Prince William and Me!

I have been taking Anna to some stables in a village near our house and she has really loved the horses. She helps to groom the horses and ride them and so do I! I love horses so much, but havent ridden in years. It was so good to ride today... I took William out and around the village. He is a little rebel, but was so good for me. I just had to say 'stop' and he did! Im really looking forward to getting back into horse riding and taking care of them is fun too! Today was really how you picture England- riding on a horse through a gorgeous rural village and forest! I'm also on my way to YW camp tomorrow! fun fun fun!

Excitedly tired!

So tomorrow I get to meet the new children coming into my class from September... I have met some of them already and they seem really sweet. One thing is for sure this new class is going to be easier than my current class, they have been the hardest work ever, but saying that I will miss them. these last few weeks of school always go past in a haze, because there is so much to do and I cant wait to get hold of my class room and change it around.

This is my cowgirl Anna in her outfit all the way from Colorado, USA. this is at her cousin Sebastian's 4th of July Party!

So if I wasnt home sick before all this Soccer World Cup stuff is really sending me over the edge! Our adventure here in England has been a very good one, we have nothing to complain about and have so many blessings that have come our way in the form of travelling and lifestyle and careers. I am very proud of Adam and his police work which he enjoys so much and is really good at... and I love teaching here (although I think I would enjoy it just as much in SA) but Africa is part of me.. South Africa will ALWAYS be my home and I do want to live there again in the near future. that is a family goal for us... we love the security this country offers us and so we plan to keep a base here when we move back to SA, Keep our house and rent it out. We have made really good friends here and the family here has been amazing, but still Africa calls. It makes my heart ache to think about it sometimes. I Pray for Africa all the time... I love it...it is home.

But for now I know our lives are here and we continue the adventure with eager excitement! Here are some pictures from our advntures thus far...
In April We wnet home for our big holiday because we missed it so much. This is Hermanus beach. One of our favourite places.

In the Crags near Plettenberg Bay we went to the elephant sanctuary where Anna loved walking with the elephants and was bitterly dissapointed to realise she couldnt take one home!While near Plett, we stayed at Wild Spirit lodge, which lived up to its name...I really could have stayed there for a month! And Anna loved living in her swimming costume, barefoot and exploring.

A wonderful day out with Really old friends... like primary school!!! It was sooo interesting to catch up on everyones lives and so easy to slip right back into old friendships


Anna got really close to her cousin Julliette and they had a wonderful time. This was taken on our fisrt day together in Noordhoek.

Just for me...

So I'm reading through these wonderful blogs others have set up and I think to myself, "I tried that, didnt I?" and then I found my pitiful excuse for a blog with like 4 posts on it and decided I'm going to do it again, but for me, so if anyone does read this and think, " What is she talking about?" its because this will be my version of recording my life. (Im terrible at keeping journals) Life has been pretty good lately. Over Christmas and through winter I was very homesick for SA, and going home for an extended holiday in April (thanks to the ash cloud over iceland ;) did not help the situation as we had such a wonderful time and remembered why SA is the best place, for us, in the world. But as I said now that I know that one day I will again live in africa helps me to enjoy what I have here in England. And the weather has been beautiful... sunny days and lots of time spent in the garden and parks... England has such a stunning beauty its unreal. I lie in bed at night with the windows wide open and stare at the blue sky (at 10.30pm) and my beautiful blood red roses in the back garden. I quite like having a garden, even my strawberries ar growing nicely!
Family home evening this summer... a walk near home.

Summer so far..

We have been having a lovely time with Mark, Traci, Geoff and Shona and ALL 7 kids:) with Grandparents intow too, of course! This last weekend we spent a wonderfully, gloriously sunny day in one of my favourite British Towns, Stratford- upon- Avon. (Shakespears town)

The cousins had a fabulous time running around and we all enjoyed a mid morning boat cruise down the Avon river.

This is Geoff and Shona, with Thomas Luke and baby Adam... on the boat.

Cousin Caleb with his signature smile:)

Best of friends- Cousins Luke, Emma, Anna and Thomas!

Baby Jack (Cracker jack)
Us!

We also had a lovely trip to Althorp and little Brington a village near our Town... It was a beautiful day and I just loved watching all the cousins play...again:)

Moving Day is coming!!!

You know that post I made AGES ago about us buying a new house... well we finally get to move into it on the 12 August... In 1 week! We are so excited and cant wait to get in there. We are definately in shopping mode and I'm hitting Ikea tomorrow...YAY! We have been having a nice summer so far, spending lots of time with family... Mark and Traci and Emma And Jack are here so we have been busy bees, visiting the sealife centre and parks, and museums.

Tonight we had an Enrichment activity where we watched the Emma Smith movie, it was really amazing and just made me realise how blessed we are, especially me. I feel like I am Over blessed, and next time I think I'm having a trial, I need to put that dvd on and think again!

PS. there are actual relevant pictures to follow, I just can't resist putting in a cute one of Anna as there are Sooooo many!!!

Some more travels...

In April this year we had and awsome week long trip to France. First we drove to dover and caught the ferry over the channel to Buologne in France. We headed straight for Paris and got to our hotel in good time- 3 hrs, ( after passing 3 toll gates!) Our hotel was nice- like a holiday inn, but in a really dodgy neighborhood outside the city. we soon found out how to manouvre the busses and metro though and were on our way to PARIS... Pics = on the way to dover, and leaving the port looking at the white cliffs.

We loved going to all the landmarks in Paris and the weather was amazing... Notre dame and the eiffel tower were so beautiful and we loved relaxing in the park under the eiffel tower. we found a lovely park to have lunch in just across from Notre dame and finally got home to our hotel room where Anna snuggled up and watched... yes you guessed it winnie the pooh... what else?