Letter to Richard - 9 March 2015 (Last one!!!)

Dear Richard

This may be the last letter I write to you! Possibly ever, if you stay living in Cape Town ;)

Last week Tuesday was the hottest day ever recorded in Cape Town! They started recording temperatures in 1915, and in that that it’s never been that hot! You can be glad you missed that one :) But last year the hottest day of the year was apparently 11 April, which is why I got to swim on my birthday for the first time ever, so we may still have some hot weather to come. But you’ll be so used to the heat you’ll probably feel cold when you get home!

I got quite a bit of work done on my lit review last week, taking what I’ve done so far and making it all flow in a logical way. And then I put together a presentation on it and presented at an academic forum today, to all of my colleagues. It was good to go through the process of presenting it to get it into a more logical order, and the presentation was useful, in terms of getting feedback. There was mixed response, and I’ll meet with my supervisor next Monday after we’ve both had a chance to think about it, to try and nail down my research question. And I think that by the end of this week I’ll have a pretty decent draft of my lit review to give him to read and review as well!

That’s actually pretty much been the story of my week – I even spent evenings and a lot of Saturday working on it all, so I don’t have much else to tell :( But on Saturday I also took Josh to a party (and worked in the car while he watched a movie with his friends) and we braaied with Mom and Dad on Saturday evening. But that’s about as far as the excitement goes! What was also nice though was that we had more time at home over the weekend that we usually have, and the kids actually got to play with their toys really nicely. So often we’re home for such short periods that they don’t get to play and use their toys, so it was really gratifying :)

We had a really nice lesson in Sunday School yesterday. We spoke about Matthew 11:28-30, and I got the class to read it on their own and then just give their insights, and used that as a platform for the discussion that used the entire time! And what was also great is that we had a couple people in the class that haven’t come for a while, and every single person contributed :) I really love my calling, and we’re so looking forward to having you join us!

And that’s really about it… Not a very exciting week, but busy none the less. And this week we’re having Joshua’s birthday party (early so that he can have a swimming party) and then we’re going to take the kids to Ratanga Junction, using a special they’re running for one day only for R50 per ticket! And all 3 kids are fitting into the same height bracket for most of the stuff, so they can go on things together – they’re going to have so much fun! But we’ll tell you about that when you’re home!

Can’t wait to see you!!!

Shelly

Letter to Richard - 2 March 2015

2 March 2015

Dear Richard

So this is probably the last letter that I’ll send to you, although I’ll still write on the last 2 Mondays and give them to Mom and Dad to give to you in Joburg, in case you want to read them on the plane or something ;)

It’s been a busy week, as always. A few highlights though… One big one was that Josh was chosen as one of 5 in his class, with the other 4 being girls, to go and show their good work to Mr van Vuuren :) I’m so proud of him! And he seemed pretty please about it too, which I’m pleased about ;) And I went to help with IRP again last week, and Josh did SO much better than last time! When it was time for me to go home again at the end he looked up from his work, gave me a small smile, and then carried on working. HUGE progress!

We’ve been going to the library very regularly recently, and the kids now know the drill so well that they want to scan and stamp their own books! I’m just so glad that they love reading so much :)

Over the weekend we hosted the birthday party of Bernard’s Joshua, because we have more space and a bigger pool. So it was really only church friends anyway, and it was quite pleasant. And then on Sunday he got baptised after church. Just one more year till our Joshua gets baptised!

As a family we’ve had a few missionary moments this past week. One of Hannah’s friends asked her mom if she could come to church with us, so yesterday Micayla came along. It’s her first time ever at a church, and her mom says she’s actually going to try ours, and a few others among the group of friends, but Hannah must be talking positively about church to her friends to even have created a desire to come and try ours, and ours was first as well :) Considering it was her first time ever in a church I think she did remarkably well, and it seems she enjoyed it, so I hope that she’ll decide to come back :) Because of the baptism after church her mom came to fetch her at the chapel, and I also got to show her around the building a bit, and she was impressed with it :)

Then I also gave a Book of Mormon to some parents, as a follow up on some questions they asked when they came to Caleb’s party, and the dad said he’d have a look at it, and was quite open to it. And then I also was able to open with prayer at our Governing Body meeting that we had last week. At our previous meeting I asked why we don’t open our SBG meetings with prayer, considering we open all of the parent meetings with prayer, and the other SGB members were open to it, and so this time I got to pray, and I think we had a really good meeting :)

We’ve had very intense heat today, and expected for tomorrow, and there is a huge fire raging on the Table Mountain range, probably one of the biggest in the history of Cape Town! There have even been some homes burned down :( But our firefighters are doing amazing work as always! But unfortunately there is going to be some scarring on the mountain :(

Following last week’s FHE lesson we gave out the first pocket money on Saturday, and the kids have done pretty well with doing their chores :) We’ve even had things like them arguing about tidying up toys, but the argument has been that the others were doing it without the one, and they all wanted to be involved ;) Now that’s the kind of arguing I can handle :) And for this week’s FHE we had mom tell us about her childhood, which was really nice to hear about for the kids.

So that’s about it! We’re so looking forward to seeing you soon! The kids are very excited, although expect them to be shy around you initially, especially Caleb who really doesn’t know you. But they’ll soon get over it, and you’ll get to know them all over again :)

Love you lots!

Shelly

Letter to Richard - 23 February 2015

Dear Elder Powrie

This is probably the last letter that you’ll get from me! The last few I’ll print and give to Mom and Dad to give to you in Joburg :) But I’m very glad to hear that you’re still having a great time and sound totally committed, but then I wouldn’t expect anything else from you ;)

Caleb was still sick on Tuesday, so he stayed home again, but it was just as well that I couldn’t really do any work, because I was also struggling with a bad cold, and my eyes were still struggling to focus, so it was really a blessing in disguise. But thankfully on Wednesday he was back at school and I could get back to some work. I made some progress on my literature review, and I also met with another of my colleagues who did a really good quality Masters thesis to get some tips and pointers.

Josh made really great progress this past week! He now has asked me to come to fetch him later every day, so he’s completely wanting to be there :) And in the mornings I’m walking a bit away from the line before the bell goes, he usually comes with me, but then he has to walk back to the line on his own, and we’ll wait outside the fence and watch him go into his class. He’s doing so well!!! One of the days I fetched him first, and then when we fetched Hannah and Caleb all 3 kids wanted to play in the playground at the school, and it was like a reunion! They all had such a fun time together, just like last year :)

And one really cool thing that happened was that Josh was looking for a specific toy, and both he and I couldn’t find it in any of the usual places. So I told him we’d look for it tomorrow. And then a while later he came to me, and he had found it! When I asked him what happened he said that he had said a prayer, and then he was able to find it :) I am so proud of him! That was completely unprompted from me, and he got his prayer answered as well! What an awesome faith building experience for a child :D

We did all of our visiting teaching last week, but the rounds are changing again in March, so it might actually be our last time visiting some of these sisters :( We’ve had a really great time visiting these special sisters, Sis Audrey, Heleen, and the Cerffs. I hope that we don’t get changed just yet…

