her back and Lucy is so happy.  Maybe we will take solme pictures and we will put them on the next blog.  We are glad you like our blogstories so much.  Mom says that Buxton where you live is the highest town in England.  That's cool! 

Hi Gabi,

We are so glad that you are reading our blogstories.  Are you homesick for TLC?  Is it nice to be back home now.  We think the babies are missing you a lot.  Its nice when volunteers read the blog because you already know what TLC is like and why we all get bothered sometimes.  Are you going to come back one day?

Hi Aimiee,  Did we miss you?  When did you come back.  Nobody told us that you were back and where did we go that we didn't see you?  You must have only come for a very short time.  We love you too, Aimiee. 

Hello Piet and Joke,

Thank you for reading our blogstories.  My Mom told us that you were a visitor here and that you are from Holland.  But Murphy doesn't really remember you either.  I will see if there is a picture I can post for you of Murphy.  Yes, we would love to see the pictures not but of the house and school, thanks.  We only want to see pictures of us.  LOL (I mean all the kids).

No no Joke, when Holland comes again, Bafana Bafana are going to give them a good spanking!  LOL!

Okay now we really have to say bye because I'm exhausted.

Yeah my back is aching

see you all ... Bye!

Bye!

Phew