Birthdays.........do we ever outgrow the excitement of being loved and spoiled on our birthday? Well, I don't!!!!!  I love my birthday. No change on that this year, was so excited and once again, I was extremely loved and spoiled by my "boys"! Not so blown away by the huge gift left on my forehead overnight by the pimple fairy though. I mean seriously, I didn't think she visited anyone at my age anymore!!!!

Wow, it also kind of seems that a Tornado came through in the night!  I've got quite a fringe going on there....oh well, getting closer to 40 really stinks!!!!

We had a really busy day on Friday and went to church in the evening, so Neil took us out for dinner on Saturday night.  We went to a Barbeque Restaurant (steakhouse) which was really amazing - called Jack Stack!  Waited in a queue for 45min but really worth it.........not so sure if the chest pains we experienced when the bill arrived was from overindulging or shock...but hey, it's only your birthday once a year and there's no Jack Stack back home!!!!

 

Have had some really beautiful days here, even though it is the middle of winter.  Makes me look forward to a nice hot summer.  This was Monday, 28 Jan....it got to 22*C and as you can see the boys were so excited to put on summery clothes....Ben of course couldn't wait to take some clothes off.  What an awesome winter day!

And ....................... this is Wednesday, 30 Jan.....absolutely crazy.  Two days ago we were ready to unpack our swim trunks (very American terminology) and head off to the beach!  Now we are looking for our skiing clothes and as many layers as possible to keep warm.  Very confusing????  So one extreme to the other.....to say the least.

 

We have a life group which meets every Wednesday night for supper.  It is a group that we are assigned to at the start of our course. Much like a cell group or fellowship group where you get together and talk about what's going on while you here doing the course, or about your life before coming here etc. We talk about our experiences here and discuss prayer needs and our walk with God. We have a really awesome group varying in age from 26 to 66..... really good people.  We enjoy each others company so much after only such a short time, and have some really good laughs together.  All our group discussions get done in these groups and we do our service assignments together, so really getting to know each other well.  Wow, some really amazing life stories.  We also do a Revelation quiz on a Friday in our groups.  It is fun way of making us learn Revelations, and they run it like the TV game show - Jeopardy.  It's quite exciting, and I am proud to say that our group won last Friday!!!!!! 

 

And so the big 4........0 .....rolled on for Neil!  He's not a big birthday person, not like me!!!  He likes it but it's not really such a big deal!!!!!Or maybe he was just trying to pretend it wasn't happening this year! Hmmm, not sure, but he had a really good day.  It was our day off on Monday, so he spent his birthday vacuuming the house while talking to the so many people who called him on the phone.  I really wish I had taken a picture of that for you all to see.  Quite something....but hey, all the boys are becoming quite domesticated......

 

 To celebrate Neil's coming of........AGE........We went to a Mexican Restaurant for dinner with our group ........ yes friends, I tried to eat Mexican food...... you would be so proud of me!!!!!  Quite something, they let us bring our own cake into the restaurant for dessert.  As a gift from the group, Neil got about 8 bottles of the hottest chilli sauces that America has to offer!!  Neil made the mistake of egging them at one of the group sessions saying that he could not find a HOT sauce in the States, that they were all rather mild.  So now he has plenty to get through.....although he hasn't tasted them all yet, he still hasn't found one that really takes your breath away.

 

 Nathan and Joshua finally got brave enough to let me cut their hair.  After finding out that it would cost R250 minimum each.......we bought a set of clippers and hey, what do you know......I am now a hairdresser.  I must say, I think I did well for my first attempt (Will not post photos until they have recovered!!!!)  Ben still not letting me though.  I told him yesterday his hair was getting so long that I would need to clip it out of his eyes soon or tie it up......his response: "Oh that's fine, then I will look like a girl....I want to look like a girl."  How can I argue with that?

 

So excited that my mom and sister are definately coming to visit in June.  Am really looking forward to it.  I am sending huge shopping lists home for groceries to be brought with.....I'm telling you there is a market here for a lot of our food stuffs!  I bet none of you think you will miss Mealie Meal......but just wait until you cannot have it!  I wish Joyce was here to make me "Krummel Pap"!

 

Missing you all very much.  Please keep us up to date with what's happening back home.  We get so excited to hear news from anyone, so even if it is a few lines, let us know how you are and what you are up to.......Facebook is our only source of information about what's going on! We are on Skype, Whatsapp and Email.  Look forward to ALL the news!

 

Lots of love