Saturday was a hectic day! At the end of last year I bought some Groupon tickets for Bugz Playpark, at a nice discount, but Caleb couldn’t go on most of the rides until he turned 3, so we had to wait until after his birthday, and the tickets were only valid till this weekend, so we grabbed our one opportunity and took the kids. Bugz is a really great place to take the kids, with lots of stuff for them to do, and they had a great time! But they were exhausted by the time we left just after lunch! Then we went almost straight to a stake sports activity at the mission office. It was pleasant, but the kids were overtired, so they were very clingy, and I didn’t get to socialise very much, but then I was also pretty wiped, so I wasn’t really in the mood for socialising anyway. But the stake seems to be coming together nicely now :) Oh, and we ran into Elder Cossey, who apparently shared your room at the MTC, and he was really excited to hear about you. He said that you should stop by the mission office on the Thursday morning and you can say hi ;)

My Sunday School class is being decimated during this week! 3 members of the class are leaving the ward, and Leon has been called as the WML, so he’ll be going to the gospel principles class every week now. But at least you’ll be coming home soon, so that will be someone extra :) And we’ve got a YSA who’s in the GP class for a bit longer and then she’ll be coming over. And what it does mean is that the class will be that little bit smaller, so the quiet people who are left will be forced to talk a little bit more, which will always be good :) We had the lesson on Matthew 5 this past week, and there is way too much to discuss in a single lesson, so what I actually decided to do was give the class a couple minutes at the beginning to choose which verses they would like to discuss, and we had a really nice discussion based on that :)

For FHE yesterday was spoke to the kids about work and self-reliance, and then introduced our first pocket money system. The kids were so excited to do some things to earn money this morning that they woke up before me and they had made their beds and gotten dressed before I was even up! Hopefully we can keep the excitement going for a while ;)

So that’s about it! But a good week overall :) I’m just SO glad that Caleb is finished his antibiotic! We wasted hours last week, literally, getting it into him! But he’s on the mend, and everyone else has manageable colds, so we’re all good, really :)

Love you lots!

Shelly

Letter to Richard - 16 February 2015 (Caleb's 3rd birthday)

16 February 2015

Dear Richard

I was having a very blond 20 minutes when I wrote to you last week… I didn’t greet you at the beginning, and then I forgot Caleb’s birthday and said that the next one will be Joshua… Very embarrassing! So Caleb’s birthday was Sunday, and we had his party for his school friends on Saturday morning, and our little baby is now officially 3 years old! He is just so full of character, it is unbelievable! But shame, he was sick for his birthday, and today we finally found out that he has tonsillitis. He has such a high pain threshold that even when Mom had just looked at his tonsils and seen that they were all inflamed he still insisted that he wasn’t sore anywhere! So it’s very hard to know if there’s something wrong with him, because it seems to just not really affect him. Just as well with how often he’s hurting himself ;)

The other big news story last week was that I had the laser surgery on my eyes, and I can’t believe how I’m seeing without anything to assist me :) To be honest it was pretty terrifying, but that was because I didn’t know exactly what was going to happen, but it was very quick (10 minutes total) and the effects are amazing. If anyone is going I would suggest they need to speak to someone who’s had it done to find out exactly what it’s going to feel like and be like before they have it done! But I am glad I had it done :D

Josh did his first oral at school, and it seems that he did really well :) I taught him a memory trick to help him remember the 6 things he had to say about himself, and he was able to remember them really confidently, and he was so pleased to come home and tell me he’d done it! And today I stood right by the fence to say goodbye to him. Tomorrow I’ll stand outside the fence :)

I carried on working on my literature review, and I’m up to 5 000 words now :) I am planning on using the lit review part of my thesis to do a journal paper, and in preparation for that to present it at a conference in June/July. I submitted the abstract for the conference this weekend, so that’s done at least :)

At Caleb’s party we had a chance to answer some questions about temples and the Angel Moroni statues on them, because of the pictures in our lounge. There is no quick way to explain why we have statues of Moroni on the temples, not that I could figure out on the spur of the moment anyway ;) But it was nice anyway :)

I’m falling asleep here, because of a few really bad night’s sleep with Caleb, plus I’m also struggling with a cold, so I think that will be it for today :) But you get the gist of the week ;)

Love you lots!

Shelly

Letter to Richard - 9 February 2015

9 February 2015

This last week I did quite a bit of work on my literature review for my Masters, and I finally got all the paper work sorted out to register and paid most of my fees. It’s really nice getting a 75% staff discount :) I’ve more or less got a structure now for my lit review, but it’s definitely hard going, slogging through all the literature!

Josh made good progress during the week. On Tuesday he even asked me to fetch Hannah and Caleb first because he wanted to show them his aftercare! And by the end of the week I was pretty far from his line in the morning, with no tears, except on Thursday when I stayed to do IRP with his class, and he was all sad with me being there…?!? But he told me that afternoon that he was sad because he was anticipating having to say goodbye to me. He’s like Andrew in that way. For the last few days of his leave he’ll be all sad because he’s going back to work, instead of just enjoying the moment of being on leave. But the more we figure out Joshua’s psyche the more we can hopefully help him!

One big thing last week was that Andrew travelled for the first time, with his new position at work. It was a really intense day, because he left home at 5:20 to get to the airport to fly to Durban. Then he flew to Joburg at lunch time, and then flew back to Cape Town and arrived back home at about 8:30. Very intense, and he’s decided that he won’t do both cities in the same day again… He was actually in 3 cities in a single day, which is quite something! But the good thing for us was that the kids and I handled things at home really well. I got them to school even earlier than we’ve been managing, and the afternoon and evening also went fine. It’s a big relief to me to see that we can cope, and I’m also really glad that this has only happened now, with the kids being a little bit older.

On Saturday I attended a training session with Elder Tad R Callister, the Sunday School general president. What an inspirational session! He was talking about how we can be better teachers, learners, parents etc, and I’ve definitely got some things to think about and implement. And what was also interesting was he explained how they are planning on changing the curriculum for 2016, where from Primary to the adults we are studying the same set of chapters each week in SS, and the same gospel topics in the second hour. It sounds really exciting!

And in my class yesterday we were able to have one of our best sessions this year, and everyone participated so nicely :) It was nice to also be able to bring in some of the things from Saturday’s meeting, because the lesson was on when the Saviour called his Apostles, and one of the questions was how are we blessed when we follow the Apostles. So we could link it nicely to what we learnt from, not an apostle, but the general authorities the previous day :)

Yesterday was Jesse’s birthday party, but shame, he was sick… But the kids till enjoyed being all together, and hopefully my kids won’t get sick! The next birthday is Joshua’s and we’ll all be together then, just missing Cindy :(

But things are going nicely in general! We’re settling nicely into a routine, and one amazing thing is that we’ve managed to have the kids at school on time every single day since school started. I don’t know what’s changed exactly in the morning, except that I’m pushing Josh to really be independent and do things on his own. But things are going really nicely! And it’s exciting to be part of the next phase :)

But that’s it from us. Love you lots!

Shelly

Letter to Richard - 2 February 2015

2 February 2015

Dear Richard

We’re all pretty much healthy again :) Caleb only needed to stay home for the one day last week, and then he was back to normal, so I finally did manage to get some work done. Although there were still plenty of distractions. This week is pretty clear, so I should be able to get some really good work done now! I’ve started with reading through a couple of other masters theses that are very high quality, to get an idea of what is needed, and today I got to actually look at a bit of literature which is relevant. By the time you get home I need to be finished with my literature review and be onto the actual study.

