Happy Birthday Gaynor

Dear Gaynor

Wishing you a very Happy 26th Birthday for today and many many more!

May your day be full of sunshine and love and happiness and mat the year ahead turn all your dreams into reality!

Thank you for the lovely afternoon on Saturday was lovely to celebrate with you and the food was divine!

Thank you again for taking such good care of Logan while Deqlan was not able to see her, we know she has an absolute blast at your house and we know you spoil her rotten, thank you so very very much

Have a stunning Birthday and many many more!

God Bless, love

Mark, Samm, Deqlan and Logan

I am loved SURPRISE PART 1-8!

The honeymoon suite, you actually have to see it with your own eyes!

Take me deeper Mama!

Take me in!

Me and my surfer boy!

Mark playing around with the camera, dont know how he got us in?

End to a fantastic day

My boys

Blessings...

How precious is Deqlan?

Loving the fish

Our beautiful soldier Deqlan Ross

Swimming in the rain

Me with Beautiful Gambit

Mark and Gambit

Meggie meets Gambit

Wish we could have played alllll dayyyy...

Gaynor and Gambit Tylers Turn

Kevin gets a chance

Singing like Paverotti

Amazing....

I dont think i could smile wider

Deqlan chilling with Nanna

Smiley boy Keaton wasnt feeling well, but still gorgeous as ever

signing up for the 'under sea walk'

watching kelpie the younger dolphin

SURPRISE!

SURPRISE

Than you my love, you continue to make my dreams come true

Its party time smiley boy!

Cheers to Conrad and the boys!

Loves of my life

Still flabergasted

It felt like a dream

Arriving at Lords of the Manor seeing Mom and Dee, Conrad Megs and Keaton! I was blown away!

Where do i begin? On Thursday morning we woke up and tried to get on the rode by 10am, but with a 2 year old toddler, setting times and sticking to them hardly ever happen! We eventually got on the road by 1130am and i tried to figure out the secret destination by the highway Mark took. After a few minutes i scratched Dullstroom off the list as we headed on the Durban highway - i was 100% sure it was Drakensberg we were headed for! Mark continued to throw me off tack with all the questions i was asking and i eventually caught him when he said it wasnt a place we had been to before - definitely Drakensberg i thought!

Along the way, many text messages were sent to my mom and megs wgo were even more curious as to our surprise destination! I sent photos at familiar stops we all normally stop at, we continued guessing together.

We seemed to be on the road forever and ever- eventually we passed the Drakensberg turn off and i was really puzzled as we headed to the Midlands turnoff - a very familiar turn off we take each easter holidays to our timeshare, Saddle and Trout. You can imagine the look on my face when Mark took the turn off and told me he knew a short cut! We drove passed towards saddle and trout and i wondered how on earth Mark managed to get us in just for two night on some one elses time share? but we drove passed the entrance, Mark did stop though for me to take a photo to send to My Mom who wouldnt believe that we were standing outside saddle and trout - i truly felt like i was in a dream being in the midlands in November? Next stop was right next door - my first surprise! We were staying at Lords of the Manor - the most stunning hotel in the Midlands! In April this year i just mentioned in passing about considering to have my 30th there ! Well, never did i think Mark remembered and actually planned such a stunning getaway at a dream i had of staying there! We stopped right outside reception and Mark said, lets go check in and i said ok...as we walked in Josh Grobans YOU RE LOVED was playing - i was just about to open my mouth and asked Mark if he had organised the song to, when out the corner of my eye stood my MOM , DEE, MEGS, KEATON AND CONRAD ! I IMMEDIATELEY BURST INTO TEARS! out of surprise , out of happiness and out of absolute love that my family had listened to a dream i had and made it happen!!!! I even forgot about it after mentioning it in April! So second surprise -one of the best of my life - i dont know how they all kept this a secret from me!!!! I was told that the plans for this weekend started in April already when i first mentioned it! How amazing is my husband and parents and sister??? My Mom told me that the theme of my birthday was YOU ARE LOVED! How loved did i feel ? I couldnt imagine being loved more!

