"Personal Touch"

I saw this logo for the accountancy firm on my way home a few nights ago and was left wondering just what kind of "touch" one might get from a chartered accountant.

Any suggestions should be submitted via the comments link below ;-)

See more of this kind of nonsense at The "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks.

News Flash - Government Health Warning

Enough said.

Bits & Bobs

This week is our first week of back to normal routine since the beginning of December. The summer holiday really changed things and disrupted the usual flow so it's good to get back into a routine that works. Things are a bit different this year as Eli is in nursery five mornings a week and Joel now finishes at 1pm and has some extra mural activities so sometimes doesn't get home until 2pm. On those days we enjoy a quiet lunch together as Eli is in bed, it's great occasionally not to have the usual noise levels that accompany boys!

It's good to be back in Chris Nissen, catching up with friends and starting to visit folk again. By all accounts Christmas and New Year were unusually quiet in the community. Sadly this doesn't seem to have extended to the usual infighting between certain characters.

Returning To Normal - Slowly

We arrived back to glorious sunshine, the temperature was about 30°C with only a light breeze so we had a very pleasant welcome home. HUGE thanks to Richard & Sal who took the boys off our hands for an hour on Friday morning, without their help packing would have been a nightmare!

Time To Pack - Again!

Our Christmas break with family has just about finished, we fly home to Somerset West tonight. We're looking forward to being home and in our own space again but we'll miss family and friends who've been really good to us during our visit. The boys have coped brilliantly, especially as it's not always easy to smile and be happy when you get dragged here, there & everywhere and so many strangers want to spend time with you. When you've invaded other people's space and invariably cluttered it up or at the least increased the decibel level for a few hours/days then it's probably a relief to see the back of us. We've been blessed in our time back in Blighty and hope we were a blessing to all we met up with and spent time with. As ever we're really grateful to Susan in Wimbledon for allowing us to invade her wonderful home for two days of sanity and relaxation! Thanks too to Rhoda & Ethan for a lovely afternoon, Ethan was a star putting up with our invasion.

Natural History Museum

Today we decided to make the most of a lovely gift and have a family day out in London. We had a lot of fun visiting the Natural History Museum. Joel was especially thrilled with the train journey to London followed by two different tube trains. We managed to see quite a lot but the dinosaurs and the creepy crawlies were the biggest hits of the day! Joel was especially taken by a giant scorpion which moved, we must have spent almost half an hour watching it. We arrived home tired but having had a fantastic day full of memories for the future. It's so great when we can do this kind of thing. Thank you!

Family Fun

We had a fantastic day today with John and Diane, Eli's godparents. The boys loved being able to totally mess up the living room with toys (these are people with 3 relatively young grandchildren!!) and Eli enjoyed John's impromptu running races around the kitchen while he prepared dinner for us! It was great to catch up and to share in a bit more depth about our work. Dean even showed Diane where we live and work on Google earth, which is very impressive by the way. We had a great hour in the afternoon at the newly refurbished childrens play area, which even features a pirate ship - Joel was incredibly impressed! After an amazing tea - because we always need more food! - we went home tired and relaxed ready for the boys' bedtime. Thank you John and Diane.

Palace Result - With A Difference

Today was a proud day for me as I took Joel to watch Palace at home. Grandad was chauffer for the afternoon and we had a great time. Joel coped brilliantly and really enjoyed himself, he even got the hang of the fact that we were shouting for the Eagles & Palace. Enjoy the photos below...

Yule Tide Fun

We've been having a lot of fun enjoying a cold English Christmas with family and friends. Despite the weather we've managed to get the boys out of the house (and away from the TV) for a few trips to the local swings. Their mood brightens no end after a bit of fresh air. One of the things we forget about life in Blighty is just how sedentary it can be!

It's Very Very Cold!

We've arrived safely after a brilliant flight with SAA. We had 10 seats between the four of us so we were all able to stretch out and get some sleep. Joel enjoyed the TV on demand and Eli simply slept for the whole flight.

The weather is some 30degrees celsius less here than it was at home so we're really feeling the cold! The boys are really excited to be here and are getting on great with their cousins which is a real blessing. Lisa did a small Birthday Tea for Eli in the afternoon of our arrival which was really sweet.

If we don't post again before Christmas we hope you have a great time and remember the reason for the season: Jesus!

Christmas Hampers

In the midst of the chaos yesterday Dean took a couple of hours out to go and deliver the food hampers which church members had contributed to. The hampers for Lwandle, Sir Lowry's and Broadlands had been done on Tuesday, so Dean only had to deliver the Chris Nissen hampers. As ever we got a mixed reaction ranging from "Where's mine" to "Thank you!" but mostly the folks receiving the hampers were very grateful and very blessed.