No more sleeps!!

It has been 7 years since we last saw Dieter’s brother, Mauritz, and his family. It was just after their oldest child, Rizané, had been born. Lots as happened in those 7 years: they’ve moved house numerous times and lived in various areas around Pretoria and have since had a little boy too, Paul-Gustav who is now nearly 6 years old.  We’ve had 2 more children, ourselves, and have travelled the globe some more. They live in Pretoria, where we all grew up, and we haven’t had the opportunity to see each other since we’ve returned to South Africa.

Today all that will change! After counting the sleeps faithfully every day for the last month, there are now NO MORE SLEEPS! Mauritz, Lezani, Rizi and Paultjie have booked in at Oliver Tambo International Airport just outside Johannesburg and are waiting to board their flight to George. Now we patiently count the hours till their arrival!

I can’t verbalise the excitement we are feeling right now! Aimee and I have been counting together and are by far the most excited of the crew ….. but we are all very excited to meet/see our cousins and family!

Oupa, and his twin sister, Aunty Ria, turn 70 this coming weekend. In his honour, numerous family members and close friends are traveling from far and near to celebrate. Oupa and Ouma have organised a Potjiekos luncheon in the lapa of a nearby school and nearly 60 of us will enjoy it together. For the past month or two we have been testing numerous potjie recipes at home, and have come up with 3 winners. Oupa, Dieter and Mauritz have each been assigned a potjie to make – either pork and pineapple, chicken curry or ostrich goulash. Its going to be a delicious affair – and we’re so looking forward to spending time with all the cousins, aunts and uncles and grandparents.

(For those who don’t know/have forgotten, ‘potjiekos’ is a stew made in a 3-legged cast iron pot on a fire)

We’ve spent much of the last month planning Oupa’s birthday bash and much needs to be done in the next couple of days …. But until then, we’re going to enjoy EVERY minute of having Mauritz, Lezani, Rizi and Paultjie with us!