Nanny Josefina

When Patrice was about a month old we had a sweet gal from the Phillipines come to stay with us to help us look after her.  Her name was Josie and she was a year younger than I.  She was loud, talkative, happy and very eager to look after Patrice and to clean and cook and to help out in whatever way she could.  She adopted us as her Canadian family and we tried to be good to her, making sure she had a vehicle and driving lessons so she could be independent and treating her with love and fairness.

Josie stayed with us for two years and at that point I was ready and eager to have my house and my little girl back to look after. I had been well spoiled with a super clean house and incredible meals but it was nice to be independent again.  Josie went on to work in Vancouver, and then got married to an American with whom she has had two children.  She's having a very challenging life and has wanted to come up to see us all again so we arranged for her and the kids to come.  Amy and her fiance Russel arrived on the same day so things were pretty busy but fun.

We loved on her and she was thrilled to see all of us again. She was very emotional and it blessed me that we were able to have a little reunion with everyone here in the backyard.  It appears that life has taken its toll on her as her health isn't too great.  She's really uptight, struggling to know how to manage her marriage and children, so thankfully I could pray for her and give her a bit of advice seeing as she doesn't have a mom to speak into her life.  I felt completely overwhelmed myself wondering how she manages to stay intact with her stress level and challenges, but I must release her into God's care and trust that He will intervene on behalf of that little family.  So she and her two kids are traveling home by bus today, and hopefully the memories of the kangaroo farm, dinners on the patio, shopping trips and visits to the lake will carry them through this long day as they bus home to Tacoma.

Here she is with two parrots and her two kids.

And here I am with a baby kangaroo. 

James is feeding tortilla chips to what appears to be a giant rodent.  

Wow.

And this is a flying squirrel sort of animal.  For some reason I have forgotten what it's called but it's terribly cute. 

Tante Hilda is still recuperating at Cottonwoods so she was thrilled that I brought Josie and her kids by to say hello.  

May God's mercy surround dear Josie and her family.