First you lick it, then you dunk it

Hannah had an absolute ball!

hey , what about me guys?

Keaton has just learnt how to wave, to precious!

lets jump Deqlan!

Happy Ethan!

in the pool, out the pool!

Megs and Claire watching their water babies- I couldnt get Deqlan out the jacuzzi for this shot

the evidence left behind in the cuboard..

oh oh - you caught me out!

the cooler box makes a great step

now how can i get up to the oreos?

Coreen entertaining Deqlan

Lisa and Keaton

Hi Caden!

its a lovely day for a guiness, dont worry, its just a sponge guiness dad!

Dub, Deqlan and Conrad

Keaton 'the slam dunk kid' Du Plessis takes on Deqlan 'strong as nails' Higgins

1, 2, 3, - youre out!

Keaton loves doing whatever Deqlan does, even if it means holding onto his pants while Deqlan moves across the floor!

Deqlan and Keaton are definitely interacting more with each other - especially since Mr Keaton is a lot more mobie now - when Deqlan is on the floor - Keaton crawls as fast as he cans and holds onto Deqlans legs! He has even discovered wrestling- its the sweetest thing to watch and its though Deqlan doesnt mind as he knows its his baby cousin.

On Monday afternoon we went past Meggie and Conrad for a little braai - we didnt stay though as Mr Deqlan was so tired, i took him home early and he fell asleep in the ca, so good call to leave early - was lovely to see everyone before everyone goes on holiday and away! Caden got his first tooth and he is growing so quickly! Kai was just chilled and relaxed, what a happy little fellow - Coreen, the blushing bride to be, was amazing with Deqlan again, they just seem to bond really well! It was also lovely to congratulate our new pregnant fairy in person, Lisa, who had a great time playing with all the boys!

On Friday Claire, Hannah and Ethan came to wish us Merry Christmas and bring some gifts for our boys - thank you so so much to you all for being such wonderful friends and for bringing the lovely gifts - never mind the gift, Deqlan is besotted with the wrapping paper Claire - he pulls the gift out from under the tree so he can touch and admire the snow flake patterns ! All the kids had a fantastic time in the water- Deqlan and i in the jacuzzi, Hannah and Keaton in the dolphin pool, with Ethan casually wathching dreaming of the day he can join them to. Then Nanna started bringing out her box of tricks and Hannah and Deqlan squeled and danced with delight at the singing skipping rope - Hannah you are to cute for words! Then out came the hose pipe and Hannah made sure we all got some water on us - everything she possibly could wet was wet - it was wonderful - I was running away with Keaton and even he got a face full of water but squeled with excitement for more - we havent laughed as much and as hard as we did in a long time - it was great and another gift of this festive season, laughing and enjoying our precious kids.

Deqlan has taken a great liking to Oreo biscuits at the moment and requests them at least 3 times during the day - he has figured out that he can open the cupboard , stand on the cooler box and reach for the oreo box all by himself. He then twists it, then he licks all the icing off, but thats where it stops, the rest is left in the cupboard! He could be the perfect Oreo add , we love watching how cute he is at his new trick!

Deqlans nappies have been awful the past week, but have greatly improved the last two days - there could be a few reasons for the upset tummy - i have put him back on probiotics & stopped the bio strath - it could also have something to do with him being very sensitive to wheat and dairy - the things he craves the most - alot of kids on the autism spectrum have issues with their gut and a lot believe that trying a gluten and wheat free diet has shown enormous improvement, even in speech - so we are definitely going to give it a try after seeing the DAN doctor in Jan. We have also made flash cards out of real photos with the word underneath in the hope of a communication tool for Deqlan , to show us what he wants instead of taking us by the hand - we want him to show us on the photo -but we will say the item to him to - this want replace the speech but will hopefully aid in the frustation of him not being able to always tell us what he wants and needs.

Logan is back with us tommorow and we are very excited to be spending Christmas all together this year - i have a lot of little things planned for the build up to the big day and hope Logs and Deqlan will enjoy them to! We are most excited to go to the childrens mass on Christmas eve - what a gift to have Deqlan Keaton and Logan blessed by Father Russel on the eve of baby Jesus birth!

Please continue praying for our soldier that he continues to remain NED forever and ever. Please continue praying for all the warriors around the world - especially those who will be spending Christmas in the hospital and away from their family and friends. I ask you for very special prayers for Yolandie and Ruan - Ruan is still recovering in ICU after his 2nd stem cell transplant - he had a lot of complications with his lungs and the cmv virus continues to prevent his bone marrow from growing - please pray that he will be healed totally and permanently from his leukimia

Please pray for baby Declan - i am awaiting an update, but believe he continues to have radiation- we recieved our ALL HANDS ON DEC tshirts on Thursday and i cant wait for the kids to wear them - in support of our little friend and to create awareness to support the cure for childhood cancers anyway you possibly can.

Let us know what your plans are for Christmas, continue to remember the true meaning of the celebratins, the birth of Our Lord and Savior.

God Bless , lots of love

Mark, Samm, Deqlan

BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD