Bethany

Bethany turned 13 last weekend, so we now have 2 teenagers in the house! She had a birthday party with friends from school. We did a scavenger hunt in the mall. Not something we have done before, so I was a little nervous, but it seemed to go down well. Each team had some money and a list of items to buy like a pink pencil; something with an animal on it; something for $1 etc..They also had a list of thing to photograph like one team member wearing high heels or silly hats. The last list was things to collect like 25 cents from the floor, an old receipt, a discount coupon and so on.  One girl said she was going to do the same for her birthday and another said could Bethany have the same party next year. I thought this was good feedback. We finished up with frozen yoghurt and then back to our house for pizza and a movie. (Why do Dominos in Australia sell a large pizza for $5?? That's roughly £2.50 per pizza. I don't think you can even make them for that price)

Ruben

After coming out of the bedroom where he has been 'helping' daddy wrap presents:


Ruben: "Mummy, can I have just one square of your chocolate?"

Me: (Knowing what he's been doing) "but I haven't got any chocolate"

Ruben: " Yes you have, we just wrapped it"



And the other day.

Ruben: "Mummy I want to be big"

Me: "You're getting bigger every day"

Ruben: "But Caleb's getting bigger too"

Me: "Yes, but you'll catch up with him one day"

Ruben: Mummy

Me:"Yes Ruben"

Ruben: "Could you ask Caleb to stop growing so I can catch up with him"

'40'

It was my 40th birthday this weekend, slightly disturbing, so lets move on quickly. I think the best way to handle age is not to think about it too much. 

We spent the day on Fitzroy Island out on the Barrier Reef. We caught the 8am catamaran out to the island which proved to be a rather bumpy ride. It was only a 45 minute journey but that was enough for both Bethany and Caleb to make full use of the sick bags. Still, once we got there it was all forgotten and we had a great day swimming, snorkelling, kayaking and jumping off the pier (the pier bit was Caleb...) The weather was great apart from a random half an hour when there was torrential rain. We discovered the best way to keep warm was to stay in the ocean. There were sharks in the water (only small ones) the man at at the Kayak kiosk told me. Still as Caleb shouted as he jumped off the floating trampoline, "You only live once!" We came home very tired and some of us sunburnt. Ruben is very keen to go back on the bumpy boat! His stomach seemed to have no problems.

Family photo

Sometimes on Sunday afternoons we do the Red Arrow walk. It's more of a climb and once you get to the top you get a great view of the airport and you can watch the planes take off and land. (Although there aren't that many on a Sunday afternoon) We met a group of back packers at the top who offered to take our photo.

Cape Tribulation

It's the two week spring break from school in Australia right now. We spent the last week with friends at Cape Tribulation, named by Captain Cook because that's where all his troubles began. In many ways it is still as untouched as when he was there. A beautiful mix of the Daintree rainforest and the ocean. Untouched probably because the sea is full of box jelly fish and the creeks full of salt water crocs. Well maybe not full, but you have to watch out. We spent the week swimming in the pool, swimming in the creek, (we did scan the area for crocs and prayed hard) and swimming in the sea. The kids also enjoyed early morning walks on the beach by themselves, getting coconuts down from the trees on the beach and spotting things in the coral reef, including an octopus, lots of crabs and and sea cucumbers. Poor old Josh had an ingrowing toe nail removed the Friday before and was banned by the doctor from swimming. We relented on the last day and he had a great time riding the waves on a huge inner tube. Bethany also had to have a day off from swimming as she cut her knee on coral. Ruben loved it and was a bit sad we couldn't stay in our camping house!!

Trying to keep Joshua's foot dry whilst crossing the river.

(Daniel hasn't actually put on weight, it's just the wind!! He just wanted to make sure that was clear!!)

MAF family goes 'home'

We have been away all week up north out of range of mobiles and internet. We came back to this sad news.

khou.com/story/news/local/2015/09/21/prayer-vigil-planned-for-family-of-four-killed-in-crash/72590710/

We briefly overlapped with them in Kenya and knew of them but didn't know them. Kind of ironic how they survived all sorts of things in Kenya and then died on the way home from church in Texas. Still it is bittersweet that they all went home together!

Sunday School

Sunday School this morning. I'll leave you to figure out what the story was!