Some of the distractions were household stuff, like doing the groceries. But we also did all of our visiting teaching and I helped Sister Pam out with a bit of stuff. And then we also had a solar geyser installed, so that was a bit of distraction with having the workers in our house. But we can see that there is less electricity being used already :) And I also went for an assessment at the Eye Laser Clinic, to see if my eyes are suitable for the laser surgery, and I’m booked for next week to have my eyes done! Very exciting :) :)

Josh has been doing really well with school :) During the week I’ve been moving further and further away from him when the bell goes, and he’s stopped crying in the morning now completely :) He’s also been playing nicely with his friends at aftercare, so on the whole he’s doing well. They had their first class swimming lesson, and he’s one of the few in the class that can swim properly, so that will also be a good boost to his confidence :) And tomorrow he does cricket for the first time, which most of his friends are doing too. Fun times ;) Josh was also invited to his first sleepover party, at a friend’s house where we do trust the parents enough to let him sleep over ;) He was fairly excited about going, and it felt very strange to not have him at home, and just be putting Hannah and Caleb to bed alone. Those two really missed him as well. I dropped him off before fetching the others, and they were so distressed at the idea of only seeing him the following morning that I had them both crying! But they did calm down, and we had a nice evening together. And then at about 9:45 I got the message that Josh actually wanted to come home to sleep. I was expecting it, but I’m really proud of him for even getting that far! And I must be honest, it was nice to get him back home and have everyone where they belong ;)

Hannah and Caleb are of course doing great. Caleb is getting so excited about his party, which is in 2 weeks. He wants it to be NOW! You’re going to have a great time getting to know this lovely little boy :)

We went to Fish Hoek on Saturday for our usual visit, and talking to everyone there I was struck again at how clear it is to see that people who live the gospel have lives that just work out better. In our family it’s harder to see the pattern, because we only have 1 person that is less-active. But in Andrew’s family there are 3 and 3, and it is so clear to see that although everyone has difficulties, the 3 that are less-active just have so much more tragedy in their lives. We truly are blessed when we live the gospel! And the January visiting teaching message is also along those lines.

‘The scriptures teach “when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated” (D&C 130:21). Our spiritual growth takes place as we draw close to God through obedience and invite the power of the Savior’s Atonement into our lives.

“As we walk in obedience to the principles and commandments of the gospel of Jesus Christ,” said Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, “we enjoy a continual flow of blessings promised by God in His covenant with us. Those blessings provide the resources we need to act rather than simply be acted upon as we go through life. … Obedience gives us greater control over our lives, greater capacity to come and go, to work and create.” ‘

If we’re not obedient we just won’t be able to get through life successfully!

For FHE this week we again used an article that I read in the Ensign during the week, this time on media standards. I also happened to come across a video on the church site that animates the story Pres Packer shared in conference recently about the house finches in the ivy outside his house who were safe from cats, but then a snake came and they weren’t safe. So we spoke about what Satan is trying to do, and why it’s bad, and what to do. I think Josh got the message, but Caleb especially was obsessed about “Saturn” and “What if Saturn tries to…” and then all sorts of funny things. But we persevere, even though our lessons often tend to disintegrate into chaos… But we take heart from Elder Bednar’s example! As long as we’re consistent, that’s the main thing! And we are getting some messages through, at least to Josh who is old enough to understand :)

And yesterday afternoon I went to the launch of the My Path to Self-Reliance program for our stake. Apparently we’re the first stake in South Africa to launch it as a stake. I think the program is really exciting, and I hope that I can be involved in some way.

I presume you know Colleen’s news…? I’ll leave that to her if you haven’t heard from some other source yet.

So a busy week, as always, but overall a good one :)

Love you

Shelly

Letter to Richard - 26 January 2015 (Start of Grade 1)

Dear Richard

Life is very different now to what it was a week ago! Josh has now started school, and he’s busy settling in, and life is pretty much back to normal, or our new normal anyway.

So Josh was having that tooth filled last week. When they finished they said that Josh was very active during the procedure while he was sedated. When his subconscious kicks in he apparently gets very restless, which is probably also linked to how he is an active learner and his body learns from doing things. Very interesting… But that is over, although the dentist had to go deeper than she had expected, and the nerve is still alive at this stage, but we need to watch it, and he might have to have the tooth removed if the nerve dies :(

And then on to the first day of school! We managed to get away really nice and early and we dropped Hannah and Caleb first and then walked Josh down. Josh was pretty excited to be in his uniform, and he enjoyed clumping his shoes all over the wooden floor and making a noise ;) We got to go into his classroom for a bit first and take photos etc, but it was actually too long for Josh, and his anxiety just got worse. It would have been better for him if he had just got straight into things. But one day we’ll learn that and prepare for it. For some reason I keep on forgetting that! :( So when it was time to leave he started crying. And it was just too much for me, and I was emotional too. And I had a terrible morning, after leaving him like that. But when I fetched him he had had a good day. And the rest of the week there were similar tears each morning. It didn’t help that he got sick as well, but I think that’s linked to how stressed he was feeling. On Friday when I fetch him he said that I need to go quickly to the gate when I leave him at the class because he stops crying when I get to the gate, so I should go quickly so that he can stop crying quicker. I asked him if that means I must leave him sooner, and he never really answered that question, but at least he’s identifying that he can do this :)

And today, Monday, was quite a bit better! He still needed me to stay and give him over to his teacher, but I didn’t have to hug him in the line, and instead of bawling, he just had a few tears to wipe away. A huge improvement! And aftercare has also been a bit of an adjustment for him. But I think he’s getting into it. And the great thing is to hear that he is starting to confidently be able to tell me how things work. And I know that once he knows the system he can start feeling comfortable being in a place, because he won’t feel unsure of how to do things. So we’re getting there!

I haven’t been able to get down to working on my research yet properly, because of having Josh with me the whole time, and then Caleb has come down with German measles so I’m having to keep him at home. This week I really need to get going! I did meet with my supervisor though and I’m feeling happy with where I go for the next bit. Now I just need to actually get some work done!

One highlight of last week was that the one evening we forgot to put a nappy on Caleb at bed time, and when he woke up his bed was still dry :) He is dry most nights, but we haven’t been brave enough to take his nappy off completely. But we’re nearly there! And then that is the end of our nappy journey, after nearly 7 years solid!

Because of Caleb’s German measles, and Joshua’s sinuses being a problem Andrew kept them both home. And in fact, Jesse also has the German measles and Rohan stayed with him. So the back pew was a girls-only club this week :) And Hannah and Amy really enjoyed having no boys around, I think ;) Caleb and Jesse are the two that are most disruptive, so I must be honest that it was a pleasure to be able to be far more attentive that usual :)

My class went really nicely this week. The class has been growing recently, although there are a number of people leaving for various reasons :( And we’ve been having really nice discussions. This lesson was on John the Baptist, his mission, and the baptism of Jesus Christ, and then also on the temptations of Jesus Christ. And we had an interesting discussion on why Jesus needed to have the experience of fasting for 40 days, and then being tempted like He was, before He started His ministry. So it came out that after that level of being weakened and then facing temptation He could probably handle most of the hardships of His ministry, other than the actual atonement, and then also the fact that He would actually be able to relate to the people, and they could relate to Him, if He had gone through the same temptations that they had. And if He could resist them, then it is possible for us to resist them. This was the first discussion that Jean-Jacq voluntarily contributed to ;) So there’s progress!

