Family Reunion 2010

We had our annual “De Vos” family reunion on Gene and Lalie’s farm, Goodland in December.  I missed my mother.  She was such a practical woman and planned these events very well.  To have a place where we, as a family, could get together is the reason why she bought the farm, where we now live, in the first place.  However the family has since grown so large that is far more practical to have it at Goodland, where there is lots of space for everyone. We are now the “old people” and our children the “adults” and the great grandchildren the children.  It makes one realize how short life is!  It feels like yesterday when my sisters and I were the mommies of little ones, constantly busy taking children to the toilet, helping them in an out of swimming things, rubbing on suntan lotion and wiping sticky hands! 
I did not have my camera with me on Saturday when the L’s and Wally and Jessica were also there, but here are some pictures of Sunday morning.

We had our Sunday “service” at 10:00 in the hall.  We started by singing Ma’s favourite hymns and then Ruth and Dirk shared their horrific experience three months ago and how it had strengthened their faith: In September Ruth was in a hurry to get to work and she asked Dirk to help her to get the bakkie (pick-up) started.  Their nephew, Matty, had come unnoticed out of the house. The bakkie jumped and Matty was squashed between the wall and the house.   At first he seemed lifeless, but his grandfather, the missionary Erlo Stegen, picked him up and walked with him in the garden and prayed… he soon seemed much better and they rushed him to the hospital.  There a series of miracles happened: he was not going to survive the operation, but he did; his leg seemed white and lifeless and they were told it would have to be amputated… but after prayer, the leg was pink again…. and yet in the end he died.  The answered prayers were God’s way of saying that He is in control.  Scripture that Ruth had received (Ps 139) said “When I was woven together…All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”  This gave them great comfort.  Matty’s  parents gave a thank you letter for all the prayers and support they had received.  The scripture they mentioned in the letter was 1 Peter 5: 6-11:  “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time.  Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.  Be self-controlled and alert.  Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.  Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.  And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.  To Him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.”   We were all humbled and amazed at their faith and love and especially their determination to “LOOK UP!”

Elsabe and Koos with some of their grandchildren.  (Their 11th and 12th grandchildren arrived this month.  Jean on the 14th morning  and Luca today, 29 Dec 2010. Hendrik en Stella, Martin en Sharon: Veels geluk met die kleintjies.  Hoop julle is almal by die volgende familiefees!)
 
Koos, Jan, Cobus with Carien and Netta.

Martelize, Hendrik and Thelwyn

The family lining up for coffee and brunch after the service.

Birthday boy Jan (Cobus and Netta )with his new train.       Abia (Nelia and Jopie ) asleep in her pram.

Carien (youngest of Cobus and Netta) busy on the floor of the hall. Below: Urielle (Jopie and Nelia) and Elsabe (Cobus and Netta) with party plates.

Below: Dirk and Ruth’s 4 children: Arno, Ria, Josh and Rudi.


Eugenie and George.  (Are we hearing wedding bells??)

Ethie and Jansie (our 7 highway girl)


Last goodbyes on the stoep.  (The French don’t greet when they leave.  The Afrikaners don’t leave when they greet.)
Family, I love you!  You are all so special.  I’m looking forward to New Year’s Eve when some of us will get together again!  Hurrah for family! 

Another year has gone by... Part 2

My real birthday was spent with my cousins "Die ander de Vosse". They were (are) 9 children and get together at least once a year. This year their family reunion was at Cape Vidal - a BEAUTIFUL beach in a game park! My sister Anne and I were fortunate enough to be part of this reunion, together with another cousin and my aunt Babs - the only one left of my father's siblings.

Jan gave me a lovely crystal pendant for my birthday and then we went game viewing with my sister Anne and her children, William and Marianne.

Our first sight: A herd of African buffalo.

This one was kind enough to pose for me.

We got out of the cars for coffee and rusks at a large pan. Wally pointing out the crocodiles to Jan and Marianne fiddling with her fancy camera.

That waterbuck knew that he was being watched and he stood there like a statue for a loooong time.

The early morning reflection on the water was just as beautiful as the animals.

This darling hippo also came out for a pose...

