Happy Birthday Erin - by Charlene

This year, Erin's birthday fell on Easter Sunday so we celebrated it by waking her at 4:45 a.m. to head out to an Easter Sunrise Service. Unfortunately, after we made the half hour drive to our destination, the drizzle and fog had rolled in so we were moved indoors and missed the sunrise altogether but enjoyed a very nice service.

We celebrated Erin's birthday at lunch where she got her favorite meal: Oma's borscht followed by chocolate cake. She received her gifts and then we celebrated Easter with an evening dinner followed by an Easter egg hunt. As part of Erin's birthday gift we promised to take her on a 2 hour horseback trail ride this weekend up at Kaapsehoop (I'd spell it phonetically if I could put the Afrikaans pronounciation on paper but I can't).

Once again, we woke up to drizzly wet weather. Erin's eyes brimmed with tears as we talked about postponing it to another day so off we went. The sun came out just before we left so we were all very positive however when we arrived at our destination about 45 minutes away, the thunder and rain started. We were given big hooded capes to help keep us dry and about half of our ride was in the pouring rain but Erin had a smile on her face the whole time. John commented that we looked like a scene out of Lord of The Rings with our horses and capes in the mist. The sun broke through and was very dramatic as we came out of the woods and were faced with a beautiful canyon. Erin claimed the trip to be a huge success and was very happy about the ride but my bottom hasn't quite recovered yet!











The other big event of this week was that we said goodbye to Mom and Dad Wieler after a month long visit. We had a great time with them and took advantage of every opportunity to see some local sights. Our next booking at the Wieler guesthouse is not until my parents are scheduled to arrive in December so we have lots of openings if anyone is considering a visit.

Happy Easter - by John

Happy Easter, dear friends and family. We celebrate Easter in a slightly different climate of course. Growing up, I always remember Good Friday to be a gloomy, overcast and cold day, appropriate for the solemnity of the remembrance. Today has turned out to be a glorious, clear and warm day. We celebrated outdoors with hundreds of others this morning at the local High School stadium, it was a joint service of all the area churches, and it was very nice. It wasn’t particularly “Eastery”, as we didn’t sing any of the usual Easter songs and the message wasn’t focused on the Crucifixion or any other Easter theme, but none-the-less, it was good to celebrate as a community of believers.

These last two weeks have been a whirlwind of activities, as both Mom and Dad, and my Aunt Anne were visiting. Here's a picture of them cooperating to help Dad get a "just right" picture, on the edge of a thousand foot precipice! Better hang on tight!

Last weekend we were in Swaziland and did much shopping for original handicrafts and momentos, as illustrated below. We also had a chance to have lunch with our MCC Swaziland workers, Hlobi and Julie.

During the week we went to Kruger Park to see the wildlife. We weren’t sure if we were going to see anything, as at this time of year the grass if very high and the animals apparently retreat into the deep bush, but we were fortunate to see Lions, Giraffes, Elephants, Baboons, Rhinos and lots of Impalas, Kudus and other antelopish animals.

We have had a wonderful visit with Anne, who left last Wednesday. Mom and Dad are leaving Tuesday, and then things will feel quite lonely again.

Tech Note: The tower is finally up, complete with guy wires we fastened this week. Next step, getting a point-to-point connection to Nelspruit set up. Note that I'm the guy on the bottom. I did climb higher, but it's pretty scary!

The Dog Days of Summer - by Charlene

We are still getting a few days where the temperature is going over 30 degrees but for the most part, summer is winding down and fall is rolling in. Here is Lady basking in the mid-day sun and working on her tan. We’ve actually had a few days that were cool enough to make us decide to buy an electric heater before it cooled off too much more – yes, I think we’ve become cold weather wimps already. The stores here are stocked with scarves, mittens, fur-lined boots and leather jackets with fur trim. We have no idea what’s in store for us in the winter but we’ve been told that it is rare for the weather to go below 8 degrees in our area so this may be merely the fashion industry trying to increase the number of seasons to shop for.

Mom and Dad are keeping themselves busy while we’re working. Here Dad is solving the issue of world peace and next they are tackling the AIDS crisis – we’ll keep you posted.

Tomorrow Dad’s sister, Anne is arriving from Ottawa (via Egypt) and we are planning to take three days in Swaziland towards the weekend.

On the work front, things at the centre are as busy as ever. We are about 10 people over-capacity but the guests don’t seem to mind as we’ve squeezed extra camp beds into the bedrooms. I’m sure John will be posting photos of his pride and joy (the antenna on top of the water tower) very soon.