African safaris and sunsets

At the beginning of the week, it seemed the notorious Cleveland weather would not loosen its grips on it newest residents! The maximum temperatures at the beginning of the week here in Botswana, would not even crack the 20C mark (68F). Weather this cool is very unusual as it should be in the mid to upper 30's (95F)! But the past 3 days, the African sun fought back and raised the temperature back into the 30's (90F).

The cooler days were mostly spent doing last minute Christmas shopping and stuff to stock up the fridge. Once the weather had warmed up a bit, Nathan and I took advantage of the swimming pool. Yesterday, we all climbed into the Nissan 4x4 and drove to Mokolodi. This is a private game reserve on the outskirts of Gaborone. The beauty of this park, is that only members are allowed to drive themselves in the park, otherwise you would need to climb aboard a game vehicle. Liesel's parents are members so we could enjoy the reserve from the comfort of the air-conditioned Nissan. Another reason we used the Nissan, was that some roads required the use of the 4x4 power delivery! It was a great drive, and the reserve was so lush and green after some good rainfalls a few weeks back. It was difficult to spot the game, since the food and water supply was plentiful, there was no need for them to venture closer to the road or any of the water holes. We did however see a marvellous variety of buck. Kudu and impala were right next to the road as we drove by, and waterbuck and red hartebeests were grazing in the veld nearby! We also spotted the odd ostrich here and there! After the game drive, we sat down at their restaurant for a decent lunch before hitting the tar roads again to get Nathan back home in time for his afternoon nap!



Today we went to Church in the morning. Again the temperature was climbing and the ceiling fans were all rotating furiously, much to Nathan's delight! After the service we came home and had a fantastic lunch, consisting of a roast lamb, potatoes, butternut, salad for those who eat leaves, and then chocolate mousse for dessert. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, it doesn't get much better than that!

I, again, took advantage of the swimming pool, before dousing myself and family in mosquito repellent. We were heading off to the church's carols by candlelight service. It was held outside on the lawn in front of the church's large cross. Once the sun set, a full moon rose behind the congregation, and the sight was stunning! Nathan seemed to love the service and was singing along with some of the carol's. I guess this is something that you could never do in Cleveland, since a few days ago the temperature was -10C!!


On Wednesday, Nathan and I travel back to Johannesburg for one night, as Liesel and her parents start their 2 day trek down to George! Nathan and I get the privilege of flying down to George, where we will spend 9 more days, hopefully playing on the beaches and swimming in the ocean, so that I get a good African tan to take back home to Cleveland!

Tomorrow evening is when we open our Christmas gifts, but before we do that, I want to wish all my readers a joyous and peaceful Christmas. To those of you in the USA, I hope you get a white Christmas, but Cleveland's weather forecast does not look promising. May God grant you the desires of your heart, as we remember His Son's birth, the reason for the season! Merry Christmas everyone!

Fraternizing with friends and family

What a good week we had! This past week was all about getting together with friends and family and catching up on the past 21 months! On Wednesday, my oldest (in terms of friendship) friend, Alexeii, dropped by and we had some good laughs over a lunch. He is just the same as I remembered him and is doing well! During that week, we met up with other friends for dinner on Wednesday evening, and for mid morning snacks on Friday. Everyone's food is delicious, and I am now certain that I will be weighing more on my return trip than what I was on my arrival in South Africa!

This week, Nathan and his cousins also got to know each other better, and loved riding their plastic motorbikes in the basement or jumping on the trampoline! We also went to various playgrounds with them and watched in amazement at how much energy each one of them has!

Our best friends, Tammy and Ryan, took us out to a very fancy restaurant on Thursday night. It was great to be able to leave our children with other people, so that we could go and catch up, and renew the long distance friendship! The six course meal served at this restaurant was phenomenal, and so beautifully presented!


On Saturday, our small circle of friends got together for a braai (BBQ) at one of their houses. Again, we were fed very well, and it was great to touch bases with our friends after 21 months abroad! It was especially good to see our American missionary friends, the Holidays!

