Adam and Jess

Prince William and Me!

2010-07-28T13:22:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-07-13T15:12:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-07-04T14:08:00.000-07:00

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...

2010-07-01T16:09:00.000-07:00

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..

2009-08-10T12:07:00.000-07:00

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!!!

2009-08-05T14:28:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-06-21T12:40:00.000-07:00

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?

France part 2!

2009-06-20T17:00:00.000-07:00

On our second day in Paris we hit le louvre! it is so amazing and you dont realise how big- my favourite part was the shopping centre underneath it... of course! we also went to Sacre ceour and Had to carry Anna's pram up all those stairs before we found a cable car thingy, NOT fun! Anna had a good time singing and dancing with an entertainer on the steps of Sacre ceour! We also walked down the le Champs ellysees and across the street which is death defying in itself, to the Arc du triumph! It was an amazing time in Paris... Then we set off on our roadtrip again... ready for the toll roads which there were loads of again!

Ok last France post, promise!

2009-06-20T16:02:00.000-07:00

The best part of our France trip was going to Normandy and seeing the ww2 d-day beaches. It was very emotional but also beautiful areas at the same time. we walked on the desolate beaches and its amazing to see what has been left behind there! we also enjoyed the little seaside towns dotted all up the coast with those amazing crepe cafes! we also visited some of the ww2 graveyards and even though I didnt know anybody in there it was so sad and Adam and I were quite grateful for the place we live in and the lives we have! We stayed in a lovely b&b and even though it rained most of the time I loved looking at the old cottages and places all up this coast- we also had the best pizza of our lives in a back alley resturant in a village in normandy! the pics are of the d-day beaches and places we saw. hope you enjoyed this update:) Adam took the one of Anna and I from inside a ww2 barge left on the beach!

We are getting a house!!!

2009-06-11T14:24:00.001-07:00

About 2 mnths ago we went to see this house and completely fell in love with it. perfect 3 bedroom, real wood floors, conservatory, amazing house... We made an offer and it was accepted- yay no. one. Then we asked for £60 000 from the police housing scheme as a deposit and waited and waited and waited and finally they said yes- yay no. 2! then we very nicely asked halifax for the rest of the money and theuy said yes- yay no. 3! and now all the surveys are being done and the lawyers are handling the papers and we should be in by july- yay no. 4!!! So needless to say we are very excited and i cant wait to get in there and 'do up' the house. and an old school friend who is studying design is designing a room for anna as her project and said she will send me the designs!!! I haven't seen them yet but knowing her I know they will be amazing. So there are alot of yays going on today! Oh and my Anna banana is getting too cute, this morning she came through tom my bedroom and pointed to Adams scriptures and said, 'mommy, read the jesus book to me' I then proceeded to tell her the story of Noahs ark (it was 6.50am, ok) She interupted me and said, 'no, mommy tell me Jesus story' so I told her that jesus told noah to...and well you know the rest! I wont lie, I think I have the cutest frikken child ever. PS the pics are of our first place here in uk and the green belt right outside it where we liked to have picnics in summer. Anna and her cousins are playing.

Our travels in the big big world!

2009-06-10T15:26:00.000-07:00

So my first time overseas was when we moved here to the UK at 22 years old, but since being here we have done a bit more traveling. We have been to Wales, Greece and France. These pics are from Greece, we were there in august 2008 and absolutely loved the island of Crete. The weather was amazing, very similar to Namibia except with the amazing, turqouse mediteranean ocean!!! Anna had a wonderful time in the sea and the pool, we had a hard time getting her out:) The water is soooo perfect there and you coild literally stay in the sea all day. We didnt just tan and swim though, we did take in some history and culture ofcourse. And besides, its not like I tan anyway... the Greek ladies absolutely loved Anna and wouldnt believe we were from South Africa because we weren't black!!! On one of our advntures we gave an old greek man a ride down the mountain to the next village for a festival they were having... he was very sweet and speaking the whole time- not that we understood a word:) I would love to go back there someday- when we have seen more of the rest of the world.

Haven't we come a long way?

2009-06-08T13:38:00.000-07:00

Christmas 2006 in Namibia- Anna the 6mnth bump!

