I want to share with you the words written on each page of her journal.
July 4th, 2008
Independence Day in the USA!
Hope went to her first baseball game. She saw fireworks after the game, but it was a bit scary - so loud! :)
WALL-E
Hope saw her first movie with Brenna Grace (and her parents). Hope especially loved the popcorn!
July 26th - August 2nd 2008
Hope on her first camping trip.
We stayed in the forest of Dean, UK.
Bedtime stories with Tallin in the tent.
Riding on a steam train with Ocean.
Checking out the Shetland Ponies before walking in the woods.
In front of a pit wheel. Coal mining country. Hope decided not to join our trip down the mine itself.
Aug.21-Sept.4th in Texas
August 21st Hope arrives just in time for a pajama party at Madeline's group therapy!
The rainbow is a lot of fun!
Hope really enjoyed the lycra swings at therapy and story time.
Hope met Madeline's friends and they loved her.
Hope went almost everywhere!
Hope met grandpa!
Hope did a lot of traveling with us out and about!
Hope you'll be missed and hope you have some safe and wonderful travels!
Love, Marcie and Madeline
Beginning of Fall - Hope visits Powell River
She made it through customs in perfect shape!
Just in time for our fall fair!
Hope gets to attend a few classes of preschool fun b the local infant development program for kids with special needs.
She also gets to attend classes at our local Strong Start Program. A parent involved early development preschool.
Hope says "Phew! tat is a lot of school!
Hope also got to ride along with Kevin to work many days. Kevin works with children who have secial needs and development.
Hope got to spend Canadian Thanksgiving weekend with a little girl who was diagnosed with leukemia last year. She is still undergoing Chemotherapy treatments, but will hopefully be well very soon.
During her visit Hope touched so many children. She got to dance, sing and play with them, and they had a wonderful time learning about her adventures. We enjoyed having her with us!
Now she is off East!
(Just after Hope arrived I did a camara swap and unfortunately was left with a battery-less camera. I ordered on but id did not arrive until just before Hope left, so we are doing a picture journal.)
November in Northern Ontario
Hope attends a music class and has a ball dancing!
Hope arrived in Ontario just in time for Halloween. She and Rowan went Trick or Treating ~ Hope dressed up as a Fairy Queen. Rowan adored having Hope visit and inspired by Hope's camping trip in the UK, took Hope on a little camping trip of her own, in the living room!
Hope dipped her toe in lake Bernard, The world's largest freshwater lake without a island.
Hope attended the November 11th Remembrance Day service at the Royal Canadian Legion. She heard the children;s choir and poems, watched the laying of the wreaths, observed a minute of silence and heard bagpipes play (they were loud, she covered her ears!) She got a hug from 93 year old World War Two Veteran Sam (who had to be convinced to hug a doll).
Hope got lots of hugs at Sunday School from a little girl with special needs. She enjoyed a special service all about the hymn 'Amazing Grace'.
Rowan (Age 3) will miss Hope, but has been so proud to tell everone that she is a "Trabelling Doll" who is on her war "Around the World".
It was a joy to have Hope in our home!
She met many of our townsfolk and was warmly welcomed by the mayor. She arrived in a gorgeous Indian Summer time and left with several feet of snow on the ground and ice on the lake. We send her on her way with blessings and good thoughts for her journey. We hope she touches other lives as she touched ours!
Christmas 2008 with the Davids in Upstate Ney York
Hope, Eamonn and Brennan
Hope arrived just in time to decorate the tree. Little did she know she would end up on the tree and go for fast ride on the train under the tree. Those crazy boys!!
Hope visited first grade with Kieran. Mrs W. read a story while Hope got passed from lap to lap.
We also got to listen to the schools holiday concert and got a drink from the pint-sized fountain. Eamonn didn't share his lollipop (Hope doesn't have teeth)
Eamonn, Hope and Kieran "sleeping"
Sadly the boys' grandpa passed away right before Hope arrived. We all got to spend 2 days in ahotel visiting with lots of cousins (23!) Some of them taught me to finger knit.