On Sunday, after church and a lunch at my mom's place, we headed back down to my sister's place for a mini family reunion of uncles, aunts and cousins. The last time we were all together in one place, was for our farewell, approximately 2 years ago! If it wasn't for us, I doubt they would ever see each other :P

Our first stay in Johannesburg came, to an end as we drove north west to Gaborone (Botswana) on Monday morning. Liesel and Nathan had already spent 3 weeks with her parents in Gaborone, but this would be the first time I would have seen them in a long time. Her parents treated Liesel and myself to a night in the Gaborone Sun, Nathan-free, as a thank you gift to us! Nathan didn't mind staying alone with his grandparents, and we didn't mind eating a fabulous dinner (more calories!!) and a hearty breakfast!

The South African Reunion (...just)

Imagine my joy (dripping with sarcasm) when I phoned my airline on Thursday to confirm my flights for the next day, and they tell me my name is not listed on ANY of the flights!!! This news sent in an immediate and dramatic tailspin, as there were less than 24 hours for me to be on the flight that was planned 8 months ahead of schedule! The airline couldn't assist me further, since the tickets were arranged through a travel agent(CheapOair.com) and I had to work through them. After an unsuccessful hour on the phone to them, I miraculously found an e-mail address of a lady who seemed to be in charge of customer satisfaction. After a desperate e-mail to her, she responded and said she would investigate immediately. She came back to me a few hours later, saying that through a comedy of errors, my flights were all cancelled, but the good news is that she got me on 3 of my original 4 flights, including the two outbound flights! The bad news is that my original return flight from Johannesburg to Washington DC was fully booked as were the all the other flights for next 3 days at least. So right now, as this is typed, I am still not 100% sure when I will be returning to my home in the USA! But praise the Lord, I got on my original flights, had smooth flights, and landed at Oliver Tambo (Johannesburg) International Airport at 4:12pm on Friday!

It was wonderful to have my son run under the security barriers in the arrivals hall straight into my arms. Also to see my lovely wife was a awesome sight for my weary, jet-lagged eyes! My mother was also at the airport as well as Liesel
s brother and one uncle, who were there to pick up her other uncle and his family, as they were on the same flight as me.

Last night I had a good sleep and so far am not experiencing any signs of jet-lag. We are staying with my sister, and it is wonderful to simply "kuier" (visit) with them and catch up on news, as our sons all run around the garden, jump on the trampoline and ride their mini motorbikes as if they were South African taxi-drivers in the basement. We also went to Church and saw some old friends, and this afternoon, we feasted at a truly South African braai with bloubul steaks! Divine!
Early in the evening, we also made a pitstop at our best friends, and it was also special to be reunited with them! Now as it is past midnight, in the land of the sun, I am signing off, to go rest my weary, sun exposed head. Pictures to follow shortly!


Later that evening, the boys had a great deal of fun helping to decorate the Christmas tree!!

Peer Pressure........

After driving around North East Ohio at night time and seeing how wonderfully some of the houses are lit up for the Christmas, I felt ashamed that I had nothing of my own to show. So with the temperature outside below freezing, I dug out our Christmas decorations and headed outside with the lights. Admittedly, the job does look amateurish, but at least my house is now contributing the overall spirit of the Christmas season!

The weekend started on Thursday as one of my colleagues invited our team to his condo in Downtown Cleveland. It is a very upmarket building and his place offers spectacular views of the Cleveland Browns football stadium and Lake Erie. He provided some high class food for us including a lobster, mussel, shrimp Paella dish, and goat meat! HMmmmmmm!

Then Friday came along and threw a spanner in my weekend spokes! I had to work an 11 hour day, since my time in the USA for 2007 is quickly creeping upon us, and there is much to be done! Saturday, was just as productive as I managed to cross a number of things from my to-do list! I finalized my Christmas shopping and got some parcels sent. Back home, I pruned bushes and also removed a few, to neaten the garden a bit. Then while it was still light, I climbed on the garage roof and hung some Christmas lights. Later that evening after the sun had set, I went for a walk around the neighborhood to look at all the Christmas lights that my dedicated neighbors had put up. They put me to shame!

Today (Sunday), I attended my last church service on American soil until 2008! After church, I had a couple of things I need to buy for my trip, and then it was back home for lunch. Loads of laundry were calling my name, and I had to deal with that, before heading over to our friends, Brian and Robin, for Football and Pizza! I had a great time there, especially since their house was filled with the sound of young boys (Nathan's friends)! It was good to finally hear the boys having fun. Much better than having a TV on for company! Robin and Brian combined their super-powers and made a delicious homemade Pizza for us to share. Thanks for the fantastic time, guys.


