Ice Age

Joel & Eli have never experienced ice in it's purely natural state so the current weather here in Blighty is a bit of a shocker and not just for them!

Having wrapped up as warm as we could (more layers are needed in the next shopping trip!) we popped out for a bit of fun on Wimbledon Common.

Although we didn't see any Wombles on the common we did get to see the frozen pond and then set about trying to see if we could break the ice by throwing sticks and stones onto it.

The Week So Far

Getting used to life back in Blighty is one thing but trying to adapt to life and the weather is very trying! We had to scrape ice off the car for the first time in many many years and couldn't believe how long it took for the heater to kick in and start pumping hot air into the car. When we go home in January we might be going home to the fag end of summer but we really can't wait!

We've been phenomenally blessed so far, not least by the loan of a car for the two months. Once again we must thank our friends at St. Andrew's in Oxshott for sorting this out for us. The car is a Fiat Stilo (we'd never heard of it before) a five door hatchback and it's perfect for our needs.

We've managed to get out and do a bit of essential shoping without the kids and we've even had them looked after for a couple of nights already allowing us to catch up on a bit of sans enfant sanity.

The Secret Garden

Despite the busyness of rushing around, meeting folk and having meetings in between the full on weekend commitments we're planning to steal some family time so we have a chance to chill, regroup as a family and recharge the batteries.

This morning was just such an occasion as we set about exploring and rediscovering the delights of Susan's amazing garden. Looking at the pictures (see full album links below) it's hard to believe that we're in the middle of London given how green and lush the garden is.

This afternoon should also be a lot of fun as Grandad & Lesley are here to take the boys off our hands for a bit as we escape for an hour or two.

Here, There & Everywhere

Our feet don't seem to have touched the ground since landing at Heathrow. Having been picked up by Stephen, he then dropped me off in Oxshott on his way home so that I could pick up the car we've been fantastically blessed with whilst we're in Blighty. We then had an afternoon to unpack before joining Paula's family in Weald for Indy's 12th birthday. Not sure how our youngest niece suddenly got to 12 years old, we must be getting old! We had a fun meal out with her to celebrate.

And So It Begins

I'm quite excited this morning as our Mission Education trip finally gets underway as we speak at our first engagement. We're at St. George's in Weald, the village where Paula grew up and most of her family still live. St. George's is a great church family and we always receive a really warm welcome from many dear friends most of whom we've known for many many years. In Paula's case some of the folk have known her since she was a baby!

This morning we're showing our main Powerpoint presentation with our 5 minute HOPE Home Based Care DVD followed by coffee & cake when we'll be showing our 15 minute photo presentation which is a lighthearted look at our lives at work and play.

All to be topped off with a fantastic family roast!

The Eagle Has Landed

I'll claim to be the Eagle given that I'm a Palace fan.

Anyway, we finally landed a mere 5 hours late. Confusion was the order of the day at Cape Town airport as we were told the plane had a battery problem so we'd be late taking off. Then we were told the flight was cancelled and we'd "know more in 20 minutes". This was a much quoted expression which seemingly had no meaning whatsoever!

Eventually after a 3 hour delay we were on board only to be delayed for another two hours whilst a large crowd of drunks were taken off the plane by the police followed by their luggage being removed. 

Fond Farewells

We're never too fond of having to say goodbye to folk, even if we will see them again very soon, but that's one of the drawbacks of the life we lead.

Saying goodbye or au revoir this time has been made a little easier by some fantastic friends who have made time to give us a really fun last few days.

Eli's 5th Birthday Party

Eli was honoured to have an early birthday yesterday as he will be in the UK on his actual 5th birthday in December and school's out for summer here so most of his friends would have been away too.

So, he dressed in civvies to school and pretended it was his big day.  He has been asking for months for a Ben 10 cake, so mum and dad bravely rose to the task and it was a pretty good result we think!!! (see below) Eli certainly loved it, and 10 kids and a few parents managed to demolish the whole cake at his party.

Weekend

One of the joys of living where we do is that no matter how one is feeling or what is going on one can always stop and take a minute or two to enjoy the sheer beauty of the mountains and coastline interspersed with stunning vineyards. We really are incredibly blessed to live in a very beautiful place!

The weekend began with Michael rocking up and doing a load of work in the garden which was a fantastic blessing.

On Saturday we had a fun day at home followed by fish & chips on the beach in Gordon's Bay followed by the obligatory clamber through the rockpools. The boys were as happy as a pair of pigs in mud (see pics below).

Prayer Request

We recently asked for your prayers regarding an important meeting we had. Thanks for your prayers as that went really well.

