So what has Hendrik been up to the past week?

Of course Hendrik was part of all the family activities over Christmas and New Year, but he had some extra things up his sleeve as well. I haven't got pics of his "after party" with his horsey friends (that is the party ....after the "Boeresport" - see previous post) , but these pics will give some idea of his week....

Frans and Thelwyn gave him a Endurance Ride crash helmet for Christmas and Frans offered that Hendrik ride his pride stallion, Raviv. Frans recently had an elbow operation and will not be able to do endurance riding this year.

Hendrik on Raviv, Frans's Arabian stallion and Thelwyn on her white Arabian mare, Rebecca, keeping a safe distance. They hope to ride the national Fauresmith endurance ride again this year. Hendrik was nr 15 of the Juniors the year he rode Fauresmith.... but that was quite a long time ago and he has not had the time to do it again. Thelwyn has had her share of successes and misfortunes at Fauresmith. This year? Time will tell. (To qualify for Fauresmith you have to ride at least 3 x 80 km pre-rides. It costs a lot of money and a lot of time and physical effort to get there)

Hendrik and a friend practising for the three leg race at the New Year boeresport. They did quite well! Hendrik also surprised us with his egg throwing ability - he and his partner got to 25 metres between them when the egg broke.

Volley ball in the swimming pool. The swimming pool at Goodland is shallow right through, making it an excellent place to play ball games. (There is also a dam at Goodland where we practics long distance swimming and believe me, that is a very deep dam!)

Changed sides

A man can't play all the time: he's got to work too! Thanks for mowing the lawn Hendrik!

The Old Year and the New Year

Martelize (5 months and 1 day!) woke up in good spirits on the last day of the year. We put a bow in her hair clip to make sure she can't swallow the tiny clip - it doesn't stay in her silky hair for a long time! (Dorette suggested that she should get used to clips before she starts pulling them out the moment you put them in!)
Dorette and family are back in Pretoria, but they have been too busy to come out to the farm, so we only got to see Franco on Wednesday evening this week. To make matters worse - we have no telephone...again!

On Old Year's Eve all the F's and the B's got together to celebrate the Old Year (see previous post). The three cousins were together for the 2nd time. (See here for the first time). Imagine what next Christmas will be like!
Gert (it was his birthday as well) with Franco, Thelwyn with Martelize and Nelia with Urielle (Urielle means Fire of God)

Franco and Martelize were intrigued by their 3 1/2 month old niece. Here Franco (8 months 1 week) grabs her foot.

If you look really carefully you'll see the Franco is sporting a one day old tooth! He finally "cut" his first tooth, but the next one is close. He sits sturdily enough that he does not need a supporting hand, but I wasn't taking any chances with wriggly him on that tile floor!

How's that for a New Year resolution! Jan started the new year by jogging a kilometre on the treadmill. His aim is 1000 km this year. (He ran the 90 + km Comrades marathon is his youth, but struggles to do physical exercise now, due to anaemia. Pray that he will overcome this soon!)

We spent the rest of the day on Goodland with the local community for "lekker boersport" (fun and games.) The young ones starting one of many races while...

Most of the post 40's sat in the shade and visited.