Back Home Again in Indiana!

I'm home again!  I left with Bob and Susie on Tuesday morning and we spent a few hours in Joburg before heading to the airport.  Traveling went smoothly.  We had about a sixteen hour flight to Atlanta and from there I had an hour flight home.  I'm so thankful they were willing to let me travel with them!
          It's so good to be back!  I'm also very thankful that I've been sleeping through the night and I haven't gotten jet lag.  Thank you all so much for your prayers, support, and encouragement!  I look forward to seeing you all face to face again!

All my family was at the airport to welcome me home!

National Pie Day

 Tuesday was national pie day in America because the date, 3/14, is the same as the mathematical number pi, 3.14.  I had been disappointed that I would miss it, but it turns out I didn’t have to! Since pies here are meat pies, most of the kids and mamas hadn’t tasted fruit pie. I wanted to make some for everyone in the village so they could taste it, especially since I am a pie baker. Not only would they be able to taste it, but then they would also have a better idea of what my job is at home. And what better day to make pie for everyone than on pie day?  I had several enthusiastic helpers and we made three 9x13 apple pies with crumb topping, which is somewhere around forty cups of apples.  I think most everyone was excited and really enjoyed their pie!  

Making apple pie filling

Enjoying the pie in the evening.
Several of these boys helped make the pie.

Game Reserve Park Safari Drive

         This last week Uncle Brian took fifteen of us to a game reserve park that is about an hour away.  There aren't any guides, but you are allowed to drive through the park.  I'm not sure if it would be considered a real safari drive, but I'll count it.  There are no elephants or wild cats on the reserve.

         People who had been there before were disappointed because there wasn’t much wildlife out that day, but what we did see was still really neat!  We were in the Quantum, so the view out of the windows wasn’t the best, and I know my pictures definitely aren’t the best! 

          I was able to see: ostrich, zebra, guinea hens, a water buffalo, some warthogs, springbok, monkeys, rhinos that were so far away they looked more like specks, but hey, they were still rhinos!  Sadly we never found any giraffes.  The landscape was beautiful though! We drove up one of the tall hills to a lookout point and the view was amazing!

 

We also saw a mama monkey carrying her baby,
but I couldn't get a picture of it. 

Water Buffalo
If anyone knows Veggie Tales,
some of us did sing the water buffalo song :)

Driving up to the lookout

Part of the view at the top of the lookout