Disney World

We enjoyed our two days at Disney. We were so blessed to have had a neighbour whose son worked there and he was able to get 3 of us in for free each day. The first day we went to Hollywood Studios which was great. The kids enjoyed the stunt shows and some of the rides were amazing.

This is the exact replica of a street in New York that you can walk down.

Later on, in the evening the street is lit up and it pretend snows so that you feel like you are in New York.

This is day two at Disney. We spent the day at a park called Epcot. The rides were great and there were also pavilions of different countries that you could walk through.

Matthew studying the map.

Vacation - Florida

Our first day in Florida we went out on an airboat and went for an hour trip around a lake to see the wildlife. There is an amazing amount of animals done here. On this one trip we saw heaps of birds, turtles, alligators and deer. It was a great trip.

Spot the alligator.

Our Airboat Captain.

The bird life was amazing. We saw several bald eagles and many other birds.

This is the biggest one we saw. When we got close it dived under but not before Anna-Marie and Joel got wet from it splashing its tail.

Vacation - Savannah

Our first stop on vacation was Savannah, Georgia where we stayed with Alan and Cynthia Boson. Alan and Cynthia are the parents of a friend from seminary and church who we met early on. Alan is a New Zealander so they flew our flag for us. They were great hosts and took us out sightseeing for the day.

The city of Savannah is very beautiful. It is a very old city and they have preserved it well.

We visited this orphanage which was the first orphanage in the US, established in 1740 by George Whitfield.

GRADUATION

Mark has graduated! It is hard to believe in some ways. Today has been a great day of celebration and thanking God for this stage of our lives coming to an end. We move on Monday and are busy packing and cleaning. We leave for vacation on Thursday so you may not hear from us for a few weeks. Thank you to all of those who sent messages congratulating Mark, they mean a lot to us, it really does feel like quite an achievement for the whole family.

Mark with Dr York who he is doing the internship with.

Mark with the president of Southern Seminary, Dr Albert Mohler. The family photo in the warmth of the Legacy Center. It was -3 oC today!

Dorothy Sayers Christmas Concert

Joel and the girls sang in the Dorothy Sayers annual Christmas Concert last Friday night. This song is in Latin which all students 9 and up learn. This choir is the Middle School (Intermediate) and High School choir.

Chef Joel

Joel has become quite the chef. He loves to cook waffles and pancakes. Recently he has been cooking us these yummy oat pancakes. He especially likes to make us all breakfast when the girls have their friends over for a sleep over. The only thing I don't like about it is the man-mess he leaves in the kitchen!!

Anna-Marie's Baptism

We were blessed again to watch Anna-Marie baptised on Sunday. We are very thankful to the Lord for His work in her life. I hope you enjoy the video.

Rachel's Baptism

This morning we are thankful for God's faithfulness. This is a video of Rachel's baptism this morning at our church, Immanuel Baptist. We praise God for drawing Rachel to himself, showing her her need for Him, and saving her through the blood of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Cross Country

Both Joel and Rachel are running cross country this year. They are both doing really well and enjoying the season. It has been good for them to train together and have the "friendly" competition of seeing who gets the best time. Cross Country is a huge event here with hundreds of children running in each race. A strong finish from Rachel.

This is the girls middle school team. Just three of them. They are all good runners and usually come in the top 50. This day they all won a medal.

A strong finish from Joel

We told Joel off for this photo. We told him he should be trying too hard to have time to look around and spy us out. He has been running harder and won a medal for 20th place at their last race. Rachel came 7th in her race.

This photo in some way shows the crowd we encounter at these races.

Creation Museum

One post I forgot to do of Mum and Ashleigh's visit was our trip to the Creation Museum. It is only an hour away from us and it is pretty impressive. The grounds are beautiful and the museum is very well done. Here are some of Anna-Marie's photos from that day.

The models are really detailed and well done.

Matthew

We didn't want to leave Matthew out so here's a few photos that Anna-Marie took of him. She had a photography lesson a while ago from a friend and wanted to practice some things. Matthew was a willing model, he got all dressed up and then marched around seminary posing for her.

School

School starts tomorrow for the kids. Dorothy Sayers changed their uniform policy on us this year so we had to go out and buy new uniforms for the girls but they do look smart. Joel has to wear this shirt and tie which makes us laugh as unlike Matthew he hates to dress up.

Joel with a funny look on his face because he is looking at his Latin book.

Lemonade Stand

It is a very American thing to have a lemonade stand at some stage in the summer. Joel and Matthew along with two of the boys from next door set this one up outside our houses. They did really well and actually made $10 each, $40 in all! They also sold 'Walking Sticks' which was just bamboo cut from a plant at seminary :-).

Abandoned Kitten

We came home one Sunday from visiting friends in hospital to find this cute little kitten in a box with some food and water at our doorstep. Someone had just left it there! We were very unsure what to do with it as one of the girls who lives with us is allergic to cats and it is not practical for us to keep it. Our neighbours were able to take it which was great as we are still able to watch it grow.