Manaia :)

The other day, I told Manaia if she was good while her and Mummy ran some errands I would get her a lolli pop, I know right - nothing like a good ol' fashion bribe :) I turned around 10 mins later and saw this........................

Thats my girl :)

Elephants never forget and neither will I......

Obviously this is another Africa post so.........apologies if you're over it, and if not enjoy!

It all started with Stanford yelling out ELEPHANT while pointing to our right which then sets off a chain of events. First of all the spotter ( stanford) is allowed to revel in all the compliments that come from his fellow safarians ( if thats even a word) like "Great Spotting!" or " You have an eye like an eagle" which then always turns into a unison "wooowww". On spotting the first elephant we were all so excited as he or she was walking right toward our jeep, but then out from behind another bush stepped another elephant! then another one and another one and another one, until we counted about a herd of 30 elephants male, female and perfect little baby (calf?) elephants.
It was the most adorable and lovely scene really. The slow but very deliberate movements as well as protection of the the younger ones was inspiring. The way they stuck so closely together just like a family should was beautiul. I just remember it was all so quiet except the clicking of our cameras, one safarian went so far as to say for him it was somewhat of a euphoric experience  being allowed to be a fly on the wall so to speak and you couldnt help but feel priviledged to be there and be allowed to look on. hope the pics do the experience justice.

Next post, I will try and twist Stanfords arm to write about being charged by a bull Elephant :)  I wasn't there unfortunately but the photos make me think that if I was,  I would've either cried or wet my pants :P
have a elephant happy day!

Sunday = Church

Was a really nice day at church today. Elder Evans (member of the seventy) and Elder Vinson visited and spoke in our ward and taught Gospel Doctrine. He opened the class to some questions and our Stake Patriach later asked 'How can we help struggling children?'. Elder Evans then said that that was probably the most important question that could have been asked and discused in the class. His counsel was great. He started by reminding everyone that if you look at the BOM there are three major families - Lehi's family, Alma's family, and Helaman's family - and each had family members who struggled. And in most cases we don't have to look far into our own families (whether it be children, parents, siblings, or cousins) to discover those family challenges faced by Lehi and others are relevant to each of us. He then referred to the councel the Lord gives in D&C 121 'Reproving (correcting) betimes (early, not delayed)with sharpness (clarity, accurate) when moved upon by the Holy Ghost' which obviusly doesn't include anger, malice, or frustration. But perhaps the most important step which we have a tendancy to neglect is showing an increse of love afterwards. Elder Evans shared a few experiences and explained that this was key. There is no guarantee that our children with stay close to the Lord but as parent today I learnt to  never  push them away or consistently remind them of the wrong they are doing, but to encourage and love to the end. So.....After that sermon...
Today I am grateful for a wonderful and strong mother who always found a way to teach in most situations and never pushed me away even when I was. Grateful also for my Dad for loving me, although he doesn't always show it I know he does.

"A Lion amongst ladies is a most dreadful thing"

There you go, the only thing I remember from Shakespear week in high school, are you impressed? :) Pilanesburg National Park in South Africa is where we went on safaris both morning and late afternoon. To say these moments were both amazing and  humbling is an understatement. First of all our guide Dumay (sp?) was fantastic and I just felt the love and respect he had for all these majestic animals from the get go. The thrill of racing through the park because we were tipped off that there was a male Lion only 10 mins away was invigorating. Cindy and I hitting our heads on the roof of the Jeeps canopy while our guide fishtailed around corners was hilarious and just so dang fun to be honest. To my now 2 readers, you HAVE to put Africa on your bucket list of things to do, there will be no regrets I promise. I will spare you from the longwinded version of how we found the Lions, who spotted him (me  :P) and just how small and insignificant I felt when hearing the Alpha males roar echo through the valley, wow......goosebumps, absolute silence and reverence acknowledging he was totally the King of the Jungle :) I found their eyes peircing and almost haunting in ways but one of the most beautiful animals in the wild. enjoy the pics, still miss you Africa. :( Also an fyi I am a hater of photoshopping my pics or altering them in anyway so what you see is what you get I could change them and Im sure 90% of them would look better but I like knowing its the raw image and exactly what I saw through my lens at that moment, so disclaimer if you're wondering about the quality of the image now you know why. thx for reading my rambles.