After lunch, Jan and I headed for the beach.

A windblown birthday girl... with Thelwyn's Grade 7 Voortrekker camp shorts - my only short shorts. (Must get myself some more "short" shorts for the sea... Capri pants just don't work when strolling on the beach.)

Steyn and Dirk. Steyn and family live in Malmesbury, but he now works in Johannesburg and has to fly up to Johannesburg every week. (Second youngest Tinus lives in Cape Town, but also flies up to Johannesburg every week.) Dirk (on the right) came all the way from Salt Lake City.

At 18:00 the whole family gathered for a church service (led by Jan) and supper (provided by Anne, Anna and myself). We were 42 that first evening! What a birthday party! And its not even the big 6 yet!

Hennie and Rina. Rina was my big buddy when we were little. We and "die ander de Vosse" got together every Sunday afternoon for tea.

Wally, Marianne and Anne.

Every family gets a turn to provide supper for the clan. The first night Anne, Anna and myself provided the meal. Here Sunette, Bertus's wife, is dishing up some of our chicken and pasta dish and Anna is getting some sweet potato. Sunette is a teacher and Anna works in the school library of Gauteng.

Rina and Marianne. Rina is studying French with Thelwyn's mother in law. Small world!

Tannie Babs, Pienkie (Ione) and Anne. Pienkie was Anne's buddy. She is now married to Johan L, an attorney. She was named after her mother, Ione, who died last year. Several of the offspring are called after their grandparents, so there are several Ione's and Jacques.

Cousin Jacques's wife Olivia talking to Bertus's son, Jacques. His sister Ione got married on Friday.... for obvious reasons they gave this year's reunion a skip!

A bunch of cousins sitting on the steps of a chalet. (Sadly, I am not quite sure of their names or who belongs to which parent. Disappointed in myself!) The youngest of the new generation is Ben's daughter, Sofia. She is 3 years old - not on this photo. She is named after the first woman to become a de Vos wife in South Africa. (Thanks to my mother for all her genealogy research!) Ben and Jacques now both live and work in Belgium and the family reunions are important to them and they want their children to know their S.A. roots.)
All 6 brothers are engineers and many of their children are too. So far only Steyn and Corrie are grandparents: their son Jacques and wife Tia has a son of 7 months.

A cherry on the top, after the wonderful celebration we had with the family was the full moon on the sea.

Thank you God for family! And thank you Bertus for inviting us and for organising everything. It was GREAT! And a big thank you to all my other family and friends who phoned me or sent SMS's. You made my day very special. I cherish you all very much!

Weekend jobs and a special day for Willem

This weekend was pretty much spent like most other weekends since my life without X started three weeks ago: housework and more housework! I did the schlepp like laundy and dishes whilst having long telephone conversations with Dorette (with the phone in a bag around my neck), I found satisfaction in jobs done that were long overdue but still feel guilty about jobs that I did not get round to... not because there was not enough time, but because I could not make myself do it. I did exercise though! The scale is tipping very slowly.

My grandfather made this "blikkas" (steel cupboard) for my grandmother and it stood in her farm kitchen. It was green then. She died the year my mother bought our farm (let wel, Ma en nie Pa nie, maar dis 'n storie vir anderdag...) and it has stood in Ermelyn (our house), for the past 39 years. When we renovated the house, I made sure that there would still be a spot for this useful cupboard - albeit a difficult one to keep tidy seeing that the door does not open all the way and it has nice corners where one can hide (and forget) things.

My magnus opus on Saturday was to clean it out and to tidy it. The vynil on the shelves is becoming worse for wear, but no so much so that I want to remove it yet - the "Novilon" was my choice and my handiwork when I was a student and we came out to the farm over weekends. I had very grand ideas of how the kitchen should look. I was very inspired by the kitchen of my Belgian French tutor, a Mrs Devos . She was a fundi with walll paper. (Ermelyn's kitchen in those days had no ceiling and a low corrugated iron roof - I vividly recall the sweat running down my back when doing the dishes in the stuffy little corner.) Do I sound like a grandmother? Well, I am one!

