Merry Christmas to all of YOU

These thoughts from President Monson were shared with me and I thought I would like to share them with all of our wonderful loved ones. May God continue to bless you and protect you all. With much love, Elder and Sister Ladle

"There is no better time than now, this very Christmas season, for all of us to rededicate ourselves to the principles taught by Jesus the Christ. Let it be a time that lights the eyes of children and puts laughter on their lips. Let it be a time for lifting the lives of those who live in loneliness. Let it be a time for calling our families together, for feeling a closeness to those who are near to us and a closeness also to those who are absent.

Let it be a time of prayers for peace, for the preservation of free principles, and for the protection of those who are far from us. Let it be a time of forgetting self and finding time for others. Let it be a time for discarding the meaningless and for stressing the true values. Let it be a time of peace because we have found peace in His teachings.

Most of all, let it be a time to remember the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, that we may share in the song of the angels, the gladness of the shepherds, and the worship of the Wise Men."

CHRISTMAS IN GEORGE

Most homes are not decorated inside or out, but the community does a wonderful job with lights in the center of town.  These have been up since October, but the special turn on the lights wasn't until Dec. 6th. Merry Christmas to all.

Safari Ostrich Farm

Ostrich farms began in the late 1880's.  Because women were wearing feather hats at the turn of the century, there was a huge demand for these wonderful feathers. This beautiful mansion was built in 1910.

The ostrich is the fastest two legged animal in the world, averaging 45mph. If they are being hunted, they may run or you may see them laying flat to HIDE?

You don't want to stand too close as the ostrich can only kick forward and can cause serious injury or death if he is mad.  The egg is 20 times the weight of a chicken egg and as you can see, it is very hard if it is on a base of sand. Twenty-four people can be fed with just one ostrich egg.

The adult male is black and the female or young male is a gray-brown.  The average height of the male is 5'11" to 9'2". Just an FYI, the ostrich steak is one of the most healthy steaks as the cholesterol level is way down and it is quite delicious to eat. It actually tastes like a steak.

Wildernes Beach/Knysna

The first two pictures of of Knysna. Isn't it just beautiful?

No I didn't spell it wrong. This is our second time to Wildernes. It is so peaceful. The walkway is 112 steps if I remember. There aren't many people there even during the HOLIDAY that we are in now because of the long way down to the beach. There was a young man who jumped off the grass area where we were sitting, to hang glide. This is an amazing area. There were these funny marks in the sand and then we found out they were left by the snails. 

Jukani Wildlife Predator Park

Jurg and Karen Olsen live on this park with these wild animals. Many of them sleep in their home. This couple is dedicated to the preservation and well being of the worlds carnivories: lions, white lions, tigers, leopards, cheetah, jaguars and pumas. We watched Jurg walk in the enclosures with these wild animals and saw them kindly give him hugs. Visit their website: http://www.jukani.co.za/



This and That

Notice the pedestrian walk as well as speed bump sign This is critical if you don't want to damage your vehicle. They are very high. The pedestrian does not have any rights in South Africa, except for this area and there aren't that many pedestrian ones here. We constantly have to watch for people walking in the road even the freeway and I am talking 10-30 and more.

This one is classic. For the previous 300 meters you are warned to slow down. Then finally just before the curve you find this exclamation point, like, I warned you.

CAW stands for Cold and Wet in George. This is the typical area abbreviation. Every morning Doug and I lay in bed and say, Is it clear or cloudy? Then we vote and one of us gets up out of bed to check out the weather. If we wait long enough we will be right. Cloudy turns to clear and clear usually turns to cloudy.

This was priceless. Remember that stop lights are called ROBOTS. So in the grocery store I found Robot peppeers: Red, yellow and green.

All homes have some type of sign on the front of the house stating ARMED RESPONSE. We will show you the fences next time.