And for home evening I used the talk by Pres Uchtdorf from the April 2014 conference, Grateful in any Circumstance, to try and help Josh especially to focus on the positives in his life, despite the hard things he’s needing to do right now. I think I made some impact, but we’ll have to really see how it goes.

So that’s pretty much our week. We’re definitely into a different age and stage now, with going to big school. Even the traffic in the morning is a different experience now… But it’s all part of growing up, and it’s exciting to be a part of!

Love you lots!

Shelly

Letter to Richard - 20 January 2015

Dear Richard

This is the last week of real holiday that is now finished. Josh goes to school tomorrow and then life will be completely back to normal. But I think I've made the holiday fun, but I think he's also more or less ready to go to school tomorrow. We've got all of his uniform and stationery marked and ready, and when he helped me pack his bag this morning I think it was mainly excitement. Right now I'm actually in the waiting room at the dentist while Josh has a filling done. He's been sedated so I just have to sit and wait...

But on to the rest of the week. I had a few play dates for the kids, with friends visiting us and Josh going to play with the other Joshua Herbert. And then I took Josh to Ratanga Junction for the day as well. He was nervous of going on any rides at all, but I got him to go on quite a number in the end, and in the end I couldn't get him to leave!

Andrew took the day off on Friday and we kept Hannah and Caleb home from school for the day. We took the kids to the beach at Small Bay with the park, and for the first time ever really we had  the kids really playing in the waves and having an absolute ball. It was also really the first time they've worn their swimming costumes at the beach, and it was like it gave them licence to play in a way that they never had before! It's amazing how wearing certain clothes completely changes how you feel in different locations. And that applies in so many settings in life...

I finally realised this week one of the reasons that there are some things that we just don't seem to get to ever. We needed to actually write down what we want to achieve and then be able to tick off as we do them. So our new list includes things like sorting our food cupboard and the shelves, and doing filing, and also things like sanding and varnishing the skirting and window frames.

The kids are getting generally better behaved at church, and this past week Bro Bothwell actually came to me afterwards and complimented the kids on their behaviour! Such a pleasant change :)

I assume Mom has told you about Sis Cerff and her fall. I gave Sis Pam a lift to go and visit her last Sunday, and then this week I sat with Sis Cerff a bit so that Sis Pam could go and do some shopping. It's been good to be able to give service, but it's also so difficult to know what to do to help at times :(

And now on to the big week. Probably one of the biggest weeks of Joshua's life!

Love you lots
Shelly

Letter to Richard - 12 January 2015

Dear Richard

Life is starting to get back to normal a bit now… Hannah and Caleb went back to school on Tuesday last week, although Josh is still at home with me until next week. Hannah and Caleb have for the most part been very happy to be at school again. Caleb is in the same class, but now he’s the most experienced in the class, so he’s taken on a leadership role. Hannah is in a new class, and she’s really enjoying the experience so far :)

Josh and I have been pretty busy. He’s had to come with me to do all of the usual business stuff, like the groceries, going to gym and going to the chiropractor. But we’ve also been able to do some fun things like playing games, going to the park, and tomorrow we’re having 2 of his friends over for the day. And there’s also the last bit of getting ready for school to start! We’ve marked all of his stationery, but we still need to mark all of his uniform items and make sure they’re washed and ironed. The school sent us a count-down calendar, with activities to do every day leading up to school starting, including things like getting your uniform ready, learning mom or dad’s phone number, doing a puzzle, practicing Humpty Dumpty etc. But for a few things I’ve had to speak to Josh about how it’s not necessary to be perfect, he’s allowed to make mistakes, but he needs to keep trying… He seems to be hearing the message better when I speak to him, but he forgets in between :( But as long as he is being told often, hopefully he’ll eventually internalise it! It was also interesting though when I tried to teach him my phone number. At first I tried teaching him a little jingle with my number, but he just wasn’t interested really. But when I eventually got him to look at the pattern that the numbers make on the phone when you’re dialling, and got him to dial it himself then he remembered it, and now he can give it to me with hardly thinking! It was very interesting to see the different learning styles coming out. And now that we know that about Josh we can try and use that to our advantage a bit more :)

One of Joshua’s favourite things still is playing with Lego though. And one of the days we had the kids tidying up before bed, and he had to do the last pile of Lego on his own. So he decides to put all of the pieces together so he could pick them up together. And he ended up building a really cool rocket. I’ve come to the conclusion that there are some things that he can build with almost any combination of pieces! But he really loves being creative and building all sorts of interesting things :)

Cindy and Dom left during the week, but first they looked after the kids for us, so that we could go for some time alone. We spent part of the time choosing a new couch! It still has to be made, so we’ll probably only get it shortly before you get home, but we also then bought a single chair and a lady at Andrew’s work is making a slip-cover for us. So our lounge will be quite different :)

Saturday was the start of the hectic party scene for us again! I took Josh to a cool tobogganing party in the morning, and then Caleb to a party in the afternoon. And Hannah was invited to the ballet with one of her good friends as well! I’m just SO glad that it worked out that each child had something special to do! Josh was a bit nervous about going down fast in the toboggan, but he really got into it, wanting to control the speed himself and go faster for our last 2 rides, and he’s very keen to go to Ratanga Junction now! I’ve created an adrenaline junkie! And Hannah enjoyed her ballet, and she was acting like such a little madam when she got home, she obviously enjoyed the girlie outing ;) But apparently the parents of her friend like having Hannah around, because she’s a calming influence on Caitlin. Our daughter, Hannah…?!? ;) But it’s good to know!

Busy, busy, busy… But that’s life, isn’t it ;) And at least it’s busy in a good way!

Love you lots!

Shelly

Letter to Richard - 5 January 2015 (Christmas and New Year)

5 January 2015

Dear Richard

I’m embarrassed to say that I didn’t write to you last week (because I took Josh on a tug boat ride when I normally write to you) and I didn’t even realise that I had missed! Things have been so crazy that I just didn’t realise that the week had passed and I didn’t write to you :-o But in my defence we did speak to you on the phone, so I guess I had had my communication in my mind ;)

But it’s been a few weeks of holiday, so everything has been out of routine. I think the kids have had a good holiday. Hannah and Caleb are going back to school tomorrow, and I think they have mixed feelings. They’re happy to go back, but of course they aren’t happy that Josh isn’t going back yet… But I’ll fetch them a bit earlier than usual at least most of the days, so hopefully they’ll be okay. It will be very good for them to get back to routine though!

I had an interesting experience before Christmas. Dad asked me to help dressing the body of a lady that died. I didn’t know her, and it was my first time even being close to a dead body, let alone handling it. But I’m glad I’ve had the experience now, before I’m asked to do something with someone I know, like Sister Cerff. And it was wonderful to see the transformation in the body as she was gradually covered in the clothes and temple robes. And the Spirit was definitely there. Overall a positive experience, but not one that I’d want to have too often…

Christmas was great. We opened presents with my family and then we went over to Fish Hoek to spend the rest of the day with Andrew’s family. The kids got some great gifts, and the few days after Christmas they really enjoyed playing with all of their different gifts. It’s gratifying to see that the right gifts were chosen for them :) And of course we got to speak to you, which was great!

