Catch UP..

It has been said the 'time flies' and when I look back at the last posting on this blog I cannot believe how much time has passed. An update is way overdue..

In June we had the joy of a few days break to attend a sports festival in Swakopmund. Due to the large number of people being in the town for this important private schools event, we had the benefit of excellent rates at the Municipal Bungalows. Despite the cold June weather of this picturesque seaside resort we simply enjoyed some quality family time. It was so good to be without a rigid and fixed schedule for a few days it gave us a time to unwind..

Sydney and Joshua in the Bungalow Larnelle in full flight

Larnelle's team played fairly well and although not emerging as champions the players all seemed to have enjoyed the tournament.

On the way back to Okahandja we stopped over to visit our friends Calvin and Koesha Martin

who live in Karibib. We first met the Martins whilst they were living in Okahandja, and have continued to keep contact with them even after they moved to Karibib where Calvin took on the post of principal of a private school. During our visit Calvin mentioned his wanting me to conduct a church service for the school boarders one Sunday. We looked at the calendar and set a date and I had the joy of travelling to the school and running a chapel service one Sunday morning, and of course we all enjoyed our fellowship with the Martins.

We were very blessed to have my Uncle Ernst and Fay pay us a visit in August. They first travelled to Cape Town to attend a family wedding and then came up to Namibia where they spent a few days with us. During their short visit they were able to see the beautiful Etosha Game Park and then spend time in Swakopmund as well. From Namibia they travelled on to Zimbabwe to see family before returning to Switzerland.. The value of seeing family face to face and spending time with each other cannot be fully quantified and both Faye and I have come to treasure these times.

One Sunday afternoon I went out to play tennis and on returning home discovered that my laptop was not functioning properly. All my efforts to get it sorted out came to zero and finally I sent it in for a check up - the diagnosis- the motherboard is faulty and it would be best to replace it - cost of a new mother board? +/- R 4000.00 The lady at the computer shop very gently suggested that rather than replacing the laptop I should simply consider purchasing a new laptop. Yeah right ! Now you know we Christians are an interesting lot and we tend to talk to God about such situations.. wonder of wonders we often receive answers and solutions to such situations .. I am happy to report that some good friends who had purchased new laptops for themselves had one that was gathering dust on the bottom shelf of a closet.. They knew about my chronically 'sick' computer and decided to bless me with their extra laptop. Whilst it may not be brand new, it does work and has sufficient resources and facilities for me to do all I need to..

The winter this year was not unbearably cold and we were thrilled that our children did not suffer too much in the way of colds and/or flu.. However our Joshua had a nasty fall which resulted in his two front teeth being damaged quite significantly - thankfully they are milk teeth which will be replaced with permanent ones.

Joshua was pushing himself along on his little racer, and going very fast.. He accidentally put his feet in front of the front wheels which resulted in him flying over the front and landing face first on the concrete floor. It has been a while since this very painful and unpleasant event and we are happy to say that there have no further mishaps. Joshua has recovered from it quite well, although Faye and I are thinking that perhaps we should take him to the dentist to have the two front teeth removed as we wonder if the damage to the milk teeth may not create problems for the permanent ones..

Faye and I are well, our work keeps us fairly busy and we have the added joy of being active in a local church and are building some very good friendships with folk here in Okahandja and Windhoek. We both have noticed a few more grey hairs and we tend to move at a more royal pace than before !