*** INSERT DRAMATIC PAUSE HERE ***
I had to quickly throw on my jacket and race outside as Nathan's slide and picnic table were blown into our neighbors yard, as we get hammered with gale force winds and rain as the next storm front makes its presence known......
*****

On Friday, I leave the USA to be reunited with Liesel and Nathan and my South African family! Please pray that my flights go smoothly and are not affected by any weather. Please also pray that Liesel and Nathan can get their return flights changed to fly on the same day as me, and not have to spend an extra week in Southern Africa. We are planning to phone SAA and beg, plead with them to change their flight, so that we can fly back as a family! If anyone reading this has any contacts in SAA, please let me know, as we are desperate!!

Gabi update: Gabi seems to be getting over the bug that Nathan passed on to her, and is up and about again. She still tires very easily, and needs to rest a lot. She still has a bad cough, which is obviously putting unnecessary strain on her heart. Please continue to pray for her recovery.

The next blog, should be coming to you from South Africa (DV). Until then!

DV comes from the Latin saying : "Deo Volente" which simply means, God-willing :-)

T minus 12 days and counting......

As you can tell by reading this, I obviously survived my first week without my wife and son. I did not die from starvation, nor did I fall down the stairs and injure myself (again). I must say that the Work days are a lot easier to get through, since I wake up at 6am and only get back in the evening, and then it's time to think about and make myself some dinner, and finally I can collapse on the couch and watch TV before heading to bed. But on the weekend's and public holidays, it is different. The house is dead quiet, except for the faint sound of warm air emanating from the ducts. I am not used to that! I have become accustomed to hearing Little Einsteins, Barney or Teletubbies polluting my lounge, or Nathan, taking after his grandfather and setting the sound to the maximum so that his computer games can drown out every other thing that can fit inside a house. I am used to climbing into a warm bed at night, and having Liesel snuggle up to me automatically, whether she is awake or not. I have all that and more (think South African chocolates) to look forward to in just 12 days time. That's only 2 more work weeks (the easy part) and 1 weekend to get through...........

The good news from Botswana is that Gabi is getting stronger every day and is sounding much better than she was even a week ago! The bad news is Nathan has come down with a bad cough and sore throat and is quite miserable. Please pray that he gets better and for Liesel as she looks after him in Botswana.

This week we celebrated Thanksgiving Day on Thursday. During the day, I kept myself busy by doing some DIY jobs around the house. The temperature outside was dropping, and after doing what I needed to do, I came inside and watched a DVD. The DVD was pretty depressing (Reign over Me with Adam Sandler), and really did not help that I was alone. Fortunately, I had an invite from my bible study leader to join his family for a Thanksgiving dinner that evening. I headed over to his place at around 4:30 and then we drove over to his mother-in-law in Lakewood. She lives in a beautiful house that is literally perched on a cliff overlooking the Rocky River. It was amazing to see the swollen Rocky River flowing about 50 feet below us. And it was also nice to see some snow flakes falling that evening! I shared a wonderful meal with Tom and his extended family, and had a good helping of Turkey, mashed potatoes and stuffing, and then had some delicious pumpkin pie and whipped cream for dessert. Afterwards we played some games together around the table, and Tom and I beat the ladies in a game of Taboo. Unfortunately, when we played scrabble, I lost to Tom's wife, Lynn, because her first word, using all her letters, was CANOEING! Who does that???? That gave her 72 points and I just couldn't catch up... CANOEING... sheesh!

On Friday morning, I awoke to see my lawn was covered in a dusting of snow! It was our first real snowfall of the season, and was quite sad that Liesel and Nathan weren't around to experience it. As I looked at the snow, I thought of them sitting in Botswana in the 100F (34C) weather, and did not envy them! Give me snow any day!


