"Camp-outs" and fellow countryman!

After seeing his favorite cartoon family enjoying a camp-out around the fireplace in their living room, Nathan has mentioned that he would love to do that too. So on Saturday evening, I brought the mattress from the bunk bed downstairs and put it in the playroom in front of the fireplace. We put a log in the fireplace and got our first ever fire in our house going in no time! Nathan was totally captivated by the fire, as it's flames licked the cool air and radiated its warmth! Liesel and I read him a few bed time stories, but we do not think he heard anything besides the crackle of the burning log. After story-time, Nathan basked in the glow of the fire for a bit before losing the fight to his heavy eyelids.

A few hours later, Liesel retired to the bed next to Nathan. Forty-five minutes later she re-appeared. Nathan is not a peaceful sleeper by any stretch of the imagination! He tosses, turns, snores and on occasion grinds his little teeth. With this combination, sleeping in the same room as Nathan will be a challenge, let alone in the bed next to him. So Liesel took her pillows and duvet and returned to the comfort of the master suite. Finally, it was my turn to hit the bed. After the first five minutes, I realized that Liesel had made a very wise decision in moving upstairs. But I stuck it out, and even though it felt like I was awakened every 30 minutes, I made it through the night. The important thing was that Nathan had a great night's sleep and wanted to camp out in the playroom again. Hmmmmm - maybe next year!

On Sunday morning, as the winter season came upon us, I had to be at the church at 7:30am! We had a good service and worship sets and was home again by 1pm. After the thrill of the previous night's fire, Nathan and Liesel wanted another fire, so I obliged and started up another one in the fireplace. You can actually feel the difference in temperature as you come downstairs and into the playroom! It was not long afterwards when we left to have supper at the Astifan's. They had invited another couple to their house, who have something in common with us. The wife, Shirley grew up in Pretoria, South Africa!! It was there where she met her husband, who was a US Marine on assignment at the US Embassy in Pretoria. They fell in love, got married in South Africa and then moved back to the USA, where they had their son, and moved to Cleveland! It was wonderful speaking to them and hearing the South African accent again!