We spent the afternoon toasting with champagne , enjoying the magnificent scenery and then surprise number 3...Mark had booked us the honeymoon suite and all i can say is WOW I WAS BLOWN AWAY! We enjoyed a lovely supper together , Lords of the Manor is absolutely stunning and the food extraoridnary - you got to go if you get the chance, the Midlands is to stunning for words, you have to experience it!

Friday morning we woke up and i think the second sentence Mark uttered was, 'lets go to Ushaka' - what? another of my favorite places in the whole world? we get to see the dolphins and the sea? LETS GO! Surprise number 4! Surprise number 5 followed soon after ! As we arrived at Ushaka, Mark remarked how 'those people are staring at us' As i looked to my right, there stood Marks Brothers Kevin and Tyler with Louise and Gaynor! They had driven through at 2am that morning! My word, i dont know how many more surprises my heart could handle, but they were just getting started!

Surprise number 6 came in the form of Bianca who met us at the entrance of Ushaka - i knew immediately something had been planned before hand as normal visitors to Ushaka are definitely not escourted in such style! Mom held my hand and Meggie followed behind telling me that one of my other dreams was about to come true and i must enjoy every moment of the day! Bianca had been in touch with my mom for months arranging this trip - she even visited our blog and got to know our soldier pretty well through reading it. Bianca still didnt let up on exactly what was about to happen - i just burst out into tears again - having a feeling that it would definitely be something to do with my beloved dolphins - the creatures that i have loved for as long as i can remember! The creatures that bring such peace and calm and joy and love and happiness and excitement to my soul, all at the same time. The creatures that my son to loves and enhightens my love for them even more. Bianca eventually got the people to open the doors to the dolphin show and Josh Grobans You Are Loved was playing - more tears and more and more. After visiting Ushaka a few times , i know that there is a part in the show where the ask who wants to meet a dolphin - i normally do jumping jacks and whatever else i can to get noticed and to get to meet the dolphin, but i had a feeling that has already been arranged. I handed my camera to megs and asked her to please take lots of photos! But they didnt choose me! So i thought the surprise was perhaps after the show getting to meet one of them?Having a special photo?

The show finished and Bianca led us to an area i have never been at before and she aked me if i knew what we were going to do and i said no, and she said we were going behind the scenes to see the dolphins. Oh my word! As we got into the private area of the park, Nanna took Deqlan and i was told to go and change into my swimming costume! WHAT!!!!! No, this cant be! Surprise number 7 ! Surprise number 8 again followed in the form of Mark, Megs, Kevin, Tyler and Gaynor also getting into their swimming gear! I remember one of the guys joking saying we are here for the undersea walk today, and i still thought ok cool, but then i was told we were about to have a personal encounter with a dolphin! What an unbelievable moment that was,waiting and wondering what was going to happen next ! This amazing experience was made possible by my amazing parents, Mom and Dee- i could never ever ever say thank you enough for this dream come true, an oppurtunity of a lifetime! One i will never ever forget! We were given a few very important rules and learnt some amazing things about dolphins and then got ready to get into the pool with one very very special dolphin! Gambit. I first met Gambit for my 21st birthday celebration, at the old sea world.My mom had arranged they call me up so i could touch Gambit and get splashed by him. Afterwards i was taken on a boat trip which lead us to a school of about 70 dolphins- how unbelievable is that as a gift from my parents - they are amazing to say the least. Back to Gambit, he is not 37 weighing 497 kg and the oldest living dolphin in captivity , so to meet him again, so close for so long was one of the biggest gifts i could ever recieve.

We each got an oppurtunity to give Gambit a good old rub on his back, his anatomy was explained in detail to us, we were taught some dolphinese which allowed us to tell Gambit to make a sound like a bike or sing like Paverotti ! My absolute favorite was being able to kiss Gambit or rather him kiss us and have a photo to remember that moment always, it was amazing to say the least! I was so sad to get out the water and wished i could be there forever , i asked a zillion questions on how i could get to work there - but you got to start right at the bottom, preparing the food for all the wonderful creatures at the park, and then after many years of volunteering and studying , and of course, moving to the sea, it could possibly happen one day, that i work with my beloved dolphins. Who knows?

