Spontaneous

We decided to take a spontaneous trip on Sunday - Tuesday. It was so weird to make a plan on Saturday night to leave in the morning for a trip with some friends of ours - Steven and Robyn Ball. What an amazing trip!! We have had so much opportunity to travel here in South Africa. The countryside is so beautiful.

We drove for about 5 hours and landed at God's Window.

Scott and Maddie looking out God's Window. On a very clear day you can see Mozambique (estimated 30 miles away).

Alex on top of the world!!



Loving the time together - this is school right - Geography?


I loved this sign on a trash bin going back to our car.

We then traveled a small distance to Bourke's Luck.

Grit and stones carried by the swirling water of the Blyde (joyful) and Truer(sad) rivers have carved potholes where early prospectors extracted gold. This was amazing to see.



Burkes Luck Potholes



The Family


Robyn and Steven Ball - fun - fun - fun to be around!


Another view to get the idea how high up we were

NEXT, we went to the Three Rondavels

This represents a traditional cylinder huts of the Xhosa or Zulu tribes. These three hills were shaped by the erosion of soft rock beneath a harder rock "cap"


Maddie and Alex enjoying the trip - (note there are no guard rails to keep you up top - so this is a little scary for me to have them sitting there).



Blyde River


Beautiful

The sun was setting so it was time to call it a day



Great sunset pic!!

Did you notice anything weird about the first sunset pic beginning the blog- It is a real picture, but it has props!! Scott was holding up a wooden giraffe (which is missing some legs) so I could get a true South African Sunset picture. Pretty Fun Huh?!?

We were able to see acres and acres of Banana Farms - Did not know they had them here in South Africa. This farmer exports all of his bananas.




Bananas growing - This was a first for me to see.

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Kruger National Park

Well we could not travel all that way and bypass Kruger National Park - so here are some pictures of that. You are probably sick of seeing animal pictures, but I tell you seeing these animals in the wild is nothing but spectacular and unpredictable!!!


Alex in front of a Kudu statue



Here is the biggest Kudo I have ever seen - look at the horns.


Impala mixed in with the Wart Hogs - I love how the warthogs are always on their knees when they eat!


Herd of Impala

Adult Impala with his son!


Herd of Elephants - this was amazing! I have never seen so many elephants - they just kept coming. Old ones all the way to the youngest babies!! So cute!





This was our entertainment! Seeing a Hyena is not common! He was very agitated! Walking back and forth - obviously a site to see by the site of the cars watching him. They say the reason he was so uneasy was that their was a kill not to far away and he was waiting for his opportunity to swoop in.


Ugly things aren't they?


Almost passed this giraffe by. We did see giraffes running too! That is awesome to see. Just out of National Geographic and I saw it in real life!


We were heading out of the park and were stopped by a herd of Cape Buffalo (which are hard animals to spot when you go to Kruger). We sat parked for about 15-20 min watching over 800 buffalo walk pass. It was amazing to see the old ones with the young ones. Wow God sure did make some amazing animals!

Anyway - I am finishing this blog 5 min before I am heading to the airport. I am flying to Zambia to meet up with others from the states to visit the GEMS clubs there. Please pray for me as I am a little nervous to go by myself. Pray that everything goes well, safety, and for the amazing new and different experiences. I am so excited to see the GEMS there!!!!!

Till next time!! Love you all!!

EGGS

OK - I am almost at the end of my rope with this unrefrigerated eggs thing they have going on here. It's not just that they are unrefrigerated - it's also what I see when I open the top (the eggs are between two egg crates and sealed with a plastic wrap so you never know what you get inside). This is what I will probably see when I take the wrapping off (as the case was tonight):

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Warm, Brown, Pooped on, and because they have poop on them - Feathered eggs!!!

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I realized today how far I have come with the whole egg thing here. I remember going to the store here and seeing the back corner of the store lined with eggs (as if they were loaves of bread). You could buy as little as 6 eggs to a package of 5 dozen! My first reaction was why do people buy 5 dozen at a time!!!! Then I thought why are they not refrigerated. SO - being paranoid as I am - I searched for the typical 1 dozen grade AA refrigerated eggs. With much failure, I came to the conclusion this is what I am going to have to buy. It took me a while to eat my first egg. I used them for baking or cooking dinners, but I never just ate a fried egg. To be honest, I let Scott be the first to eat one. He survived. But here are the questions that went through my head:

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How long ago did the chicken lay these eggs?!?

