Birthday Dinner

My dear friend Hannah and I happen to be "birthday twins", sharing the exact same birthday, just a few years apart. Last week my sweet sister organized a little outing with a few of our girlfriends (and of course Michaela). What fun--thanks Ness!

Birthday surprise...a little trip to Lake Oconee

Outside

Inside

Poolside

Fireside

Dinnertime

Checkout time

Church Retreat photos...

The Church Retreat was a success, thanks to wonderful weather, a beautiful facility and lots of help (including my right hand husbie, who I could never manage without!). Here are a few highlights...




Andre and I went up a day early to set things up and get situated.




Despite the many things we had to accomplish to get ready, we did manage to fit in a quick canoe ride around the lake.



We watched the sunset from the canoe...



And woke up the next morning to a beautiful misty landscape that quickly heated up to a clear, sunny Friday...and soon the craziness began!






A bonfire and s'mores (for 300--that's a LOT of marshmallows!) finished off the day.



Saturday was busy, with a couple of hours of down time in the afternoon, during which I hung out with some girl-friends on the front lawn and fed little Michaela.





Thanks to everyone who helped and encouraged and prayed about this event in the life of our church--you know who you are :)

Church Retreat

Just thought I'd give everyone far away a little glimpse into what's going on with us at the moment. Our church is putting on a whole church retreat next weekend and Andre and I are involved in the organization of it. And it's all-consuming organization right now! However, we are looking forward to a time of refreshment and fellowship with our church family at this beautiful retreat center.

A different perspective...

My home town, Cape Town, is a beautiful place to visit. But hidden from the tourists are lives of hardship one needs to see to understand. Thank you Liesl and Gigi for reminding me of the "other" Cape Town.

So cute!

Just have to show off our ADORABLE little niece who's now laughing!

Michaela's Sip and See

Today, some of Vanessa's friends hosted a baby shower for her. This was particularly fun because the baby was actually there for everyone to see! (And all decked out in her pretty pink party dress and ballet shoes-what a doll!)