New surroundings...

Well, it is finally time to show you our new home... 


We are so thankful! I am pretty sure that I thank the Lord for our sun-filled, bigger home almost daily! It is such a blessing to be able to have open windows, fresh breezes and the sun's reflection dancing on our walls!


When we found out that this apartment was going to be available (They are provided to seminary students at a lower rate by a couple that attend our church and there is a long list of students who would like to move in...), we honestly thought that we would have very little to put in it... 
We had a bed, couch, cradle and a few of the bookshelves...


But the Lord provided everything you see in these pics- including an incredible experience where we had our very own 'Gillies' home-makeover! We even got to go to IKEA and buy things we needed and liked! (I mean... who are we to experience all these blessings?!?!?) :)  It feels like our home testifies so loudly of the Lord's kindness to us! 


Okay, time to take a tour! This is our lounge area:

The kitchen:

Dining area and a view from the balcony:

Our bedroom:

The bathroom:

Blue's room: (We recently got given this beautiful 'sleigh' crib:

A view from our front door:

I love this passage in Psalm 127, it is in verse 2: 
"It is vain for you to rise up early, To retire late, To eat the bread of painful labours; For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep." 
I always thought it meant that He gives sleep, but actually it looks like He gives to us even while we are sleeping- ie. it has very little to do with our effort and everything to do with who He is. :) 


Here are two pics I recently took of Blue- he seems to really enjoy photo shoots! I have been wanting to do some with just his diaper on and that penguin hat before it got too small! 

 Then... we received such a fun parcel from SA- from the Bakkes'! Look at how creative Heleen's packaging was! The package was filled with fun African things! Including the outfit and toys you see in the pic of Blue below...

It is so funny because Blue loved eating both the giraffe and the lion and managed to get some of the lions fur into his mouth! Izak and I joked that he has only ever eaten milk and lion's fur!


Well... we hope that you enjoyed the time in our home and we look forward to hearing from you!


LOTS of love!
Your LA Bakkes'

All things BLUE!

It feels like it has been forever since I last posted... And it pretty much has been! Our son was born on the 20th January 2012 (My grandpa's birthday) and we named him Jonathan Turner Bakkes (Jonathan means 'The Lord gives'...). He pretty much goes by many other names too- as many of you remember, we still call him 'Blue' and other variations like 'Blue-Blue', 'Moo', 'Little Monkey', 'Monkey Moo' and the list goes on!
We have also moved to a LOVELY two bedroom apartment and life is good! It has been such a blessing to have more space especially with our new Bakkes family addition who does not seem to fully grasp the concept of 'silence', and this even in his sleep! I thought I would devote this blog to some glimpses of the last few months and will try to include pics of our new apartment next time (since there are STILL some boxes to be unpacked!).


So here it goes, a whirlwind tour of our last 3 months:

And then... two that I took today... love this one that is so close up...

And... a friend of mine always takes pics of her little one next to a toy to see how much her little one has grown and I decided to start it... at 12 weeks! May be a bit late and the bear may be a bit little... but let's see how it goes!

And... to end it off... here is one of our balcony view of the LA skyline... (I should try to take one for you at night...it is especially beautiful with the city night lights...)

Well... Sorry for taking so long to write this post- I will try to be more faithful in the months to come! It has definitely been an incredibly tough couple of months of adjustment but it has been INcredible too. Only the Lord could weave together tough times and beautiful times so perfectly. :) I LOVE being a mom so much. It is the best job that I have ever done and so rewarding! :)
I was reading this the other day and it just encouraged my heart so much! (Been thinking about how knowing the Lord is so much more important than anything else...)
It is from Jeremiah 9:23-24, 
"²³ Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, ²⁴ but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”"

Making our li'l place 'Blue' friendly...

Izak started back at TMS again yesterday! It is hard to believe that it is the beginning of the new semester.


We have made some changes to our space in order to accommodate Blue. Amazingly, by God's grace, our space actually feels bigger now after making space for the little one! Go figure! :)


Another thing that Izak and I realised recently was that we have literally been given everything that we have for Blue! We have not spent a cent apart from the fabric storage bins that we bought to keep his things in! What a remarkable testimony of our God's faithfulness!


Here is an action pic of Izak in the midst of building the bookcases (which we managed to find on sale at Target!) Yay for Target!

 Here are some pics of the changes: (We had thought that we may need to take the couch out of our home in order to make space for the little one, but we are so thankful that we could keep it as it fits in a different corner!)

 Here are the assembled bookcases with Blue's things stored in the fabric storage bins: (Note the South African flag sent by family ... on the bookcase- Blue will have no doubt that He is South African... or African American at the very least... :) )

My friend Rebecca made us an African LION storage box for some of Blue's things:

Izak had the amazing idea of changing a full sized bookshelf into a 'stand on his desk' bookcase and it works sooo well! 

People have shown us such kindness! We are so thankful to the Lord for the support that we have received! Gifts, thoughtful messages, parcels from family and friends back home... the list goes on... It has been so encouraging to see how it has gone far beyond our needs being met and we can honestly say that we have more than simply 'just enough'!


We got sent a package from friends and family in Jeffreys Bay (also from Jeffreys Bay Bible Church...) and that was so precious to open on Christmas day! It really helps make us feel like we are not THAT far away from home... In the package, Heleen (Izak's sister...) had sent a mobile that she had made herself. The amazing thing is that I had not even mentioned the desire for an 'Africa' baby theme. Here are some pics of the mobile- we plan to hang it next to the cradle...

The Frields let us use their beautiful cradle, which they used for their last born son... so special. And... as the Lord would have it, it fits perfectly into our little space!
Here are some pics of the cradle, and notice how the bedding is perfect for the African theme!

Then, a few nights ago, friends brought us an envelope with the most thoughtful idea- they had printed out some Scriptures on a page and then stapled some little envelopes to the page with specific treat ideas and the money to make them happen! It was such an exciting gift and we have already had a pizza party! :) ... there were even gift cards for two ice cream places which I have been eyeing out for quite a while now, and had even told Izak that we should try out before heading back to SA! It was so encouraging because our landladies have offered to babysit Blue and now we may actually have something to go and do one evening! :)

We have our baby bouncer set up for when the little one arrives:

And... even have the beginning of our hospital bag packed! (Note the fun penguin hat and mittens a friend got us from Baby Gap... I plan to put those on him when we travel back from the hospital! It is quite chilly here at the moment...)

The most amazing part of expecting Blue has been to see the support that we  have received from everyone! It has been so encouraging to see how not only family, but the church has reached out to us and made it such a precious time! It reminds me of that passage in John 13:35, which says, "By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

So, with Africa and acts of love in mind... I end off this blog post with a song in my head, from the movie 'The Lion King', .... "Can you feel the love... tonight?..." :) 

His grace is sufficient for us.