How long can they last unrefrigerated?

How long has it been unrefrigerated when I bought them?

If the hard boiled egg's yolk is completely white - Is it OK to eat?

Doesn't warm eggs accelerate the bacteria that cause salmonellosis?

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All the warnings about eating eggs are in question here. Only eat refrigerated, clean, un-cracked eggs, with a stamped on date. I know there are a lot of countries that eat unrefrigerated eggs, but could the companies that pack the eggs - PLEASE CLEAN THE POOP AND FEATHERS OFF!!

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I still wonder when we have the symptoms - people infected with Salmonella may experience mild or severe diarrhea, abdominal cramps, fever and occasionally vomiting - IS IT THE EGGS!!

GET A LIFE

I read this article in our newspaper today:

So here is what I wanted to tell you today: Get a life. A real life, not a manic pursuit for the next promotion, the bigger pay cheque or the larger house. Do you think you would care so much about those things if you blew an aneurysm one afternoon or found a lump on your breast? Get a life in which you notice the smell of salt water pushing itself on a breeze at the seaside, a life in which you stop and watch how a red-tailed hawk circles over the water or the way a baby scowls with concentration when she tries to pick up a sweet with her thumb and forfinger.

Get a life in which you are not alone. Find people you love and who loves you. And remember love is not leisure, it is work. Pick up the phone. Send an email. Write a letter.

Get a life in which you are generous. And realize that life is the best thing ever and that you have no business taking it for granted.

Care so deeply about its goodness that you want to spread it around. Take money you would spend on futility and give it to charity. Work in a soup kitchen. Be a big brother or sister. All of you want to do well. But if you do not do good too, than doing well will never be enough.

Finding light in something I hate!

Is it possible to find a little bit of fun in something you totally dislike?!? If you ask anyone in my family - the thing I hate to do the most is LAUNDRY!!! I despise it - It is a never ending job - it is annoying. "All you need is a schedule" is what I hear from a lot of people - It does not matter if I have a schedule or not - it never seems to get done. Ok I can wash the clothes - if I remember in time (before you they smell bad) place them in the dryer - maybe fold them - but it will take me weeks to put it away! I choose to just pull the clothes out as I need them.

Anyway - I have found a part of my laundry job to be "fun" or at least I enjoy it. Instead of using the dryer - I like to hang up the laundry on the clothes lines hooked to our house. WHAT you may be thinking, but just hear me out on this.

It is a sunny day and you are doing your laundry. Now just imagine going outside to hang the wet laundry up. If you have a great smelling detergent or softener the smell is relaxing. Then as you are looking to the sky (me more than others because I am short), you notice what a beautiful day it is. You may even look at the cloud formations and say a little prayer to God thanking him for the great day. (I am sure I have a few of you chuckling by now!)

I know I am weird, but it is peaceful to me - because when I am outside on the side of the house (our alley) hanging the laundry - NOBODY bugs me!! They magically leave me alone (maybe it is the fear that they may have to help or maybe they just have no idea where I went). Either way I am by myself (which is not normal for me right now) and I get to reap the benefits of laundry that has been hanging outside in the breeze - the whites get whiter, colors get brighter (or fade if you leave them out in the South African sun to long) and the smell of hanged dried clothes/sheets is priceless!!

(my alley/quiet place)

Some of you may be thinking - I thought you had a DM (domestic worker) cleaning your house and doing your laundry! I did! but she has not returned to work for the past two weeks. SHE WAS AMAZING! - our underwear was even ironed!! (TMI?) Until I find a new person to work for us - I am just enjoying the great smell of laundry and the peace and quiet (if it is only 5 minutes).

So, I guess my point is - there is always something good in something you absolutely hate to do - you just may not know what it is yet!

Bunco at the Leenstra's

Tonight we had Fun Night with our Bible Study Group. What a blast having a good Ol BBQ (Braai) and playing games - Bunco and Taboo. We of course had to teach the South Africans how to play Bunco. It was fun to have people over at our house. We have become a very close group. I am so happy that we were placed in this group, because I now have some very cool friends. We have so much fun together!!! Here is a couple pics of our night!