On Friday and Saturday, I hit the shops a few times in my quest for Christmas gifts. I am happy to report that I have 4 less people on my list that I need to buy for now! On Saturday evening, my manager hosted a holiday party for everyone in his department. The best thing about it is that he literally stays less than five minutes away from me! It was a really fun party and the gift exchange was rather entertaining! Also, it was somewhat interesting to meet their cat, Quincy. He is a hypo-allergenic cat (is that an oxymoron?) that doesn't shed. Who knew that such cats existed?? Well, that night my allergies didn't bother me one bit, so it must be true!


On Sunday, I played at church again, for the last time until January! It was a really good service today, since there was no message, but 4 people were asked to give their testimonies! These personal accounts of how God worked in their lives was really inspiring!
After Church i came home, and had a chat to Liesel, my mom and my sister, and then braved the 40F (5C) weather to go and clear the leaves from the lawn. Hopefully that will be the last time I need to use the lawnmower until next year April (I am sure that's what i said last week!) Theoretically, I did not use my lawn mower to cut the grass, but instead, raised it slightly and put the grass catcher on, so that it would suck up all the leaves, which it did beautifully!

Now it is time to climb into a cold bed and ride out the next couple of weeks! Than you to all of you who have been worried about me and called me, or e-mailed me. I really appreciate it!

Are you lonesome tonight?

I am, and will be for 18 more days :-( Saturday was Liesel's and my 6 year wedding anniversary. Unfortunately, it was the same day that I had to drive Liesel and Nathan to Cleveland International Airport, so they could fly back to South Africa 3 weeks ahead of me :-( This will be the longest time that Liesel, Nath and myself will have been separated. But if it's for family, I will never stand in her way! Her mother was discharged from hospital last week, after the angiogram showed that there was no sign of damage or blockages in the her heart. That's an answer to prayer! She is still weak, and tires easily, but I know a good dose of Vitamin N (aka Nathan) and rest will do her a world of good.

As for me, I am finding things to keep myself busy! After returning from the airport, I replaced a coouple of light bulbs with high efficieny globes. I also managed to fix the light on our garage motor that's been faulty since we moved in! Afterward, I rewarded myself by catching up on some recorded TV that I hadn't had a chance to wacth yet. Later that evening, I wrapped up warmly (4 layers of clothing with a beanie on my head) as it was our local Shopping Centers annual Christmas Tree lighting. Our church's choir was asked to perform at the ceremony, so I decided to brave the 3C drizzly weather, to go and support them! The area around the tree was packed and the children were eagerly waiting for Santa to come turn the lights on! He arrived after our church's performance, and magically, he was able to turn on all the Christmas lights around Crocker Park! I must say, that the lighting was impressive. It tuned dull streets into sparkling, festive avenues!
Before ----------------> After



Our fearless (worship) leader, Corb and his son


On Sunday, I received a text message that Liesel and Nathan had arrived safely in South Africa. They didn't have such a happy flight, since it took off about 90 minutes late, and then Nathan was sick on the 15 hour flight too. But now they have 2 months away from the wintry mix of Cleveland!

I went to church and played in the worship team again. This week Liesel and I were also inducted as members of Providence Church, which gives us a sense of belonging! Afterwards I stopped at Home Depot, our local DIY Superstore, and picked up a digital, programmable thermostat. After a quick lunch and a phone call to check on my wife and son, I fired up the lawnmower for hopefully my last mow until April next year??? I now mow with gloves on, as its pretty nippy out!
Afterwards, I came inside and warmed up. It was then time to replace the thermostat!I removed our old analog thermostat and put the new one on! It took me about 30 minutes, but it is so much better than our previous one, since I can program it to warm up the house by the time I wake up, then the temperature can drop when I leave for work, and then it will start warming the house again just before I get home, and finally drop the temperature slightly while I sleep........ That all translates into savings for me at the end of each month when I get the heating bill!

Now its off to bed, since the house is cooling down and I have 18 more nights to get through before my reunion with my family> Goodnight Lee, goodnight Nath - love you both muchly (I made that word up) !!!!

It was the worst of times; it was the best of times

Our fun-filled weekend away in Pittsburgh, got off to a very shaky start on Friday morning, when Liesel's dad phoned her and told her that her mom had had a suspected heart attack and was rushed to hospital. This was huge shock for all of us and had left us, especially Liesel, very upset. Also, the distance between the USA and Botswana, also did not help the situation, and updates were few and far between. On Saturday, the decision was made to airlift her mom to a hospital in South Africa, as there are no cardiologists in Botswana. The good news so far, is that an angiogram was performed today, and there was no sign of any blockages or damage to the heart. However, she is still extremely tired and has hardly any strength. Those who know Liesel's mom, knows that she is a very strong woman, and there is a serious underlying problem if she tires so easily! Please pray that the doctors will pinpoint the cause of the problem and that she recovers quickly.

Liesel and Nathan are also going to try and get to South Africa this week (God-willing) so that Liesel can help out around the house, and relieve some of the pressures that her dad would have to face. Also, a few good doses of Nathan will do Gabi the world of good! The problem is that we bought the air-tickets at a discounted rate a number of months ago, so there are fees incurred for changing from the original itinerary. The other problem is that we had the actual tickets mailed to us, and before the travel agency can assist us, we need to return the tickets to them, so that they can re-issue new ones (and calculate the penalties.) So we shipped the tickets using overnight mail to the agency in New York on Saturday morning, but due to the weekend and that Monday is a public holiday here, they will only receive the tickets on Tuesday. Please pray that we will be able to sort out their air-tickets, as quickly and as cheaply as possible!

After mailing the tickets to NY, we were in the car with our (Not so) trustworthy navigator directing us South East to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania! we arrived at the hotel at midday, and Liesel finally met her friend from High School, who she has not seen for 13 years! After introducing all new family members to the other one, we headed to the Duquesne Incline!

This is a trolley that starts down by the river and goes up Mt Washington. At the top you get a spectacular view of the city of Pittsburgh, and you see where the three rivers meet that run like a moat around the city! Next stop (after a few wrong turn given by the ambiguous navigator) was the Pittsburgh Children's museum. This place was fantastic, and Nathan loved every minute of the 3 hours we spent there. Nathan took a particular liking to the water room, where children can play with plastic tubing and various connectors to make their own plumbing contraptions. Of course it took about 15 minutes to convince him to put on one of the raincoats that they supplied. Of course this was 15 minutes too late as his pants and feet we already soaked! Luckily we (Liesel) always carry a spare set of clothes for Nathan! Afterwards, we headed out to dinner and then came back to the hotel and put the kids to bed. Liesel and I then went to her friend's room and we chatted until close to 11pm before retiring for the night!

On Sunday, after a delicious breakfast buffet, we went to the Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium. Our previous zoo experience in Cleveland, wasn't a pleasant one, but this one was actually a much better experience. It must have been a combination of the company we had, and that Nathan is older and is far more fascinated by animals than before. He was so excited, running ahead of us and shouting "O wow! Look, a zebra!", and "Look, there's an elephant!". We then went into an indoor tropical forest to look at monkey's and Nath shout's out in glee "Mama, look, a wah-wah (ceiling fan!)". That to him is far more exciting than a bunch of smelly primates dangling from the vines!
The zoo also caters for the children and has an entire section especially for them. The section has some farm animals for them to pet, slides and tunnels to crawl through, enclosures with deer and kangaroo that they are allowed to walk through and a variety of other things for them.


After an exhaustive morning of running behind Nathan, we said our goodbyes and headed our separate ways back home. Nathan has been asleep now for 2 hours, and I feel that it's my turn next!!!

Eish, the winter - she is coming!

Only 5 more weeks until I get to enjoy the mid-summer weather that Johannesburg has to offer! This past week really hurtled us into Fall, with a few days starting off below freezing. Those days also gave our lawn a silvery layer of frost! Fortunately for the children of North East Ohio, the cold weather only settled in AFTER Halloween, which allowed the children a comfortable climate for their annual collection of calories. We participated in our first Halloween, but only as bystanders with candy. Nathan is still too young to enjoy the experience, and he is busy fighting off a cold. However, he loved opening the door on Wednesday night, as children rung the doorbell, dressed in their creative outfits! Liesel and I underestimated the candy-carrying capacity of these children and ran out of chocolates and lollipops. Luckily, it was only 15 minutes before the official cut-off time, and we could just switch off our porch light, which is the local sign for "The Candy Stockpile has been depleted, please try again next year!"

