A few visitors from home

We were lucky enough to have a few visitors from home this month -- Maggie and Hans' mom, Annette.  What a joy to see them again!  And, it was so fun to be able to show some out-of-town visitors some of the cool things we have discovered since moving here.  And, it was a chance for the ALA students to meet some of our family which was wonderful.  The first night, we went with a group of students to one of the highest points around for a great view of the city:

Probably, one of our highlights was a visit to the Pilanesberg National Park.  It was so incredibly peaceful there, and we got a chance to see some animals too!  Kudus (a type of big gazelle), zebra, giraffe, a few humps in the water which were hippos, a dot in the horizon was a rhino and some elephant, up close and personal.  Here are a few pictures:

We also had fun exploring downtown Joburg and visited a couple of markets.  Here's a nice picture of Maggie and Annette:

Of course, it wouldn't be a Sowder family vacation without a few great hikes, and Maggie, Nate, Hans and I went out on couple of nice ones:

And, one of the sweetest things, was to be able to take Maggie and Annette to our Joburg church for Easter Sunday.  I've been talking about this visit for so long, everyone knew right away who they were!   So, so wonderful to have them there!

Here's our Easter Sunday picture, and yes, I am that short...and Nate is that tall... I think Hans might be in a bit of a ditch behind us (I think...).

Anway, if this seems like a commercial to come and visit South Africa--- it is!! We'll show you a great time, you can enjoy delicious food, great weather and even a few wild animals!