Another job that gave me much satisfaction was to clean the copper and silver. Some of these pieces were made by my grandfather, so again they have lots of sentimental value. My good friend Alta gave me her mother's wonderful recipe for cleaning this stuff and it works. Anyone who has copper or silver must remember it. It works like a charm and it works for jewelry too! Thanks Alta!
Copper/ Silver Cleaning Recipe
50 g Acid (Alta's mother uses citric acid or tartaric acid, but I had none - as I only discovered when I tidied the grocery cupboard, so I used vinegar and it worked fine)
25 ml Sunlight liquid
Very hot water.
Soak piece in it for a short while, rinse it and it shines! Some pieces did need a bit of brasso or silvo, but I just rubbed it on and then rinsed it in the above solution. No hard polishing and no white bits in the crevices!
I used a plastic container just to be on the safe side and heated the solution in the microwave when it got too cold, but even the cold solution seemed to work well enough.
Late last night I crept out of bed and cleaned my wedding ring - it sparkled again!

??? Jan's project will be ready before Easter. It is a BIG and HEAVY job. It has and will still require a lot of muscle power and determination. WATCH THIS SPACE. I will definitely blog about this project again! Hendrik helped him all day Saturday to paint the planks (2 x 6 meters and 2 X 3 meters).
We had a problem with our electricity supply to the stables and labourers' housing
and the internet and radio tower on our koppie, so that took quite some time to get that sorted out. Many thanks to our community radio man, Rudi, who came to the rescue!

Today we went to Jan's brother Willem's "bevestiging" as a church minister. He has been the director of Youth@ Heart since its beginning many, many years ago. He will continue his youth work, whilst also ministering to this congregation. This photo is not too clear (we should have sat in the front pew), but I think it is the only one where his wife, Rina and his daughters presented him with his toga.
The service was about the parable of the sower: God wants us to sow abundantly. We need not be careful with the seed. Only one of every 4th seed will grow, but these fourth seeds that do indeed grow will yield a crop way over what man expects!!
Willem was welcomed on behalf of the "Ring" by Ds Wouter de Vos, the man who videographed Gert and Dorette's wedding and Inkululeko's (my previous nursery school's) concerts. Who said it is amazing how many old acquaintances we do meet?

Willem's family: Righardi (Grade 11), Rina and Tani (1st yeat B.Com Accountancy). The eldest daughter, Marianne, could not be there. She is studying to become a vet.

Jan, Noella and Chris, Willem's older brother. (Jan's father married their mother and the combined family had ten children. Jan's one sister has since died, but the other 9 are all well and married. A very big family indeed. Willem is the youngest of the 9 brothers and sisters.)

Willem greeting some congregation members at the tea afterwards.

In deep conversation with another congregation member.

Noella and Rina.

Afterwards Jan and I went to the H's. Martelize has ear infection - again! She was not too keen on eating, but she managed a sort of a smile for her Ouma. Ouma se pampoenbekkie!

She loves to stand and pulls herself up against the furniture, (7 1/2 months) but I sat behind her ready to catch if needs be, but it wasn't necessary. Here she is having her portion of the newspaper.

Smile for the camera.... After her medicine and bottle, she was cheerful and babbling, but the moment Thelwyn gave her her blanky (the one I knitted), she closed her eyes.... She falls asleep so easily and usually sleeps very well, but Thelwyn says the ear kept them up, pretty much of the night.

Franco is also sick again - not serious, serious, but feeling pretty grotty and miserable, so we never got to see them this weekend. Tomorrow he will be 11 months! Can you believe it! Tomorrow it will be a year since my mother died. She died on Easter Sunday, exactly a month before Franco was born. (Ons mis jou, Ma! Het wanneer laas patat geeet. Geniet dit daar in die hemel saam met Pa.)

Hendrik C and Sharon's Kwasizabantu Wedding

Warning: This post is about a very interesting wedding, but it is rather a long post... sorry! It is especially for the benefit of all the family and friends who couldn't make it.