Other exciting news this week, was the announcement that I have been selected to participate in an intensive Java Programming course that will last 3 and a half months starting in January! This is very exciting, as it will afford me the opportunity to learn some new valuable skills, and make me a much more valuable resource for my company! God has been so good to us, yet again, and we praise Him for the doors He has opened for me.

Finally this weekend was pretty average. I took Nathan shopping with me on Saturday morning, which gave Liesel a chance to clean the house. When we got home, I did a few things around the house, including fixing the hole in the wall that I made last weekend!
On Sunday, everyone in the USA should have received an extra hour's sleep, as it was the official change from Daylight Savings time to Standard time. This is when everybody should have set their clocks back one hour, which equates to an extra 60 minutes in bed for the majority. My name was down on the roster to play in the worship team again, which I love doing! Our service today included a song performed by our choir, with an orchestra providing the music. That was pretty impressive! When I got home from church, it was time for lunch and then the inevitable call of the yard was heard, and I had to go out and tame the grass, with my weed whacker!
And thus ends my week, with the temperature outside at 2C, and the first snow fall of the season is expected this coming week!

Next weekend, we will be in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, meeting up with Liesel's long lost friend from South Africa!

7 easy steps to putting your foot through a wall

Another week has raced by, stopping only to whack me on my back as it ran past me! From this week's title, you may have guessed that I have discovered a simple way to make a hole (the size of a foot) in an American wall, or drywall as they are called here! On Friday evening around 11pm, I decided to go downstairs and say good night to Liesel, who was watching one of her favorite programs in the lounge. I also needed to charge my laptop, so I carefully carried it with me and took my first fateful step down our staircase. Since I was balancing a laptop in my hands, I didn't have the opportunity to grab the handrail (and I don't usually since I always felt that handrails were for geriatrics). It also didn't help that I was too lazy to switch the light on, so I guess I have to take the blame as my foot missed the edge of the first step, and caused my body to submit to the law of gravity. I slid down the 7 stairs (I counted!) feet first, with my spine riding the carpet like a supertube! After coming to a stop on the landing and realizing what had just happened to me, I checked and saw that my laptop was still in my hands, unaffected by the unfortunate trip. PHEW! By this time, Liesel had rushed to me since it sounded like the house was falling down around her, and she switched the light on. That's when I saw my right foot in a newly made hole at the base of the wall on our landing! SIGH :( Now I am not sure whether I am fortunate that we don't have brick houses here, because, at least I know I wouldn't have penetrated a brick wall.... Oh yes, and my back is now bearing a carpet burn 5 inches long and 1 inch wide over the lower lumbar region of my spine. Since I can't lie on it, I guess I won't be going to abs classes this week :( But at least my laptop is fine!!!

The rest of the weekend was a lot more fun than stair surfing! On Saturday morning we went to a nursery to pick up some soil for some bulbs that Liesel planted. Nathan loved the huge nursery where he could run around with reckless abandon. This nursery also had a massive room filled with Christmas decorations and Christmas trees which he absolutely loved! Only 56 more days to Christmas!! After getting back I decided to that the yard needed a mow again, and as I got near to finishing, the wind picked up, and the rain started falling! At least I can't complain about the sweat dripping off my face anymore!

That evening, Liesel arranged for a babysitter for Nath, and we had a much deserved date night again. We went to watch the movie, Dan In Real Life, and it was hilarious! Then afterward we had a cosy meal in a quaint little Middle Eastern restaurant before heading back to relieve the babysitter.

On Sunday, I again had a week off, so I could sit with Liesel throughout the Church service. Then a bit later, our friends, Phil, Marianne and their two girls came to have luch with us. Liesel outdid herself and provided an exquisite meal! And the dessert, which Marianne provided, was also incredible. It was a chocolate cake made with 3 differnt types of chocolate desserts and then chocolate chips were added for good measure. You can't go wrong with that! Nathan had a great time playing with their two daughters too! Now that was a weekend worth writing about!


As we head into a new week, we have our first freezing temperature warning, which reinforces the fact that winter is quickly approaching! Next week, Our Daylight Savings Time comes to an end and we fall back an hour, making the time difference between South Africa and the USA 7 hours. This means that instead of the sun setting at 6:30pm as it does now, it will set at 5:30pm............ sigh......... C'mon summer (6 weeks till our SA vacation!!)