I taught my last lesson from the Old Testament, and my first one from the New Testament over the last 2 weeks. I enjoyed the Old Testament much more than I ever have before, but that’s what happens when you teach! And I’m SO looking forward to doing the New Testament this year and learning more about the life of the Saviour in this level of detail :D

I took the kids to spend some of their own money for the first time ever. It was interesting to see Josh and Hannah start to see that there are choices to be made, and Caleb saw some little frogs, and he was adamant that he wanted those! A very interesting experience!

Josh really enjoyed the tug boat ride. He was a bit nervous about it initially, because he didn’t know what to expect. But he was full of questions, as always, and I enjoy being with him when he’s having a new experience and asking all of his questions. I love seeing his enquiring mind J Hopefully he’ll carry on with that habit!

For New Year’s Eve we went to the Birds and spent some time with some ward members. Our kids are at a great age for playing with other kids and really being able to interact well. And it’s so great to see them playing so nicely! On New Year’s Day we had Andrew’s family over for a braai. Wayne and Louise were down, so it was a really full house, but the kids just love Wayne especially. They were all playing around in the pool, and Wayne is like a big kid, and completely full of nonsense! My kids now know how to do bomb drops, how to make waves in the pool, and how to just generally have a ball! So it was a lot of fun all round, and great to also just watch and observe :) And then on Saturday we went over to Fish Hoek and had our second Christmas dinner gathering, this time with Andrew’s entire family (28 now, spanning 4 generations). Special times :)

I’ve done quite a bit of family history over the last week or so as well, and Cindy and Dom are going to have lots of baptisms to do when they get home!

And that’s the main stuff over the last 2 weeks. Life is going to get a bit more back to normal now, which will be good! But it’s going to take me a while to really get back to some kind of routine because of being on sabbatical and having Josh with me initially. But at least there is a hint of normality coming! As much as I love the holidays, and each year it gets easier for me with the kids, I do like to have a routine.

Love you lots!

Shelly

Letter to Richard - 22 December 2014

Dear Richard

Christmas is upon us! It’s been a week of Christmas preparations, but also nice holiday family time. Andrew and I were both on leave last week, so we got to do lots of things with the kids, but also lots of housework that we don’t usually have to do. But it was good! What’s been quite nice also is that I’ve managed to carry on going to gym regularly. It’s the first time ever that I’ve been able to carry on going to gym during the December holiday, but the kids are older now, so I’m happier to impose on someone to look after them for me for a bit :)

One funny thing was that we had the Elders ring our doorbell one afternoon. I saw them at the gate, so I just opened the gate without speaking over the intercom, and then when they got around the corner to the front door it was “Oh, it’s you!” They were out tracting and hadn’t realised that we lived here. It was so funny! But we had a nice little visit with them and then they went off to do some service for the Cerffs.

We all went to the dentist on Friday morning, and it was interesting to see how the kids handled it. Very telling of their personalities, I think ;) They all wanted us to go first, so they got to see both Andrew and I sitting in the chair. Then Caleb volunteered to go next! It was his first time ever at the dentist, so it was amazing that he was so willing. I sat in the chair and he sat on my lap. Then Josh still didn’t want to go, but Hannah was willing to go, and she sat on her own in the chair very bravely. Last year she wouldn’t open her mouth, but this year she was great! Then Josh was finally willing to sit in the chair, but he wanted me to sit with him. He was happy to open his mouth and do everything that he needed to do, but he wanted that bit of security of having me there. He also has a small cavity developing in a tooth that he’ll likely have for a few more years, so we need to go back in the new year to have that sorted out. But nothing too serious really for any of us :)

The kids are really enjoyed having Cindy and Dom here, well we all are. We’ve had them with us quite a bit. We all went to the beach on Saturday, which they love sharing with Cindy, Dom, Granny and Grandpa.

We had a cool home evening lesson yesterday. I found some cut-outs with the characters of the Nativity story, and then while I read the story from the scripture stories the kids moved the cut-outs to act out the story. I was hoping to help them make the story real in their minds, and I think they enjoyed it :)

We also then took the kids to see the Christmas lights last night, and they’re just so excited about anything new and exciting, it’s so lovely to see their enthusiasm and share it!

And now it’s the final countdown to Christmas, and our last call to you as well. It’s going to be a great week!

Love you

Shelly

Letter to Richard - 15 December 2014 (start of the holidays)

15 December 2014

Dear Richard

Christmas is just about upon us! As of Friday I’m on leave, and actually I’m on leave from teaching until June 2015! When I was closing up my office on Friday it meant taking all of the food, water bottles and plants home that I’ve got there. Quite a substantial feeling! I’ll still be going in during my sabbatical, but I’ll be mainly at home, so this will become my office for the 6 months.

I spent time working on my topic and research question for my masters, and also building an excel workbook that the Head of Department asked me to develop. Then it was also our year end function on Friday afternoon, and on Thursday we had the Christmas party for the kids at my work. The party was in the morning, so I ended up having the kids with me for the whole day, because of course they wouldn’t want to go back to school for the afternoon… But they had lots of fun, and I actually then took them afterwards to my friend’s house to meet her new puppy and to have a swim in her pool. A really fun day! Then I took Josh to see the aftercare at the school, where I’ve been able to arrange for him to go next year as well.

But the big thing last week was really Joshua having his last day at his school. He’s been at that school for 4 years, so it really is a big thing for him to move on now. But he’s definitely ready! Because I know that he’ll be coming back very often next year I wasn’t too emotional, and I think he’s fine too. It’s going to be really hard for me when Caleb finishes off!

We’re nearing the end of the New Testament stories now, and we’ve been reading about the Easter week. It’s been so nice reading with the kids about things like the crucifixion, but then being able to discuss how even though bad people killed Jesus he’s stronger and more powerful than them, so He was able to come alive again, and Satan will never win! I’m really looking forward to teaching the New Testament next year, and having lots of opportunities to discuss it :) But then I am just loving teaching my class and teaching from the scriptures in general :D The other day I had been preparing my lesson on Daniel, Shadrech etc, and Esther and I was sitting at the table with the kids while they ate supper (Andrew was out somewhere) and I was telling them the stories. Hannah especially was riveted! But all 3 of them were really fascinated, and it was so nice to be able to discuss with them :)

Saturday was busy, with all 3 kids being invited to Josh’s best friend’s birthday party, and then the ward Christmas party. Way too much junk food for the day! But the kids had fun ;) And then on Sunday, with Cindy arriving home, we had a small party as a family. So you can just imagine how the kids were by the end of that! But they were so excited to have Cindy and Dom here! We were all supposed to go over at 4:00, and we delayed them as long as possible, but eventually at 3:20 we couldn’t anymore! Just imagine how they’re going to be when you’re coming home!

And then today was the first day of holiday, and so far so good :) I think this holiday is going to be easier than the previous ones, and they’ll get progressively easier from here, but here’s hoping it carries on well ;)

Love you lots

Shelly

Letter to Richard - 8 December 2014

Dear Richard

Things are starting to slow down, which is MUCH needed! Work is definitely slowing down, to the extent that on Thursday I actually didn’t even go to work because I had so many personal things to do, but that was okay! We got all of our visiting teaching done in the afternoon, and I was visited in the afternoon (which means that all of my 2014 visiting teaching is all done :) ) and then saw an accounting client and I also got uniform stuff for Joshua – I only need to get shoes for him, and then he’s all kitted out! And he’s in the yellow house, so different to all of you guys… And we also went for our annual biokineticist assessment.