The weather got really heavy as a thunder storm broke out and we explored the other beautiful marine life for the rest of the afternoon. You can see by the pictures Deqlan had an absolute ball - running everywhere he could, as fast as he could, and he definitely enjoyed the actualy fish more this time around.

After Ushaka we rushed to get Deqlan onto the beach and into the sea before another shower arrived! Sadly, the beach has changed so much , it was high tide to so not space for Deqlan just to run, also not as clean as what i remembered and the water has lost its blue - so sad what pollution is doing to our waters. Deqlan and I had an absolute ball- for about 45 minutes i held Deqlan and we darted in and out of the ways, Deqlan squeling with laughter as each one crashed on our feet! Deqlan managed to wriggle out my hands and even ran towards the sea- he wanted to go deeper and deeper! I had to hold onto him with all i had, the waves and tide were so so strong, he even got dunked once and had ears and eyes full of sand and water to prove it! Deqlan loves the sea more then any other child i have seen, alot are very scared of the sea the first few times around! Conrad and Keaton also joined us for a few minutes and i can picture Keaton and Deqlan running and rolling and eating the sand with Logan when we go back to Natal in December, I CANT WAIT!

We then took a lovely walk on the pier and admired the amazing gift God has given us in the form of the sea and the beach, the clouds and the rain, the sun trying to peer through the clouds - the gift of my family being with me and arranging one of the most amazing days of my life.

We head back to the Midlands which is about 1 hour 45 minutes away and i started planning what i was going to start packing first when we got back as we were going to be leaving in the morning ......or so i was told.........

More to follow!

REJOICE IN THE LORD ALWAYS

Hello Deqlans Army!

DEQLAN'S RESULTS ARE NORMAL! His VMA/HVA urine levels are smack bang in the middle of normal ! His Feretine level smack bang in the middle of normal!! PRAISE OUR AMAZING LORD FOR CONTINUING TO KEEP DEQLAN NED!!!

The raised NSE level is not a concern at all - it is not used as a marker for treated neuroblastoma - it is used during treatment and is not reliable to monitor after treatment -i have learnt my lesson, not to ask for results to be sent to any other doctors then Dr De Jager, cause he is the only one who can give us the correct explanations on these markers. We worried ourselves more then normal because of that phone call!

Thank you for all your love support and prayers you are amazing Deqlans prayer army!

We see Dr Dejager again 4 and 20 Feb! We wished him a very Merry Christmas as we wont see him at the CHOC party this year. What a wonderful man, one of Gods angels on earth we are sure.

While we where at Dr De Jager he had a call from another family of a little one who is 1 and a half, just diagnosed with neuroblastoma....just starting this journey - please Lord guide them, guide Dr Dejager and heal this child and all the other children fighting cancer.

Deqlan is battling a temperature - last night was up to 39.2! He also sounds congested and coughing so we think he has another respiratory tract infection - Little Keaton had a dose of baby measles and is now coughing , so much so, he is having physio - Nanna also come down with the URI - so we are presuming this little bug is making its rounds in our family. You can see Deqlan is a little miserable and perhaps sore muscles - he wont keep the cough mixture down, but Nanna trying to get him to sleep now and hoping the sleep will bring on lots of healing.

More great news for the day from our friend Will

Scans showed no new lesions and no change to his existing one!!! Praise Our Healing Lord again!

May you have the most fantastic weekend, my Birthday blog to follow soon i promise!

God Bless you all, for being a part of this healing journey, we are truly blessed
Lots of love
Mark, Samm, Deqlan

REJOICE IN THE LORD ALWAYS AND AGAIN I SAY REJOICE!!!

Prayers and praises

Hello Everyone

First wanted to say a lot of thank you's to so more very special helpers!

Thank you dear Sam and all the kids at Suthies for once again donating their works of art t shirts to CHOC - they are so original and so cute and will make a lot of kids very happy to be wearing proudly south african bright coloured t shirts! Thanks so much for continuing to help us each and every year!

My Dear Friend Karen and her husband Barry and their wonderful boys, Daniel and Matthew - how can i continue to thank you for all you do to help with all of our projects? Thank you for making a huge effort to go and deliver the Christmas gifts to Megs yesterday, they look absolutely beautiful and we are blown away at your generosity and love for giving and helping, thank you to you all, you are such a special family!

