Max studying

Max is a very driven student and does his homework every night the second he comes home. We'll see how long it lasts.....He gets it from his Mom and Dad who were always very driven students.....right:) Here is Max doing his read and response homework with his swim cap on!

Abbey lost another tooth

Lesotho

This weekend we went to Letsotho to hike the tallest mountain in Southern Africa, Mt. Thabana Ntlenyana. However we never made it up the mountain. We arrived too late the 1st day so we organized horses to take us up to the top the next day only is was so misty and cloudy our guide spent hours looking for his horses and couldn't find them. So we never made is up the mountain. Instead we went quad riding one day, soaked in the scenery and, and played some soccer with the local Basothos. It was a lot of fun. The scenery was awesome and the culture amazing. I even bought a Basotho blanket just like the guy wearing one on the right hand column of the blog. I slept with it that night because it got really cold, probably the warmest blanket I have ever had. We then took a treacherous descent down Sani Pass back to South Africa through the rain and mud despite that fact that it was only for 4X4s. It was pretty scary and our battery went dead just after we started our descent, but now that we hit the bottom alive it was fun.
I plan to go back once more, I hope. The culture and scenery is unparalleled and fascinating. To see little villages on cliffs and mountainsides was cool. Hope you enjoy the slide show.

Potjie Party

The ward got together for a potjiekos (poy-kee-kose), a traditionally South African style of cooking and a popular way of cooking among the Dutch pioneers in South Africa. The party was a lot of fun. We entered the cook-off with chicken and dumplings and cinnamon rolls. Sadly, we didn't win the contest.

Halloween

Max was Luke Skywalker after he temporarily lost his pitchfork and Abbey was a "flower fairy princess." She put her own costume together. Mom was a hula dancer.

Little Pink Spider

Max found this spider eating a bee in the flowers in the backyard. We looked it up on line and think it is the flower crab spider.

Flower dwellers: The best-known flower dwellers are members of the genus Thomisus (flower crab spider). They are brightly coloured (white yellow, pink or pale green or white). Some species are able to change colour. The ability of some Thomisus species to change colour to conform to the background of their habitat has intrigued naturalist for nearly 100 years. The adult females have the ability to change colour reversibly. The colour ranges from white to yellow to pink. (www.scienceinafrica.co.za)

They grow up fast!! -- a comparative analysis