From Birthdays to Bokke, Pumpkins to Party

Heck! Is it just me, or does time seem to have broken away from our grasp and now it is running recklessly down the street, with you falling over your feet trying to catch up?
Well, on Wednesday this week, I woke up and had a 3 year old son! Nathan is now 3 years old (which he can tell you with the utmost pride)! He loved every waking second of his birthday as he was showered with gifts!!! He got some DVD's and videos, books, and spelling aids that stick to the fridge door, Fisher Price Airport and mini keyboard/piano to name a few! That should keep him occupied until we head to South Africa in 7 weeks time!

This weekend also pounced upon us! We were having some friends over for a mini-birthday party for Nathan on Sunday, so we had a few chores to get done before then. Liesel cleaned the house, while I entertained Nathan outside, in between getting some yard work done. That included pulling out weeds and transplanting a fully grown bush! I also tried my hand at carving my first-ever pumpkin! I need to practice for an upcoming pumpkin carving competition at work, so this was the perfect opportunity to train :) I thought it came out pretty well! Then it was Liesel's turn to show off her artistic side, as she made Nathan a fire-engine birthday cake! Her result was very impressive!



By the time we had finished decorating the cake, the Bokke were busy clawing their way to World Cup victory. No US television station has any interest in rugby, but I was at least able to listen to it via live streaming from the SAfm website! It was great to hear the ref blow the final whistle, but as my fellow ex-pat, Greg Naude, said: "kinda wierd not being able to run around in the streets afterwards, hey!"
We did, however, wear our Springbok Rugby jersey's and have a Springbok Rugby flag proudly displayed in a window on the street side of our house! But then again, American's don't understand rugby, probably because they can't look past the fact the rugby players, don't need helmets and have their bodies covered with multiple layers of thick padding :P



After dinner that night, we all went for a tranquil stroll around the neighborhood, with Nathan tearing up the sidewalks with his South African motorbike!

On Sunday, I had the day off from guitar duty, so I could go to church with Lee and Nathan again. Today we had something I don't think you would ever see in a South African church. This morning, we had a fire drill in our church service! Who knows when the Holy Spirit will come down again in tongues of fire - so it's always good to be prepared!

Later that afternoon, we had our friends come over for Nathan's birthday party. Their 2 boys and Nath had a great time and Nath's finally got his wish, to eat his fire-engine cake!

Pumpkins, playgrounds and pruning

Finally, the time has come for my old Sony camera to be replaced. I think I found a worthy replacement, namely the Sony DSC-T200! It is obviously an upgrade from my last 7 year old camera, but I could see this lasting another 7 years for me! And of course, now I can add photos to my blogs again! Life is worth living again! :P

The weather was considerably cooler than last week as a cold front crawled over Cleveland, but it was still good enough to go our local nursery for their annual Fall/Halloween/Pumpkin festival! The nursery had numerous jumping castles, a haystack complete with tunnels, swings, slides, place to paint and color in, and most importantly, the hayride! Nathan went back and forth between the swings and the tunnels, until the tractor started up! It was time for Nath's hayride. Judging by Nathan's excitement, there may be a good chance that he grows up to be a farmer, just so that he could ride on a tractor everyday! Maybe I should by a ride on mower, then I get my lawn mowed everyday, and he gets a kick out of riding a tractor. To me that's a win - win situation!! Somehow, I don't think Liesel will see it the same way ;-)


That afternoon, after finally managing to drag Nathan away from his beloved tractor, I mowed the lawn again. This time, however, I had no perspiration dripping from my brow, or any other body part, since the temperature was a third of what it was last week! After mowing into the twilight, we headed out to our local Red Robin restaurant, where we all had a great dinner! My grilled salmon burger was awesome! It was the perfect way to end a great fall day!

On Sunday, I was up early again, and heading to church while the sun was rousing from it's slumber. We had a great couple of services again, and playing in the band is so rewarding! Later, after Nathan awoke from his daily nap, we took him to a playground. It had been a while since we had all gone to a playground together, and Nathan's excitement was evident! It is such a warm, satisfying feeling, seeing your son run around the playground equipment deliriously happy, without a care in the world! Yes, God has blessed us and life is good!