Gracie reading a story to herself

This morning, Eli was watching Wreck-It-Ralph downstairs and Grace came upstairs to snuggle with Ella.  She brought with her the Large Family book and started reading to herself.  Ella sneakily pulled this video clip!

It's been raining for two days, so it was perfect jammies weather!

Back in CT... for good

We can hardly believe that all of our prayers, waiting and anticipation are over!  Whilst the prayers continue... the waiting is over.  It's great to be in Cape Town and we have such a peace and sense that this is exactly where we need to be.  GOD has blessed us with an awesome home here and we're looking forward to the doors that we will be walking through!

Our new house is a three-bedroom duplex in the High Grove security complex, just opposite the Blue Route mall in Tokai.  We are close to EVERYTHING!  I had to buy some electricity, so I literally took the dogs for a walk across the road to the Pick n Pay convenience store that is diagonally opposite us.

Last three weeks in JHB...

We can hardly believe that this day has come so close!  For almost two years we have been on a journey of waiting on GOD's awesome timing for us to start the next chapter in Cape Town.  Many of our readers will know of this journey and for us to stand here now feels like what I assume a mountaineer feels when he is but moments away from the peak that he has been traversing!  We are excited and ready for the view!

Since our trip to Australia, which was awesome, we have been in preparation for our move.  We've sold a few items and spent many, many nights in prayer for a place to stay.  GOD answered our prayers and on Friday we heard that we have a place to rent in Tokai - which is exactly where we were feeling led to be!  It meets our every request and, once again, stands as a testimony to GOD's provision.

We have also had a few of our clients terminate their retainers but we have seen this as a 'pruning' period that was necessary in allowing us to focus on the ministry calling in our lives.  Since then several opportunities have opened up that synchronize the vision of timslatter.com with online ministries and devotionals.  We now wait to see what fruit will be borne from these relationships and feel that our move to Cape Town will be instrumental in seeing this come to pass!

Last weekend we took Grace and Eli for their very first haircuts!  

If you're on Facebook, you can see all the pics in Ella's album. 

That's all for now in this quick update!

Our Melbourne trip thus far...

Well, we made it to Melbourne with very little hassle! Apart from dealing with exhaustion, we have settled in very well, here in Melbourne, and it must be said that Grace and Eli have been Superstars throughout it all!

Traveling with toddlers is not recommended but we now know that it can be done!

We arrived late Saturday night and welcomed sleep with open arms! Sunday was spent in pajamas...we had no energy for anything other than eating, conversation and sleeping.

Monday, we went to the local shopping centre, and we were able to find Grace and Eli cute little rain boots (for the rainy Cape Town days!).  The morning was a bit chilly but by the afternoon we were all dressed in shorts and tees.

We took a leisurely late afternoon stroll to the local creek with the whole family and were entertained and amazed by the local bird life!  Sulphur-crested cockatoos swung from the Eucalyptus trees, shrieking rather loudly, in a playful fashion, much to our amazement! They fly around here like you'd find the common dove flying round your garden in Cape Town.

By our third night, we all managed to get into a better sleep routine and were up earlier to accomplish more with our time.

On Tuesday we went to Warrandyte, to see the ducks on the Yarra River.  The weather was great and the kids had a great time looking at the rather tame ducks and playing in the well-equiped playground area, while we munched on snacks and had some great coffee.

Today, Wednesday, the weather was rather bleak. It was windy and threatened to rain! We decided to brave the weather anyway and head off to Collingwood Farm with the kids and Gran.  Unfortunately, by the time we reached the farm, there was a light drizzle, which turned into light shower! This did not deter us...we went ahead and paid our $16 entrance fee and went to see a cow (Heather is her name, much to our amusement) being milked!

Eli bravely grabbed the brush and began brushing Heather's hair.  Grace, on the other hand, in no uncertain terms, made it clear she did not want to be near this cow! To her defence, though, the cow was about twenty times larger than her!  We then witnessed two calves being fed with the very milk  from Heather! This was quite a treat! The kids were udderly amazed! (Sorry, couldn't resist!)

When we arrived home, we had visitors waiting for us! Hannah Schijf (married to Tim's cousin, Chris) was here with her adorable little ones, Layla and Henry.   The kids had a tense introduction, but the visit ended well, with happy waves goodbye! During lunch, I got my fill of babies by having a loooong cuddle with the handsome little Henry.

We look forward to what the rest of our stay in Melbourne holds...hope you'll stay tuned for more news!

Sending all our love to our Jhb and CT family and friends!

Our December Durban Trip

Over December, just before our trip to Cape Town, we spent an awesome three days in Durbs with the Tuckers and Slatters Sr. Eli and Gracie took to their cousins and great-grandparents so well and it was a blessed and special time! The weather was perfect for indoor activities, so we maxed in on family time and memories. Thanks to our Durban family for blessing us!

Shopping cart rallies

It was all fun and games until Eli stopped looking where he was going. (This was at the end of November, just after their second birthday)

Thank you made with Smilebox

A visit from Poppie & Gonda

Make your own greeting

Sports day shenanigans...

This weekend was Grace and Eli's first sport's day!  El was helping with the events whilst I was able to stand at the end of the lane and shout for my running legends!  It was an awesome day and there was a fantastic turnout.  I took my PA system along and helped with the background music and announcement vibes - which was lots of fun and fairly nostalgic.  It may very well be the start of our next stage in parenting - school functions... 

A few weeks ago, Mike and Lee were up in JHB for the Symphonic Rocks concert of which they were both performing in the house band.  The gig was at Carnival City, which is just over an hours drive away, so we met them on the Thursday afternoon and listened to some of the rehearsals, and then headed back again on the Friday to spend the day with them.

It was an awesome time to relax and lounge around outside by hotel pool, catching up with our best mates from Cape Town.  For the time that we were enclosed in the hotel, it felt like we could've been at home in CT... someday soon!

One of the photographers from the function were with us around the pool and took these two stunning pics of Grace and Eli.







There are a slim seven weeks left of the school calendar and El and I can't wait for our Christmas travels!  We cannot believe what a year we've had - it's ending on a high note and that's what counts!  GOD's plan has been slowly revealed to us each step of the way, a true light unto our path, and we give Him the Glory for His love and constant provision.

Eli and Grace will be two-years old in three short weeks and they're talking so beautifully.  The sentences are one- to three-word vibes but they're awesome!  Things like:

"Daddy come."  "Roo-roo no!" "Mommy, ruv you."  How can we not be proud :).

We miss you all (those abroad and cross-country) and pray that as you enter this last quarter of 2011 that you will start to allow yourself to rest a bit an prepare for 2012.

Much love and blessings

Grace & Eli at Tivan's birthday party.3gp