Official Website of JillandKate

Wanted to give you an update on the precious little faces at Houses of Hope Africa (HOHA.) If you are a new reader, HOHA are homes for orphaned children in South Africa and Zimbabwe that we are involved with. (Kate’s dad, Bill, started the organization.) They provide all the basic needs for a child to thrive…but they also do more than that. They provide a home for them. Besides all the basics of food, clean water, school fees, etc. they are also telling these kids that they are part of a community. They are loved. They have a purpose and a God who loves them. They have a place to come back to when they’re grown–they are family.

We normally try and do a benefit concert each holiday season but have found this year that this time of year is cray cray. Yes, we just said cray cray….but really…there is so much going on. So, we will be moving our benefit to a different time of year…we’re thinking Valentine’s Day-ish…maybe call the event “For The Love” Do you like that idea? We’ll keep you updated as we plan more and we’ll get you details as soon as we know them.

But, we did play a house show here in Nashville on Thursday night. Kate’s parents have friends who knew we did house shows and asked if we would play one for them & their friends and have it benefit HOHA. We LOVED that idea. So, we did exactly that. Played in a living room (which btw, the house had gorgeous hardwood floors that made for fabulous acoustics), Kate’s dad flew in to talk about the specific fundraising goals, and we raised awareness and money for these awesome kids. Right now we are raising funds specifically for the 16 kids at the Zimbabwe home. It takes about $35 per child/per month to cover their food, clothing, school fees and medical care. If you are looking for a tax-deductible place to donate this holiday season we’d love for you to get involved. These kids have taught us so much about joy and strength. Click here to donate.

Here are a few pictures from our last trip earlier this year.

xo j&k

 Hi friends! Finally had some time to sit down and write some words about our recent trip to Africa to visit the children living at Houses of Hope Africa. On May 25th we (Ryan & Carolyn & us) took off from Nashville and headed across to the other side of the world…Southern Africa!

…with a seven hour lay over in London-town. That’s always fun right?

 We found some comfy chairs in the lounge (hallelujah) in the London airport and checked email for the last time since we would be in Zimbabwe with zero cell reception of any kind.

It was an 11 hour flight from London to Johannesburg and we landed just as the sun was coming up.

Kate’s dad, Bill, met us at the airport with the van. He has more energy than all of us put together

We got settled and headed over to the House of Hope in Temba. We were SO HAPPY to see these faces after two long travel days.

 We passed out party supplies which included hand clappers and little noise makers–we were a LOUD bunch.

 Some of the kids in the pictures have been at the house since it opened and some are so new to the home that they’d only been there a few days. 

 This little guy below is amazing and such a fighter. When he first arrived at the home he needed serious medical attention. Since being at the house for a few years we are happy to report that he is doing SO WELL!

Bill brought a guitar for the kids and so we got it out and Jill played songs that the kids were familiar with. Music…it’s what brings us all together

 We left the kids as the sun was setting and headed back to the hotel. We went to bed early cause we were leaving for Zimbabwe bright and early the next day…

 Bill was our dedicated driver…he drove sooooo much…it was about 14 hours on the road to Zimbabwe (!!!)

The open road in Zimbabwe.

Why yes. Perfect place for a jumping picture. 

One more with Carolyn!

The paved road turned into a dirt road and it was SO bumpy. Almost two hours on a dirt road rock road. Wowza.

Hooray. We finally spot the brand new House of Hope Whunga sign in the bush!

We arrive and get to see these faces. These faces. You guys, these are the faces that you help support. You are the ones helping to provide housing, food, and an education for these beautiful souls. The kids are doing really well and we were so happy to spend a few days with them.  

They love playing with balls–so much fun!

Life is pretty simple up there. Our van was the only vehicle in the area because their main mode of transportation is donkey cart. The building on the left is the out-house. Let’s just say that there is no electricity or running water.  Enough said about that.

Group shot!! So many giggles. 

This was one of our favorite parts of the trip. We woke up at the Philip’s house (he is the orphan home director & builder of HOH Whunga) where we were staying and walked with his two kids to the orphan home. It’s about a 10 minute walk and we left right around 6am–just as the sun was coming up.

There is literally nothing around. If we look all bundled up it’s because it’s winter over there right now. Cold in the morning and evenings. Off to the orphan home we went…

 The kids were in their uniforms all ready to go…we did some morning stretches & just general goofing off before we began the 6 kilometer walk to school (that’s 3.72 miles.)

We even ran for a few minutes cause we thought they were going to be late! Look at the smiles as we ran…they LOVE going to school.

Long walk for this guy but he doesn’t complain.

After an hour walk we arrived at the school grounds. There are about 300 children at the school and some of the other surrounding village children have to walk up to 3 hours to and from school each day.

We got to meet the teachers and the head master (principal) of the school.

We might have been called into the head master’s office…ugh oh…we weren’t in too much trouble

We left the older kids at school and hung out with Suprise (the littlest guy at HOH) for the morning/afternoon.

 …after some playing he decided a nap was in order….right in Kate’s arms. Love!

The older kids got back from school and we played, played and played! We even got to watch some of the kids milk the goats!

The sun set on the crops and the stars were INCREDIBLE!! Having no electricity has it’s perks.

We brought some glow sticks with us and decided to make our own shooting stars.

Last couple of pictures on the morning we were leaving… just as the sun was coming up…we were half awake…and cold.

This might be the most attractive picture of Kate you’ve ever seen. Hahaha.

Philip’s wife made us fried dough…it was sooooo good.

