Blue's shower at Lynette's, An African rocking chair and Whitney's surprise birthday bash!

Izak wrote his final Hebrew Exegesis exam this morning and he has one more exam to write today and our third semester will be O-ver! It is hard to believe that this is my last semester being a student alongside Izak at TMS! It has been so much fun and I am so thankful for a year and a half of solid studying and learning! What an incredible opportunity!


A couple of weeks back my friend, Emily Joki held a Baby Shower for Blue at Lynette's house. It was such an encouraging experience and I am still pretty close to tears when I consider the love and fellowship from that morning! 
You'll be pleased to know that I have pictures to assist with the telling of this story!
First of all... the Botes' home was so beautifully decorated! It was incredibly festive and fun! Here are some pictures of the decor:

And... GUESS WHO SURPRISED us with a visit all the way from San Jose???? The Gillies! I was so blown away that I cried... TWICE! They are such a precious couple and their love blows me away!
Here I am squeezing Mary Gillies with some serious South African love! It made it feel like I had family there!

Look at the tasty food selection:

Here is one of Brenda Frields (my EWG leader and on the left) and Christine Dixon on the right (many of you heard about her through the amazingly encouraging emails she sent us when we were applying to come to TMS)...

 Here are Christina and Brenda from our Mainstream Fellowship Group's Bible Study:

Meet two sweeet Sem wives and their new little one's:
Jessie and little Judah:

And... Rebecca and Adonias:

It was such a blessing to have all these special ladies in the same room at the same time! Life in LA can be so busy and it is rare to find moments like these...
Here is one of me with Pat and Ina (our precious land-ladies):

 This is my friend - Emily Joki, who organised the shower:

Whitney and I (Whitney took the pics...)

And dear hospitable Lynette (So pleased that it was at her home!)

Emily read a beautiful and inspiring letter to me...

And then all the ladies prayed for Izak, Blue and I: (This was so sweet and a real highlight for me!)

Then... to the gifts! And there were soooo many!

Ending off with the unveiling of an African-looking rocking chair... and matching footstool from a few of the ladies!

 We are so blessed! We have been given such lovely gifts and such precious friendship while here. It really is incredible to see how the body is so loving and that the Lord provides such encouragement and blessing through His body!
It did not take long for me to get Izak to set up the rocking chair and the foot stool! I believe it was that same evening! (I love it when he does DIY type things- he can really pull it off!)

And then... Whitney's surprise birthday bash! Her husband Jason, organised some of her friends to come round as a surprise and it was fun to hear how surprised she was! (Rebecca and I travelled together and the traffic was an absolute nightmare- so we weren't part of the initial 'surprise crowd'!)
Here Whitney is... with some of her friends:

Jason (Whitney's husband...)
Making some AMA-zing home-made Pizza! Mmmmmm.

And the Wii games kept a constant crowd entertained!

Well! If you have made it this far, you are in need of a prize! Hehe. Thanks for reading! It has been a fun but very busy time and I hope to have more news soon!
Please feel free to leave comments and let us know about your news!

The Bakkes'!