Greetings to all our friends, all over the world! Welcome to our Family News Blog – here's what we've been up to during 2009! Do drop us an email, and let us know what's happening in your lives.2009 has been a mixed year for us. We've had ups and downs, and many blessings and a real sense of community care and support within our church family.
We've had some really difficult deaths and funerals within the congregation this year, and have spent a lot of our time with folk who are working through their bereavements. Theo and I both lost our Grannies during the year, both of whom passed away at 94 years of age – the last of that generation within our families. Theo also had a pretty nasty fall off his bicycle near the end of April – nothing broken, but he lost lots of skin that took a good 10 weeks to grow back again.
But, in the midst of a fair amount of chaos, we've had the privilege of traveling around our beautiful country, and catching up with a whole lot of friends and family during the course of the year. We've had wonderful family time, and come to the end of 2009 in awe of the gracious love of God and the beauty of His creation.
January saw Caleb starting Grade 3. He has had a super year and done very well at school. He participated in a number of sporting and cultural activities, including Mini Soccer, Swimming Academy, Taekwondo, Table Tennis, Chess Club and Scripture Union Club. He enjoys reading, and has just started the Hardy Boys Series – he tells us “I'm a fan, already!” He spends lots of time playing cars, superheroes, and anything that requires imagination. He spends less time playing computer games than he would like, but what are parents for?! He's a friendly, sociable child, with all the energy a little boy should have! He's looking forward to Grade 4 next year with a little trepidation. Grade 4 is the year they start moving from class to class, and they have different teachers and various new subjects. We are sure he will adapt well and enjoy Grade 4!Febraury, March and April were pretty hectic months in which we got all the church programs and activities up and running for the year, and in which we did a some preparation for our long-leave which was scheduled for May and June. We had a very meaningful Easter Programme during the week of Easter.
We puppy-sat the 5 month old Pavey-hound (aka the horse - he's a large and boistrous Airdale - very cute with a way of making his presence felt!) for part of April. And we got the house ready for Glen and Jeanette who came to church-sit for us while we were away in May. Glen and Jeanette were the ministry couple we trained under in Grahamstown. Theo was Glen's assistant minister for a few years. They have now retired to Kenton-on-Sea, and were able to take some time out of their busy retirement schedule to oversee Emmanuel while we were away for a month!
And then it was May. We took Caleb out of school for 4 weeks, his teacher having given us a whole lot of 'home-schooling' tasks to do while we were away. We headed to Mpumalanga for a week with Theo's parents, and enjoyed lots of beautiful scenery and fun time together. Theo and his dad cycled many of the routes, despite Theo's injuries. From Mpumalanga we headed home, and spent a few days as Glen and Jeanette's guests in our home(!) during the time of Ouma Groeneveld's funeral.
Then it was down to the Cape via Augrabies. In the Cape area we hired a camper van and had a wonderful time touring the region, and visiting family and friends. Theo's brother, Marinus, and his wife and daughter, Joan and Jemma, joined us for part of the campervan adventure, and we all had loads of fun. The two cousins - 8 year old Caleb, Jemma, who was almost 2 at the time, really enjoy being together! You can see detail of out long-leave adventure in our previous blog entries.
June was supposed to be an extension of our long-leave with quiet time at home, but due to various situations in the congregation, we decided to hold that over to a more suitable time. At the end of June we held our 5th annual kids holiday club, which was once again loads of fun for all. We had around 100 kids each morning at the church for a Pirate themed week of fun and learning more about Jesus.In September Theo flew to Port Elizabeth to go to Grahamstown for a very special event - George's inaugural lecture! When one is made a Professor at the University, one is expected to give a public lecture that details the research work that has brought one into consideration as far as being made a professor. While a doctorate is purely an academic achievement,
being made a professor has to do with one's overall achievements as an academic and teacher and also one's overall contribution to the university. As a family we were all so proud of George's achievements and we were really glad that Theo could be there to represent the clan. The lecture is difficult because it is to a wide audience that includes specialists from one's own discipline and then many others who have no background in the field one is lecturing. George did a brilliant job of presenting a lecture that didn't bamboozle the non-computer scientists and yet gave food for thought for everyone. Well done George!
During the School holidays in September, we were off travelling again - this time to the Natal Midlands with Brenda's parents and her sister, Janet. Janet is now working in Jo'burg as a manager
in the tax department at Deloitte, and was able to get some time off to come on holiday with us. We enjoyed exploring the area, and when the weather drove us indoors, we played plenty of card games with much laughter and not too much cheating!! We also got a chance to catch up with Brenda's cousin, Graham, who we hadn't seen for a couple of years!
In November we became Aunty, Uncle and Cousin again, with the birth of little Noel Groeneveld to Joan and Marinus. Much excitement all around. Little Noel is determined to grow fast so that he can also play with Caleb, and put on 800 grams in one week during his first month!
This last month of 2009 has also been quite busy. We ran our annual Christmas party for 120 Aids Orphans in the beginning of the month - always a moving and heart-warming event.
Two days after the party, we were on our way to the Eastern Cape for some family holiday time. We stayed with our friend, George, in Grahamstown, and also with Glen and Jeanette in Kenton for two nights. Caleb swam in the sea (it was too cold for us!) and learned to sand-board down the sand-dunes. We visited a whole bunch of old friends, and met some of their offspring for the first time!In between all our travels and events, Brenda has been kept busy with the Sunday School, and Primary School Youth Group, and Scripture Union Club at Caleb's school. Theo keeps himself busy (and how!) with our two churches - Emmanuel, and our growing daughter congregation, Grace. It's hard to describe our daily routine, except to say that there's nothing routine about it! A few key-words describe our lives quite well - Variety, People, and the Grace of God!
May you experience the Grace of God as we head into the next decade, and the New Year, 2010!
With much love from Brenda, Theo and Caleb.
No comments:
Post a Comment