Easter Weekend

April 17, 2012

by tlsmall

Easter, as it probably should be for all Christians, is a HUGE deal in South Africa, particularly in African culture. Local churches band together during the Easter weekend to put on a large Easter Conference. This is a time for great celebration, evangelism, baptisms take place, communion is taken, it is altogether a time of remembrance of Christ and celebrating all that He did on the cross. This Easter, Heather and I had the chance to bless one of our Bethesda families and make their participation in their Easter conference a bit easier and more effective by taking their four youngest children off of their hand for the weekend. These conferences often mean long days, short nights, and a lot of sitting still. That kind of schedule can be a bit challenging on toddler and Kindergartners…cue Aunties to the Rescue!

Lesego (11 months), Tsholo (18 months), Dipuo (5 years) and Bridget (6 years) were all able to spend the extended weekend at Auntie Heather & Auntie Tonya’s house. Joining our party for the weekend were also Auntie Gabby (celebrating her last weekend in Pretoria) and Auntie Gabby’s mom, Mama D. It was a very fun weekend. The girls were able to go to the Lion Park to see some animals, play games, watch movies, eat in a restaurant, and take Auntie Gabby to the airport and see planes for the first time ever. Over the weekend the littlest two were busy working on a lot of things. While I was busy teaching Tsholo to say “Auntie T”, Bridget and Dipuo misunderstood that I was saying “T” as in the first letter of my name and thought I was calling myself “Auntie Tea” as in the drink I like to have. Both girls then immediately deemed that Heather must be named “Auntie Coffee” to go along with “Auntie Tea.”

Enjoy some photos from the fun weekend!

: Little Lesego is such a little cutie.

: Aren’t these cute little Easter bunnies?

: I’m starving guys…let’s eat!

: Auntie’s version of Saturday morning cartoons are Monday morning movies.

: These blocks were one of the best investments Heather and I have made for our house. They have provided literally hours of entertainment for children of all ages, including Mama D :).

: Bridget LOVED the jumping castle!

: Dipuo was memorized by all the animals at the Lion Park. I was impressed with her eagle eye to spot a giraffe a very long way away that took me a while to find.

: All the kids were excited to see the lions sleeping on a “bed”.

: Auntie “Coffee” with Bridget and Dipuo at the airport to say good-bye to Auntie Gabby.

: Girls- “GIraffe, come here!” Auntie- “Maybe the giraffe doesn’t speak English” Girls- “Giraffe, e tla mo” (Tswana version of come here) no response from the giraffe…he must be Afrikaans!

: I promise this wasn’t actually child endangerment. She was quite happy and quite safe.

: Auntie “Tea” and Auntie “Coffee” with all 4 girls after church.

: Being a crawler and taking a nap on the air matress that happens to be located on the floor can make for some precarious sleeping positions. This is how Lesego fell asleep for her nap.

: The sleeping efforts succeeded and Lesego is sacked out for her nap.

: Lesego thought Mama D was hilarious!

: Out of several attempts to get all 4 looking this was the best we could do was this and the one where both big sisters have little sister by the head telling them to look at the camera…. 3/4 isn’t bad…

: Lesego practiced her walking so much over the weekend that when she got home, she was ready to take her first independent steps for mommy.

: How young do you have to be to learn the sin of “blameshifting”? It looks like Tsholo has it down and Lesego is clueless as to what is being pinned on her.

: Auntie “Tea” makes for a great jungle gym apparently.

: When lions sleep, kids will play?

: Auntie “Tea” with Lesego and Dipuo after church on Easter Sunday.

: Auntie Coffee with Bridget and Tsholo after church on Easter Sunday.

: Lesego won’t be running or teasing any animals. Her hands are tied and she is stuck on Mama D’s shoulders.

: Tsholo wasn’t so sure about the jumping castle for herself, but she loved watching her sisters enjoy it.

: This is how Lesego went to sleep after Heather rescued her and put her back on her bed for sleeping instead of half on the floor and half on the bed.

: What do you want with that camera…can’t u see I’m playing soccer!

: Tsholo was excited about all the animals but all she could do is point and bark like the doggies bark because that’s the only animal sound she gets to use regularly. “Woo-Woo” was said a lot at the lion park…we’ll have to work on some other sounds next time…maybe we’ll go to a farm and teach her “moo-moo”.

: Lesego is quite fond of her furry friend, Sophie. Sophie is not so sure she is always fond of her drooling, crawling, sometimes grabby friend, Lesego.

: Dipuo has grown up so much. I can hardly believe she is the same little girl that I started carrying around on my back four and a half years ago.