The big event was a Teaching and Learning conference on Friday. I presented on a similar thing to the T&L conference in October, and it went well again. I got some very positive feedback, and this time the conference was a national one, so there were 100 or so delegates from universities all over the country, so that was very gratifying :) And Ilse, my friend, was the one who organised the entire conference, and it went amazingly well! Everyone was very impressed :)

Saturday morning was the kids’ swimming gala, and they all did great, especially Josh! Hannah and Caleb both cried about going into the water, because it was colder than the water they’re used to swimming in at home or at their lessons. But they did their swims anyway. And Josh just jumped in and swam when he needed to, and he did well! His teacher actually wants to move him to the school pool for his lessons from January. That’s going to make life challenging, but he’s ready! I can definitely see that he’s ready for Grade 1 now, which is so wonderful :)

The only bad things really from last year were the continuous blackouts, which are apparently going to be with us for a few years at least, and then the lady that we had arranged for Joshua’s aftercare told us that she can’t have him anymore. At this late stage that’s not at all ideal, but things have always worked out for the best for us and our children, and we had been having doubts about it being the right place for Josh, so it was a blessing that she took the decision out of our hands. So now it’s figuring out what’s best and what Heavenly Father wants for our family.

Yesterday we did our family home evening lesson on manners and respect. We’re trying to teach the kids more respect, and with a 2 year old who is very strong-willed it is very challenging, but I think he’s old enough now that we can really start reasoning with him, and getting through to all the kids more effectively. The really fun thing yesterday though was having most of Andrew’s family, and Mom and Dad, over for a carols evening, similar to the ones we’ve gone to in Simon’s Town in the past. It was the first time we’ve done something like that with Andrew’s family, and they all enjoyed it :)

Just 1 week left of school and work, and then we’ll all be on holiday for a bit, and hopefully get some good rest! Good luck with your new companion ;) Exciting times ahead!

Love you

Shelly

Letter to Richard - 1 December 2014 (Joshua's graduation)

Dear Richard

It’s that day of the year again when we say “Is it really December already?!?!?” Yet again, the year has just flown by!

Last week was results week at varsity, so it was all about finalising the results, and then they got released on Thursday afternoon. That’s the one day of the year that you try to make sure that you’re not on campus! It’s great to see all the excited students, but those who are disappointed need time to gather their thoughts before they come and speak to us, so it’s not productive for us to be around then. And even this week I’ve had some students coming and asking what do they do now… And there are so many reasons that students don’t do as well as they should have. It could be lack of ability or effort, or circumstances beyond their control. In some ways it’s similar to people’s ability to live the gospel. In fact one of the talks from the Women’s session of conference reminded me again of the analogy that I’ve used before where the Lord sets the standards and so we need to comply, just like a university sets the requirements for students to enter the university and then also to graduate with a degree. So baptism could be our entering the university, and then qualify for exaltation would be getting the degree. But we can’t customise the requirements to suit us – we have to qualify according to the standards set. And the gospel is the same.

I think I really have finally finished all of the stuff for the 2 textbooks now… More ancillary material just keeps on popping up, but I think we’ve done everything now for both books. I’ll be really glad when it all gets signed off, and we can focus on other things for a few years :)

I went to a follow up talk on parenting, this time of discipline and rewards. Lots to think about again… Remind me to share it with you when you’re at that stage ;)

And the big event last week was really Joshua’s graduation! The school puts a lot of effort into the graduation ceremony. The kids learn a whole lot of songs that they sing for us, and they wear special gowns, and they each get called up to receive a certificate and medal and have a photo taken, and then lots of eats afterwards. It’s so nice to be part of a school where the children are really part of a family, and now I’ll be part of making things work well, and hopefully helping the school to move forward :) You’ll get to come to Hannah’s and Caleb’s graduations too :D

Andrew went to the Young Men’s camp on Friday night, and also did a short presentation for them on Saturday morning. It was much better for us at home, compared to the last time he went away… But then the kids are that much older, and it seems like there might be a bit of a shift with the early waking of Hannah and Caleb! :) This morning all 3 kids were still sleeping at 6:30 which is just UNHEARD of! I’m hoping they’ll start sleeping more normal hours ;) So on Friday night we went to McDonalds, and we actually ran into one of the girls in Joshua’s class and her parents and ended up eating with them. So it was actually me chatting to them, and the kids playing on the jungle gym. They’re also very faith-driven people, so it was really nice chatting to them :) And then on Saturday morning we did lots of playing in the morning, and then when Andrew got home it was a quick exchanging of Joshua, for Andrew to take him to a party, and I took Hannah and Caleb with me to the RS Christmas party, which was really nice.

Then Saturday afternoon we had a braai for Andrew’s birthday, so we had a full house! But it was nice to all be together, and I was getting Amy to be pretty adventurous in the pool! Of course, we’ll see how much she trusts me next time ;)

My lesson on Sunday was quite nice. It was only Alecia and Chante in the class, and the lesson was on temples, but neither of them has ever been to the temple, even to do baptisms. So we looked at the lesson material a bit, but a lot of the time was more open discussion, and answering all sorts of questions, which was really nice! It’s so nice to be able to have that space to be able to discuss the gospel like that.

So that’s more or less my week. It’s just 2 weeks left of work and school, and then life gets all turned upside down… But I think it’s going to be nice :) And we’re definitely looking forward to talking to you!

Love you lots

Shelly

Letter to Richard - 24 November 2014

Dear Richard

A busy week last week. The highlight was Josh’s Grade 1 orientation. He was all excited, but then when Mr van Vuuren was explaining what was going to happen he realised that he’d be going without us to meet his teacher. Then he started getting a bit upset and anxious. And as the names started being read it turned out that he was in the last class to be called, so he was sitting getting more and more anxious. I prayed with him, but he was still sitting with tears in his eyes. But when his name finally was called he immediately got off my lap and went off without even looking back! And then a couple other kids from his class this year also got called, and then he actually cheered up. But I was so impressed with how he was able to go and do what he needed to do, even though it was obviously difficult for him! :) My boy is growing up! And so he’s in Mrs Thomas’ class, who’s the grade head. I am so glad that he’s got an experienced teacher as well, because he will struggle to adjust next year, and he needs a teacher who will understand his personality. So on the whole a very positive experience!

We’ve had power problems this last week. Over the weekend there were rolling blackouts, but on Wednesday when I got to work the power was off in my building, and it turned out that with all of the construction work being done on campus they damaged some power cables! Just a bad week! But we at least had power the whole day today.

We’ve pretty much finished our Christmas shopping now. I did a bit of shopping for Andrew the day that I eventually left work early because of no power, and then on Friday Andrew and I took the day off and did everything we need to do together. We bought some clothes for Andrew to give to me, and it was a matter of traipsing from shop to shop at China Town. In our 10 years of marriage this was actually the first time that we’ve done a shopping expedition like that. But we did find quite a few nice items, but now I have to wait until Christmas to get them!

