Say Cheese!

Hi Everyone

hope you all had great weekends?

We started packing - i started to realise how much stuff we actually have and its going to take a lot longer then what i though to sort through, pack and still have space to move around the house!

It was FREEZING cold this weekend, but we cant actually complain as it was the first real taste of winter we got! Nanna and Grandpa were absolute stars as always watching Deqlan on Saturday morning for a few hours while i climbed into the packing. Mark was on conference on Saturday and will be again next Saturday so we got to make the most of our time to pack , with only 12 days to go!

Deqlan and i had a quick visit to Meggie and Conrad and Keaton and enjoyed a new baby einstein dvd Conrad brought back from the states.we also leant one to watch at home on baby sign language - we are trying to learn these signs in speech therapy also and Deqlan has mastered the sign for open , which is tapping on what he wants to be opened. I have learnt about 20 other signs and continue to try and show Deqlan in everyday life. in really believe that he will be able to catch onto them - maybe it helps him communicate more with us ? We will definitely give it a try and see. Although, i must say , he has definitely improved in showing us what he wants - its not so much dragging us to the cupboard any more - he definitely gestures/points at times to what he wants . I have also been giving him choices, like cheese or bread and he taps on what he wants, so we definitely making progress!

Mark got home a little earlier and i was fortunate enough to go to mass with Great grandpa and Nanna - as i posted earlier we had a great shock from hearing the youth eucharist minister suddenly passed away. But , we all sang in memory of Chris, when the saints go marching in! The message of the sermon was also so true - instead of being sitters, and just listening and taking the information in we recieved weekly from mass, we need to be do ers - to stand up and do what God wants us to do - act on His word - grow amongst the thorns. Inspiration much needed for alot of us. While we were at work the rain came pouring down - in the middle of winter? - in the middle of Pretoria? really strange weather, real Cape weather!

On Sunday Morning Nanna and Grandpa again came to the rescue and watched our soldier, who was as good as gold, while we got to see Logan and spend some quality time with her. It was her choice as to where we went and surprise , surprise, it was spur - shame she loves the spur. Logan has grown like you cant believe - she has gotten so tall, her hair nearly as long as mine and she is as beautiful as ever. We had lots of giggles and smiles - Mark said ' SO HOW IS SCHOOL GOING MY BUD? ' a name, he often used to use with Logan - she quickly put him in his place saying ' IM NOT YOUR BUD, IM YOUR CHILD' Mark and I had to compose ourselves after laughing for quite a while on this comment! We had a great time catching up with her and hearing about school and her friends. She loved some prayers that Bev sent for her and asked her to read them to her. She is very good at reading Afrikaans but still getting used to english reading - she can spell lots of english words already which is great and really going to help her down the line. She was so sweet to use some pocket money i gave her to get two balls to give to Deqlan and she took two home with her.She has always been so thoughtful, always wanting to give to Deqlan. We took her past the outside of the house we will be moving to so she can picture herself there and have soemthing to look forward to. what a lovely child, what a blessing, we miss her terribly and cant wait for her and Deqlan to play together again!

After dropping Logan back off at Gaynor ( thanks so much Gaynor for taking such good care of Logs) We then spent the rest of the afternoon packing and Deqlan also wanted to pitch in and was climbing in and out of the boxes and then once closed, on top of them, he had a great time - we got another 5 or so boxes packed and Mark has taken all the pictures off the walls to start filling the holes from the pics - it looks so white - i miss the photos already , and so does Deqlan. He keeps standing by our photo wall looking up at the pictures - but they arent there! He is also so used to having the tv and dvd player in our room, mounted on the wall. He took great delight in me picking him up to open the machine to put the dvd HE chose in - but now he just holds the dvd in his hands looking at the wall , not understanding where his beloved machine has disapeared to! Shame, i feel so sorry for him being so disorientated, he probably will be to in the house. Deqlan will stay with Nanna the day we move ( thank you again Mom and Dee for coming to the rescue, Deqlan loves being by you) and i want everything to be packed out and looking as normal as can be, like Deqlan is used to

Today at lunch time, Deqlan was requesting his normal bread and cheese and his beloved rama spread. I was saying the word cheese to him, as i handed him his favorite food, and i heard him say 'chee' - i continued to say cheese over and over as i handed him each piece - and the next thing, Deqlan said a definite CHEESE! i am SO PROUD of you my beautiful boy - what a wonderful achievement! I celebrate each word and I know how hard you are working on getting each one just right, you are doing the best job my boy and I promise we are going to continue helping and motivating you every step of the way!

Now for some more notices:

Happy 1st Birthday to Olivia for Birthday for 12 July - we hope you had a lovely party , even in the freezing cold weather! Stay the gorgeous little angel you are!

Happy Birthday Jordyn for today - hope the trip to Vermont is a huge succcess with a great game plan in place for you, an amazing warrior!

Update on baby Dyllan - he is now only needing oxygen, so off all the big machines - now eating 7 mls every 3 hours and weighing 1.430 kg - please continue prayers for this special little man!

Please remember the prayers for our beautiful Deqlan to remain NED ALWAYS and for all our friends around the world - especially for Katie today.

We hope you all have a great evening

God Bless and all our Love

Mark, Samm, Deqlan

WE CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENS US