Well long time no hear.......sorry, but as they say "Absence makes the heart grow fonder", so I thought if I stayed away for a while you would all miss me so much more and send me messages........WRONG!!!  It didn't work....so obviously the "Out of sight, out of mind" is the more accurate saying!!!!!

So whether you care or not, I thought I would update you on our adventure here in Kansas City.

We are one month into our second course, time has really flown by.  I can't believe it is already May! Wow, where has 2013 gone?  We have been so blessed here.....have even had the opportunity of experiencing two miracles in our own family.  Nathan injured his thigh at basketball and was in quite a bit of pain, he could hardly walk without a limp.....he got a few people to pray for him and he said he felt something in his thigh burn, and then there was no pain.  To check out his miracle he ran home.....pain free!!!  Then Joshua hurt his ankle too, quite badly, he was not going to be able to play soccer for a while ....he was prayed over, said he felt it pop....and he was healed!!! He could run and walk perfectly with no more pain!

These are two girls in my group, Adeline is on the left...she is from Romania and Ksena on the right is from Minnesota. (not really sure where that is....somewhere in USA...I think North).......

During our break we visited the zoo! It was really good to get out for the day, away from our busy schedule and just relax. Even though it was still cold, it was fun.  We had to laugh at all the Americans...they were in such a rush to get to the African animals...you know the ones we see outside in our gardens everyday....elephants, zebra, lion etc......only to find that most of them were not there.....it was too cold for them!!!!! Ha, ha....

Nathan's drum lessons and Josh's keyboards are going really well....we nearly have our own rock band in the house.  Ben insists that he is going to play the "diggery tar" when he is older....translated that is the electric guitar!!  They want me to sing....um I don't think they have stood close enough to me when I sing....very scary, I would rather have a baby sister to add to the band, than sing for them!!!!

We recently got a membership to a shop called Costco.....like my dream come true!!  It is like a Trade Centre, as you can see in the picture behind Neil, but it even sells fresh produce and bakery goods....all at a quality like Pick 'n Pay or some even as good as Woolies.....and the prices are brilliant.  Of course I have a field day when we go there.....they even sell Name Brand Clothes!!!  The best part about shopping there is that you can have lunch for free while you walk around....they hand out samples in every isle for you to taste stuff......awesome!!! Can you tell how impressed Neil was at the end of one of our shop offs......not so sure if it is his favorite place?

Spot the difference..... this is me at the end of our shopping....can you tell I had a good time? Tried to convince Neil to by me this swing chair for the patio so we can relax outside during this wonderfully hot summer we have all heard so much about but I am starting to think it is a conspiracy.......this hot summer thing!!!  We really thought it was coming on Monday...it was 30 degrees outside, and Tuesday was 29 degrees, it got so hot that we even put the air conditioner on in the house to try cool things off.....Ben was outside playing in the tree house.....it was beautiful!!! 

 I was already planning which costume I was going to try squeeze myself into to get a tan and then..........on Thursday......

I kid you not.......1 inch of snow......it is absolutely bizarre!!!  So, we are back to winter woolies and heating in the house.  It has rained everyday since then.....it is Monday again now and finally some sunshine, but still really cold.  I miss the African sun and heat.......at least there I know what is going on with the weather!

Ben has made friends with a really cute little boy, I think I mentioned him already, Asher!  It was his birthday a few weeks back, so Ben was really excited to go spend the day with him for his "party"...it was only the two of them... a whole cake and all just for them.  The family is also new in Kansas City and has not met too many other people with 4 year olds yet.....so the two of them had loads of fun by themselves.  They are like a whirlwind when they are together....I don't think the eminent tornadoes have much on these two....just look at these faces!!!!

Friday was blood donor day at IHOPU.  So being the good citizen I am of any country I am in....i decided to volunteer to donate.  Ok, I'll be honest....there was a prize on offer for the internship that donated the most pints....they would win an ice-cream day.....and you all know how I am when it comes to ice-cream.....oh ok, and competition!!!!  So I managed to drag a few other interns along to the blood drive with me......

Only to be told I am not allowed to donate.....South Africa is considered a high risk area for Malaria and HIV, so they did not want my blood.....and I got all these other suckers involved, just so that I could win an ice cream!!!!  We haven't heard yet who won....it still better be us!!!

Ooooh, here's a good one for us South Africans to get our minds around.  Neil and I go down the street to open a bank account.  We need to transfer funds from SA  and it is really expensive to use our SA cards here......so off we go.  All goes well and we open a cheque account.......remember I told you a while ago that we are advanced when it comes to banking, in terms of Internet Transfers to individuals.....they don't do that here.....remember......everything works on checks (American Spelling)????  Well....imagine this........They beat us hands down on this one......They tell us that we don't even need to come into the bank if we want to deposit a check that is given to us.  Simply take a photo of the cheque with your smartphone and send the picture to them.....the money will be in your account the next day.....then destroy the original check! I mean seriously.....can you picture it?????  What a field day our fraudsters would have with that back in SA!!!

We are expectantly waiting for summer, hoping that it gets hot soon....even had the boys out doing some manual labour in the garden to try get the lawn ready for summer......

 And Ben joined a soccer club....it is so cute.  They practice twice a week for one month, then it is over!!! That's it!!!  He is so excited though, he thinks he is a big boy now when he has to go to practice!  They all get given a soccer ball, T-shirt and medal at the end!!  Too sweet!!

So that's it for now.....nothing too exciting, just an update!!!

Looking forward to my mom and Karen coming on 14 June.  It is going to be so exciting having someone from home visiting, I really feel a bit homesick at the moment!  Miss everyone so much.  Keep us updated friends.......til next time!