Special Delivery

We celebrated Christmas a few days early. We had three parcels from loved ones that arrived on the same day! It was such a blessing for all of us and a lot of fun to see all the special goodies.

Caleb loved the shiny bows!

Mommy and Caleb reading a new book.

It plays music and lights up!

One of Nathan's favorite presents

Nicole watching Caleb open gifts

A rare photo where Caleb is actually wearing the Santa hat, not pulling it off his head and throwing it to the floor.

Christmas Youth Event

Nathan, Caleb and I attended a Youth for Christ Christmas Youth event. Nathan played guitar and I sang with Caleb strapped in to his carrier. He enjoyed it very much.

Caleb's first time seeing a Christmas tree.
We don't have one this year but you can buy them in the shops in Lesotho and South Africa (fake ones, of course).

Last minute rehearsal

From A Land Down Under

Harper, a visitor to one of our friends,
came to play with Caleb one morning.
Harper and his mum are from Australia.

Caleb was excited about having company.

Harper is almost 2 months younger than Caleb.

Playtime:

As you can see, Caleb has to work on sharing.

Caleb's favorite toy

Yeah, this is mine.

I'm just gonna put this over here.

Harper was a lot of fun to have over.
He was very patient with Caleb and the two interacted nicely.

Home Again, Home Again

The morning of our departure clouds threatened rain. We followed Pastor Ntsimane (holding Caleb) of Harvester's Bible Church in Mokhotlong, who came for dinner the previous evening, out of the village and onto the main road home.

Pastor Ntsimane, his friends and his son, and the Keisler men


Sites we saw on our way back home to Maseru:

Asking for candy

The widely practiced method of plowing fields

Basins to carry water home

Traditional Basotho village home

Sheep in the road

Shepherds and their flocks are a frequent site

Laundry day

The urban village of Butha Buthe
(notice the oxen and cart as part of oncoming trafic)

Making Due

Without modern conveniences and comforts of home, what is a little boy to do for playtime?

Use his imagination of course
(with a little assistance from his bottle cap)!

The boy has been relocated from his natural habitat. We will observe this curious creature from a distance so as to minimize interference as he adapts to his surroundings. He selects a segment of his drinking device to serve as a play toy. Watch his reaction as he discovers his innate abilities combined with the slickness of the floor.

Did you see THAT!

Go get it, Caleb!

When he reached for it, the bottle top popped out of his grip and rolled around the ground. He laughed every time and entertained himself with the chase for quite some time.

Outside, Caleb becomes acutely aware of everything,
right down to each insect, stick, and blade of grass.

A Family Hike

OK guys, I'm ready!

We followed the gorge to a stream that feeds into the massive Senqu River. We didn't make it to the river, but Caleb had a great time anyway.

Are you sure about this?

This is great!

Caleb had a great time splashing around in the water! He didn't even want to stand up because he would be too far away from the action.

Molumong

The village, Molumong (prnounced mo-duh-mo-ng) is about 45 minutes away from the nearest city, Mokhotlong. We stayed with another missionary from the area as we scoped out a potential mission trip site. We had no electricity or running water, but the house we stayed in was plumbed, so there was an indoor flushing toilet and sinks connected to outside tanks that are manually filled. We stayed for 3 days and nights. It was breathtakingly beautiful.

Caleb had a great time outdoors.

Mmm, a stick.