Like Wyatt says, “When you turn 43, you don’t get taller. But you do get better.”

Welcome to Baking with Wyatt… where you just never know what’s gonna happen in the kitchen.

We are HOME! I don’t think it’s ever felt so good to be home. Eight weeks of international travel. Over 30 hours to get home on the last leg. We did it! The boys did great! Happy brothers!

I called her… actually I think I just texted her… at the end of February and told her I had to come to America with the kids. She didn’t skip a beat. She just asked when she should fly in to help. She’s been ALL over the place with us over the last two months, sacrificing more than even I can understand. And she’s really seen the underbelly of special needs parenting.

But she’s never stopped being my mom first. In our worst of times on this trip, when I need the most help, the kids won’t let anyone but me near. So my mom stands back, quietly, longingly, and watches over ME. She gives her whole self, even when she feels stuck on the sidelines.

My youngest sons and I are traveling through America. The boys have loved meeting family and learning their heritage. My 7-year old son has complex special needs, and the travel has been overwhelmingly difficult for him. We have canceled flights, changed plans, and seen less people than we’d like to accommodate.

Last week, we took a long flight from Houston to Los Angeles to submit South African visa applications. The airport, flight, LA traffic, hotel stay, and waiting in a big office was more than my son could handle. My mom was with us, and we’d planned on staying with her from that point. But her home was three hours away. My son just couldn’t. We sat on the floor of a train station in LA, completely exasperated…

If you ever find yourself sitting on a train station floor, paralyzed by your child’s disability and inability to do the next thing…

Or mentally, emotionally and physically exhausted from multi-tasking rapid decision making, the admin of living abroad, and managing meltdowns on a very small amount of sleep…

Have a party. Whatever kind of party you need it to be. Just make sure you call it a party.

What we were up to last week. (And why I was so quiet in communication!)

The video says it all…

I didn’t know how I could see a lifetime of people I loved while my feet were so briefly on American soil. I was in my hometown, but my kids’ needs trumped my desires for connection, reunion and alllllll the things. A few very dear friends and my cousins helped me put together a dream God put in my heart when I began planning this trip. It only took a few text messages in transit. They orchestrated the details, created an invitation, and made the snacks. People from every chapter of my story gathered in one room, in the church that taught me about the Church, for a couple of sacred hours.

It was too short. It was just right. It was everything

Yesterday was a “get through it” day. The needs of my 7-year old autistic son, Benjamin, trumped the plans and preferences of everyone else. On those kind of days, I choke back parenting principles to let safety and regulation be the priority.

Wyatt, his 4-year old brother, tried to process the long, hard day at bedtime. With tears streaming on his pillow, he said he didn’t want his brother to have hard days. Wyatt confessed he had disobeyed because his brother was disobeying, and he wanted to have the same kind of day as his brother. Wyatt loves his brother fiercely. He does everything he can to stay in close proximity “to make sure he’s ok” and puts Benjamin’s needs above his own.

My mom, Wyatt, Benjamin and I land in America in one week. I’m sweating (record-breaking heatwave) and scrambling to tick all the boxes for our visa application submission in America. We had a medical clearance appointment with our pediatrician, Dr. Sinclair, this week. Another requirement fulfilled, but it was more. I told my mom, “God has put the most extraordinary people around us here.”

I’ve been far from “home” so long that this is home and nowhere is home. But we are not on our own.

I’m resharing a post from last year as I prepare to take my first trip back to the USA in over 10 years. My two youngest sons will come along for their first time in America!

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My neurodivergent six-year old is into creating nonsensical trivia. A recent car ride went something like this...

Him: "What color is an oval?"

Me: "Green."

Him: "NO! PINK! How many bricks are in a wall?"

Me: "Probably 96."

Him: "You were SO CLOSE. But sorry, it's 89."

The Details:

My Mom, Benjamin, Wyatt and I will travel from Cape Town International Airport to Atlanta on March 16th. My mom will get us through a six-hour layover and continue to her home in San Diego. The little boys and I fly to Knoxville, TN to stay with Chris’ parents.

We have passport renewal appointments in Knoxville on March 25th and…

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. She’s the best Gosa there ever was. I am so thankful for a mom who loves deep, far and wide. She’s here in Cape Town with us for two weeks, and then the little guys and I are flying back to America with her!

This is day one in Cape Town.

Please join us on Sunday at 9am @ Vista Nova High Pinelands. We’re not a weird church. We don’t use “churchy” words, and we come from every age, stage, ethnicity and ability.

We put on name tags so we don’t feel awkward when we forget someone’s name right after they’ve introduced themselves. And we gather for good coffee, encouraging teaching, and a place for the kids to learn about Jesus in a way that’s relevant to them.

These three brothers. They are God’s gift to me and to each other. Sure, there are less stable moments than unstable, and they could not be more different… but God designed Lifa, Benjamin and Wyatt each with a very special capacity for brotherly love. I pray they will be lifelong friends, always calling out the best in each other, and continually overcoming every obstacle with their unity.

Our beloved van might have had its last adventure, and we’re back to being a one-car family for now. We’re still in the thick of a long, hot summer holiday. The people (specifically, me) are going crazy.

But here’s the cool thing... We’ve unintentionally written some default codes into our family system for a time such as this…

Rondebosch Boys High School E25 Valedictory was one for the books. We got to commemorate the end of Lifa’s extraordinary high school career with grandparents, friends and overflowing memories. Pray for Lifa and the other matrics as they endure another month of national exams. And then… 💨 It’s done!

Lifa, you are set apart by God…

My sons are 17, 6 and 3 years old. One is preparing for the last exams of his high school career; one is practicing subtraction; and one is learning to sing the ABC's. Almost every evening, all three brothers gather around our low coffee table to play dominoes. The oldest makes sure both of his brothers get a win, but all three are completely unified in purpose and passion. The proverbial "playing field" is leveled by their brotherhood.

Chris’ parents are here! Today was our first day together. GoGo Sherry joined us for soccer practice, and everyone gathered around the coffee table for bedtime dominoes.

Sometimes I get caught up in my grief over living so far away from our parents. But days like today remind me of the power of love. It holds fast, doesn’t lose shape, and grows from a distance. Our kids never skipped a beat, and the house felt so much better with them here.

We’ve found another happy place in our beautiful city. The Atlantic Seaboard promenade is not new to us - but exploring the rock pools at low tide has become our new favorite pastime this spring. (We’ve been three times in a week.) Benjamin catches crabs. Wyatt plucks pin cushion stars and throw rocks. We fill our faithful traveling aquarium (a plastic measuring cup). And we always pause to reflect on the Creator. The infinite details. The immeasurably loving masterpiece. He is so much more than good. But He is indeed so so good.