THE GIRLS: Samantha, Kelli, Mariam, me, and Robyn

Samantha has two kids: Neena (2) and Benjamin (11 months). She was the first to take me under her wings and introduce me to new people.

Kelli: She is in South Africa from the states working with Ambassadors for Sports and plays on a local woman's soccer team here

Mariam has 4 kids and they are originally from Austria: Natania (9), Joel(7), Alia (4), Noah (2)

Robyn is a newlywed with no kids

Here we are teaching Bunco to everyone:

The men were pretty competitive

While we were playing the kids were having a blast. Alex was so excited to show off his room and all his toys:

Alex and Joel

and then there was Maddie having the run of the house! Here is the sign I spotted on her door:

Here is what I found inside:

Neena, Natania, Alia, and Maddie

God has blessed us with new friends. We have really enjoyed meeting new people and being able to be a part of a great Bible Study Group.

ALEX - CAN'T FORGET ABOUT HIM

Loving Life

Smiling on a daily basis

Finding new varieties of bugs to play with

Calling mom - I mean Dad - I mean mom (can't make up his mind)

Telling us what he is doing constantly (too much info at times)

Reminding me of Great Grandma Dieleman - shakes his finger at me

Learning along with Maddie (he is a sponge)

Growing like a weed

Counting down the days till his birthday (he knows that after his birthday we will see all the Grandmas and Grandpas in Michigan)

Asking if I know what all his cousins and Riley are doing on that day

Loving Spiderman, Dinosaurs, Cars, and Video games (oh no!)

Hugging and talking to everyone (even strangers)

Trying every excuse to not be in bed

Wishing for a Webkinz of his own

Trying new food

Whining/Crying at little things (not good)

Biting his tongue when he concentrates (just like his dad)

Asking me if the babies are all out of the tummies (Katie, Chelle, and Michelle)

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Cuddling and giving affirmations to some of us who are homesick (ME!).

MADDIE - WHAT IS SHE UP TO?

Growing her two front teeth

Obtaining more freckles on her nose everyday

Growing taller - new pants are needed for the winter

Missing all her friends back home

Learning everyday (she has the best teacher I hear)

Planning a Barbie sleepover (anyone want to come?)

Picking ants out of her pants hourly (she can not sit still)

Hugging Sam Bear every night

Growing more independent every day (is this good?!?)

Swimming on her own in the deep

Reading everything

Perfecting her soccer skills to take back home

Counting down the days till her 7th birthday (she has a ways yet)

Checking blogs and emails with Mom

Conquering Webkinz Website

Bonding so much with Alex

Mastering games like Uno, Go Fish, and Boggle Junior

Controlling her fits (she is good at them)

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always Smiling and Searching for the new things to pick, pester, and play with

Scott had the Stache - I got a new style

WHAT DO YOU THINK?!?

Stache Bash

Scott's work - Innotec - has a competition every year called the Stache Bash. This is a mustache growing competition that was started 3 years ago to honor Mike Lanser and the beautiful Stache that he has been sporting for as many years as anyone can remember. (Mike is one of the guys who started Innotec).

6 weeks before the judging, everyone is told to start growing their Stache. Scott tried last year to compete and failed miserably with a very weak looking stache that had very little body or creativity. This year he used the full 6 weeks to his advantage and with little help from Lia (no fake hair here, we only use natural extensions) got a little creative with his Stache. Take a look at the winners of all the catagories. Recognize anyone?

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1.Rookie Stache of the Year Award – Given to the 1st year Mister Stache competitor who has the best in show and most potential in their Stache Bash career

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Innovation Stache Award – This one should be self explanatory, but just incase….The award is given to the man who knows no bounds with a razor, facial hair, and his imagination. Shape, Mold, Design, Color it, braid it, and add to it. If it doesn’t break the three finger rule you are good to go.

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The Trash Stache Award – Goes to the contestant who knows they resemble a 16 year kid who owns a Fierro, but grew what he had for the bash.

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The Best Supporting Stache Award – Even though this competitor takes second, he will be first in line to carry the torch should something unexpected befall the reining Mister Stache

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Mister Stache – This stache is the one other’s will aspire to during their careers in the AFSCA*. The stache is bold, full, well trimmed, and redefines what it means to look like a real Man.

*AFSCA = American Furniture Stache Competitors Association