On Saturday we went to Kwasizabantu Mission in Kwazulu-Natal for my sister Elsabe's son, Hendrik's wedding. The C's have been part of this mission for about 20 years. This mission station is the centre of revival among the Zulus and many miracles happen there. (It is worthwhile to check out their website.) Hendrik C is the 4th child of Koos and Elsabe to get married at Kwasizabantu - his twin brother Martin is the only one not married yet.

What makes their marriages so remarkable is that the bride and groom actually only get to know each other after the wedding. If a man gets a message from God that he should marry a particular girl, he discusses this with his counsellor who then relays the message to the girl's parents. The girl then prays about the proposal and if she is convinced that it is God's will that they should get married, they get engaged in church in front of the congregation: the groom never speaks to or touches his fiance. The pastor puts the ring on the girls finger. All communication is done through other people. Their relationship only starts after the wedding. Chastity - not only in the flesh, but also in thought, is of utmost importance. Do these marriages work? Certainly! What we see in those who have been married like this, is love, peace and well behaved, happy children. (Jan and I believe that a marriage will be successful if God is the main partner in the marriage - whether the couple has had a relationship before the wedding or not: the main thing is that they are obedient to God! But we respect the KZB people's way of doing things, and they respect ours.)

On our way there, dark clouds gathered! When it finally started to rain, it poured and poured...! Parts of the road from Mooiriver was covered in mist and there were quite a few nasty potholes in the road, so the going was so very easy, but we all arrived safely and had a lovely meal at the Stegens house.

The F's from the Free State were also there as well as Tannie Babs from Pietermaritzburg. She is the only one of my father's generation who is still alive. And boy is she alive! At 86, she still walks easily and climbs up stairs without help and she is as bright as ever. It was wonderful chatting to her, especially about my grandparents. (My Ouma Anne was a friend of poets like Eugene Marais and she befriended many white Russians who fled to Pretoria at the time of the revolution.) Here Wally and Tannie Babs are having breakfast on the morning of the wedding. The best part about family weddings is ample opportunity to visit and catch up. (Of course we had Bonle yoghurt, one of KZB's dairy products. It is very, very good.)

The rest of the Free State clan sat inside the large sitting room. I am not sure how many families live in this beautiful, big Stegen house, but as far as I know all Ruth's sisters + husbands + children live there. The children have a royal time with all the cousins under one roof and they all speak German, English, Afrikaans and Zulu.

Ruth (Dirk C's wife) with Joshua. He is a miracle baby: he was born with some rare syndrome. All his intestines developed outside his body, but were pushed back through his naval after birth. His tongue was too large and he had a dark stain all over his little face. Today he is 2 years old and he speaks very well and the facial stain has disappeared. (No surgery, no special treatment!) You can hardly believe that this beautiful child was once a "disfigured" little baby. Ruth is expecting her fourth child in 3 weeks time - another little boy.

A tandem shoulder massage: Wally having the time of his life with wife Jessica massaging him and his mother Anne giving Jessica a rub.

After breakfast Dirk C took us in a kombi to have a quick look at the different facilities at KZB: they have a wonderful school, a college, avo orchards (is that the right word?), massive hothouses for green peppers, a bakery, a dairy, the Aquelle factory etc. etc. They never ask for donations but provide food for more than a 1000 people every day. Here is Marianne, Anne's daughter. In the background a friend who wanted to visit KZB.

Ruth and Dirk's older children, Arno and Ria. Arno will be going to Grade 2 this year and Ria to Grade R (reception year). They were part of the wedding procession. The theme of the wedding was pink and soft green. The "wall" behind them was crates of Aquelle water bottles. The auditorium of KZB burned down last year, so church services and weddings are now held in the reception area of the water factory. These crates were stacked to keep the wind and rain out - fortunately it did not rain at the time of the wedding!

The burnt down auditorium: it seated more than 10,000 people. I remember when Dirk and Ruth got married there, it was packed to capacity! When Dirk took us on a Blitz tour of KZB just before the wedding , we got a pre-glimpse of the bride. They were taking wedding photos there! One day they'll be able to say, this is where we would have got married, but instead we got married in a factory!
The rebuilding of the auditorium will commence soon.