Anna at 7 mnths old...when we arrived in UK.

Adam and I about 2 weeks after meeting.

I was just looking at some old pictures and thinking to myself, " where does the time go?" I cant believe what a little buddha my child was and how young Adam and I looked only 4 yrs ago... I know we not exactly old now, but it feels like a lifetime ago. We have really been blessed throughout our lives but especially in the last few years and I think about that every day. So since this Blog is a form of Journal for me (Im absolutely terrible at keeping a real one) here is a quick runthrough of the past few years. with lots and lots of pictures.

Just another school day!

2009-06-04T14:44:00.001-07:00

OK so I am really inspired with this whole blogging thing, and love reading other peoples- especially carla's- they are always good for a laugh! Things have been really hectic at school this week, we had 2 inspections and I was observed today... so there I was praying that my darling 4 and 5 yr olds would all co-operate and behave and GET the lesson which was all about addition using the plus sign! They were very good and all managed to get through the day without any projectile vomiting!!! yay- always a good day when that happens- they made me look very good... with only a little bribery I might add. Now its just reports, and assessments left- fun fun fun... I also have a spider, 3 wood lice and about 10 ants roaming around in my classroom as the kids went on a mini beast (our topic) hunt and very thoughtfully brought them in and put them in the habitat box all by themselves(forgetting the lid)so I had to ask the cleaner to be VERY thorough with the vacuum cleaner today :)then I cae home and started to tell my father in law all about my day and my angelic child (who was watching winnie the pooh)turned to me and said' "shhh mommy, no speak to grandad" apparently I was to loud and she couldnt hear roo! who knows what will happen tomorrow?

Buttercups baby!

2009-05-31T12:28:00.000-07:00

O.K. This really means summer is here, when I wish for cooler weather in England!!! We had an amazing day today in the Buttercup meadow in a village bordering our town. It was beautiful to see, smell and sit in. Anna loved running around the buttercups with her friend Jasmin and we loved watching her. She seems to get cuter and cuter everyday! She also seems to get more and more like a toddler... not as much fun for mommy and daddy.I am definitely looking forward to spending summer at home with her and doing up the house. We are really looking forward to Mark, Traci, Emma and Jack joining us this summer, and Anna and Emma being able to play together... 2 girls against 5 boys seems hardly fair tho:) After the next few hectic weeks it will be lovely to be on holiday for a full 7 weeks! Reports are due soon and we are having school inspections and observations, so no pressure!!!
Even though I complain, I do love it. We are also really looking forward to my mom coming here and I wish the time would hurry up till she is here.

A Day in the sun...no lies!

2009-05-30T16:00:00.000-07:00

Well the last few days have been the most amazing summer weather...and believe me you notice it a lot more here. We have been out and about and today we had a lovely braai and rugger day. Anna loved playing in the pool with her cousins and had to be dragged out at about 7.15pm! Adams been loving being a policeman and comes home everyday with a new story... his best days are when he gets assaulted... for some reason he finds that exciting? I am very proud of him though as he has flown through his training and had many good things said about his policing style! I am back at work full time too and loving teaching reception. They are the 4-5 year olds and its the equivalent of teaching grade 1 in South Africa. It is definitely my age group!!! Anna enjoys her school, and goes for 1 day a week, the rest of the week she is with her grandma and grandad... who she loves very much! We also can't wait for 'Amien' to get here from Cape Town...Anna's other granny! We will have lots to show her:)

I'm a cool kid now!

2009-05-30T15:26:00.000-07:00

Hey all, finally I have decided That I'm sick of looking at everyone else's cool blogs and not having one for myself... so in true Jessica form I whinged till somebody showed me how to do it, and here I am. I feel very cool now and can't wait to start putting all our stories on here! So here goes!Firstly I want to sat a big Hello to all my friends and loved ones back in S.A. I have been getting very homesick lately and just wanting to smell cape town again and feel the dust on my feet- weird I know but there is no dust in england... it's never dry enough! Today was wonderful though as we had real S.A. weather and the Super 14 rugby final and a killer braai- So I am little miss happiness again! We are really loving our lives here in England, even though we miss home. Adam and I both have jobs we love and we get to travel alot! But I will add some more on our travels later.