Rhythm of Africa

If you are lucky, sometime in your life you will meet someone who you will never forget. This year we all met Josh, a young man from Zambia who came to Australia for life changing surgery. He left his entire family in a the little village of Chibobo and arrived in Australia with nothing but a plastic shopping bag containing a few possessions.

Through St Mary's Anglican Church we were lucky enough to meet him and Thomas, Megan and Josh have become great friends. We spent Christmas with Josh and having him with us on Christmas Day gave the kids a whole different perspective on the true meaning of Christmas. Camping at the beach, catching the ferry to Sorento, playing cricket on a dusty paddock in Lancefield- they were all great adverntures for Josh and the kids. We have had so much fun introducing him to all things Australian, and last night Josh introduced us to his Africa! We went to Werribee Open Range Zoo and went on a safari. Josh couldnt wait to show me "his animals", and afterwards we were able to taste African food and dance to the African beat, and Meg got her hair braided!

Hopefully Josh will be returning to his family in a few weeks. Mum and Dad will see him again when they go to Zambia in 2010 to work in the Chibobo orphange, and I hope that some day we will have a similar opportunity. But even if our paths never cross again, Josh will always be in our hearts and prayers- and I know that the kids lives have been enriched just by the experiences they have shared with Josh.

And speaking of people who enrich our lives....... how beautiful is Eleanor?!!! She turned 6 months old on Christmas Day is quite simply a joy!! Such a happy baby! These photos of her even helped to get the scrapping mojo flowing again after almost 6 weeks of no scrappping! I used the new Kaisercraft Waterberry Range which is still on sale at Scrap Therapy for another week. The first LO I did follows a Step-by-step designed by NicNac, and the last one uses a sketch by the talented Lisa Pate!