Hope with Lulu's handmade childhood doll.
Befor Hope left we had a snow day. She is snuggled iup on the sled with Eamonn and the teddy and blanket he got at Shriners Hospital for Children. (His appointment there had to be rescheduled because of snow.)
January 28th, 2009
Visiting with the Skinnner Family and Little Star Daycare
Hope arrives in Stanwix Heights, NY...
with no clue of the adventures in store...
Sadly many of our pictures did not develop :(
Check out Hopes blog for more pictures of our adventures
Happy Valentine's Day Hope!
Partying with Little Star Daycare.
Riding with Jonah to a Dr. appointment. They made that potoface together the Sunday before during Chruchschool.
Hope made many friends during her stay with us and we were all sad to see her go, but are very excited to hear about her future journies. She was a great source of comfort when one of our children suffered a loss.
Ryan fixes Hopes hair at Pack 39's pinewood derby. Hope also attended Faithclass with the Cubscouts and listened to a Minister from South Africa. Speak about his journeys there. Shc also visited a baseball cardshop and earned her collection badge!
Ryan and Hope got to visit Elmo and friends. Ryan and Hope had so much fun singing and dancing to the music. Ryan carried her in a sling the whole time!!
Hope arrives in Africa
March 9th, 2009
Holding Hope in your arms
Eloise M., 8 yrs, took one look at Hope in Carle D.'s hands, took her in her arms, held her tight, and burst out in tears. Holding her tight, she wouldn't let her go. She stayed with us!! Thank you that Eloise could hold Hope in her arms. (South Africa) -her mom
Sweet Hope arrived ad was immediately loved by everyone who met her. She was scheduled to visit 3 families, but eventually visited 6 families. The next few pages are a record of her time in Africa.
Cape Town - She met Nolundi (a professional weaver) and spent time with her willing on Fuzile's recovery from extensive burns. Nolundi gifted Hope with a handwoven organic cotton/bamboo blanket. Hope adopeted Thandi. Tandi represents the orphans in Africa.
Her next important visit was to !Khwattu. !Khwattu offers the bushmen (Khoi San) a space of safety to work and live while honoring their culture and heritage. This was a very special visit for me, my soul was touched.
Hope visited us, the Ashley Cooper family for passover this year (2009). We were joined by Ryan, Tracy, Jessica, Alex and Jaap. We lit candles, ate lamb and had chocolate mousse for pudding all while we were standing. Hope enjoyed the children lighting their own candles.
Hope also became a cub scout - she has the pruple badge on her waist coat.
Caleb, Hannah and Sheth absolutely love Hope! We have a fight over who sleeps with her!
Hope is learning to be an artis. Greg (daddy) is an artist (contempery artist) in South Africa. He does portraits of people.
Happy Birthday Oma! 85 today. Hope withOma and Hannah
Hope voted with us on 22 April 2009/ South African elections! The line was 3 times longer than this - we stood for over an hour and a half!
Hope has been given a protrait of herself by Greg. I hope you like it. We enjoyed having Hope with us!
Thank you!
03 May 2009
Hope flys with Liz M. form Cape Town to Lanseria Airport, North of Johannesburg en-route to Benoni, Gauteng!
11 May 2009
Hope is in Benoni, Gauteng!
Here ou can see her sitting with Jenna on Mothers Day. We had a wonderful day with Hope, everyone loves her. She has been staying with us for 2 weeks and we are all very fond of her and wish her well on her travels... Many thanks!
Polokwane, Limpopo - South Africa 20-28 May 2009
Hope arrived on the 20th of May and she stayed with us for a week - too short!
In this week Hope went with us for our swimming and music classes. She also played dominoes (our favorite family game for now) everyday and had great fun. We thouroughly enjoyed having her with us. With love, Anokha and Rahul.
We visited a Alpaca farm and Hope rode a baby Alpaca. And so her journey in Arfica ended.... we will miss you but will always have Hope in our hearts.
With much love, Carle
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