Loads has happened over the past few years & it’s far too much to share in this blog suffice it to say that Luke & Debbie are getting married in October, Michael is joining the army in September, Steve is working full-time at UCB with Ian & I & I had ankle repair surgery in June as a result of my injuring it when overseas in 2008.

Last year our cockatiels decided they needed to be parents & produced 2 clutches of eggs. We found happy homes for the first 3 babies & I hand raised the 2nd clutch of babies myself. It was one of the best things I’ve ever done but I discovered that if I didn’t want them to keep breeding I had to remove the cute little house that they used to climb all over…once the ‘love shack’ was removed…no more babies! Anyway, I kept 2 of the babies & found a home for the 3rd where she apparently rules the family! My 2 are named ‘Skally’ & ‘Wags’ & they really are!

Sadly, we had to say goodbye to our gorgeous old Murphy dog in June of this year. He was 13 years old (almost) & had been diagnosed with cancer just before his 10th birthday. He had a little arthritis in his front paws, his hearing & his eyesight were weakening, he would often become disoriented & wander the house trying to find where he was supposed to be & when he became completely incontinent knew it was time.

He was a gentle, loving & affectionate boy his whole life & particularly so in his latter years. He desperately wanted to play with Hadassah (our other Dalmatian) & tried so hard to keep up with her prancing & racing around the back yard but his body just couldn’t keep up.

He was my buddy for 13 years & I miss him dearly however I’m so thankful I still have Hadassah…she’s great therapy!

Ian & I travelled to Jakarta, Indonesia earlier this year for a work event. We found the people to be very friendly & hospitable & no matter how many third world or developing nations I’ve been to, I never get used to seeing people living in abject poverty. That is one of many nations that desperately needs to know Yeshua.

While on the subject of travel, Ian & I will be leading a tour group to Israel in October, Steve is also coming with us & we’re pretty excited about it because it will be doubly exciting for us to be able to show him the wonderful things we discovered back in 2008 when we travelled to the Holy Land for the first time.

I plan on doing a daily blog here to keep you up to date with where we go & what we see & I’ll be posting photos as well, so please pop back from time to time to see all the latest.

That’s it for now…

Shalom-Mandy