Thank you also to Karens friend Helene for also joining forces with us to bring the CHOC kids the best Christmas we could imagine for them , i look forward to meeting you soon and saying thank you personally!

A huge thank you to Leonardo , Ninno and kids for also driving all the way to Meggies to hand over your Christmas gift - i would absolutely love to meet you all to- i cant thank you enough for helping us help someone else! Thank you to for your amazing support, and prayers for our soldier, they mean the world to me. Megs tells me that your little Tamsyn is also a patient of Dr De Jager ! Wow another hero, another inspiration - may Our Lord continue to keep her healed forever and always!


Thank you again to Dale and Lisa for your contribution for the CHOC kids - you two are always willing and able and jump at any chance to help us help these special kids! You are going to be the most amazing parents one day! Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Thank you Aunty Rene for watching our beloved doggies and blue while we were away and thank you for spoiling me rotten with all my lovely birthday goodies - i love the cd with all the songs from the year i was born, that is something so special and unique, thank you!

And now for our prayers for the day

Keaton - please pray he gets over his baby measles and terrible cough he has now developed - please let the physio do the trick and help him to also have a more restful night
Mom - please pray that my mom also beats her upper respiratory tract infection quickly and that she feels loads better tommorow

Will - please pray that Wills MIBG scan today shows fantastic improvement!
Declan - please pray that Declan continues to heal and grow stronger each day

Our beautiful soldier, Deqlan - please pray that the results we are going to get from Dr De Jager tommorow are completely normal and that he remains NED forver and always. Please pray that Dr DeJager is not concerned about the increased NSE level. Deqlan has also started with a little fever from last night, a cough and congested nose, please pray that we can fight this infection quickly and with no antibiotics!

Will be in touch tommorow with the great news, please Dear Lord, and i promise to send my birthday details out as soon as I can - i am gathering all the details and pics from everyone so i can set the scene for the most amazing birthday ever.

Thank you for your prayers for Deqlan, please continue to pray for healing for all our warriors around the world

God Bless and lots of love
Mark, Samm Deqlan

SACRED HEART OF JESUS, WE PLACE OUR TRUST IN THEE ALL FOR THEE OH LORD, OH MY JESUS ALL FOR THEE

Jayden

We are so sad to tell you that little Jayden, went home to meet Jesus, on Saturday 15 November. We will always remember you Jayden , you shall remain and inspiration. Prayers will continue for your family as they now bear the pain of not having you here with them. Jayden bravely fought neuroblastoma for over 2 years and was a shining light of joy and happiness. You will be missed.

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS CONTINUE

and the celebrations continue ! i told you our family celebrates birthdays for a week, this time they really did it an absolute style

i was surprised again yesterday by my dear friend claire and her gorgeous kids hannah and ethan! Claire came to wish me happy birthday and surprisd me with the most stunning gift of photo frames, and you all know how much i love photos and to top it off , claire especially baked a cake for me! how stunning ! it was to divine and to beautiful , i didnt want to cut it! Thank you so much Claire for going to so much effort just for me! You are an amazng friend and it was such a stunning surprise to see all of you again, you really are wonderful and i cant tell you how much your friendship means to me, thank you!

We changed plans because of two tired boys - 1 teething with baby measels, yip our little Keaton, and the other just wanting to stay in the sandpit, yip our soldier Deqlan so we got Grandpa and Nan over to Moms house to celebrate her birthday in style! Nan was delighted to be out of the frail care home for the morning surrounded by those who love her dearly . She was very emotional listening to all the songs she loves and looking at photos - i gave Nan some chocolate coins as she loves the song , the 5 pennies - i told her with each one she needs to make a wish and the first one , we wished on was good health, shame, the tears welled up in her eyes and i was so happy i had found the coins to do something small that she would love. It was lovely to see you Darling Grandpa and Nan and again, i am honored to share my birthday with you Nan! Congrats on the fine achievement of turning 74, still as beautiful, young at heart and inspirational to us all!

God Bless , all our love and lots more news to follow

Mark, Samm & Deqlan

BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD