A bird's eye view of Johannesburg

Our friend Stephen (in the green) has his helicopter pilot's license, so he treated us to a flight over the city. Wyatt and I went up first, and then Cam, Shiloh and Ani. Wyatt was so relaxed and loved the trip. Cam even tried his hand at the controls and was a natural!

This is the 2010 soccer stadium that is being built-

A real treat to fly over, as soon, it will be restricted airspace.

The Johannesburg zoo - see the giraffe?

Irene Dairy Farm with the Blewetts

This one's for you Irene Conn!

This calf was named Dumbo by the kids. Isn't he cute?

We visited a working dairy farm in Irene and were treated to a delicious lunch in the gardens and a tour of the operations. The kids explored the fields, pond, and animals with great delight.

Visit to Gauteng Province - Jacarandas in the Springtime!

We drove 6 hours northwest to the Gauteng province to attend Camp Braambos Bible Study weekend hosted by the Kempton Park ecclesia. The kids enjoyed the rustic setting and we loved the fellowship and classes entitled "A Faith that Works" based on the book of James. Leona held a thought provoking and tenderhearted Bible class for the ladies and many enjoyed the Hebrew dancing that evening. Unfortunately, I have been having trouble with my back, so I could not participate.

After the weekend, we headed to the Pretoria area and stayed with Mickey, Karen and their kids. They showed us the beautiful views of the city in full bloom with the Jacaranda trees. These trees are actually imported from South America, but are found all over South Africa. Mickey drove us down the longest straight street in all of Africa through the city center and we visited the Union Buildings where President Zuma keeps his offices. The gardens were breathtaking and Cam was able to get his rose fix. We had a wonderful time getting to know Mickey's family better. The kids especially enjoyed the beautiful gardens, visiting the mulberry tree for fresh berries each day and playing with the dogs.

Wyatt turns 5

It's hard to believe my baby is 5. He wanted to play mini golf (again) for his birthday, so we invited a few families from our church to join us on the indoor course. He was so excited to receive packages from abroad and due to the long postal turnaround, he'll probably be celebrating his birthday until next year!! As we sang "Happy Birthday," we didn't get through the first line before the candles were blown out! Here's to another wonderful year!

Our first giraffe sighting

On the drive back from Kimberley, we saw a family of giraffes in a fenced area on the side of the road. It must have been the back side of a nature reserve. They were majestic and beautiful.

Kimberley, South Africa - Diamond Mining and the Big Hole

Our last stop on the 3 week tour was to Kimberley, South Africa, home of the largest man made excavation in the world. They have a fantastic museum set up there where the DeBeers Diamond mine was located. It is surrounded by a nostalgic town that replicated the life in the years of the diamond rush. We started the tour by watching a 30 minute movie showing the history of the diamond mine. Then we went out to view the hole and went on an elevator down into a replica mine shaft where they did a mock explosion and showed us all of the tools and methods used in the mining.

DeBeers has installed a phenomenal museum with an actual vault of diamonds that we were able to go in and observe. Unfortunately no pictures could be taken there. We saw every cut and color of diamond and genuine replicas of the largest diamonds ever found in the mines.

Wyatt was fascinated that we were at the site of an ancient volcano. He kept asking me if it was going to erupt! It was so interesting reading the timeline of history of the DeBeers family and their influence in the world of diamonds. We were able to see the Kimberlite volcanic rock that is named after the town of Kimberley in South Africa, where the discovery of an 83.5 carats (16.7 g) diamond in 1871 spawned a diamond rush, eventually creating the Big Hole.

Table Mountain Cable Car Ride, Capetown