The first sight of Mysterys son (his name) like I said....haunting but beautiful

spotted us

walking right infron of the jeep

Tail up marking his territory

His brother, who turned around and headed straight for us, a pretty tense moment

and closer again, Dumay grumbling - "shutup and sit down, don't move"

Phew, he ran straight past without any casualties

The best group ever, with the best guide....I dont know where I was?

Quad Biking in Africa....

Now this is not in order of events at all just here and there but wanted to start with how 2 friends ( Abbey and Sylvana) and I decided it would be fun to go quad biking while staying at the Ivory Tree Lodge, the best ever lodge might I add. Our guide Lameka was so great,although Im sure he thought we were a little crazy as we were squealing like little girls the whole way, he looked at us a few times with his head cocked to the side im sure wondering if we had any idea what we were doing. He  took us through a little village near the lodge called Bakgatla. While riding past these little houses I wondered to myself if the noise as well as the sight of these weird looking white ladies bothered them, they would peer out to us with no expression  at all until we started to wave at every person we saw... then they would wave back and smile and I figured they didn;t mind so much although my arm did get a little sore after a while :) driving past the local hair salon, cows lazing about on the streets, kids in every direction, the infamous red dirt of Africa all over our faces and clothes, oh and my camera which I wasnt happy about but thats for another post. It felt so adventurous and at the same time such an eye opening experience. Their houses weren't much at all but they were all SO happy and going about their day. This made me feel more grateful for the country I live in with all its freedoms and beauty that it offers, not that its supereior in anyway to Africa just different I guess. It was so fun, enjoy the pics!....and  I miss Africa :(

The beginning if our quad biking experience!

 The Local Hair Salon! so hilarious, I love it

Me, Abbey and Sylvana

 More Onlookers, not sure if they like these crazy white ladies riding around near their home

         

 Oncoming traffic! only in Africa which makes me love it even more

 Now, I was riding for a minute or so before I realised these little boys had jumped on the back of my bike! and they stayed there for a while - they were so cute and made the experience even better!

 

Main street in local village.

2 consecutive days of blogging im on a roll!

To my dear 2 pity readers....ok so here it is, I think I have figured out why this blogging thing can be so good. VENTING. Since half the things that I want to talk about are no more exciting than watching paint dry, blogging is a remedy for the things i just need to get out but KNOW that when Stanford gets home the only response I'll get is glassed over eyes or a "what is she going on about" stare. So vent no. 1 for today is that my house seriously needs a detox. I need to purge my poor home of the unnecessesaries of life..... I was thinking of adding before and after pics of certain areas of my house that need an internal cleansing  but then thought better of it because you would probably think I was a slob.

So we just got back from our amazing South Africa trip which I will definately post more about in the coming days along with the incredible images we took whilst there, i know, i know dont all log on at once my blogs will be here for the eternities for your entertainment and  perusal :P.  While there I purchased some awesome African home wares, of which i did some pretty impressive bargaining, if I do say so myself. Once unpacked I walked around my house and thought what lucky spot will get to wear and display these gorgeous  authentic African gifts with pride..... then realised there was not even one spot that was even remotely do-able!? How have I ended up with as much 'stuff' as I have??? how do I get rid of it? I dont think i am ready for a garage sale just yet, does that make me a hoarder?? maybe so but I plan doing a "winter-spring clean" in the coming days. Wish me luck :)

On a more positive note, this morning Carter boy pointed to me and said 'mama' then smacked his lips together and waited for a kiss, my whole body absoloutely melted, right at that moment I would've given him  anything he wanted from me ....note to self - ok to melt, not ok that time is going way too fast.:(