We had our first proper meeting of the school governing body last week, and we allocated all of the roles. I’m the secretary, and I’ve got the education portfolio and a couple other things. I’m quite excited about how this is going to work out :)

This weekend was stake conference, and you should have had the same conference as us on Sunday :) So you know what a great session that was, although I need to re-watch it because the kids, especially Caleb, were giving me a really hard time :( But what I did hear from it was really great. And on Saturday we had our local meetings. Andrew was doing training and giving a talk on Saturday, so on Friday night he was up really late working on them. But they went great as always. Things are coming together nicely in our stake now :)

And on Sunday afternoon we put up our Christmas tree for family home evening. Mom came over, but the kids were so excited that they actually couldn’t wait until she got here… So lots of excitement, and since then they’ve been playing a game where one of them goes into the play room and gets a couple toys while the others pretend to be sleeping on the couch, and then the toys get put under the tree and the child runs to the passage to hide behind the door frame, and then the others wake up to get their presents. So cute!

I’ve got a lot of family history done over the last week, entering the 30 pages onto family search. Quite a few names that can have temple work done :) And something else I’ve been doing all the time is listening to general conference while I’m driving to or from work. I’ve gone through all of conference 1 ½ times already :)

So that’s it for this week. I was telling the kids everything that’s happening this coming week, and it’s going to be crazy again! But we’ll survive ;)

Love you lots

Shelly

Letter to Richard - 10 November 2014

10 November 2014

Dear Richard

Last week was a lot of marking again, this time for the second year exam. I'll still be busy most of this week with it. I am looking forward to being finished with marking! I also got to work on my supp a bit and more or less finalised the results for students.

But what was great was that Andrew and I went to watch Jeeves and Wooster at Theatre on the Bay on Tuesday which was great fun! I had read the book that the play was based on, but seeing how the stage was used and the characters, really brilliant!

We've been having pretty good behaviour from the kids lately. Not perfect of course, but all 3 have been doing pretty well, which is such a relief :) I hope this is the start of an overall good stage ;)

The weekend was really intense! There was hardly anytime that we weren't doing something :( But it was mostly good stuff at least :) On Friday evening we went to Kirstenbosch for a picnic and firefly walk with the ward. Andrew's family and a few other people joined us too. I think the group was actually too big, but it was still nice, and the kids had great fun, especially running around with all of the other kids while it was still light.

On Saturday morning I took the kids to the chapel to practice for the primary presentation which is next Sunday, while Andrew stayed at home and did some chores and errands. We came home briefly and then I dropped Josh off at a party and then I went to the Stake Relief Society High Tea, which was nice to spend some time visiting with the sisters. Then back to fetch Josh before coming home to get Hannah ready for her ballet concert. It was surprisingly quick to get her ready, and she was so keen to be getting out of the door and on her way! She was one of a group of Snow Whites, and her dancing was cute 4 year old dancing, but it was so awesome to see her up on the stage dancing, not bothered particularly by the hall full of people :) What an amazing life skill to be getting at the age of 4! And she says she enjoyed being up there, so we'll see what she gets up to in the future ;)

Sunday was church, and then we went to Fish Hoek to have a small party for Luke's birthday. The kids are really enjoying spending time with their cousins right now, which is so special to see.

So after that weekend it felt like a holiday to go back to work this morning! Things are winding down now, as we're getting closer to the end of the year. I can't believe that it's just 2 months till Josh starts Grade 1... We've got his orientation next week, and his graduation the following week. It's all very real now! But we know that he's ready and I've seen him growing up so much this year, which has been awesome to see. It makes me much more confidence in his readiness for Grade 1. I do need to get going with things like buying his uniform and stuff now... :(

So that's us! All growing up quickly and moving forward. So life is busy, but good! Yesterday in my class we we're talking again about how we need to choose to be living the gospel, but I can honestly tell them that I have a good life, and it's because I'm trying to live the gospel, not getting it perfect, but my life is good!

So on that note I will love and leave you :)
Shelly

Letter to Richard - 3 November 2014

Dear Richard

I’m so enjoying a slightly slower pace at work now! I finished my marking for my course last week, and once it all got captured the results are looking good :) My external examiner now needs to go through a sample and sign off on the results, but I’m nice and ahead of schedule which is a huge relief! I’m going to be marking some second year papers as well, but they’re only writing on Wednesday this week, so I’ve got a bit of a breather still. And it meant that I could take a bit of time last week to do things like sorting out the kids clothes for the new season, and sorting out the 2 freezers. It feels so much better to have things a bit more organised! And then I also made a new dinosaur mask for Josh, which he’s been desperately asking for for ages now! It came out quite nicely :)

One sad bit of news last week for me was that one of my good friends at work is resigning :( Apparently we have a 6 month notice period to work out, so she’ll still be around for a while, but I’m definitely going to miss her once she’s gone :( There are some people at work that you get really close to! But change is the nature of things in life, so we carry on.

I went to a very interesting talk on parenting – about strong willed children and how to deal with manipulation and domination from them… Lots of good things to learn and try and implement! I wish I could say that all of our parenting problems are over immediately, but there’s a learning curve of course… But I think we do have a few things that we can work on specifically now.

On Friday when I was at gym my left elbow started hurting, and by the end of the work day I could hardly lift my arm! I was picturing myself back where I’ve been in the past with joints that are giving major hassles. But I put a Transact patch on, rested it well, and lots of prayer of course, and with my regular visits to the chiropractor my body is supposed to be able to heal itself as quickly as it can, and all of that together, and by the end of Saturday I more or less had my full range of motion back! I can honestly say that it was a miraculous healing! What a blessing :D

Saturday was intense, with a party for Caleb in the morning, and a party for Hannah in the afternoon… I was exhausted by the end of the day! But it was good to spend time getting to know different parents at the school. I was looking through the class lists for each of the kids, and I actually know most of the parents in all 3 classes, which is impressive, I think!

Yesterday afternoon Eunice Sibotoboto and her 2 boys came to visit for a short bit while Siya was at the BYC over the road. She is so desperate to have a daughter! She loved playing with Hannah, doing lipstick and hair… I ended up being the model for most of it ;) But at least now someone has been able to actually show Hannah how to plait my hair! It’s something I couldn’t do myself, for obvious reasons… They’re a really great family! I hope nothing happens that they move out of the ward before you get back and get to know them ;)

So that’s about it… Hope you’ve had a good week!

Shelly

Letter to Richard (27 October 2014 - Special Conference with Elder Quentin L Cook)

Dear Richard

Things are finally really calming down, which is much needed! A lot of my work last week centred around the exam for my students, between finalizing the paper, consulting with students and then the actual writing. But the exam went well and now it's into the marking. What's nice while in doing the marking is that I know that I won't be marking anything for 6 months once I finish this exam marking because my sabbatical has been approved for next semester! Very exciting :)

But what is really hectic that happened last week was that one of my students died! It was actually on the day of my exam and when we first found out about it I thought it was suicide, but I found out today from another student that it was internal bleeding and was natural causes. But she was a student that had so much going for her, and it's so sad! But she really lived well and it seems that she's inspired some students to live life more fully so that's good! And a reminder that life is really short! We need to be preparing to meet God at any moment!

On Friday morning Andrew and I ed a bit of shopping and we are 90% ready for Christmas! But with 2 months to go until Christmas I'm now so eager for the kids to get their presents!! There will be a lot less stress as we get closer but I don't know how I'll handle the anticipation!

I pulled out some cross stitch that I haven't worked on for a few years and Josh and Hannah we're very interested and wanting to help me...  And then I finally succumbed to Hannah's requests of the last few weeks to make her a bag. I made a handbag for Hannah and then Josh wanted a bag, but a snake bag - a long thin bag. And then Caleb also wanted a bag... So all 3 kids got new bags. But for Hannah especially this is just her perfect situation! Give her a bag or a box to put her collections in and she's the happiest girl around!

