Family News

A week ago Joel was sat in his paddling pool and we were able to host Dean's birthday party outside as the weather was so hot. A week is a long time in politics -as they say, and the weather has gone totally pear shaped in the last few days. The rain is back with a vengeance (which is a good thing) and the North Westerly wind is blowing wildly. Maybe it's because an Irish couple have just arrived at Helderberg and they've brought the weather from the Emerald Isle with them?! Dean was quite chuffed as he got to fly his kite properly today (and has friction burns on his hands for his troubles!).

Joel is now battling with a cold -his first illness since we left the UK- which appears to be a direct consequence of the dramatic change in the weather. Apart from that he's doing well, he learnt to shuffle backwards this week and within 24 hours of working that out he also started cruising around the corners of the coffee table. We felt this was quite a breakthrough for Joel and can only hope it's the prelude to walking unaided.

Paula heard from her aunt & uncle about her cousin Andrew's marrow transplant this week. Andrew has been suffering from Hodgkin's disease for a few years now and has had several bouts of chemotherapy, but really needed the bone marrow transplant. Thankfully a donor was found and the transplant went ahead. Andrew appears to be doing well although it is too early to tell. Please pray for Andrew as this is a really testing time for him, compounded by the knowledge that the same illness killed his older sister in 1997. Pray that the transplant would be a success with no rejection by his body.

Dean is enjoying his language lessons and is relieved at the simplicity of the language; Hy praat 'n bitjie Afrikaans. Please pray for him as he continues to learn, particularly for his vocabulary.

Lots of love

Dean & Paula

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