Then we hit the road again back to South Africa…

But, we had to take one more picture on our way out! You know last year when we were in Zimbabwe and we got stuck cause the bridge was totally flooded? This was the bridge. Woohoo…no water Jumping picture had to be taken!

We had such a great trip….we’ll post more pics from Kruger Park and of course the rest of our travels that took us over to the UK for the #jkUKtour :)

xoxo

j&k

PS.  Houses of Hope Africa is doing amazing work for the kids over there and we know a lot of you are just as invested in their lives as we are. So for that, thank you. Thank you for caring for these kids. We took all your love with us. If you are unfamiliar with Houses of Hope Africa click here for more info.

Well, it’s light outside and I’m in bed already. I guess that’s what jet lag will do to you. Currently my body thinks it’s 2:58am when really it’s only 8:58pm. I did wake up nice and early this morning with the sun…just after 5am (which I actually didn’t mind.)

See, I’m home. I got to go downstairs and use my own coffeemaker, with my favorite mug and use just the right amount of hazelnut creamer. I didn’t mind that the sun was just coming up. Besides that when you are up that early I feel like you are clearly justified to have 2 breakfasts. I had a bowl of cereal around 5:45am and by 9:00am I was ready for breakfast #2 (eggs, toast, beans & bacon….missing the UK obviously.) Haha…breakfast maybe is the best meal of the day so any reason to have it twice works for me.

We had such a great time in Africa & the UK. We promise to post lots of pics & tell lots of stories. Not right this second cause I’m fading fast…but overall…wow…just wow. We got to hang/play with the kids at 2 different Houses of Hope Africa homes and see a lit bit more what their lives are like there. These kids are amazing. They continue to teach us about joy & unconditional love.

On top of that we got to leave Africa & fly to the UK to play shows & have our hearts & minds absolutely overflow with love from the fans over there. We had awesome fan meet ups, made new friends…plus we took in every bit of the English countryside as we traveled from city to city. It was fantastic.

We landed late Friday night and played a #CMAFest show Saturday…we were exhausted but super pumped to be playing our hometown during such an iconic, music driven week. It was a great ending to the crazy travels.

So. Now it’s 9:21pm and my body is telling me to sleep. I’ll leave you with two pictures. One from Africa & one from the UK (picking just 1 picture from each might as well be torture for me….will definitely be posting way more pics soon!)

xo

-kate

My dad & I in South Africa

This was right before we had fantastic burgers & fish n’ chips…yummy

Hello!

As most of you know we do a lot of work with the kids at the Houses of Hope Africa…and we are getting really excited because we’re heading over there in the next few months. We can’t wait to hang with the kids

So many of you helped support the #MonthForHope in December (thank you!) and we raised a bunch of money to help cover operating costs for the homes which was so fabulous. A lot of you have tweeted or asked us after shows if there is ever anything that you can give (besides money) that would be helpful for the kids…and the answer is YES.

These are the following things that would be helpful:

• Pencils
• Pens
• Crayons
• Coloring Books
• Kids Socks (color: maroon)
• Target or Wal-Mart gift cards (which will be used to buy supplies)
• Kids toothbrushes

If you would like to donate any of the following, please send to:

HOUSES OF HOPE AFRICA
P.O. Box 3 Brentwood, TN 37024

Here are some of the amazing faces at HOHA…they bring so much joy into our lives.

If you have any questions check out the HOHA website.

Thanks for supporting us & the kids at HOHA.

xo

j&k

So, we’ve had an unbelievably pretty awesome exciting past week.

We got word that our “Heart Of Stone” album has made it to Pandora….woohooo!!!! We have our very own “Jill and Kate” channel…your mission (if you choose to accept it) is to go find our station & listen to it and celebrate with us! YAY!

Our last Song On The 17th was inspired by “Nick + Jess” from the TV show New Girl. An hour after we posted it, someone tweeted it to Zooey & she retweeted it and told us she loved it. Stop it right now. The absolute best part was seeing all of our hardcore j&k family out there freaking out with us…cause that’s what we were doing…

Then it just got better…Zooey has a blog with two other ladies called HelloGiggles.com & Blair (who’s an awesome blogger/contributor) blogged about our song. Double freak out. We were actually in Kohls when we saw this tweet and immediately had a mini-dance party in the women’s section. Hahaha….amazingly awesome.

Then we got to announce that we are going back to England to do our very own #jkUKtour… WE COULD JUST DIE. This is a dream for us and we cannot wait to sing and play and laugh together.

We played a writer’s round on Friday night with Matt Giraud, Alan Bennett and Chris Rodgers…it was SO MUCH FUN (thanks Carolyn for the pic!) Maybe one of our most favorite Nashville experiences to date. We were all crowded up on a tiny stage and Jill’s mic kept falling over, but nothing could stop us from having a freaking great time. Plus, Shay Mooney, half of Dan + Shay, got up and played a song at the end and that was great because we have been following them for a bit and always laugh that they are the boy version of us…nice to meet in real life

As most of you know, we are super involved with Houses of Hope Africa and helped coordinate their #amonthforhope campaign. The shirts that people ordered were delivered and they are amazing. Super cute and SUPER soft. Plus, EVERY SINGLE DOLLAR that people paid for these t-shirts is going straight to helping these amazing kids in Southern Africa. If you ordered a shirt, be expecting it soon!

Ya’ll…can you see why we are a little bit on iCloud 900 because of all the fun things going on? Ahhhh… YES.

And it’s Monday and we have an exciting announcement TODAY…

What could it be?

LOVE YOU. MEAN IT. REALLY, we do.

j&k