Early 2nd Birthday

We celebrated Eli's birthday today, a few days early so as not to let it get lost in the hustle & bustle of then next few days. We fly to Blighty tomorrow evening and have still to think about packing. We've been really busy since returning from holiday, particularly with the Christmas Hampers.

Eli had a lot of fun and was very proud of being the Birthday Boy. We were quite amazed at how much he understood of what was going on. At lunchtime we went to Vergelegen for a family picnic in the camphor forest. We had a lovely lunch and a lot of fun doing the treasure hunt.

Trading Summer For Winter

We'll be arriving in the UK for a short Christmas break with family on the 21st (Eli's 2nd Birthday) and have to confess that giving up two weeks of Summer here for two weeks of winter in Blighty doesn't seem like an amusing prospect at the moment. thankfully family ties will make it more than worthwhile!

This photo came from Sheffield Hallam Uni' alumni and depicts a winter's scene in Ewden Valley just North of Sheffield. It looks very cold!

Holiday In Boggam's Baai

What a brilliant time we had in Boggam's Baai! The village is amazing as there are no commercial properties in the village which means no shops, coffee shops, ice cream vans etc, so the beach really was the focal point of the holiday. We did manage to find some shops in the nearby town of Mossel Bay so all was not lost. However, it was bliss not to have the usual assortment of seaside rubbish to deal with. The beach was stunning and empty! On one day there were about 100 people on the beach but given that it is a few kilometres long things were far from crowded (as you can see below).

We're Back

We're back from our holiday in Boggams Baai, a lovely small seaside village without a single shop or business. Very peaceful!

We'll post something meaningful later but thought you might enjoy this sign which we saw at the Outeniqua Transport /Railway Museum George.

Christmas Tree

We're off on holiday in Boggams Baai for 10 days from tomorrow and won't be posting in that time so we leave you with this to be going on with...

This evening we put our Christmas tree up, mainly in anticipation of our forthcoming Mulled Wine & Mince Pie 'do' on the 18th (anyone who's been to one in the past knows this is not to be missed).

The People Your Parents Warned You About

Tonight we had a lot of fun at our end of year leaders dinner at church. The occasion is to say 'Thank You' to those who lead cell groups throughout the year. Someone thought it would be good to get the leaders to dress up in something weird/unusual. Some really got into the spirit of the event.

Suits You Sir!

The BBC carried this brilliant story today about a 77 year old pensioner in Devon who has a bit of a wind problem.

Maurice Fox was quoted as saying: "I am a loud farter, but there is no smell"Inevitably, there was no-one from the club available for comment.

Check out the full story: Flatulence ban for club pensioner

This article really made my day.






PS. Whilst there have a look at The poetry of bodily functions

Dozeyhead & The Weekend

Oh dear, someone didn't wake up too well and got himself into a bit of a pickle with his sleeping bag. Actually, Eli never wakes up very well as he'd rather be left to sleep, which is why the bunk beds were a bit of a disaster. Joel is the total opposite and always wakes quite early. We're not sure where he got that gene from!

Please pray for healing for Eli, he's got a terrible ear infection, the ear is oozing blood and gunk and he won't let anyone near it. Paula took him to the GP who prescribed anti-biotics so hopefully he'll be fine again soon.

Tiny Bubbles Créche Graduation

This afternoon we went to the Tiny Bubbles Créche graduation in Chris Nissen Park. Despite the classic CNP start -very chaotic- the event was great and very well put together. Sandra directed the proceedings and there was a lot of involvement from the rest of the community. Not only did a lot of folk come to watch, but many of the older children in CNP had put dance routines together to entertain the audience.

Tiny Bubbles Christmas Party

One of our successes this year has been to link the Tiny bubbles Créche in Chris Nissen with the Nursery and Reception classes at Joel's school. A few of the parents have taken the créche to heart and really got involved. Sue, one of the mums wanted to do a Christmas party for the children in the créche and rallied the parents to give a quality present. Other parents contributed the food and one parent got a local sweet shop to donate 26 boxes of sweets. Father Christmas came too!

Place Of Safety

Praise God for His faithfulness!

Today was a big day for Michael & Joyce as they were back in court with the ACVV social worker as the Place of Safety Order expired today. The ACVV were keen to formalise Michael & Joyce’s application to become registered foster carers and this happened this morning.

Hayden’s mother and ouma were at the hearing and gave the social worker a hard time, but ultimately there was no way the child would be returned to their care until radical changes were made by them. Michael & Joyce were brilliant and behaved very graciously towards the birth family and were very professional.