Ethie, Thelwyn and Ruth. Thelwyn came with Eugenie and Ethie. They left Pretoria at 3:00 am to be there at time for the 11:00 wedding. They left again at 16:00 and Thelwyn was home at 23:00. Quite a long day, but very worthwhile. Gert and Dorette couldn't come: two 7 hour trips with a baby were not on!

Waiting for the service to begin. The family were privileged to sit in front. Can you imagine how hot or cold it could have been in there? But it wasn't. God provided the perfect weather.

Even a factory can be made to look special for the nuptials. The flower decorations were beautiful and empty wooden crates were stacked to make a very interesting backdrop.

Cobus, Netta and their children Jan (3) and Elsabe (4). Evan (Ethelwyn's eldest) sat with them and he was as good as gold. He is going to grade 1 this year.

The "aangedane" groom, Hendrik, with his identical twin brother, Martin, next to him. (As I was not the photographer, I couldn't very well jump up and take photos of the bride as she entered!)

Sharon and Hendrik sitting down for their wedding service. Church services here are quite long, because everything has to be interpreted into Zulu. Pastor Stegen is German himself but fluent in English, Afrikaans and Zulu. Sometimes the pastor switches to Zulu himself and then the sermon has to be interpreted into English! The interpretor's really got to know his stuff! At the back of the hall someone interprets the sermon into French.

After the wedding service, we had to go to the back of the factory for family wedding photos. We had to know our step as it was quite muddy from earlier rain. Hendrik wanted a photo of the Aquelle truck and his silly mother took a photo of the trailer instead of the truck! Hendrik stayed with the C's the week before the wedding. He helped with some jobs at KZB and had a great time. The highlight probably was a ride in one of these trucks. Trucks have always fascinated him.

Here's the truck! Hendrik was not too impressed with the photo, because it does not show the entire truck! Sorry Hendrik! But the people were waiting for us for the family wedding photos!

Our side of the family. Tannie Babs (86) is really tiny isn't she? Ria (nearly 5 years) is almost as tall as she is!

My two sisters, Elsabe (mother of the groom) and Lalie with Tannie Babs.

The family walking back round the factory - chatting all the way. Weddings are fun!

Back: Ria, Arno, Evan
Front: Joshua, Jan, Elsabe
Little Joshua in the white shirt, was not too keen on posing here with the others, but his sis Ria and brother Arno looked after him. He is only 2 but already very tall!
The Stegens have a lovely garden so many wedding photos were taken there. I tried to sneak a few, but was not really successful - besides the official photographer, there were many other photographers so I couldn't really get close.

Quess what we drank? Elsabe and Anne (previous mother of the groom)

Neil and Marissa - the previous groom and bride. See previous post Dec 21 (Scroll down here.)

Ethie, Eugenie and Thelyn - still smiling despite their early start and long journey (Nogal in hulle kerkklere gery! )

Elsabe's daughters Netta and Ethelwyn with Hananiel in the background and Almarie in front.

Beautiful place setting with Biltong and a freshly baked bun for a starter.

Our table: Tannie Babs talking to Lalie and Anne, Gene and Ethie discussing something.

The only pic I got of Hendrik and Sharon. We are looking forward to our family reunion at the end of the year so that we can get to know her. She is a niece of Ruth and has German South African grandparents and Swiss grandparents. We were treated to power point presentations of Hendrik's life (from early childhood in the Kalahari till his present job in the hothouses) and Sharon's Swiss grandparents with photos of Sharon at various ages on snow skis.

The main table. (It is not wine in the "wine" bottle, but grape juice.)

Jan and I left on Monday morning. We stopped at Koos and Elsabe's house to pick up Hendrik and of course to visit some more. As Jan says, "The difference between the Afrikaners and the French is that the French don't say good-bye when they leave and the Afrikaners don't leave when they say good-bye!" He, he.
Oom Hendrik with Hananiel, Evan with Jan and Oom Jan with Elsabe.

A taste of the church choir... especially for our overseas friends and family. When have you last heard Zulu voices? The KZB brass band also played very well, but the video clip was a dissapointing flop.

Ethelwyn gives support while the C children sing for their uncle and his new wife. Netta at the piano.