We had a pretty uneventful week, but a wonderful weekend. This week we put up and decorated our Christmas tree. It was a little weird decorating for Christmas in shorts and a t-shirt, but oh well! The only thing missing now is a star or something on the top. I think Mikayla and I will make it this week. We also introduced Mikayla to the advent season by making a wreath and talking about it.
We also had the staff Christmas party this week. It was more of a service and then cake and refreshments afterwards, but fun. Part of the service was each of the staff got up to put a star ornament on the tree. After putting on their ornament they were supposed to say what they were thankful for from the past year. Mikayla of course had to put an ornament on the tree. The thing she said she was thankful for was presents! Classic two year old moment.
Sr. Diane and Thandiwe (pronounced Tan-dee-way) at the Christmas party
We discovered this week that we probably tell Mikayla she is cute too much. Our friend Joey was over for dinner and Mikayla was up walking around playing by herself. All the sudden she looks at Joey and says, "I’m cute, people tell me that all the time"! Hilarious.
On Saturday we packed up and headed into town for the weekend. We started the day by doing some quick Christmas shopping and I am excited to say that we are almost completely finished! Just a couple of small things and we will be done. That evening we had some very gracious hosts – Peter, Callista and Aviva. Peter works with the Embassy and does some work with Cabrini and Callista works for the World Bank. Aviva is their one year old daughter. On Saturday night we had a wonderful braai, watched the children play and just hung out. It was great family time.
On Sunday morning we woke up and headed to Malolotja Nature Reserve. It was completely different than any scenery we see in St. Phillips. Mountains, valleys, trees, rocks…absolutely beautiful…even if it was overcast and cold! Of course we were not prepared for the cold weather and forgot to bring jackets, Ben even forgot pants. Aviva was nice enough to loan Mikayla a sweatshirt and I used her blanket as mine. Ben just toughed it out! Our car took a little bit of a beating, we did a little mudding, but I think everyone enjoyed themselves. We hope to go back when it is clearer (and we are better prepared) and do some hiking. They also have a zip line canopy tour we would like to do at some point.
Random flower we saw while walking around