However, things have taken an unforseen and unexpected twist since then and we find ourselves in a very difficult and very unpleasant situation and once again we must ask for your prayers.

As things work out we'll let you know more but for now please pray for grace to abound, for wisdom on all sides, for integrity and for God's will to be done.

Roses Are Pink...Blessings Are Great!

In the midst of a very stressful couple of weeks and no immediate sign of the stress ending I've managed to have a really blessed day!

As I collected one of the guys for our Men's Group he told me not to rush off when I dropped him back home as he wanted to give me something. So off we went and we had a good group. I'm loving the way some of the guys are starting to talk freely and open up about things.

Definitely the highlight of my week!

What Can I Do For You?

I had a great phone call with my mate Michael the other day.

Michael had sent me a 'call me back' which I normally ignore unless he follows our pre-arranged code so I know it's important. Anyway, I decided to ring him and the conversation went like this:
Me "Hi Michael, how you doing?"
Michael "What can I do for you?"
Me "You sent me a 'call me back'."
Michael "I know. What can I do for you?"

What a fantastic call!

I hope that Michael's willingness to serve is a response to what I've modelled to him over the years that we've been friends. Either way I was dead chuffed and my garden's looking quite smart now!

Once Upon A Planet...

Here's a couple of photos from the boys recent school production: Once Upon a Planet

They had such a ball and put in a lot of hard work to make a really enjoyable production.  Joel was a "good soldier" and Eli was a robot, who particularly enjoyed "hamming it up" and playing to his audience.  The play was loosely based on Star Wars, so very popular in our house!

Prayer Request

We've got a fairly big and important 36 hours coming up from 9am this morning. Please pray that all goes well and that the Lord's will is the one that prevails.

Thanks guys!

Holiday In Greyton

There's not much you can say about Greyton except... it is a little bit of heaven on earth!  We absolutely LOVE it, and this holiday was made all the better because the boys were a bit more mobile.  They really enjoyed going out on the roads with Dad on their bikes and even trying a bit of off-road too (it's a slippery slope!!).  There is absolutely no need for a car in Greyton, which was heavenly for mum and dad who seem to spend most of their time in a car. We walked to the shop, walked to a coffee shop/restaurant, walked generally and then just lazed around in the lovely house we had rented.  This was the same house we used last year and it is paradise for the boys.  The garden is big and full of hiding areas, ponds, little pool etc, so they literally spent 90% of the time out there making up adventures and - well Eli anyway - swimming!!

The Ucirsive One Dies

Joel & Eli treated us to their puppet show version of The Cursed One (at least we think that's what it was) at lunchtime. We were actually summoned by ticket!!

The story was about a girl (the ucirsive one) who eventually gets killed by Davey Jones, but before that she meets a pirate and Woody & Bullseye, whilst a Krakken wrestles with a lion.

Mary, Mary Quite Contrary...

...how does your garden grow?

One of the fun parts of enjoying the first spring in a new home is discovering just what is in the garden. Our garden was an overgrown jungle when we moved in and it didn't appear that much was going on at all, apart from the marijuana plant in the middle of the lawn!

However as Spring has well and truly sprung now we're seeing some good stuff in the garden.

Puppet Master - Pt 2

Having previously promised a photo of Joel's puppet (Puppet Master) here it is...

Joel finally got to bring Davy Jones home just in time to take away on holiday. He's really chuffed with his efforts and I personally think he's done a brilliant job. The attention to detail is great and it genuinely is his creation from design to construction, nothing was done without his complete approval. In fact, he was so fastidious about the design that it took two days and many many attempts to finally get the hat right.

Holiday Time

At 11 am school turns out for the end of term and we're off to sunny Greyton for 10 days. The boys are uber-excited, poor Joel hardly slept at all last night! Eli can't wait as he's going to ride his bike on the road with Daddy for the first time and Joel just wants to kick-back and chill in the coffee shops of Greyton. Definitely takes after his Mum!

The house is in the good hands of Charmaine who's house-sitting so Rosie will get a break from the boys whilst being well looked after.

So, phones off, computer off, adios Blog, Facebook, Twitter et al for 10 days. Fantastic!

Mission In Practice Impossible

Once a week whilst studying at All Nations our tutorial groups were posed with a conundrum under the guise of Mission In Practice. There were rarely straightforward answers and more often than not no real answers at all, just plenty of discussion, some good arguments and the occassional chance to wind someone up for a laugh!

So here's one for today..

Life, Death & Cake!

Once again the weekend demonstrated what a diverse life we seem to live at the moment, and quite how many opportunities we have to participate in all walks of life and be ready with a word of encouragement, listening ear, tissue(!) etc. etc.