On Saturday morning Hannah had her dress rehearsal for her ballet concert which is coming up. She didn't want to get changed into her costume initially, but once we did convince her to change by taking her to the foyer to get changed by the cool couch then she joined the other girls and just loved it! They had to sit on the stage a while waiting for their turn and she was quite happy and then she loved the dancing! It was so awesome to see her so settled :)

And then the big part of the weekend was that we had Elder Quentin L Cook here, as you know. On Saturday morning I went to the women's session with all of the wives of the visiting general authorities. It was a really nice meeting! The emphasis for me was on living the Gospel in our homes. And there was also a good talk on teaching to help youth in that example, but everyone, learn by experience and by getting them to discover the answers for themselves.

And then for the Sunday meeting we actually had Elder Cook visiting our stake. Being a new stake has its advantages :) He's a really is a nice down to earth kind of man. His message was also about our personal spirituality mainly and having Christ centred homes. I'm seeing a theme here!

So it's been a good week. And thankfully my work is going to be quieter the next little while because our family life is going to be crazy with all the year end stuff! But there are fun times ahead at this time of year too :)

Love you

Shelly 

Letter to Richard - 20 October (T&L Conference)

20 October 2014

Dear Richard

The semester is over! It’s been a long year! But now we just have the exams and all of the marking and admin around that, and then planning for next year and trying to do some research as well… But at least there isn’t the pressure of teaching all the time :)

With the start of the 4^th term at the schools Caleb has started swimming lessons again. He’s been a bit resistant, and when we tried getting him into our pool he was very unkeen. But this week he had a much better lesson, so that’s all good :) Josh and Hannah are doing great, of course, but they just love their swimming lessons!

I had a very crazy week in terms of work last week. We had to get a whole lot of editing done for the new groups textbook, and I was having to prepare a presentation for the UCT Teaching and Learning Conference today. I was working until 23:00 every night after the kids went to bed! I was definitely exhausted by the end of the week! But I got through it all by the deadlines on time, which I was very relieved about!

For the last lecture for my 3^rd years we had a video premiere, showing the top 5 videos that they made for their projects, and then they voted for the best. Our Head of College also came, and a few other lecturers, and it was a really nice event :) Not a huge showy thing, but just nice. The winning team did a Survivor themed video, which was really cool! And it was the first time that the HoC has seen me in front of a class, and he liked what he saw, which is great :) I also got really nice ratings and comments in the student evaluations that came through last week. Really nice!!!

And we had our first School Governing Body last week, and then the AGM the following evening. So we have been officially voted in now, and in November we’ll have a meeting where we allocate responsibilities etc. It’s quite exciting, I think, to be involved now :)

Today was the T&L Conference, and I presented a slot on how I got the students to do presentations within the tutorials. Mom came along for the day and went to a whole bunch of presentations, and then for the first time ever got to see me doing an academic presentation. I have a good sized audience, and there was a lot of discussion afterwards, which was so gratifying! There were 5 concurrent sessions, so having a good-sized audience depends on how appealing your topic is. But I’m really happy with how it all went!

Yesterday I had an interesting experience at church. There wasn’t anyone to really be teaching for the YSA class, because most of them needed to be attending the Gospel Principles class, as ward missionaries, because of which investigators were at church (that Gospel Principles class is HUGE at the moment!) So I just went to the Gospel Doctrine class, but I really struggled to focus and stuff, because I was so tired after working so hard and sleeping so little during the week. But then Grant arrived at church 15 minutes into Sunday School, and we decided to pull Vaughan out of the Gospel Principles class and we had a class with the 3 of us. And from being so sleepy in the adult class, as soon as the opening prayer was said I was completely alert, and able to give the lesson really effectively, and I was aware of the Spirit guiding me in some of the things I said. Wow! What an impact it can have to be led by the Spirit! And it was a really nice intimate lesson about the Saviour and His atonement. Probably one of my more favourite lessons in the end :)

And then I was kind of led to my FHE lesson topic for the afternoon as well. I used Elder Scott’s talk from this conference on the 4 things we need to do to strengthen ourselves, being prayer, scripture study, family home evening and temple attendance. And although the kids were going a bit crazy we were able to have a nice little discussion with them too. I feel like I really am doing better at being guided by the spirit!

So that’s my week. Crazy busy, but at least the semester is over now, so it’s a different kind of pressure now…

Love you!

Shelly

Letter to Richard - 13 October 2014

Dear Richard

There is just 1 week left of the semester, and I am SO ready for it to end now! I thought that this week would be a bit lighter, but yet again I’m disappointed… I’ve got lots of deadlines for the end of this week, but then a lot of stuff will really, really be over… I hope!

A big move here last week was that Caleb finally had his first haircut. At 2 and a half it’s about time, I guess, but it was a big thing to cut off those curls! But he looks so gorgeous now still! And now his big dark eyes are really standing out! So beautiful!

The kids were on holiday last week, although they still carried on going to school. We took Josh to meet Carol, the aftercare lady, and all of the kids seemed to like her.

I was lecturing the second years again, but thankfully the traffic was lighter because of the school holidays, so it was all good :) And I was lecturing financial analysis, which is a section that I really enjoy lecturing, so it was way better than the previous week :) And I got to finish off the week (the last time I’m lecturing the second years for the year) with a video of the kids saying good luck for the exams, and then Josh spontaneously added “And I wish you a merry Christmas” and that started off the others too. The class really enjoyed it!

On Friday Andrew and I went to Charmaine Boreham’s birthday party, and Chante Bird came and looked after the kids. It was the first time that we’ve ever paid someone to babysit, and we weren’t sure how the kids would react to her, but they really enjoyed it! So now we know that we have another option if we want to go out :) We quite enjoyed the night out too, socialising with members of the ward.

On Saturday we took the kids to the aquarium. It was a long-awaited reward for the reward chart we did with them for being reverent during prayers. They had to be reverent to for all of the prayers in the day to get a sticker, and they had to get 20 stickers each. So it was well earned by the time they all finished. And in general they are being more reverent now after that whole reward chart process. But they absolutely loved the aquarium! We haven’t gone for quite a few years, so it was the first time that Caleb had really been, and Hannah was a baby last time, I think. And Josh is just at the perfect age to appreciate it now! They didn’t want to leave, even though we pretty much went around the whole aquarium twice!

I was asked to teach the adult Sunday School class yesterday. So Andrew taught the YSA for me. It was really nice to teach a different class, and they all seemed to get a lot out of the lesson. But it was a real challenge to prepare, I must say! I definitely relied on the Spirit a LOT with that lesson! It was on the different attributes of the Saviour that Isaiah describes. It was really nice to discuss with the class :)

And then in the afternoon Andrew’s parents came to visit us, and also Bernard’s mom, who has just moved down from Joburg. So we all had a nice visit together. I also showed Andrew’s mom how to enter a whole lot of her Strydom family history onto Family Search. She’s so excited to know about her family and get the work done! And because it’s an old South African family there is a lot of work that has been done in compiling the genealogy!

So we had quite a nice weekend, but now the craziness has started again… I think I’ll be bringing work home to do quite a bit this week :( But we’ll get through, like we always do!

Love you

Shelly